US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

The qualification "except as otherwise specifically provided by law," as used in § 6 of the Act of May 27, 1908, 35 Stat. 312, removing restrictions upon alienation of allotments to members of the Five Civilized Tribes, means federal, not state, law.

The Act of May 27, 1908, expressly provides that the probate courts of the State of Oklahoma shall have jurisdiction in regard to the disposition of property of minors of the Five Civilized Tribes, and that such jurisdiction shall be subject to the rules and regulations to be promulgated by the Secretary of the Interior.

The fact that the laws of the Territory of Oklahoma gave power to the courts to confer upon minors the rights of majority, and that the Enabling Act continued such laws did not preclude Congress from enacting the provisions of the Act of May 27, 1908, in regard to the disposition of allotments of members of the Five Civilized Tribes who were minors. Tiger v. Western Investment Co., 221 U. S. 286.

Courts in Oklahoma, both state and federal, having found that the provisions of the Act of May 27, 1908, in regard to disposition of allotments of minors of the Five Civilized Tribes dominated the provisions of state law in that respect, that construction has become a rule of property in the state, and this Court would be disposed to adopt it as such even if it doubted the construction placed by those courts upon that act, and held that the title under a lease made by a minor's guardian pursuant thereto was superior to that under a lease made by the minor during minority but after removal of disabilities by the state court.

198 F.8d 5 affirmed.

The facts, which involve the construction of the Act of May 27, 1908, defining restrictions on alienation of allotments by members of the Five Civilized Tribes, and the validity of gas and mining leases made by a member of the Cherokee Tribe, are stated in the opinion. chanrobles.com-red

Page 236 U. S. 224