TITLE 25 - US CODE - SUBCHAPTER XVII - YAKIMA TRIBES

25 USC 601 - Membership roll; preparation; persons entitled to enrollment

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed, with the advice and consent of the Yakima Tribal Council, to prepare a roll showing the members of the Yakima Tribes living on August 9, 1946, which roll shall be kept current and shall constitute the official membership roll of the Yakima Tribes for all purposes. No person who is enrolled with any other tribe of Indians or who has received an allotment of land on any other reservation shall be enrolled under the provisions of this subchapter. The following shall be placed on the roll:
(a) All living persons who received allotments on the Yakima Reservation, except by fraud.
(b) All living persons who are of the blood of the fourteen original Yakima Tribes, parties to the treaty of June 9, 1855 (12 Stat. 951), and who have received allotments on the public domain within the area ceded to the United States by the Yakima Tribes by the treaty of 1855.
(c) All living persons who have maintained a domicile continuously from January 1, 1941, until August 9, 1946, on the Yakima Reservation or within the area ceded by the treaty of June 9, 1855, (12 Stat. 951), and who are
(1)  descendants of persons who received allotments on the Yakima Reservation, except by fraud, or
(2)  descendants of persons of the blood of the fourteen original Yakima Tribes who received allotments on the public domain within the area ceded by the said treaty of 1855. All living children born after January 1, 1941, but prior to August 9, 1946, to a person entitled to enrollment under this subsection shall likewise be entitled to enrollment under this subsection.
(d) All children of one-fourth or more blood of the Yakima Tribes born after August 9, 1946, to a parent who is an enrolled member and maintains a domicile on the Yakima Reservation or within the area ceded by the treaty of June 9, 1855, at the time of the birth of the child.

25 USC 602 - Application to Tribal Council on exclusion from roll; minors and incompetent persons

Any person of one-fourth or more of the blood of the Yakima Tribes who may be excluded from enrollment under the provisions of section 601 of this title may apply for membership at any time and be enrolled upon the approval of the application by a two-thirds vote of the Yakima Tribal Council. Applications for enrollment under this section on behalf of minors and persons mentally incompetent may be filed by any enrolled member of the Yakima Tribes.

25 USC 603 - Correction of membership roll

Corrections in the roll prepared hereunder, by striking therefrom the name of any person erroneously placed on the roll or by adding to the roll the name of any person erroneously omitted therefrom, may be made at any time by the Yakima Tribal Council.

25 USC 604 - Loss of membership and removal from roll

Every person whose name appears on the roll prepared hereunder who holds no vested right, title, or interest in or to any restricted or trust land on the Yakima Reservation or within the area ceded by the treaty of June 9, 1855, and who has failed to maintain any tribal affiliations or a residence on the reservation or within the ceded area for a period of five consecutive years, shall no longer be considered a member of the Yakima Tribes, and his name shall be removed from the rolls. It shall be the duty of the Yakima Tribal Council to determine, subject to review by the Secretary of the Interior, loss of membership in each case.

25 USC 605 - Expulsion of members; review by Secretary

The Yakima Tribal Council may adopt and enforce ordinances, subject to review by the Secretary of the Interior, governing the expulsion of members for any cause deemed by the council to be sufficient.

25 USC 606 - Back pay and annuities on enrollment of new members

No person whose name shall after August 9, 1946, be placed on the roll of the Yakima Tribes shall be entitled to any back annuities or per capita payments made to the members of the tribes out of tribal funds which were authorized to be paid to the members of the tribes before such persons name shall have been placed upon such roll.

