National Republican., 1880-03-15
THE INDIIN TERRITORY.
An Earnest Appeal from the Indian Dole
gates.
WAsHINGToN, D. O., March 10, 1880.
~. IL EIitn. uE TLn N,Lin...L D.. ..LL;nu...

WAsHrNGToN, D. O.. March 10, $780,
To the Editor of The National RepuJlican:
SIR: We desire to express our profound
and heartfelt gratitude (as wo now do) through
your paper to Senators Thurman, Conking,
Maxey, Edmunds, Allison and others for the
sentiments they expressed and tho interest
they manifested on the floor of the Senate on
the 9th and 1OCh instants in behalf of our poo-
pie on the motion 10 refer TO tho judiciary
Committee our memorial protesting against
the bill No, l,4lS, introduced into the Senate
by Senator Vest entitled "a bill TO estab.
lish United States court in the Indian Tor
ritory aud for other purposes"
Tho lands occupied by our nations belong
to them rs their own property, because they
bought them from tho Govornment Of the
United States, and paid full valuo for them
and havo patents to them of record in tho IN
terror Department signed by tho President of
the United States. The Indian Territory has
been sot apart exclusively for Indians, under
tho act Of Congress- of May %, 1880, and
more than twenty treaties with the Indians
now occupying that country. To crafty the
Government Of the United States and benefit
its citizeu the five civilized nations, the
Cherokee Greeks, Sem iuolcs, Choctaws and
Chickasaw, surrendered more than 100000
600 of acros of lands in tho States of
Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Mississippi Alabama and Florida,
and turned their backs upon tho homes
and graves of their fathers, and moved
to the thHn wild Wilderness of the Indian
Territory In this removal alone our nations
lost one-third of theiI people by privations
and sutferngs. The other thlrty.one tribes
now in the Indian Territory, have made simi-
lar sacrifices. All of these thirty-six nations
are at perfect peace with each other and with
the Government of the United States and her
citizens They havo ut their own expense
not less than 300 free common schools, six
high schools, several orphan asylums and
schools and "homo" for their deaf, dumb
and blind unlortunates They have the
orthodox Christian denominations among
thOm, and have an aggregate of from eight to
ten thousand church members with many
native ministers. If tho bill referred TO
or any similar bill should become a
law Of Congress. the Indian Territory
would necessarily be open to white settlement,
and rs q result, the Indian calamities Of tho
past would be repeated, ouI present prosperity,
our tribal nutonomies, our schools and our
churches would be brokcn up, and our poor
people would bo scattered as wandering fugi.
tives with no homes. These events are plainly
foroshadOwed by much Of the border press.
Our nations own no lands, except those they
now occupy in the Indian Territory, aud tho
Government Of the United States has no lands
within its borders that we could get. We are
surrounded by States and Territories Of the
United States, rs close corporations Common
sense the dictates of reason, and even the
voice of destiny itself speaks TO us, aud tells
us that the Indian Territory must be the
homes or the graves of the Indians who are
there Tho passage by Congress Of the bill
referred to can only be regarded AS the death
knell of our race, race that has always been
kind and generous to tho whito race, and
which, in its by-gone days Of power, received
the white race in friendship when 1t could as
we'll havo destroyed that race.
Every heaven.born consideration, Christi.
anity, civilization, humanity, charity, it
occurs to us, should appeal TO the white race
to save the Indians 1t has pleased d ivino
Providence, In His inscrutabls wisdom, to i'm
poso upon the Government Of the United
States the divine trust OF taking care of the
weak remnants of Indians within itsS urisdic.
tion, aud If Christianity is not q lie we be-
lieve the same Divine Being will hold that
Government morally responsible for this
sacred trust. Our people are now weak and
poor; we have nothing TO dopoud upon in
our defense In this, our time Of trial and trou'
BILE, but the good faith of the Government and
people Of the United States us embraced in
our treaties, and the Christian Toligion To
this we appeal, Very respectfully,
Signed W.P. Adair, Assistant Principal lChief;
John l.. Aduir, charmlni Il, NJ, Wolfe, R,
Burch, Cherokee Delegation; John T, Brown,
Seminole Delegate; Pleasant Porter d. NJ,
Hodge Creek Delegates p. p, Pltchlynn,
Chootaw Delegate; Charles Blonjackot, Charles
Tucker, Shawnee Representatives j. NJ.
Bryan, "old Settler Cherokee Commission