25 U.S.C. § 117a — Per capita distribution of funds to tribe members

The Secretary of the Interior holds certain money in trust for an Indian tribe. This money is meant to be paid out per person - an equal share - to the tribe's members. Either the Secretary can make these payments directly, or the tribe can make them itself. For the tribe to pay, its governing body must ask to do so, and the Secretary must approve the request. Whoever makes the payment - the Secretary or the tribe - must pay the money directly to each member. But if a member is a minor, or has been legally found not competent to handle their own affairs, the money instead goes to that member's parent or guardian, or into a trust fund set up for that member. The tribe's governing body decides which of these options to use for minors and legally incompetent members.