Proposed regulations to govern the preparation of an up-to-date membership roll of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina were announced today by the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior.
Under the rules, which have been recommended by the Eastern Cherokee Tribal Council, and will be published in the Federal Register, the membership roll of the band would be brought up to date as authorized by congressional legislation enacted last August.
The proposed regulations provide for an Enrollment Committee of three members to be appointed by the Tribal Council which would consider applications for addition to the roll and generally supervise the revision process. Provision is also made for appeals from decisions of the Enrollment Committee to the Tribal Council. Decisions of the Council would be final.
The starting point would be the existing membership roll of the band which was prepared under 1924 and 1931 congressional legislation. After removing from this roll the names of those who died prior to midnight of August 21, 1957, the Enrollment Committee would receive applications for the addition of new names.
To be eligible, an applicant must be a direct descendant of a person on the original roll, must have at least 1/32 degree of Eastern Cherokee blood, must have been born between June 4, 1924 and midnight August 21, 1957, and must have lived on Eastern Cherokee lands in North Carolina for at least a part of this period. Exceptions from the residence requirement are provided for those whose parents were away from the reservation because of service in the Armed Forces or for other specified reasons.
Special provisions are included for handling applications submitted on behalf of minors or incompetents and for adding the names of children born after August 21, 1957.
The proposed regulations also provide for advance notification and wide publication in the area by the tribal officials before actual commencement of the revision process.
Interested parties will have 30 days after publication of the proposed regulations in the Federal Register for submission of their comments, suggestions or objections to the Commissioner, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington 25, D. C.
