Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma v. Muskogee Area Director, 32 IBIA 81 (1998)

• Court: Interior Board of Indian Appeals

: Order Vacating Decision and : Remanding Case : : : Docket No. IBIA 97-53-A : : : : February 26, 1998

The Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (Tribe) filed a Notice of Appeal seeking review of an October 24, 1996, letter from the Muskogee Area Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs (Area Director; BIA). According to the Tribe, that letter sets out the Area Director's decision "not to comply" with the decision issued by the Board of Indian Appeals (Board) in Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma v. Acting Muskogee Area Director, 27 IBIA 113 (1995) (Peoria I). For the reasons discussed below, the Board vacates the Area Director's decision and remands this case for further consideration in accordance with this decision.

Peoria I addressed the disposition of unclaimed per capita shares of judgment funds payable to Peoria descendants. The Board extensively examined the relevant statutes, and will not repeat that discussion here. In summary, the Board reviewed 25 U.S.C. §§ 861-861c (1994), 1/ which repealed Appellant's termination as a Federally recognized Indian tribe; 25 U.S.C. §§ 1221-1227, which appropriated funds and established procedures for the payment of judgment funds to the Tribe; and 25 U.S.C. §§ 1401-1407, which established a general scheme for the distribution of judgment funds. The Board found nothing in either 25 U.S.C. §§ 861-861c by itself, or in that act taken together with 25 U.S.C. §§ 1401-1407, "that repeals or modifies the reversion provision in 25 U.S.C. § 1226." 27 IBIA at 120.

Section 1226 provides:

Any per capita share, whether payable to a living enrollee or to the heirs or legatees of a deceased enrollee, which the Secretary of the Interior is unable to deliver within two years after the date the check is issued, and all unexpended tribal and judgment funds set aside for tribal roll preparation and distribution, shall revert to the Peoria Tribe, and all claims for such per capita shall thereafter be barred forever.

The Board therefore held "that 25 U.S.C. § 1226 requires that the unclaimed shares of Peoria descendants revert to" the Tribe. 27 IBIA at 120. ______________________________ 1/ All further citations to the United States Code are to the 1994 edition.

Following the issuance of Peoria I, the Peoria Tribal Business Committee passed a resolution on February 7, 1995, asking that BIA release to it the per capita shares being held for nine individuals: Cayce Roberta Elizabeth Hiltbrand; Lesley Marie Spears; Barbara Ann Garig; Daniel Lee Smith; Grattan Gregory McVay; Alex E. Stand, Jr.; Ruth May Humphrey Estate; Wesley White; and Christine Stand. In a February 9, 1995, letter to the Acting Superintendent, Miami Agency, BIA, the Tribe detailed its efforts to locate these individuals.

By letter dated September 8, 1995, the Area Director notified the Tribe of the status of the per capita shares for the nine individuals named above, as well as those for Judith A. Powell and Micci J. McIntyre, whose shares the Tribe had requested prior to the decision in Peoria I. The Area Director stated that Hiltbrand and Powell had been located and paid; Spears and Garig had been located and distribution was pending; Smith had been located and distribution was awaiting verification of his identity; McIntyre had been located but because of a question concerning her competency, her share was to be protected and preserved under 25 U.S.C. § 1403(b)(3); McVay was deceased and payment was awaiting determination of his heirs; Alex Stand had received a payment as a Peoria tribal member, and his second per capita share had reverted to the Tribe; and the shares of Humphrey, White, and Christine Stand had reverted to the Tribe because these individuals died...