Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1888-01-26

well-defned laws regulating in
tcrmarriage between citizens OF
the United States and themselves,
and IL would be we'll for you TO
read them before you make an ass
of yourself. Any white man wish
ing to marry here must compl y
striokly with the law before he can
become a citizen of the Cherokee
nation. BY the last treaty they were
given the right to pass laws for
their own government, providing
they did not violate the constitu-
tion of the United States, and
those laws have been sanctioned
by the United States. There are
to-day one thousand or more white
men legally married in this
country and they are just as
proud OF their lilies as
Mr.. Dawes, and l will venture
to say that among all those famil-
les not one child eight years Of age
can be found that cannot read and
write. Some Of them have carried
off the first premium at some ofthe
best colleges and seminaries of the
United States. The Cherokees to-
day have more schools, according
to population, than your own state,
and as well conducted and we are
not afraid to compare our sons and
daughters with those of your own
state. The cross between the
Cherokee and the white is good.
Instead Of this country being filled
with renegades and refugees from
justice, it is fast filling up with men
whose minds were too large and
who had too much pluck to settle
down in the corner Of their daddies'
field in the states and be despised
menials all their lives, and it is
with a mingled feeling of pity and
contempt that we see some OF our
brothers still holding to their
mothers apron strings-not having
courage enough to let loose. Such
men are left behind and many Of
them are the constituents of Mr..
Dawes to-day and lick the hand
that slaps them. 1t would be far
better for you, Mr.. Dawes, to do
like Mr.. Greeley and say, Ego
west, young man" With little
encouragement some Of these timid
young men may be pursuaded out
here and perhaps could manage to
marry some Of our second-class
girls, but no irst-class girl of this
country would think of marrying
a "tenderfoot." Don't think for
one moment that the young ladies
of this country are standing with
open arms ready to take to their
bosom any brainless fop because he
has a dude hat and starched collar.
They have other charms besides
the $1,000 dowry you speak of.
You seem to think it a great sin
for a white man TO marry the
Indian because she has this dowry
and want to rob them both. The
Georgia militia threw Butler, But
trick and Worcester, three mis-
sionaries, into a Georgia prison be-
cause they would not turn traitor
to their adopted country, and now
you come from ! christian state,
representing a christian people,
and wish to rob a man of his law
ful rights and the woman Of her
birthright, because she marries the
man OF her choice. Now, Mr..
Dawes, you may take all the
crimes that have been committed
in this country-yes, when it was
inhabited by the savage before you
sold it to its present inhabitants
and multiply them by one thous-
and, and the crime you, in cold
blood, propose to commit is the
greatest. The rights of the white
man in this country are not defined
by the shades CT mystery but by
the laws and constitution and your
government has supported and sus-
tanned this constitution since the
9th day Of September, 1899. Then
| say that when the bill
you propose has pass ed,
you impair contracts that have
been lawfully made, that you take
property that has been lawfully
acquired without trial by jury, you
violate the constitution not only of
this country but your own. And
what excuse have you for it? Are
not the Indians better off that are
mixed with the whites than those
that are not? Do you object to
man having large farm and cul-
tivating il? Have the Indians COM
planned to you about their white |
citizens? Do you want TO "rob /
Peter to pay Paul"-in other
words, do you want to take from