===== page 1 =====

Land Division
Claims
48957-41
UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
Mr. C. H. Wilson
President, Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
Through Dept., Consolidated Chippewa Agency
My dear Mr. Wilson
On July 26, 1941, the Tribal Executive Committee of the Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe adopted Resolution No. 4 governing future enrollment of members in the tribe
FILE COPY
which resolution, pursuant to Section 2, Article II of the Constitution of the
Surname:
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, was ratified by the tribal delegates on July 26, 1941
and submitted for approval by the Secretary of the Interior
For the reasons hereinafter discussed I find it necessary to disapprove
Resolution No. 4.
The resolution re-enacts Section 2 of Article II of the Tribal Constitution
in that only descendants of Chippewa Indians duly registered on the approved rolls
of any reservation or band referred to in Section 1, Article II of the Constitu
tion as recognized by the United States pursuant to the Act of January 14, 1889
(25 Stat. 612), shall be eligible for membership in the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
and also in that it recognizes the present rolls maintained by the Consolidated
Chippewa Agency subject, however, to correction by the governing body. The resol
ution declares that all descendants of the persons mentioned are eligible for en
rollment as a matter of right regardless of place of birth, degree of Indian blood, place of residence at present, tribal affiliation, etc., and further provides that
such persons shall file a birth certificate or other supporting evidence as proof of their right to enrollment. The procedure, after the establishment of their
right to enrollment, is, according to Section 4, Article II of the Tribal Constitu
tion, for the applications of such persons to receive consideration by the govern
ing body and the decision thereon to receive ratification by the tribal delegates.
The resolution provides that upon ratification thereof by the tribal delegates and
rolling only Indians who are residents of the recognized Indian country, or their
in determining future membership, apparently leaving such consideration to the
discretion of the governing body.
At the outset it should be stated that the Indian Reorganization Act of June
18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), by providing for the organization of Indian tribes on the
basis of self-government, has delegated to those tribes the right to determine their
own membership wherever constitutions such as that of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
have been promulgated pursuant to that act and embodying provisions governing tri
bal membership. These provisions are alone governing and all prior departmental
Jul VB
COPY FOR THE SECRETARY'S OFFICE


===== page 2 =====

eonteined gulatione $hie thereby ets wes 2k Gf the ineffectiva, memersiis In ic the sage ani of tr the wubed ty the 4x4
ehe Gribt with the eprreyel ef bhe veersaterr sf the interisr, eS, =
the trise, therefers, ia aot bound ty dope rimentel ruled end revuletions
\peferred aad to & of the times of is ths singtes sf acd the indiane Saherrie as ihe tribe oht.s on acy ‘wore
etip im the trite if it aq desired end if the seeretary af ghe interior
any reselution passed ter thet parpter. —
~ -. wtudy of the almites, however, anpeere tc reveal thet section 2 of the
restlution which relies on the jet of January 14, 198: (85 Stet. £23), in order
+o provide for such « general right of emtoliwent seems to te based on en error
| on.
| | of law. That ect did not require thet all descendents of ancestors Listes
fron |
the 1889 roll be recognized as members of the tribe, I+ ic cleur, however, -
several remarks made by tribe] mesbere who spoke during tho meetings et which
resolution lc, 4 was ciseussed end adoptes, thet thoy believed they were lecally
bound to gecept ag members e]] descendents es Yinnesots Chippeswe indiesas.
si“ FeOn Other remarks made during thess meetings it sprears het part of the
reason for tho reediness of the tribe to sinit to uumbersnip all descendents of
_(. Srivel membership and in the nusber of Incians thereby antitled te share in trite
SOON: yenetite pould got reeult in @ Gepietien of & ribal assets now eveileble, “he be-
Lief was expressed that Congress would readily @vprenriete lerge aust ef money in
«ss weder wewers
to satiety the elaing of these agw trival so that they would not re-
, Suis de desreusing the share of tssets now available for euch present member of
the Siimeesote Uhippowa Tribe,
4% should be sede clear $e the tribe that any expectation of such aoncression-
@i epproprietions iw without eny bests ix fact. If the Mimnesota chippews Indiens
_..
a
oo Geokee-te share their property with laree meber of peraons who are Indians ©. —
neither by nens, recldense, or attnehnent-but merely by the aecident sf a erell
portion of ladien bleed, is order to extend such Benefits ts may be availeble to
_~—s« @annesote Chippews Indtens to tre lereest possible number of persons, Shet door
Ot @onstitate any reason for Gengress to incresse those tribal acsets in order
to sefeasuard the share which present mesbers of the tribe may nor @xpect., fon-
gress cannot justifiably be expéeted to make large appreprietions in order to
districoute unearned benefits to Rumerous americans wnoee Iadien ehareoter bee beer
.- @12 Bet lest. Sapectally is thin true in time of war when finanaiai Gesunde upon
gonrress for militers expenditure ere ao very large. “he Minnesota Chippom: ‘rite,
therefore, must reslize that every nev seme which they add to the mesterahip roll
will by that much decrease the shure every mester nox has in the Limits" eaarts
ef the Minnesota Chippese Tribe. |
«
it ahoulé be efded aleo thet the rules represented By Resolution 7 4 Bs
fundamentally opposed to the selicy enanelate2 agein and again by soner reas @Bs