25 USC 607 - Divestment of inheritance of non-members

(a) Procedure 
A person who is not an enrolled member of the Yakima Tribes with one-fourth degree or more blood of such tribes shall not be entitled to receive by devise or inheritance any interest in trust or restricted land within the Yakima Reservation or within the area ceded by the Treaty of June 9, 1855 (12 Stat. 1951), if, while the decedents estate is pending before the Examiner of Inheritance, the Yakima Tribes pay to the Secretary of the Interior, on behalf of such person, the fair market value of such interest as determined by the Secretary of the Interior after appraisal. The interest for which payment is made shall be held by the Secretary in Trust for the Yakima Tribes.
(b) Time of election 
On request of the Yakima Tribes the Examiner of Inheritance shall keep an estate pending for not less than two years from the date of decedents death.
(c) Interest of surviving spouse 
When a person who is prohibited by subsection (a) of this section from acquiring any interest by devise or inheritance is a surviving spouse of the decedent, a life estate in one-half of the interest acquired by the Yakima Tribes shall, on the request of such spouse, be reserved for that spouse and the value of such life estate so reserved shall be reflected in the Secretarys appraisal under subsection (a) of this section.

25 USC 608 - Purchase, sale, and exchange of land

(a) Authority of Secretary; manner and place 
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized in his discretion, to
(1) purchase for the Yakima Tribes, with any funds of such tribes, and to otherwise acquire by gift, exchange, or relinquishment, any lands or interest in lands or improvements thereon within the Yakima Indian Reservation or within the area ceded to the United States by the Treaty of June 9, 1855;
(2) sell or approve sales of any tribal trust lands, any interest therein or improvements thereon, such sales being limited to agencies of the Federal, State, or local governments for recreational, educational, civic, or other public purposes, and to individual members of the tribes;
(3) exchange any tribal trust lands, including interests therein or improvements thereon, for any lands situated within such reservation or the area ceded to the United States by the treaty of June 9, 1855; and
(b) Multiple ownership of land 
Where lands are held in multiple ownership, the Secretary is authorized to sell and exchange such lands to other Indians or the Yakima Tribes only if the sale or exchange is authorized in writing by the owners of at least a majority interest in such lands; except that no greater percentage of approval of individual Indians shall be required under sections 608 to 608c of this title than in any other statute of general application approved by Congress.
(c) Acquisitions to be held in trust 
Lands and interests in lands acquired by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (a)(1) of this section and for the benefit of the Yakima Indian Nation pursuant to section 465 of this title shall be held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Yakima Indian Nation.
(d) Terms and conditions 
The Secretary shall obtain the advice and consent of the Yakima tribal council before entering into any of the above transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of tribal land. The terms and conditions of any such transaction, including the price at which any land is so purchased or sold and the valuation of any lands so exchanged, shall be mutually agreed upon by the Secretary, the Yakima tribal council, and the individual Indian or Indians concerned. Any such exchange of lands shall be effected on the basis of approximately equal consideration with due allowance for the value of improvements in determining the value of such lands.

25 USC 608a - Sale of tribal trust lands, etc.

(a) Title subsequent to sale 
Title to tribal trust lands, interests, improvements, or rights sold by the Secretary to individual members of the Yakima Tribes or exchanged by the Secretary for lands held under trust patent or other restrictions against alienation by individual members of the tribes and other Indians or for lands in heirship status shall be held by the United States in trust for the individual Indian or Indians concerned.
(b) Credit of proceeds to tribal funds 
Sums derived from the sale of tribal trust lands interests, improvements, and rights shall be credited to the tribal funds of the Yakima Tribes.

25 USC 608b - Rights of lessee

(a) No transaction entered into under sections 608 to 608c of this title shall affect, without the consent of the lessee, any lease of lands, interests, improvements, or rights involved in such transaction, or any right of the lessee with respect to extension or renewal of such lease, which is in existence at the time such transaction is entered into.
(b) Repealed, Pub. L. 88–540, § 3, Aug. 31, 1964, 78 Stat. 748.

25 USC 608c - Regulations

The Secretary is authorized to prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of sections 608 to 608c of this title.

