Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 96 Part 2.djvu/674

 96 STAT. 2036 Gros Ventre Tribe of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, Montana.

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Per capita payments.

Tax exemption.

Papago Tribe of Arizona.

PUBLIC LAW 97-408—JAN. 3, 1983

SEC. 4. The funds appropriated to the Gros Ventre Tribe of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, Montana, in docket numbered 279-C, in the original amount of $2,094,987; in docket numbered 309-74, in the original amount of $77,780.13; and in docket numbered 649-80L, in the initial amount of 26.8 per centum of $29,404,951.94, shall be used and distributed as follows: Provided, That no person shall be eligible to share in more than one award in his own right: (a) Eighty per centum of such funds shall be distributed in the form of per capita payments (in sums as equal as possible) to all persons born on or prior to, and living on, the date of enactment of this Act who are (1) duly enrolled members of the Gros Ventre Tribe of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation who possess at least one-quarter degree Gros Ventre blood or (2) who are enrolled in the Fort Belknap Indian Community and who are at least one-fourth degree Gros Ventre and Assiniboine blood, but not less than one-eighth degree Gros Ventre blood, and are not eligible to share under section 3 of this Act. 0)) Twenty per centum of such funds shall be held in trust and invested by the Secretary for the benefit of the members of the Gros Ventre Tribe of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. The treaty committee of such tribe is authorized to utilize such funds on a budgetary beisis, subject to approval of the Secretary, for social and economic programs. Such programs may include, but are not limited to, land acquisition and the development of local reservation projects. (c) Nothing in this section is deemed in anyway to increase, diminish, or in an3rway affect the right of the Gros Ventre Tribe to determine its membership. SEC. 5. The per capita shares of living competent adults shall be paid directly to them. Per capita shares of deceased individual beneficiaries shall be determined and distributed pursuant to regulations prescribed by the Secretary. Per capita shares of individuals under eighteen shall be paid m accordance with such procedures, including the establishment of trusts, as the Secretary determines to be necessary to protect and preserve the interests of such individuals. SEC. 6. None of the funds distributed per capita or held in trust under provisions of this Act shall be subject to Federal or State income taxes, and the per capita payments shall not be considered as income or resources when determining the extent of eligibility for assistance under the Social Security Act or other Federal assistance programs. SEC. 7. The Secretary is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act, including the establishment of deadlines for filing applications for enrollment. SEC. 8. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the funds appropriated by the Act of September 30, 1976 (90 Stat. 1416), in satisfaction of a judgment awarded to the Papago Tribe of Arizona in dockets numbered 345 and 102 of the Indian Claims Commission, less attorney fees and litigation expenses, but including all accrued interest or investment income, shall be used and distributed as provided in this Act. (b) Fifty per centum of such funds shall be held in trust by the Secretary for the benefit of the Papago Tribe and shall be administered or invested by the Secretary for the best interest of the tribe under existing law. Such funds shall be held and used as follows:

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