Section 971 · Membership roll; preparation; eligibility for enrollment; protests against inclusion or omission from roll; finality of determination; publication of roll; publication of notice of agreement to division of assets; finality of roll

The Secretary of the Interior shall, with the advice and assistance of the Ponca Tribe of Native Americans of Nebraska and pursuant to such regulations as he may prescribe, prepare a roll of the members of the tribe and record thereon persons whose names appeared on the census roll of April 1, 1934, and the supplement thereto of January 1, 1935, and their descendants of not less than one-quarter degree Indian blood of the Ponca Tribe, regardless of place of residence, who are living on September 5, 1962. He shall provide a reasonable opportunity for any person to protest against the inclusion or omission of any name on or from the roll and his decision on such protests shall be final and conclusive. After all protests are disposed of, the roll shall be published in the Federal Register. The Secretary shall thereupon give the adult members of the tribe whose names appear on the roll an opportunity to indicate their agreement or disagreement with a division of tribal assets in accordance with the provisions of this subchapter. If a majority of those indicating agreement or disagreement are favorable to such division, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register a notice of the fact and the roll prepared by him shall thereupon become final and sections 972 to 980 of this title shall become effective.