83D CONGRESS 2d Session

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SENATE

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REPORT No. 1321

TERMINATION OF FEDERAL SUPERVISION OVER THE PROPERTY OF THE ALABAMA AND COUSHATTA INDIANS OF TEXAS

MAY 11 (legislative day, APRIL 14), 1954.—Ordered to be printed

Mr. WATKINS, from the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 2744]

The Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2744) providing for the termination of Federal supervision over the property of the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Indians of Texas, and the individual members thereof; and for other purposes, having considered the same, report thereon with the recommendation that it do pass, with the following amendments: On page 2, line 5, strike out the comma and insert in lieu thereof the word "and".

On page 2, lines 5 and 6, strike out the comma and the words "or disposition".

On page 2, line 6, strike out the period and insert the following: and the disposition of such lands shall be subject to approval of a majority of the adult members of the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas.

On page 2, line 15, change the period to a colon and add the following:

Provided, That for a period of five years after the date of this Act such Indians shall be eligible for admission, on the same terms that apply to other Indians, to hospitals and schools maintained by the United States in the State of Oklahoma. On page 3, line 22, after the comma, insert the following: except as provided in section 2 of this Act,

The amendment proposed on page 2, line 6, is proposed so as to comply with the request of the Indians, set forth in a resolution adopted by the tribe on January 28, 1954, a copy of which is as follows:

58003°-55 S. Repts., 83-2, vol. 3-2

RESOLUTION-Alabama and Coushatta TriBES OF TEXAS

Whereas the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas met in general council on the 28th day of January 1954 to discuss Senate bill 2744; and

Whereas lines 5 and 6, page 2, provide that the lands conveyed to the state of Texas shall be "subject to such conditions regarding management, use, or disposition as the State of Texas may prescribe"; and

Whereas the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas wish to have a voice in their affairs; Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas respectfully request that lines 5 and 6 be amended to read "subject to such conditions regarding management and use as the State of Texas may prescribe and any disposition of such lands shall be made subject to approval of a majority vote of the adult members of the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas."

I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly adopted by the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas in general council on January 28, 1954, by a vote of 54 for, and none against.

Attest:

MATTHEW BULLOCK, Chairman of the General Council.

CORA SYLESTINE, Secretary of the General Council

The amendment proposed on page 2, line 15, is in conformity with the wishes of the Indians, as set forth in a resolution adopted by them in a general council assembled on January 28, 1954, a copy of which is as follows:

RESOLUTION-ALABAMA AND COUSHATTA TRIBES OF TEXAS

Whereas there are certain older members of the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas who have come to depend upon and have great faith in the Federal general hospitals and sanatorium; and

Whereas during the past 12 months there have been only approximately 5 persons who have been hospitalized in these hospitals; and

Whereas the Federal boarding schools provide certain vocational training which is not provided in the public schools available to the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas; and

Whereas during the past year there have been only two members of the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas attending Federal Indian boarding schools; and Whereas this small number of patients and students created no great burden upon the Federal Government: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas respectfully request that the members of these tribes be permitted to continue to use the hospitals and schools of the Federal Government for as long as they may continue to exist but not to exceed a period of 5 years, in order that there may be a transition period during which the older members of the tribes may be prepared for the termination of these Federal services and in order that the young people may be provided the necessary vocational training.

I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly adopted by the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas in general council on January 28, 1954, by a vote of 54 for and none against.

Attest:

MATTHEW BULLOCK, Chairman of the General Council.

CORA SYLESTINE,

Secretary of the General Council.

EXPLANATION OF THE BILL

This proposed legislation is in accord with the policy of Congress as expressed in House Resolution 108, 83d Congress, 1st session, to terminate trust relationships with tribes, groups, and individual Indians as rapidly as the circumstances of each tribe, group, or individual Indians will permit, and as rapidly as possible make the

Indians within the territorial limits of the United States subject to the same laws and entitled to the same privileges and responsibilities as are applicable to other citizens of the United States.

The Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas are a group of Indians organized under that name pursuant to the act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), and constitute a single tribe. This group is the only tribe of Indians in Texas for which the Federal Government holds a trusteeship responsibility. The enactment of S. 2744 with the amendments herein suggested would carry out the sense of Congress, as expressed in House Concurrent Resolution 108, concerning the termination of Federal supervision and control over the Indian tribes and individual members thereof located within the State of Texas. This bill is also in accord with the policy of the Department of the Interior for a termination of Federal supervision and control over the affairs of an Indian tribe and its members whenever feasible.

This bill authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to convey the lands held in trust by the United States for the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Indians to the State of Texas to be held in trust for this tribe, subject to such conditions regarding management and use as the State may prescribe, and the disposition of such lands will be subject to approval of a majority of the adult members of the tribe.

This bill provides for the issuance of a proclamation at the time of such conveyance declaring termination of the Federal trust relationship to these Indians, and provides that from that date on they will not be entitled to services from the United States because of their status as Indians, except that for a period of 5 years after the enactment of this bill these Indians will be eligible for admission, on the same terms that apply to other Indians, to hospitals and schools maintained by the United States in the State of Oklahoma.

This bill also provides for the termination of the supervisory powers of the Secretary of the Interior over the conduct of tribal affairs under the constitution of the tribe, and for the revocation of the corporate charter issued to the tribe by the Secretary of the Interior.

This bill also provides for the cancellation of the reimbursable indebtedness of the tribe to the United States. This indebtedness is in the amount of $39,278.66, and could be collected only by selling the tribal land.

Finally, this bill provides that from the date of the proclamation all statutes of the United States which affect Indians because of their status as Indians shall no longer be applicable to the Indians of the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas, and that the laws of the State of Texas shall apply to them in the same manner as these laws apply to all other citizens of the State of Texas, except as provided in section 2 of the bill.

The Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas are organized under the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), as a single tribe with both a constitution and a charter. The tribal assets consist solely of land upon which there is an excellent stand of timber. In accordance with section 6 of that act the Secretary of the Interior has an obligation to regulate the operation and management of Indian forestry units on the principle of sustained-yield management. It has been impracticable for the Department of the Interior to do so in the case of the Alabama and Coushatta unit, because its relatively small size and its distance from other Indian forestry units have not

warranted the expenditure of funds for such supervision. However, the nearest office of the State of Texas Forest Service, which is 17 miles from the Alabama and Coushatta Reservation, is conducting various forestry protection and conservation measures with respect to timberlands within the general area surrounding the reservation. The services which the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior has extended to this tribe have consisted primarily of financial assistance for educational purposes under the JohnsonO'Malley Act of April 16, 1934 (48 Stat. 596), as amended by the act of June 4, 1936 (49 Stat. 1458), a sum which amounted to $18,000 in fiscal year 1953.

On the other hand, the State of Texas has provided a number of services for this tribe, including a superintendent for the reservation. Approximately $41,000 of State funds were spent for these services in fiscal year 1953. The interest of the State in the welfare of the tribe has a long historical background, going back to the days of Sam Houston.

In 1854 and 1855 the State of Texas purchased approximately 1,100 acres of land for this group of Indians and caused deeds for the land to be issued directly to the group, under the name of the Alabama Indians, in fee simple in perpetuity. Pursuant to the Second Deficiency Act, fiscal year 1928 (45 Stat. 883, 900), the United States purchased approximately 3,181 acres for the group, and took title in trust for them under the name of the Alabama and Coushatta Indians. This area is contiguous to that purchased by the State of Texas for these Indians, and the two areas have been treated as one reservation and supervised by the superintendent furnished by the State. In the law enacted by Texas in 1854, which authorized the purchase of land for these Indians, a provision was inserted that the Indians should not "alien, lease, rent, let, give, or otherwise dispose of said land or any part thereof to any person whatsoever." It is now the position of the Federal Government that so far as management, disposition and utilization of the land purchased by the State is concerned, that provision is primarily a matter between the tribe and the State of Texas.

The Governor of Texas has taken an active interest in the welfare of these Indians and the protection and development of their timber resource. He has urged that a complete management program be developed for the utilization and conservation of this timber resource. In the negotiations between representatives of the State of Texas and the Bureau of Indian Affairs the representatives of the State have indicated a willingness on its part to undertake, without cost to the United States, the complete management of the Indian timberland for the benefit of the tribe. The Bureau of Indian Affairs referred this proposed legislation to a general council of the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes in February 1953. Your committee is advised that after a long and full discussion these Indians, on February 13, 1953, at a duly assembled meeting, voted unanimously that the Secretary of the Interior be requested to recommend necessary legislation which would accomplish a complete transfer of the trust responsibilities from the Federal Government to the State of Texas. A copy of the resolution adopted by said Indians on February 13, 1953, is as follows:

RESOLUTION

Whereas the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas adopted a resolution on February 13, 1953, requesting the Secretary of the Interior to authorize the Texas Forest Service to assume responsibility for the management and conservation of the forest resources of the Alabama and Coushatta Indian Reservation; and

Whereas the solicitor for the Department of the Interior has ruled that it would be contrary to existing law for the Secretary of the Interior to transfer responsibilities to the Texas Forest Service; and

Whereas the Legislature of the State of Texas has enacted legislation authorizing the Governor to accept on behalf of the State of Texas the trusteeship responsibilities of the Federal Government respecting the lands and other assets of the tribes: Now, therefore, be it.

Resolved by the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas, in General Council assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior is requested to recommend to the Congress of the United States the enactment of necessary legislation in order to accomplish a complete transfer of the trust responsibilities and authorities from the Federal Government to the State of Texas.

I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly adopted by the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas in General Council on June 1, 1953, by a vote of 59 for, and 0 against.

Attest:

Certified correct:

(Signed) MATTHEW BULLOCK, Chairman of the General Council.

CLEM F. SYLESTINE,

Secretary of the General Council.

C. H. JONES, Jr.,

Superintendent, Alabama and Coushatta Indian Reservation.

W. WADE HEAD,

Area Director.

On May 21, 1953, the Governor of Texas notified the Secretary of the Interior that the State legislature had adopted a concurrent resolution authorizing the Governor, in the event the Congress of the United States should provide such legislation and the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes should indicate their consent by appropriate resolution, to accept on behalf of the State of Texas a transfer of the trust responsibilities from the United States to the State of Texas. On June 16, 1953, Gov. Allan Shivers of Texas addressed a letter to the Honorable Orme Lewis, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, stating that the State legislature had accepted the trust responsibilities by concurrent resolution. Governor Shivers' letter to Mr. Lewis, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, above referred to, is as follows:

DEAR MR. LEWIS: Since receiving your letter of May 21, Mr. William Wade Head has been in the office and discussed with us the proposed Federal legislation with regard to the Alabama and Coushatta Indians of Texas. A copy of which is enclosed. This legislation appears to be satisfactory.

Since that time, also, the Indian tribes themselves have unanimously adopted a resolution approving this transfer of trusteeship. A copy of this resolution is also enclosed.

I wish to commend to you Mr. Head who has been most cooperative in this matter. His active assistance has been very helpful. I hope you will keep me informed of the progress of the Federal legislation.

Concurrent resolution of the Texas State Legislature, referred to, is as follows:

Whereas the Congress of the United States may pass legislation relinquishing the trust responsibilities of the United States with respect to the lands and other assets of the Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes; and,