Title 25IndiansRelease 119-73

§199a Custody of records; Oklahoma Historical Society

Title 25 › Chapter CHAPTER 5— - PROTECTION OF INDIANS › § 199a

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Records of Indian tribes that the Secretary of the Interior placed with the Oklahoma Historical Society stay United States property and must be kept under rules from the Archivist. Copies certified by the Society’s secretary or chief clerk are as valid as copies made by the Archivist (44 U.S.C. 2116(b)), must be free to the federal government, and the records must be returned promptly on the Archivist’s request.

Full Legal Text

Title 25, §199a

Indians — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Title to records of Indian tribes heretofore placed with the Oklahoma Historical Society of the State of Oklahoma by the Secretary of the Interior shall remain vested in the United States and such records shall be held by the said society under rules and regulations prescribed by the Archivist of the United States: Provided, That copies of any such rec­ords, documents, books, or papers held by the said society when certified by the secretary or chief clerk thereof under its seal, or by the officer or person acting as secretary or chief clerk, shall be evidence equally with the original, and in making such certified copies the said secretary or acting secretary and the said chief clerk or acting chief clerk shall be acting as a Federal agent, and such certified copies shall have the same force and effect as if made by the Archivist of the United States as provided in section 2116(b) of title 44: Provided further, That whenever such certified copies are desired for official use by the Federal Government they shall be furnished without cost: Provided further, That any such records held by the said society shall be promptly returned to the Government official designated by the Archivist of the United States upon his request therefor.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification “section 2116(b) of title 44” substituted in text for “section 509(b) of the Federal Records Act of 1950 (64 Stat. 583)” on authority of section 2(b) of Pub. L. 90–620, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1305, the first section of which enacted Title 44, Public Printing and Documents, and restated such section 509(b) as section 2112(b) of Title 44, and Pub. L. 98–497, title I, § 102(a)(1), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2280, which renumbered section 2112(b) as 2116(b).

Amendments

1984—Pub. L. 98–497 substituted “Archivist of the United States” for “Administrator of General Services” in three places. 1951—Act Oct. 25, 1951, transferred control of Indian tribal records, heretofore placed hereunder with Oklahoma Historical Society, from Secretary of the Interior to Administrator of General Services.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1984 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 98–497 effective Apr. 1, 1985, see section 301 of Pub. L. 98–497, set out as a note under section 2102 of Title 44, Public Printing and Documents.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

25 U.S.C. § 199a

Title 25Indians

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73