Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 29.djvu/385

 FIFTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 398. 1896. 355 rate of four per centum per annum. Such sums, or so much thereof as may be necessary in any one year, shall be expended in the purcha e of cows, bulls, and other live stock, goods, clothing, subsistence, agricultural implements, in providing employees, in the education of Indian children, in procuring medicine and medical attendance, in the care and support of the aged, sick, and infirm, and of helpless orphans, in the erection and keeping in repair of such new agency and school buildings, mills, blacksmith, carpenter, and wagon shops as may be necessary, in asslstm g the Indians to build and keep in repair their houses, inclose and irrigate their farms, and in such other ways as may best promote their civilization and improvement. Aumcnn III. It is agreed that in the employment of all agency and school employees aa£i?£giu°°t M Im preference in all cases be given to Indians residing on the reservation, _ who are well qualified for such positions; and that all cattle issued to said Indians for stock·raising purposes, and their progeny, shall bear the brand of the Indian Department, and shall not be sold, exchanged, ‘ or slaughtered, except by the consent of the agent in charge, until such time as this restriction shall be removed by the Commissioner of Indian Aifairs. Anrrcnu IV. In order to encourage habits of industry and to reward labor, it is t1·Hii;ib;iZi§rg¤i¤;°Ll further understood and agreed that, in the giving out or distribution of cattle or other stock, goods, clothing, subsistence, and agricultural implements, as provided in Article Il, preference shall be given to Indians who endeavor by honest labor to support themselves, and especially to those who in good faith undertake the cultivation of the soil and engage in astoral pursuits as a means of obtaining a livelihood, and the distribution of these benefits shall be made from time to time, in such manner as shall best promote the objects specified. Anrromn V. Since the situation of the Blackfeet Reservation renders it wholly ¤¤>¤l= ¤i·i¤s-·¤¤- unfit for agriculture, and since these Indians have shown within the past four years that they can successfully raise horned cattle, and there is every probability that they will become self supporting by attention to this industry, it is agreed that during the existence of this agreement no allotments of land in severalty shall be made to them, but that this whole reservation shall continue to be held by these Indian as a communal grazing tract upon which their herds may iced undisturbed; and that after the expiration of this agreement the lands shall continue to be held until such time as a majority of the adult males of the tribe shall request in writing that allotment in severalty shall be made of their lands: Provided, That any member of the tribe may, with the approval of the agent in charge, fence in such area of land as he and the members of his family would be entitled to under the allotment act, and may tile with the agent a description of such land and of the improvements that he has made on the same, and the filing of such description shall give the said members of the tribe the right to take such land when allotments of the land in severalty shall be made. Anrrcrm VI. So soon as this agreement shall have received the approval of Con- $¤"¤!¤· ¤¤=· gress the boundary lines described in Article I shall be surveyed and designated by two engineers, one of whom shall be selected by the Indians and one by the Secretary of the Interior; the said boundaries shall at once be marked by monuments, not more than one-half mile apart; the points at the month of Divide Creek and the westernmost extremity of the lower Two Medicine Lake, after they have been