Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-02-27
parooses III the Courts; $50.
I,l4,sIi iasesf5Jt11t 4si.islNi'sib

1 a;ans nave not already been made
i a;t1pns by opentibn of the Fourteenth
.,imsnIment. It says: IAN persons
iarn or fnaturalized in the United
S Co,n and subject to the Jurisdiction
.hsrsof." Are not Indians born within
.he United States Yes. And are
thsv not subject to its jurisdiction ? In
= aD sense. yes; but not, at least 80 judges
- cases thus far heard have said, in
~, sense intended. Soon after the
amen lment a halfbreed Indian in
n,eoon offered to vote, for. he ssaid, he
was horn in the United States; and he
sue1 the inspectors for, refusing his
halIot. But the Judge said he did not
consider that the amendment, had made
INV Inference about Indians generally.
Tho meaning is: All persons born in
the United States and born subject to
;ts jurisdiction. The amendment, he
saii was not meant to introduce any
rsw ideas Of citizenship but TO apply
and enforce the old familiar rule, to.
word colored persons who were born
IN the country, and under the jurisdic.
lion. vet were forbidden by the. DEED
Scott decision to be citizens.
II is we'll understood that through
the history of the country in the years
nreceding the amendment the Govern
n,ent has dealt with the Indians as
tribes. not as individuals. The tribes
have been deemed domestic, dependent
nations. Government has made trea-
ties with them, and exercised some linn
lied government over them. But each
Individual member OF q tribe has been
considered subject of the tribe, not
of the United States. Therefore the
papooses were not citizens, because
they we're not born within the allegi.
auce of the United States. They were
liketed to Ambassadors babies, who
are esteemed all over the world sub
ects OF citizens of the nation to which
their fathers belong, not of the
country where they happen to be
born. And they could not be natur-
allied when they grew up, because they
we're not "white persons, to whom
the old naturalization laws were con.
fined.
One or two years ago one Reynolds
was indicted for killing Puryear, and
objected that the court had no power
to try him, for he and Puryear were
both Indians; not by blood and birth,
to be sure. but because they had
married Choctaw squaws. There is, or
was, treaty to the effect that Whoever
marries squaw and is adopted by the
tribe becomes Choctaw. The United
States does not want him any more;
the Choctaws may have I'm. His wife
being an Indian, he becomes what may
be termed an Indian inlaw. AS the
lawyers were all agreed that the court
could not try for quarrel or homicide
between two Indians, but must leave
them to tue tribe, they investigated tic
parentage of Mrs. Reynolds and Mrs.
Puryear. And they found that the
supposed Choctaw grandparents OF
Mrs. Puryear were not members OF tho
tribe, but dwelt as citizens OF the State
Of Mississippi. The Judge then de.
cided that Mrs. Puryear was not an
Indian, but citizen, for the reason
that when members of tribe leave it
and scatter themselves to live AS indi-
viduals among the people of State
they become subject to the jurisdiction
Of ourGovernment the same as citizens
generally. His marriage therefore did
not make Mr.. Puryear Choctaw, or
take him out OF tho protection OF
Am erican courts.
These decisions give promise Of q
direct method of making the papooses
citizens. Many friends of the Indian race
urge earnestly that the tribal method
OF dealing out ought to be abandoned,
and the memb ers treated as individuals.
II this course should be adopted. even
with one tribe at u time; if Govern
ment should take the members of any
tribe under its jurisdiction Us persons,
their children would be born under
the jurisdiction as we'll as in the ter
ritory, and would be natural born citi-
zens. The next generation would DO
citizens by force of the Fourteenth
Amendment