DETERMINATION OF COMPETENCY: CROW INDIANS

• Citation: 25 CFR Part 153
• Sections: 6

§ 153.1 Purpose of regulations.

The regulations in this part govern the procedures in determining the competency of Crow Indians under Public Law 303, 81st Congress, approved September 8, 1949.

§ 153.2 Application and examination.

The Commissioner of Indian Affairs or his duly authorized representative, upon the application of any unenrolled adult member of the Crow Tribe, shall classify him by placing his name to the competent or incompetent rolls established pursuant to the act of June 4, 1920 (41 Stat. 751), and upon application shall determine whether those persons whose names now or hereafter appear on the incompetent roll shall be reclassified as competent and their names placed on the competent roll.

§ 153.3 Application form.

The application form shall include, among other things:

(a) The name of the applicant;

(b) His age, residence, degree of Indian blood, and education;

(c) His experience in farming, cattle raising, business, or other occupation (including home-making);

(d) His present occupation, if any;

(e) A statement concerning the applicant's financial status, including his average earned and unearned income for the last two years from restricted leases and from other sources, and his outstanding indebtedness to the United States, to the tribe, or to others;

(f) A description of his property and its value, including his allotted and inherited lands; and

(g) The name of the applicant's spouse, if any, and the names of his minor children, if any, and their ages, together with a statement regarding the land, allotted and inherited, held by each.

§ 153.4 Factors determining competency.

Among the matters to be considered by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in determining competency are the amount of the applicant's indebtedness to the tribe, to the United States Government, and to others; whether he is a public charge or a charge on friends and relatives, or will become such a charge, by reason of being classed as competent; and whether the applicant has demonstrated that he possesses the ability to take care of himself and his property, to protect the interests of himself and his family, to lease his land and collect the rentals therefrom, to lease the land of his minor children, to prescribe in lease agreements those provisions which will protect the land from deterioration through over-grazing and other improper practices, and to assume full responsibility for obtaining compliance with the terms of any lease.

§ 153.5 Children of competent Indians.

Children of competent Indians who have attained or upon attaining their majority shall automatically become competent except any such Indian who is declared incompetent by a court of competent jurisdiction or who is incompetent under the laws of the State within which he resides.

§ 153.6 Appeals.

An appeal to the Secretary of the Interior may be made within 30 days from the date of notice to the applicant of the decision of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.