[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 43, Volume 2]

[Revised as of October 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 43CFR2531.1]



[Page 122-124]

 

                    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 123]]



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 124]]



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]