TITLE 25 - US CODE - SUBCHAPTER XLV - OMAHA TRIBE: DISTRIBUTION OF JUDGMENT FUND

25 USC 961 - Membership roll; preparation; eligibility for enrollment; applications for enrollment; protests; finality of determination

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed, pursuant to such regulations as may be issued by him, to prepare a roll of Omaha Indians whose names appear on the Omaha allotment rolls finally approved pursuant to the Acts of Congress of August 7, 1882, (22 Stat. 341) and March 3, 1893 (27 Stat. 612), and who are living on September 14, 1961, and the descendants of such allottees who are born and living on September 14, 1961 and who possess Omaha blood of the degree of one-fourth or more regardless of whether such allottees are living or deceased: Provided, That 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 unless the application for enrollment by such person is approved by a two-thirds vote of the governing body of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska. Applications for enrollment must be filed with the area director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Aberdeen, South Dakota, within four months after September 14, 1961. For a period of three months thereafter, the Secretary shall permit the examination of the applications by the governing body of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska for the purpose of lodging protests against any application. The determination of the Secretary regarding the eligibility of an applicant shall be final.

25 USC 962 - Membership roll; enrollment of children born after September 14, 1961

The roll prepared pursuant to section 961 of this title shall constitute the membership roll of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska as of September 14, 1961, notwithstanding the provisions of article II, section 1 of the tribal constitution, and children who are born after September 14, 1961, may be enrolled if they meet the requirements of section 1(b) of article II of the tribal constitution, applicable to children born after the date that amendment I to said constitution was approved, or any amendment thereof.

25 USC 963 - Per capita distributions to tribal members; attorneys fees and expenses; advances or expenditures from tribal funds; tax exemption

Of the funds on deposit in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska that were appropriated to pay a judgment by the Indian Claims Commission dated February 11, 1960, and the interest thereon, after payment of attorneys fees and expenses, the Secretary of the Interior shall make a per capita distribution of a sum up to a maximum of $750, to the extent available, to each person whose name appears on the roll prepared pursuant to section 961 of this title; and the balance of such funds after making payment of or provision for such per capita distribution and accrued and accruing interest, if any, may be advanced or expended for any purpose that is authorized by the tribal governing body and approved in writing by the Secretary. The funds so distributed shall not be subject to Federal or State income taxes.

25 USC 964 - Distribution of shares

(a) Payments to enrollees, next of kin, or legatees 
Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary shall distribute a per capita share payable to a living enrollee directly to such enrollee, and the Secretary shall distribute a per capita share payable to a deceased enrollee directly to his next of kin or legatees as determined by the laws of the place of domicile of the decedent upon proof of death and inheritance satisfactory to the Secretary, whose findings upon such proof shall be final and conclusive.
(b) Payments to minors or persons under legal disability 
A share payable to a person under twenty-one years of age or to a person under a legal disability shall be paid in accordance with such procedures as the Secretary determines will adequately protect the best interests of such persons.

25 USC 965 - Payments not subject to liens, debts, or claims; exception

No part of any of the funds which may be so distributed shall be subject to any lien, debt, or claim of any nature whatsoever against the tribe or individual Indians except delinquent debts owed by the tribe to the United States or owed by individual Indians to the tribe or to the United States.

25 USC 966 - Costs

All costs incurred by the Secretary in the preparation of the roll and in the payment of the per capita shares in accordance with provisions of this subchapter shall be paid by appropriate withdrawals from the judgment fund.

25 USC 967 - Rules and regulations

The Secretary is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this subchapter.

25 USC 967a - Per capita payments to enrolled tribal members; use of balance of funds

From the funds on deposit in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska that were appropriated by the Act of June 9, 1964, to pay a judgment obtained by the tribe in Indian Claims Commission docket numbered 138, after deduction of attorney fees, litigation expenses, and such sums as may be required to distribute individual shares, the Secretary of the Interior shall make a per capita distribution of no more than $270 to each person living on November 2, 1966, whose name appears on the roll of the tribe prepared pursuant to section 961 of this title, and to each child living on November 2, 1966, who was born after September 14, 1961, and who possesses aboriginal Omaha blood of the degree of one-fourth or more except for any such child who is enrolled with any other tribe of Indians. The balance of such funds, and the interest thereon, may be advanced or expended for any purpose that is authorized by the tribal governing body and approved by the Secretary. The amount of $150,000 of said funds and any interest thereon shall not be distributed, advanced or expended until said $150,000 and any interest thereon becomes available for disbursement pursuant to the terms of the final judgment dated April 14, 1964, by the Indian Claims Commission in docket numbered 138.

25 USC 967b - Payments to minors and persons under legal disability; shares under certain amount to revert to tribe

Sums payable to persons or to their heirs or legatees who are less than twenty-one years of age or who are under a legal disability shall be paid in accordance with such procedures as the Secretary, after consultation with the tribal governing body, determines will adequately protect their best interests. Proportional shares of heirs or legatees amounting to $5 or less shall not be distributed and such amounts shall escheat to the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska.

25 USC 967c - Tax exemption

The funds distributed under the provisions of sections 967a to 967d of this title shall not be subject to Federal or State income taxes.

25 USC 967d - Rules and regulations

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of sections 967a to 967d of this title.