§ 404. — Sale on petition of allottee or heirs.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 25USC404]
TITLE 25--INDIANS
CHAPTER 12--LEASE, SALE, OR SURRENDER OF ALLOTTED OR UNALLOTTED LANDS
Sec. 404. Sale on petition of allottee or heirs
The lands, or any part thereof, allotted to any Indian, or any
inherited interest therein, which can be sold under existing law by
authority of the Secretary of the Interior, except the lands in Oklahoma
and the States of Minnesota and South Dakota, may be sold on the
petition of the allottee, or his heirs, on such terms and conditions and
under such regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe;
and the lands of a minor, or of a person deemed incompetent by the
Secretary of the Interior to petition for himself, may be sold in the
same manner, on the petition of the natural guardian in the case of
infants, and in the case of Indians deemed incompetent as aforesaid, and
of orphans without a natural guardian, on petition of a person
designated for the purpose by the Secretary of the Interior. When any
Indian who has received an allotment of land dies before the expiration
of the trust period, the Secretary of the Interior shall ascertain the
legal heirs of such Indian, and if satisfied of their ability to manage
their own affairs shall cause to be issued in their names a patent in
fee simple for said lands; but if he finds them incapable of managing
their own affairs, the land may be sold as hereinbefore provided:
Provided, That the proceeds derived from all sales hereunder shall be
used, during the trust period, for the benefit of the allottee, or heir,
so disposing of his interest, under the supervision of the Commissioner
of Indian Affairs: And provided further, That upon the approval of any
sale hereunder by the Secretary of the Interior, he shall cause a patent
in fee to issue in the name of the purchaser for the lands so sold: And
provided further, That nothing in this section shall apply to the States
of Minnesota and South Dakota.
(May 29, 1908, ch. 216, Sec. 1, 35 Stat. 444.)
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies
of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of
the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950,
Secs. 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out in
the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Yakima Indian Reservation, Washington
Special provisions for sale of interests of Indian minors in lands
of the Yakima Indian reservation, in the State of Washington, whether by
direct allotment or by inheritance, were made by act Mar. 27, 1908, ch.
107, 35 Stat. 49.
