[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 43, Volume 2]
[Revised as of October 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 43CFR2531.1]

[Page 126-128]
 
                    TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS: INTERIOR
 
    CHAPTER II--BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
 
PART 2530_INDIAN ALLOTMENTS--Table of Contents
 
                  Subpart 2531_Applications, Generally
 
Sec. 2531.1  Qualifications of applicants.


    (a) General. An applicant for allotment under the fourth section of 
the Act of February 8, 1887, as amended, is required to show that he is 
a recognized member of an Indian tribe or is

[[Page 127]]

entitled to be so recognized. Such qualifications may be shown by the 
laws and usages of the tribe. The mere fact, however, that an Indian is 
a descendant of one whose name was at one time borne upon the rolls and 
who was recognized as a member of the tribe does not of itself make such 
Indian a member of the tribe. The possession of Indian blood, not 
accompanied by tribal affiliation or relationship, does not entitle a 
person to an allotment on the public domain. Tribal membership, even 
though once existing and recognized, may be abandoned in respect to the 
benefits of the fourth section.
    (b) Certificate that applicant is Indian and eligible for allotment. 
Any person desiring to file application for an allotment of land on the 
public domain under this act must first obtain from the Commissioner of 
Indian Affairs a certificate showing that he or she is an Indian and 
eligible for such allotment, which certificate must be attached to the 
allotment application. Application for the certificate must be made on 
the proper form, and must contain information as to the applicant's 
identity, such as thumb print, age, sex, height, approximate weight, 
married or single, name of the Indian tribe in which membership is 
claimed, etc., sufficient to establish his or her identity with that of 
the applicant for allotment. Each certificate must bear a serial number, 
record thereof to be kept in the Indian Office. The required forms may 
be obtained as stated in Sec. 2531.2(b).
    (c) Heirs of Indian settlers and applicants. (1) Allotments are 
allowable only to living persons or those in being at the date of 
application. Where an Indian dies after settlement and filing of 
application, but prior to approval, the allotment will upon final 
approval be confirmed to the heirs of the deceased allottee.
    (2) In disposing of pending applications in which the death of the 
applicant has been reported, the heirs of an applicant who was otherwise 
qualified at the date of application should be notified that they will 
be allowed 90 days from receipt of notice within which to submit proof 
that the applicant personally settled on the land applied for during his 
or her lifetime, and while the land was open to settlement, and upon 
failure to submit such proof within the time allowed the application 
will be finally rejected.
    (3) When it is sufficiently shown that an applicant was at the time 
of death occupying in good faith the land settled on, patent will be 
issued to his or her heirs without further use or occupancy on the part 
of such heirs being shown.
    (d) Minor children. An Indian settler on public lands under the 
fourth section of the Act of February 8, 1887, as amended, is also 
eligible upon application for allotments made thereunder to his minor 
children, stepchildren, or other children to whom he stands in loco 
parentis, provided the natural children are in being at the date of the 
parent's application, or the other relationship referred to exist at 
such date. The law only permits one eligible himself under the fourth 
section to take allotments thereunder on behalf of his minor children or 
of those to whom he stands in loco parentis. Orphan children (those who 
have lost both parents) are not eligible for allotments on the public 
domain unless they come within the last-mentioned class. No actual 
settlement is required in case of allotments to minor children under the 
fourth section, but the actual settlement of the parent or of a person 
standing in loco parentis on his own public-land allotment will be 
regarded as the settlement of the minor children.
    (e) Indian wives. (1) Where an Indian woman is married to non-Indian 
not eligible for an allotment under the fourth section of the Act of 
February 8, 1887, as amended, and not a settler or entryman under the 
general homestead law, her right, and that of the minor children born of 
such marriage, to allotments on the public domain will be determined 
without reference to the quantum of Indian blood possessed by such women 
and her children but solely with reference as to whether they are 
recognized members of an Indian tribe or are entitled to such 
membership.
    (2) An Indian woman married to an Indian man who has himself 
received an allotment on the public domain or is entitled to one, or has 
earned the equitable right to patent on any form of homestead or small 
holding claim, is

[[Page 128]]

not thereby deprived of the right to file an application for herself, 
provided she is otherwise eligible, and also for her minor children 
where her husband is for any reason disqualified.
    (3) An Indian woman who is separated from her husband who has not 
received an allotment under the fourth section will be regarded as the 
head of a family and may file applications for herself and for the minor 
children under her care.
    (4) In every case where an Indian woman files applications for her 
minor children it must appear that she has not only applied for herself 
under the fourth section but has used the land in her own application in 
some beneficial manner.
    (f) Citizenship. (1) Under section 6 of the Act of February 8, 1887 
(24 Stat. 390; 25 U.S.C. 349), every Indian born within the territorial 
limits of the United States, to whom allotments were made under that 
Act, and every Indian who voluntarily takes up his residence separate 
and apart from any tribe of Indians and adopts the habits of civilized 
life is declared to be a citizen of the United States.
    (2) The Act of May 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 182; 8 U.S.C. 3), changed the 
time when an Indian became a citizen by virtue of the allotment made to 
him to the time when patent in fee should be issued on such an 
allotment.
    (3) The Act of June 2, 1924 (43 Stat. 253, 8 U.S.C. 3), conferred 
citizenship on all noncitizen Indians born within the Territorial limits 
of the United States, but expressly reserved to them all rights to 
tribal or other property. These rights include that of allotment on the 
public land, if qualified.

[35 FR 9589, June 13, 1970, as amended at 37 FR 23185, Oct. 31, 1972]