Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1892-01-21

dtiOhS WIFI tUt OuittO DtuAth tOtllH
mission providing for the sale Of
the Strip and ratifying the articles
of agreement between the two
commissions, is, | presume, of
more concern to the average Cher
okee and intruder as we'll, than any
school or other bill brought before
the national council. The agree.
ment and its ratification by the
majority is in direct violation of
the late chiefs views, and radi-
cal departure from the policy of
the Downing party, if one may be.
lieve declared principles set forth
in published political platforms
The dead chiefs battle cry was
"no land to sell. " and the slogan
was iterated and reiterated from
one end of the land to the other by
his lieutenants until the hills gave
back the echo; but no sooner was
he dead and the earth closed over
him, his party had land to sell and
lots of 1T.
| make these remarks, not in
any manner deprecatory of the
Cherokee commission in making
the contract, nor calling in ques-
ton the wisdom of the agreement
i'm general, but to show what a per-
sistent, determined man may do
for good or evil 10y sticking to it, "
and to further show that the great
majority of us are scurvy towards
politically, and tor place and pelf
hold or" "eace, when we, in duty
should uerk out. No one nc.
quainted With ldge Maycs be-
lieves that had he lived any agree
ment about the lands would have
been reached. Whatever he may
have been in other matters, he was
sincere iu his belief that the land
ought not To be sold and that the
government would not take it.
The opinion aud belief came Of
years of thought as a Cherokee i'm
the first place and a lawyer in the
second He held, whether right.
ly or not, all the innate preiudices
about land and country we usually
attribute tn the lull-blood Indian,
and although born, raised and ed.
ucated white man, these senti.
ments were in him, and grew with
his growth, and strengthened with
his strength until they became a
passion, and no sacrifice to him
appeared too great to sustain them.
Whether he WAS correct in his es.
innate of the strength of the right
and the power OF the law, or
whether we are right in yielding
TO what we believe to be the nC-
cessity Of the hour, the future
alone can determine; and now
since we have sold ior what he
considered a "mess of pottage, +"
we may indulge the hope, without
doing him injustice, that he was
mistaken.
Now that the "negotiations" are
ratified. aud the Cherokee nation
is bound to the agreement ~ nom.
mated in the bond, good or bad, it
will be OF little avail to find fault
with them, out we may discuss
them in the hope that ii we ever
have any more land to sell we will
be better informed in such dealings.
One provision in this agreement,
supplemented by the act ot the
national council in its ratification,
50 Senator Wolf said on the floor
of the senate when the matter was
under consideration, gave twelve
hundred white men (adoptrd citi.
zens) the same standing rs To- right
To participate in the money listri.
button rs native Cherokee. lie
argued that the bill provided for a
white man adopted to pay for any
land he might be entitled To un-
der section FIVE Of the articles Of
agreement, and the act OF the cuuu-
Cil, out of his share of the money
coming to him from the sale of
the Strip. Now, section five was
not 50 clear as tu the adopted citi-
zen's rights, but to make "assur-
ance doubly sure the Cherokee
commission, in drafting their bill
puts the whole matter out of dis
pute by providing that the nation
retain one hundred and twelve
dollars out of his share. The man
must nave something in the hands
OF the nation before anything could
be- retained, aud il one has a share
why not the other. II there be a
job or steal as has been intimated
10 some Of the rapers this must be
II, for the majority steadily refused
to modify or qualify the provision
in the least.
Should our white citizens sue.
ceed in getting a landing on this
vantage ground thus exposed, it
will involve directly a sum of
money out OF the eight and one
half million equal to three hundred
and fifty thousand dollars, and ul-
timalely full share in the parti
ton of the lands east As a Sc.
quence to the agreement, should
congress ratify It. the council pass
ed law declaring void all sales
or cnnveyances of whatever nature
oi improvements upon the public
domain held or claimed by any
person not a recognized citizen, to
citizens of the Cherokee nation.
This was necessary, 50 it was ar-
gued, in view OF the fact that if the
agreement passed, the United
States agrees 10 give the labor to
the nation.
II We are Christians we are in
duty bound to believe that every
thing is for the best, if not, we
are no worse of
Respectfully,