Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1890-08-14
SHOULD WE ALLOT2

I
selves but that of our posteriiy.
Long have our ancestry suppress
ed the allotment question and
even now It's only whispered in
certain quarters, owing to the fact
that the fullblood element (Which
is characteristic of all the tribes
so persistently oppose owning land
otherwise than in common, and
while must admit that some of
the argument in support of hold
ing the land in common appears
upon its face good and serves the
purpose Of sche ming electioneers
to control the fullblood vote, it,
when tested by tho interest of the
people must fail, as all sophistry
should fail.
There was time when such
state of affairs was pleasant, proba-
bly, best, but it was not in this
enlightened period Of the history of
the Cherokees. We are not heath
ems, neither are we a tribe of peo-
pie unable to work and properly
sustain ourselves; we are a people
with aspirations higher than paint
and blankets, and our desire
should be to utilize our country as
our necessities demand.
Now comes the question, in
what are our necessities =? / will
say first, each citizen ofthe Chero-
kee nation needs for himself and
family the full benefit of all his
property; he should desire to erect
and place permanent improve
ments, such as the family could
look upon with pride, and salts
faction that they would not some
future day probably be divided.
We need a guarantee that our im-
provements shall be permanent
and the same would serve as
stinulant to the aspiring citizens,
and the day would not be far off
when no state could show better
and palmer works of civilization
than ours; but under the present
condition Of things, what encour-
agement have you or l to make
permanent improvements. Every
day each interest in the lands
grows smaller and the ratio increas-
es every day the confidence in our
ability to remove intruders is
,roak akanad on tho part Of tho citi-
zens and strengthened on the part
of the non-citizens. We are dor
mant as to our interest, while the
non-citizen is active and wide
awake as to his and against US.
The fact is we should honor our
selves and then others will be
more disposed to do so; but the
past administrations have failed,
yes totally failed, to see that the
citizens are protected in their
rights as per the treaties. We
elect representatives but they fail
to show themselves representa-
tive men of the broad interest of
the Cherokee people. 1t costs us
money by the thousands of dol
lars to defray the expense for
those who represent us in our gen.
eral legislature and note the bene-
fit we derive.
said we are not heathens, and
so we are not; but designing poll
ticians and cat paws for this class
will appeal to the prejudices of the
fullblood, as though they were
heathens, poison their minds as
to their best interest, for the sake
of suffrage alone, and when this
suffrage is once gained the inter
est of the fullblood is left with
him in his cabin and self interest
occupies the place in the minds
Of the representative, generally
speaking. l do not blame or CEN
sure the native of the plains for
rejecting with pleasure upon
the pleasant long ago, when they
could feel assured that the soil
upon which they farmed, hunted
and grazed their herds was theirs.
Neither do blame them or fail to
sympathize with them in the loss
of the realization Of these great
pleasures, but l do say they be-
longsd to the day when the in
trude- was yet to be heard of and
the halfbreeds and less of blood
should lay aside their paint and
blankets and give these people the
benefit of their education in re-
conciling their minds to the powers
that be. Our country is being set
tied up by non-citizens Of both
white and black, and the Chero-
kee people cannot OF viii not help
themselves. This is a good rea-
son why we should allot; as an
allotment would remedy the evil
or'prevent future damage. AT pres
ent we can scarcely be saved, but
after an allotment the question
viii be, if the Chorokees shall
scarcely be saved where will the
intruder or ungodly appear. Let
us look upon the Cherokee peo-