The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 3766) providing for the acquisition of certain Indian lands on the Spokane and Colville Reservations, in the State of Washington for dam and reservoir purposes in connection with the Grand Coulee Dam project, having considered the same, report thereon with the recommendation that it do pass with the following amendments:
On page 3, line 9, after the word "tribe" insert a comma. Strike out the remainder of section 2, and insert in lieu thereof the following:
pursuant to the provisions of the Act of May 17, 1926 (44 Stat. 560). The amounts due individual landownersOn page 3, line 14, strike out the word "held" and substitute the word "deposited", add a comma after the word "allottees", strike out the word "or" and substitute the word "their" and add the words "or devisees" after the word "heirs".
On page 3, strike out all of the lines 15, 16, and 17.
After the receipt of the bill by your committee it was referred to the Secretary of the Interior for further consideration and report, and thereafter under date of May 28, 1940, he submitted his report, which report contained a suggestion that the bill be amended as herein recommended.
A full explanation of the purpose of this proposed legislation is contained in the said report of the Secretary of the Interior, dated May 28, 1940, a copy of which is attached hereto and made a part of this report, as follows:
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Washington, May 28, 1940
HON. ELMER THOMAS
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate
MY DEAR SENATOR THOMAS: I have received your letter of April 16, enclosing for my report a copy of the bill S. 3766, for the acquisition of Indian lands for the Grand Coulee Dam and Reservoir, and for other purposes.
I recommend that the proposed legislation be enacted subject, however, to the following amendments:
1. Section 2, page 3, line 9, insert a comma after the word "tribe" . . . pursuant to the provisions of the act of May 17, 1926 (44 Stat 560). The amounts due individual landowners or their heirs or devisees shall be paid from funds now or hereafter made available for the construction of said project to the Superintendent of the Colville Indian Agency or such other officer as shall be designated by the Secretary of the Interior for credit on the books of said Agency to the accounts of the individuals concerned."
2. Section 3, line 14, page 3, strike out the word held. . .
3. Section 3, page 3, strike out all of lines 15, 16, and 17.
If it amended in the foregoing particulars and enacted by the Congress, this proposed legislation will operate to grant to the United States all the rights of the Indians in lands of the Spokane and Colville Reservations required for the project (principally for the Columbia River Reservoir), and various rights-of-way over Indian lands required in connection with the project. The bill provides that compensation for the lands and various rights-of-way required shall be determined by the Secretary of the Interior and that the measure of such compensation shall be the amount determined by the Secretary of the Interior as just and equitable for the lands and interests required. Amounts determined upon as compensation for tribal lands would be transferred in the Treasury of the United States from funds now or hereafter made available for construction of the Grand Coulee Dam project to the credit of the appropriate tribe, and, in the case of allotted lands, the amounts due individual landowners or their heirs or devisees would be paid from the same funds of the superintendent of the Colville Indian Agency, or such other officer as the Secretary of the Interior might designate, for credit on the books of said agency to the accounts of the individuals concerned.
In consideration of the rights they now enjoy within the Spokane and Colville Reservations, provisions are contained in the bill concerning the hunting, fishing, and boating rights of the Indians. In substance, such provisions would require the Secretary of the Interior to set aside an area of approximately one-quarter of the entire reservoir area for the use of the Spokane and Colville Reservation Indians for hunting, fishing, and boating purposes, subject to such reasonable regulations as the Secretary would prescribe and provided that the exercise of such hunting, fishing, and boating rights would not interfere with project operations. The rights of the Indians to use this area for hunting, fishing, and boating, will not necessarily be exclusive rights. The location of this area is left to the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior so that, following a study of several probable diverse uses of the reservoir area by the National Park Service, the Bureau of Biological Survey, the Bureau of Fisheries, and the Indians, there may be an equitable adjustment of these uses which will take account of the natural advantages of the different parts of the reservoir in relation to these uses.
I am informed by the Director, Bureau of the Budget, that, if the proposed legislation is amended in accordance with the suggestions made in this letter, he would have no objection to the presentation of this report.
Sincerely yours,HAROLD ICKES,
Secretary of the Interior
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54 STAT] 76th CONG., 3d. SESS. --CH. 460--JUNE 29, 1940
[CHAPTER 460]
AN ACTFor the acquisition of Indian lands for the Grand Coulee Dam and Reservoir, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, in aid of the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam project, authorized by the Act of August 30, 1935 (49 Stat. 1028), there is hereby granted to the United States, subject to the provisions of this Act, (a) all the right, title, and interest of the Indians in and to the tribal and allotted lands within the Spokane and Colville Reservations, including sites of agency and school buildings and related structures and unsold lands in Klaxta town site, as may be designated therefor by the Secretary of the Interior from time to time: Provided, That no lands shall be taken for res[e]rvoir purposes above the elevation of one thousand three hundred and ten feet above sea level as shown by General Lang Office surveys, except in Klaxta town site; and (b) such other interests in or to any of such lands and property within these reservations as may be required and as may be designated by the Secretary of the Interior from time to time for the construction of pipe lines, highways, railroads, telegraph, telephone, and electric-transmission lines in connection with the project, or for the relocation or reconstruction of such facilities made necessary by the construction of the project.
The Secretary of the Interior, in lieu of reserving rights of hunting, fishing, and boating to the Indians in the areas granted under this Act, shall set aside approximately one-quarter of the entire reservoir area for the paramount use of the Indians of the Spokane and Colville Reservations for hunting, fishing, and boating purposes, which rights shall be subject only to such reasonable regulations as the Secretary may prescribe for the protection and conservation of fish and wildlife: Provided, That the exercise of the Indians' rights shall not interfere with project operation. The Secretary shall also, where necessary, grant to the Indians reasonable rights of access to such area or areas across any project lands.
SEC. 2. As lands or interests in lands are designated from time to time under this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall determine the amount of money to be paid to the Indians as just and equitable compensation therefor. As to the tribal lands, the amounts so determined shall be transferred in the Treasury of the Untied States from the funds now or hereafter made available for the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam project to the credit of the appropriate tribe pursuant to the provisions of the Act of May 17, 1926 (44 Stat. 560). The amounts due individual landowners or their heirs or devisees shall be paid from funds now or hereafter made available for the construction of said project to the superintendent of the Colville Indian Agency or such other officer as shall be designated by the Secretary of the Interior for credit on the books of said agency to the accounts of the individuals concerned.
SEC. 3. Funds deposited to the credit of allottees, their heirs or devisees may be used in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, for the acquisition of other lands and improvements, or the relocation of existing improvements or construction of new improvements on the lands so acquired for the allottees or heirs whose lands and improvements are acquired under the provisions of this Act. Lands so acquired shall be held in the same status as those from which the funds were derived, and shall be nontaxable until otherwise provided by Congress.
SEC. 4. As to any Indian cemetery lands required for the project, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in his discretion, in lieu of requiring payment therefor, to establish cemeteries on other lands that he may select and acquire for the purpose, and to remove bodies, markers, and other appurtenances to the new sites. All costs incurred in connection with any such relocation shall be paid from moneys appropriated for the project. All right, title, and interest of the Indians in the lands within any cemetery so relocated shall terminate and the grant of title under this Act take effect as of the date the Secretary of the Interior authorizes the relocation. Sites of the relocated cemeteries shall be held in trust by the United States for the Spokane or Colville Tribe, as the case may be, and shall be nontaxable.
SEC. 5. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to perform any and all acts and to prescribe such regulations as he may deem appropriate to carry out the provisions of this Act.
Approved, June 29, 1940