Laws: Cases and Codes : U.S. Code : Title 25 : Section 404


   
U.S. Code as of: 01/19/04
Section 404. Sale on petition of allottee or heirs

      The lands, or any part thereof, allotted to any Indian, or any
    inherited interest therein, which can be sold under existing law by
    authority of the Secretary of the Interior, except the lands in
    Oklahoma and the States of Minnesota and South Dakota, may be sold
    on the petition of the allottee, or his heirs, on such terms and
    conditions and under such regulations as the Secretary of the
    Interior may prescribe; and the lands of a minor, or of a person
    deemed incompetent by the Secretary of the Interior to petition for
    himself, may be sold in the same manner, on the petition of the
    natural guardian in the case of infants, and in the case of Indians
    deemed incompetent as aforesaid, and of orphans without a natural
    guardian, on petition of a person designated for the purpose by the
    Secretary of the Interior. When any Indian who has received an
    allotment of land dies before the expiration of the trust period,
    the Secretary of the Interior shall ascertain the legal heirs of
    such Indian, and if satisfied of their ability to manage their own
    affairs shall cause to be issued in their names a patent in fee
    simple for said lands; but if he finds them incapable of managing
    their own affairs, the land may be sold as hereinbefore provided:
    Provided, That the proceeds derived from all sales hereunder shall
    be used, during the trust period, for the benefit of the allottee,
    or heir, so disposing of his interest, under the supervision of the
    Commissioner of Indian Affairs: And provided further, That upon the
    approval of any sale hereunder by the Secretary of the Interior, he
    shall cause a patent in fee to issue in the name of the purchaser
    for the lands so sold: And provided further, That nothing in this
    section shall apply to the States of Minnesota and South Dakota.



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