Cooperative associations; charter; purposes; voting rights

Any ten or more Indians, as determined by the official tribal rolls, or Indian descendants of such enrolled members, or Indians as defined in the Act of June 18, 1934 ( 48 Stat. 984 ) [ 25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.], who reside within the State of Oklahoma in convenient proximity to each other may receive from the Secretary of the Interior a charter as a local cooperative association for any one or more of the following purposes: Credit administration, production, marketing, consumers’ protection, or land management. The provisions of this chapter, the regulations of the Secretary of the Interior, and the charters of the cooperative associations issued pursuant thereto shall govern such cooperative associations: Provided , That in those matters not covered by this chapter, regulations, or charters, the laws of the State of Oklahoma, if applicable, shall govern. In any stock or nonstock cooperative association no one member shall have more than one vote, and membership therein shall be open to all Indians residing within the prescribed district.

( June 26, 1936, ch. 831, § 4 , 49 Stat. 1967 .)