The Department of the Interior has proposed amendment of Title 25 of the Code of Federal regulations to establish requirements and filing application deadlines for enrollment with the Mdewakanton and Wahpakoota Tribe of Sioux Indians and the Sisseton and Wahpeton Mississippi Sioux Tribe, Marvin L. Franklin, Assistant to the Secretary for Indian Affairs, announced today.
The proposed amendment is being published in the Federal Register.
The purpose of the amendment is to carry out the provisions of the Act of October 25,1972 (86 Stat. 1168) which authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to distribute funds derived from a judgment awarded the Mississippi Sioux Indians in Indian Claims Commission dockets 142, 359, 360, 361, 362, and 363. The proposed amendment would include in Section 41.3 the requirements which must be met to establish eligibility for enrollment to share in the distribution of the funds and the deadline for filing applications.
The revision provides that two separate rolls be prepared of lineal descendants of the Mdewakanton and Wahpakoota Tribe and the Sisseton and Wahpeton Mississippi Sioux Tribe who were born on or prior to and were living on October 25,1972 and whose names or the name of a lineal ancestor appears on any available records and rolls acceptable to the Secretary. Descendants of the Mdewakanton and Wahpakoota Tribe who meet the requirements for membership in the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, the Santee Sioux Tribe, the Lower Sioux Indian Community at Morton, Minnesota, the Prairie Island Indian Community at Welch, Minnesota, or the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota will be enrolled by the tribes on tribal rolls and will not be enrolled on the Secretary's roll. Descendants of the Sisseton and Wahpeton Mississippi Sioux Tribe who meet the requirements for membership in the Devils Lake Sioux Tribe, the Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux Tribe or the Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux Indians of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation will be enrolled by the tribes on tribal rolls and will not be enrolled on the Secretary's roll.
Applications for enrollment on the Secretary's rolls as a descendant of the Mdewakanton and Wahpakoota Tribe of Sioux Indians or the Sisseton and Wahpeton Mississippi Sioux Tribe must be filed with the Area Director, Aberdeen Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 820 S. Main Street, Aberdeen, S.D. 57401 and must be received no later than November 1,1973. Applications for enrollment on the tribal rolls should be directed to the appropriate tribe as soon as possible.
In keeping with Departmental po1i-cy of allowing the. puh1i-c to participate in the ru1emaking process, interested persons will have 30 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register to submit their comments, suggestions, or objections regarding the proposed revision to the. Director of Community Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1951 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20245.
