Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1888-03-08
lltt
JUDGE PARKER ON nMlNnNr
DOMAIN

The recent decision Of NHgI
Parker in the case of the Chlro
kee nation aeainsi the soulhou
Kansas Railroad company, to
what may BE called trospass, goes
further in fixing the pollllca
status OF the Indian governments,
ifanlrmcd by the supreme cour
Of the United States 10 which Il
will be appealed, than any other
that has heretofore taken place,
The decree of that court in tht
case Of the North Carolina Ghero.
KEGS against the Cherokee nation
reaflirmod the tide or Cherokee
lands, and conceded to the Choro,
keo mutton the right TO question
claims to citizenship without let or
hindcance, which right rests ia
the title, but determined nothing
MS TO sovereignty. 10 have with.
held this right would have boon an
interference with a title ae eknowl-
edged to be perfect, because oiti-
zenship by blood means interest in
lands, or as Judge Parker puts it,
in the estate, which he says is
wholly in the Cherokee nation,
Eminent domain. as defined by
the judge, "is the rightiul author
ity which exists in every soyer-
eighty to control and regulate those
rights Of a public nature which
pertain toils citizens in common,
and to appropriate and control in
diyidual property without the
consent Of the owner upon the
payment Of a just compensation
to the owner, for the public bene-
fit, as the public safety, necessity,
convenience or welfare may de-
mand."
Taking this definition per Sc, the
rights Of the United States to the
exercise Of such authority in the
Cherokee nation may be question
ed. "Tho rightful authority to
appropriate and control indiyidp-
al property, for the public bene-
fit' extends only to those rights
Of a public nature which pertain
to its citizens in common, or in
other words the property Of the
citizens Of a sovereignty can be ap-
propriated by the night Of eminent
domain in that sovereignty for the
benefit Of that citizen, in common
with others, from whom the prop-
erty is taken. The exercise Of
such right in the Cherokee ma
tion naturally suggests disclaim-
er that CheroKees are not citizens
Of that sovereignty that claims the
power to appropriate and con
troll individual property as much
for the benefit of that indiyid ual
as for the community in which be
lives. The authority extends on
ly to the property Of citizens tor
their benefit.
"The title to the lands Of the
Cherokee nation was obtained by
grant from the United States"
five take the Cherokees and 9TH
er Indians Of North America to be
the original owners Of the soil
which they certainly were, the |
present title to lands Of the Chero. /
koe nation was inherent in them. |
and that which the government Of
the United States has conveyed by /
grant is but an acquired one. If
acquired, therefore, as presented
by the judge, the United States
can only claim the estates, " be-
cause as he says, the fright Of
sovereignty is inalienable.n If in
alienable it must yel rest in the
original owners oftho soil.
There was a time when the In.
dians Of this continent we're "tlp
supreme, absolute, uncomfortable
power, the jus semmi impiri" andii
that power has passed from them, it
was not BY transfer, because as the
judge says, "such power cannot
be surrendered, but by conquest. -
II at that time tie Indians were
a sovereignty, 10 which dwelt the
"ogon or a hind of an almighty"
that appropnatcs property with
ont the consent of the owner for a
ihat cannot De said to be
governmental, surely there is 4
remnantoftIat power yet remain
Ing in ihe Cherokee people to pro.
icct them in ihe undisturbel pos
session of ihe few acres lch them
from foreign interference.
That The Indian governments
IRE soyereigaiies, t.cfa is an ace
acknowledgement by reason Of ihe
treaties made with them. lf the
treaties are DO evidence of lho
fact, because tho Indian nations
are. Is alleged, dependent on the
United States for political exist
rnce, il can De said that when iho
ir-t treaties Wcrl made vlth them.
hey were not dependent 81 sng
bic iof suah a favor. br that upon
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