25 USC 609 - Action to determine title to judgment fund; claim of Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation; jurisdiction of Court of Claims

The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, acting through the chairman of its business council, and the Yakima Tribes of Indians of the Yakima Reservation, acting through the chairman of its tribal council, for and on behalf of said tribes and each and all their constituent tribal groups, are each hereby authorized to commence or defend in the United States Court of Claims an action against each other making claims to a share in the funds that are on deposit in the Treasury of the United States to pay a judgment of the Indian Claims Commission dated April 5, 1965, in dockets numbered 161, 222, and 224, and the interest on said funds; and jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon said court to hear such claims and to render judgment and decree thereon making such division of such funds and the interest on such funds, as may be just and fair in law and equity, between the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and its constituent tribal groups on the one hand, and the Yakima Tribes of Indians of the Yakima Reservation and its constituent tribal groups on the other hand.

25 USC 609a - Tax exemption

Any part of such funds that may be distributed per capita to the members of the tribes shall not be subject to Federal or State income tax.

25 USC 609b - Disposition of judgment fund; deductions; advances, expenditures, investments, or reinvestments for authorized purposes

The funds appropriated by the Act of October 31, 1965 (79 Stat. 1133, 1152), to pay judgments to the Yakima Tribes of the Yakima Reservation in Indian Claims Commission docket numbered 47A and 162, and by the Act of July 22, 1969 (83 Stat. 49), in consolidated dockets 47 and 164, together with interests thereon, after payment of attorney fees and litigation expenses, may be advanced, expended, invested, or reinvested for any purpose that is authorized by the tribal governing body and approved by the Secretary of the Interior.

25 USC 609b1 - Tax exemption; trusts and other procedures for protection of minors and persons under legal disability

Any part of such funds that may be distributed per capita under the provisions of section 609b of this title and this section shall not be subject to Federal or State income tax; and any per capita share payable to a person under twenty-one years of age or to a person under legal disability shall be paid in accordance with such procedures, including the establishment of trusts, as the Secretary determines will adequately protect the best interest of such persons.

25 USC 609c - Disbursement of minors share of judgment funds

(a) Definitions 
For purposes of this section and section 609c–1 of this title, the term
(1) tribe means the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Indian Nation or the Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation;
(2) tribal governing body means the governing body of a tribe or a committee of the members of such body designated by such body for purposes of this section and section 609c–1 of this title;
(3) Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior acting through (unless otherwise determined by the Secretary) the Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Agency serving the tribe involved;
(4) minor means a member of a tribe, or descendant of a member of a tribe, who has not attained the age of eighteen years and who has a minors share;
(5) minors share means the per capita share of a judgment award, and the investment income accruing thereto, which is held in trust by the Secretary for a minor; and
(6) parent means the biological or adoptive parent or parents, or other legal guardian, of a minor.
(b) Disbursement to parent of minor 
Notwithstanding any provision of the Act of October 19, 1973 (87 Stat. 466) [25 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.], the Act of March 12, 1968 (82 Stat. 47), or any other law, or any regulation or plan promulgated pursuant thereto, the minors share of judgment funds heretofore or hereafter awarded by the Indian Claims Commission or the United States Court of Claims to a tribe may be disbursed to a parent of such minor pursuant to this section and section 609c–1 of this title.
(c) Disbursements under plan for best interest of minor 
The minors share of judgment funds may be disbursed in such amounts deemed necessary by such parent for the best interest of the minor for the minors health, education, welfare, and emergencies under a plan governing such funds for each minor (or a plan governing funds of all minors in a family) approved by the Secretary and the tribal governing body of the minors tribe.
(d) Monthly reports 
The Secretary shall provide a monthly report to each tribal governing body which has approved one or more plans pursuant to subsection (c) of this section. Each such report shall include the amount and purpose of every disbursement made during each month under such plans.

25 USC 609c1 - Tax exemption; eligibility for Federal assistance without regard to payments

Any part of any of the judgment funds referred to in section 609c of this title that may be distributed per capita to, or held in trust for the benefit of, the members of a tribe, including minors shares, shall not be subject to Federal or State income tax, and the per capita payment shall not be considered as income or resources when determining the extent of eligibility for assistance under the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.], or any other Federal or federally assisted program.