The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-12-31
CHEROKEE AFFAIRs-NS,ha,s !

CHEROKEE AFFAIRS--NSSvI
The treaty Of 1928. fraudulent, ifnot perperiea
rGsisd assumption IN The treaty Of lS35-X"s@<
Of Wssiern Chsrokees transferred 10 others ~
consulting ttem--k6 measures taken for their ~
lection.
In my last showed that in the treaty of 1929
system OF voluntary emigration recognised, liz
that which passes from Europe to the United StatcG
and while the western Cherakees entered into NOV
stipulation whatever mpairing in the least their !
exclusive title TO their country, they expressed al
desire that such of their eastern brethren as could
be induced to come over with perfect good will and{|
join them IN the west should be aided doing SO.
But did they recognise any right in the United
States to l up The iohoie Cherokee nation east AND
tbroc Il in upon them? X
Did they invite the eastern Cherokees over to-
subrtri thsr government, seize their country and
make fhem ouicasfs aud outa,cs IN their o,vn land?
Such has been their fate. That they should have
intended to authorise such results by the treaty of
1875 no man VIII venture to assert; and If such
have been the legitimate offspring of its provisions,
no man will deny that IL was a gross fraud upon
them.
Be that as it may, 10 1884, the government of the
United States, in treating with the Cherokees east,
assumed the ground, Notwithstanding the treaties
Of 1877, 1873, 1923, and 1883, (Which recognised
the exclusive title Of the Cherokees their
country,) that the Cherokee country west belonged
to the Chsrokees EAST whom il was proposed to send
there even without consulting the riehfu occupants
ing that the United States proposed making treaty
with the eastern Cherokees this basis, the western
Cherokees opposed il from the beginning. 1t seemed
TO them but reasonable, if their country to be
considered common property, that the Cherokee
country east should be considered also, and the
money to be received for il should be shared in
alike by them and their eastern brethren. The
United States however, persisted in the ground they
had assumed, and in 1885, made treaty with the
Cherokees east, providing for their removal in 2
mass into the Cherokee country west; while the
western Cherokees were denied all right to inter-
tere IN the negotiation, and any share in the funds
which were to be distributed from the purchase
money of the Cherokee country east. They were
treated as If they had no interest whatever in the
arrangement They very naturally looked upon it
as unreasonable and unjust TO give to the eastern
Cherokecs, without indemnity, and without consult
ing them, the lands which had been sold to them
for full equivalent, and soemnly guaranteed in the
treaties Of 1923 and 1888.
This was the first wrong committed by the United
States against the western Cherokees.
The next was in neglecting to make any proy-
sion in the treaty of 1885, or otherwise for the in
demnity Of the western Cherokees, or the protec-
ton of their political or personal rights
From 1924, those people had a regular govern
ment. With the representatives of that government,
"duly authorized" the treaties of 1923 and 1888
treaties which authorised or justified the United
States in treating anoneniiiy, in orertroiring,
The rery authorities ,cith iohich they treaieda
Yet such wns their practical course. In their eager.
TO get rid of the eastern Cherokees the United
Sta,es seemed TO forget there was already "Cher-
okte nation Of Indians wts Of The mississippi" with
whom they had made two treaties By thai name aud
STYLE purchasing lands from that ",,aiion,n and
ding them other lands, without consulting the eastern
Cherokees. They seemed to forget that this Cher
okee nation ,cea," had it's government, its eonstu
iion its laws, its property, and its rights, which
they were bound to recognise and respect. They
seemed to have looked upon the Cherokee country
west as territory without inhabitants, into which
the Chcrokees east might b removed without
wrong TO any other people. The treaty of 1885 ac-
cordingly provided for the removal of the eastern
Cherokees into the country of the Cherokces west,
not only. without indemnify, but without any pro-
vision whatever to protect the government of the
western Cherokees or their individual rights They
treated il they had no rights either to coun-
try or to government, although their rights to both
had been recognised by the most solemn acts ON the
part Of the United States!
In 1889 "the Cherokee nation west" found ano-
Their .'naton" their soil, under the lead of John
Ross. Instead Of coming in as voluntary emigianis
and settling down under the constitution and law 6
the Cherokee nation west, /" they driven there
by compulsion, and declared that ihey migrated as
nation. The Ross party among the Cherokees
east claimed interest in the Cherokee cor-
Try west until they were forced into it. One of the
objections made by them to the treay of 1898, was
that the United States proposed sending them into
a country which had already been ceded to another
.'nation." Before they set out for the west,
the eastern Chcrokees, at Aquohee camp, on the
1st August, 1898, passed sundry declaratory
lu.ions, among which the following, viz:
.And whereas the Cherokee people have existed
a distinct national community, in The possession
and exercise of the appropriate and essential attr
butes of sovereignty, for period extending into
antiquity beyond the dates and records and memory
Of man
and franchises which they involve, have been
reinquished by the Cherokee people, but are now
in full force and virtue:
"And whereas the natural, political, and moral
relations .ubsisting among the citizens Of the Che
rokee nation towards each other and towards the
body polite, cannot in reason and justice, be dis
solved BY the expulsion Of the nation from ITS OWN
the pOcer Of The United States GOT
srnmenf:
.'Rssolped, therefore, by the national committee and
coun and people Of the Cherokee nation in general
council assembled That the inherent sovereignty Of
the Cherokee nation, together with the constitution,
laws, and usages of the same, is, and by the autho
rity aforesaid is hereby declared in full force and
virtue, and shall continue 80 to be in perpetuity,
subject to such alterations the general welfare
may render expedent."
What is meant by Ills o,Un territory" is shown
by preceding resolution declaring the treaty Of
1895 void, and "That the whole Cherokee territory
[eas described in the first article of the treaty of
1919 between the United States aud the Cherokee
nation, still remains the rIghtfu and undoubted pro-
perty of the Cherokee nation"
lhls resolution, claiming the character OF
community for the eastern Cberokees, was reafirm-
ed the soil ofthe western Cherokees, in june 1882
Thus, though driven "from its orn territory" upon
the territory of people whom Ross and his party
admitted to be Independent Of ,hem yet, on this
foreign SOIL the eastern Cherokees claimed the right
TO set up and enforce the constitution and laws by
which they had been governed in the east.
The old settlers denied this pretension, and in
sisted that by coming into their country, the eastern
Chcrokecs came under their constitution and laws.
The soundness Of this conclusion cannot be denied,
and the United States were bound to sustain the
government Of the old settlers, until it could be
peacefully changed But not step taken to
perform that duty. Having murdered the Ridges
and Boudinot, and induced Gas Captain Armstrong,
who present, sadly 'perhaps dozen old settlers,
neither of whom was a chief leading man, to
act with Them the eastern Cherokees declared a re-