25 U.S.C. § 376 — Oaths in investigations

This section lets certain federal workers put witnesses under oath during heirship investigations. Starting after August 1, 1914, this power applies to any officer or employee that the Secretary of the Interior or the Commissioner of Indian Affairs appoints or names as a "special examiner in heirship cases." Heirship cases are investigations into who inherits property. Once appointed, that special examiner may administer oaths — meaning they can legally swear in witnesses — in the investigations assigned to them. This authority has a limit, though. It does not apply to investigations involving the Osage Indians, and it does not apply to investigations involving the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians in Oklahoma. For those two groups, this section's grant of oath-administering power does not apply; the text does not say what rule, if any, covers them instead.