Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay today announced that membership rolls will be required for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians under recently enacted legislation providing for termination of Federal supervision over the property and affairs of western Oregon Indians in the next two years.
The decision was based on the fact that these two groups are the only ones affected by the western Oregon legislation which have tribal assets. Compilation of the rolls is the first step in determining which individual Indians are entitled to a beneficial interest in the assets or in the proceeds if a sale should be favored by the tribe.
Under Public Law 588 of the 83rd Congress the two Indian groups are now given six months in which to prepare a tribal roll and submit it to the Secretary for publication in the Federal Register. If the Indians fail to compile a roll within the time limit, the Secretary is required to prepare a roll on their behalf. The law also provides for appeals to the Secretary for modifications in the rolls as published.
Rolls will not be required for the other 58 bands and groups involved in the western Oregon terminal legislation but may be submitted in the discretion of the tribal groups.
Public Law 588 is one of six Indian "termination" laws enacted by the 83rd Congress and approved by President Eisenhower. The other Indian groups covered are the Menominees of Wisconsin, the Klamaths of Oregon, the mixed bloods of the Uintah-Ouray Reservation in Utah, four scattered bands of Utah, and the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas.
