People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1893-03-24
THE FIVE TRIBES.

ferred to a circular letter addressed to
the five civilized tribes by the delegates
lately convened in Washington. This
letter, or copy of il, is now in the
hands each Of the principal chiefs of
the five tribes and will soon be made
public This is the letter:
Hon. C. j. Harris Principal Chief Of the Chero.
kee nation; Hon. William Jones, Principal
Chief Of the Choctaw nation; Hon Legus c.
Perryman, Principal Chief Of the Muskogee
nation; Hon. John F. Brown, Principal Chief
Of the Seminole nation; Hon. Jonas Wolf,
Governor Of the Chickasaw nation:
WASHINGTON, Feb. % Gentlemen:
We, the undersigned delegates and citizens by
blood of the nations you represent and other
Indian people dOmiciled in the Indian territory,
after repeated conferences and organized meet.
ings wherein full discussions were held. have
by an unanimous vote resolved that it was our
solemn AMI sacred duty to advise you, the
principal chiefs and heads OF governments,
and through you our people, Of grave dangers
now threatening our political and property
rights. Heretofore We have been threatened
with bills in congress, viOlltive OF our treaties
and it was only necessary to prove the conflict
with treaty rights
Now We find new condition in that our
treaty rights are admitted, but being acknOwl
edged, We are told on every hand, even from
men who have always been our friends, and
who are yet our friends, that the congress Of
the United States has the legal right to take
away our political rights as Indian nations;
that the supreme court Of the United States
has decided that political rights granted by
treaties may be repealed b. an act of congress.
They do not contend that congress may interfere
with our property rights and even declare that
congress will not deprive US Of a dollar
| in property but as we know that our property
rights depend in a great meas ire on our pOlit.
| ical rights under our S stem Of laws any inter.
ruptOn or destruction Of these political rights as
Indian nations by federal legislation will cause
the most serious disturbance and possibly the
greatest injury to the property rights Of our
people The reasons allegedin congress for this
! great and sudden change Of sentiment here is
stated by the senate committee on Indian az
fairs in a unanimous report on the Cherokee
| strip agreement tO-wit:
The anomalous condition of the five separate
Independent Indian governments within the
| government of the United States must soon, in
the nature of things. cease. When these gov
er nments were established and guaranteed to
the extent that they were guaranteed by the
| United States, they were in a remote section of
| the country, far removed from other settle
ments, with modern means Of travel and com
munication unknown, and without the slightest
anticipation of the condition OF things
which now exists. To-day they are surrounded
| by settled states and territories; white
citizens, by the permission of the Indians
themselves, have been admitted into their ter.
ritOry, until now the white people dOmiciled
within the borders Of the five civilized tribes
outnumber the members of the tribes and are
rapidly increasing, and the general idea con-
tinually advanced that the conditions under
which the treaties were made, and the condi-
tons they were to meet. by the United States
and the Indian nations no longer exist; that
then the Indians were uneducated and untitled
for civilized life; that now they are educated
and prepared for American citizenship
1T was isolation then, but isolation is impos.
sible now. That then the Indian people desired
to avoid contact with the whites, but now they
| invite the white people, under permit laws, by
| tens of thousands 10 work and live among
them That the Indian laws then were equal
to the protection Of the life and property Of
| the Indian people, but under the changed con.
| ditions the Indian laws are no longer apple.
able to protecting properly the rights of the
Indian people, much less the whites, and that
since the whites already exceed 10000 souls,
outnumbering the whole Of all the people of the
Five Nations that a stable and satisfactory
government is necessary to protect both classes
of people in Indian territory"
The discussion has been brought I'D by the
numerous agreements with all the western In.
dams coming before congress changing the sta
tus of the other Indians west Of our people,
to-wit The POttawatOmies, the Sacs ana
Foxes, the Kickapoos, Cheyennes and Arapa-
hoes, hiOwas, COmanches Caddas, Apaches,
Pawnees, TOnkaways, Wichitas and
others, and when the Cherokee agreement
came up asking the reiteration of former
pledges Of self government it is refused and a
bill to make misdemeanor Of intruding on the
Five Nations, although earnestly and siren.
ously urged with abundant time and Oppor-
tunity TO pass it, and although it is the bounden
duty Of the United States under the treaties
and intercourse law to pass such q measure is
still not exacted with apparently no chance
whatever to become law
1t is in pursuance of this sentiment that this
amendment has been added TO the bill to satisfy
! the Cherokee outlet agreement directing that a
commission be sent to negotiate with the five
! civilized nations for a change of their govern
ment and method Of land holding to allotment
and territorial government with view Of form.
ing q state
The details will no doubt be furnished by the
delegations now in the city in their respective
parts, but the secretar; Of this convention Of
representative Indians has been instructed to
send you marked copies Of the principal rec
ords, reports and other documents showing the
facts so briefly alluded TO. We have not deemed
it wise to recommend any method by which to
meet the danger that threatens, leaving the
question Of remedy and defense to your wis.
dom and that Of our people
ROBERT l. OWEN,
Chairman.
The address is also signed by W. W. Hast.
ings and NJ. V Beng of the Cherokee delega.
ton; P P. Porter and A. P. McKellop, Creek
delegates; Overton Love, Chickasaw delegate;
j., Standby H c. Harris, D. W. Hodges and
Green Curtain, ChOctaw delegates; ]. B. Jack
son of the ChOctaw nation. E. c. BoudinOt
Leo W. Beng. Gideon Morgan, J. W. Duncan,
J. W. Jordan, J. L. Baugh and John wads
worth, Peoria delegates
An Italian Poisoning.
ROME, March 2O.-The Messagerc
Patria says that an inquiry has been
ordered to ascertain the facts concern.
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