350

TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess.III. Ch.83. 1839.

Said divisionto be made bya board of com-missioners.

A meeting tobe held for theelection, &c.

Division, howto be made.

Proviso.

Commission-ers to reporttheir proceed-ings, &.c.

A map to ac-company thereport, &c.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That, for the purpose of makingpartition and division of said lands among the individuals of said tribeof Brothertown Indians, a board of commissioners shall be constituted,to consist of five of the principal or head men of said tribe, a majorityof whom shall constitute a quorum to do business, whose duty it shallbe to make a just and fair partition and division of said lands among themembers of said tribe, or among such of them as, by the laws and cus-toms and regulations of said tribe, are entitled to the same, and in suchproportions and in such manner as shall be consistent with equity andjustice, and in accordance with the existing laws, customs, usages, oragreements of said tribe.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That, for the purpose of electingor choosing said board of commissioners, a meeting of said tribe shallbe held at their church, or principal place, on the reservation of landaforesaid, on the first Monday in July next, at which all the male mem-bers of said tribe over the age of twenty-one years shall be allowed tovote for such commissioners; and the said five commissioners shall thenand there be chosen or elected by the said tribe, by a majority of thewhole number of such voters then present. And the judge of the dis-trict in which said lands are situated (or in his absence the register ofthe land office at Green Bay, or the commanding officer of the UnitedStates troops at Fort Howard) shall attend at the time and place afore-said, and preside at said meeting, superintend the said election, and seethat the proceedings are fairly conducted : and the said presiding officermay, in his discretion, prescribe whether the said election shall be byballot or viva voce; and shall in other respects cause the proceedings tobe conducted in such manner as to ensure a fair and proper choice orelection; and after the said commissioners shall have been so chosen orelected, the said presiding officer shall immediately certify that fact,setting forth the names of the commissioners who shall be elected, andshall make two copies of said certificate, one of which he shall file inthe office of the register of the land district at Green Bay , and the otherhe shall transmit by mail to the President of the United States .

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That after the said commissionersshall have been elected or chosen as above prescribed, and as soon there-after as conveniently may be, they shall proceed to make partition anddivision of all the lands aforesaid among the individual members of saidtribe, or among such of them as, by the laws, customs, usages, or agreements of said tribe are justly entitled to the same, and in such way andmanner, and upon such principles and in such proportions as shall beagreeable to equity and justice, and consistent with the laws, usages,customs, and agreements of said tribe: Provided, however, That thebuildings and improvements, and the farms on which the same aresituated, which are now held or possessed in severalty by the membersof said tribe, shall, so far as the same can consistently be done, beallotted or apportioned to the present occupants; and that no person orindividual of said tribe shall be dispossessed or deprived of the improve-ments or land which they now occupy, unless it shall be found by thesaid commissioners that such person or persons are in the possession ofand occupying more land than they are justly entitled to, and then theoverplus may be apportioned to others.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That after the said commissionersshall have made such partition and division as aforesaid, they shall make,or cause to be made, a full report of their proceedings in the premises,setting forth the name of each person to whom they have apportionedany part of said land, the quantity apportioned or allotted to each, withthe metes and bounds, or other definite description of each several pieceor parcel of land; and they shall accompany the said report with a fairand accurate map of the whole, showing the divisions and partitions