===== page 3 =====

followed by this Experiment. It is the basic policy of the Indian Reorganization
Act, supra, to enable tribal organizations to maintain their identity and to fol-
low a natural development unhampered so far as possible by outside influences.
Section 19 of that Act provides that:
"The term 'Indian' as used in this Act shall include all persons of
Indian descent who are members of any recognized Indian tribe now under Federal
jurisdiction and all persons who are descendants of such members who
were on June 2, 1934, residing within the present boundaries of any Indian
reservation, and shall further include all other persons of one-half or
more Indian blood."
(Underlining supplied.)
This provision makes it quite clear that nonresident persons of less than one-
half Indian blood are not even included in the basic enumeration of groups con-
sidered by the very Act under which the constitution of the Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe has been promulgated.
Similarly, the recent appropriation acts provide that educational benefits
may be available only to persons of at least one-fourth Indian blood. The same
restriction applies to loans to be made from revolving credit funds set up under
the annual appropriation acts of this Department. Generally speaking, an ever
increasing number of Indian tribes are incorporating in their constitutions pro-
visions limiting membership to persons having a minimum quantum of Indian blood.
This is in entire accord with the policy of Congress and this Department. The
purpose of the Indian Reorganization Act and the system established thereunder
could never be realized if the orderly and well-organized life of Indian tribes
based on a close-knit membership steeped in the tradition and usage of their
tribe were to be disrupted by the large scale admission of persons whose only
contact with the Indian tribe is a negligible quantum of Indian blood and the
desire to reap financial benefits from such membership.
This Department is charged with the responsibility of protecting the Indian
tribes in their identity and their property, and of securing to them the benefits
of the system of orderly tribal self-government established by the Indian Reorgan-
ization Act. This responsibility has been implemented by giving this Department
the right to approve or disapprove certain tribal resolutions, and especially
those dealing with admission to membership. I believe that Resolution No. 4 would
have undesirable consequences which were not made manifest in the consideration
given to that resolution by the council, and that in disapproving that resolution
the Department will protect the tribe and its future generations from the damage
to their property and to their tribal organization which that resolution might
cause.
I am confident that once the errors of law and fact on which that resolu-
tion was clearly based are fully realized by the tribe, they will wish to modify
these provisions and to limit tribal membership to those persons who by their
degree of Indian blood, their residence within the Indian reservation, or other


===== page 4 =====

in,
the reayon-
and
interest
CHAPMAN
loyel .
with,
and beine Searetary
‘
of
L.
connection yours,
promise OSCAR Amelatent
give
Sinoorely
Tribe
continuous (Sgd.)
Chippews é
and
tribe, Agenoy.
intimate Chippewa
their
Kinnegota the
of 11/11/¢v 11/18/y7 Consolidated Oreanization
of
the members 10/20/d:
of
Orne
Indian
oa re) ort
Sue Hee §&S &
= wt oo #8 ee c> oe |
PES Oe
ro)
c @ & ©