The Democratic Whig. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1842-1843, 1843-05-04

ia On ysEzAor. Abrl aalh isAD.
Two II the conn .adsf. 81 she aalaal-
.hiSut cf the Indian claims under th1 Clleeiaw
Treaty Al Dancing Rabbi are n assehAaaas'
Il Ills rlaie iii tie partisslp ale heir claims
col. Claibsfna iIls s6lf.1tylsd Pssii q the
board i Il pfe3kIt abssnsi supposed % BE en-.
gagged II filling IN from 1Aaug tho evidence
Is TIE cases, 81 viii he merely made memo
Iranda lnssead al lahihs u, ~ 4 ought = have
been dona,iA ihs form Of afidayits. upon which,
ifthe pafties had sworn falsely, they could Be
nsicfed Of perjury. =
Two hundred and thirty claims have been
receivSa and sled It this once.
willis che commissioners held their sea-
sion at HoparIa. two hundred and sity six
CLAIMS were registered and the evidence 20
sustain them was fled with them; but before
the commissioners had made any final disposl-
ton of them, protest was entered by persons
On behalf of the GovernmentI alleging that
many; If not most of these claims were found
ed in fraud, and that, if time were allowed the
professors for procuring and furnishing testimo-
ny. they would sustain their allegations BY
proof; they. therefore protested against the couls
misaioners entering Judgments in favor Of the
claimants until they could have an opportuni-
| ty of scrutinizing their claims. This protest
| arrested any final action on these cases. and
the professors haye'been subpenaed to appea:
before the board ofcommissinners.
Messrs. Prentiss and Gwin are engaged by
| the claimants to advocate their claims. What
will be the effect of this protest am unable to
determine; but it has already produced some
uneasiness among the claimants.
During the last session of Congress upon the
application of our late representative Doctor
IGwinn, sixty. seven thousand and five hundred
dollars were appropriated by the general Gov
eminent for the removal Of the rest of the
| Choctaws from the State of Mississippi to the
west of the State of Mississippi river, and fit
teen thousand dollars for their support, whilst
attending before the commissioners to prose-
cute their claims. An agent has also been
appointed by the Government to superlntend
| their removal to the west. But from what
can ascertain of the feelings Of the Indians on
this subject am well satisfied that they en-.
tertain no idea offollowng their breth west
They feel local attachment to the country
which has been SO long possessed by their
tribe, and they have reverence for the bur-
ial grounds Of their ancestors, which is so ho-
| " and cherished feeling with them, that
many ofthem had rather die, than be torn from
the places, which are connected with their
strongest affections and most sacred emotions:
Poor unhappy beings! cheated, abused, and
degraded by their neighborhood to the whites
:hey still hover around the graves other FORE
fathers, and endure all that poverty and con-
tempt can inflict rather than give up this melan'
choly pleasure. This holyzreverence for the
mem DRY ofther dead, seems to overcome every
other feeling oftbeir nature, and, though con-
scious of their present degradation, they still
cling to it as the lasL tie that connects them
with their former greatness.
The commissioners will adjourn from this
place to Garlandsville; where they will hold
session from the 18th Of May until the claims
from that neighborhood are registered. IN