Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1895-09-05
LIGHT IN Dan
And Now q Writer in
Press Fayors Allo@
Correspondence Of the Arrow.

VA tiab "a
twenty-five thousand souls, wheth-
or man or woman, child or adult,
white or black, is the owner of a
part equal to that of any other
member of, the community. A,
for instance is a part-owner in
every inch of soil, ever tree in the
forest, every blade of grass in the
prairies, every drop of water, every
cubic inch of atmosphere, and
every ray of sunlight, within
; the limits of that great estate. 1t
follows consequently that it is i'm
possible for &, or any other men,
Der, to appropriate any of these
things or any part OF them. to his
own use without trenching in some
degree, upon the rights of all his
other co-owners. Such is the na-
ture of our holding land-in-com-
mon.
The United States, in view OF
the difficulties attending the ad-
ministration of such system, is
now soliciting the Cherokee peo-
pie to abandon it, and adopt the
scheme of land-in- -severalty. A
cor sideration of the question
whether they should, or should
not, comply with the overtures of
the government in this respect
very naturally involves compar-
ative inquiry into the nature of
the two systems.
The doctrines and practical
workings of land-in- severaty are,
Git is curious to say ,)better under
stood amongst our people, than
those of land-in- common; for up
to this date we have never seen
anything of the latter, except in
its most rudimentary form. But
the time has now arrived-and it
has been brought about by the in
crease of population, intelligence,
and business enterprise--when the
simple customs of our ancestors in
reference to the enjoyment of our
real estate, will not suffice for de-
fning and protecting the rights Of
individuals in the common soil.
This is now the great problem of
our Indian civilization. This end,
(the designation and protection of
individual rights in the soil, has
been well attained among the
white men in, and by means of,
their system of land -in-severalty;
it remains to be seen whether this
important result can be reached
under a system of land-in-common
at the hand of Cherokee citizen
ship. The individual interest is
the ultimate interest, and out of
which all other interests, the COM
mon included, take their being.
No man can have much care as to
what becomes of the common in
terest, without the prospect of
something in the common stock
which he can be able to turn to his
own personal enjoyment. Let the
greedy hand OF monopoly under
our easy system of land-in-com-
mon once cut off the poor people
of this country from their proper
individual share of enjoyment in
the soil, and they will be COM
PEELED to cancel their loyalty to
our ancestral land system, and
turn for relief to the white mans
plan of land in severalty; they will
be induced to do this from motives
of self-preservation. 1t will be
our aim in this article to make
few suggestions in reference to the
solution of this troublesome ques-
tion: How can the individual in
terest be conserved and made con-
sistent with the common interest?
We have just said that every
member of the tribe is entitled to
his proportional part in every acre
of land, ETC., and it follows as a
matter of course, / cannot appro-
pirate to my own use the least por-
ton of any of these things without
committing a trespass, in some
sense, upon every other member
of the tribal community. 1t is
obvious that without suit
able regulations, the common own
ers Of the common estate will have
to take their respective enjoyments
out of it ad libitine, the strong
tx ng much. or all; the weak, less
and perhaps none. In other words,
the distribution of the common
bounty must be effected among
the rightful participants on the
same plan usually adopted in such |
cases by creatures belonging to
the lower orders of animal life. |
The only way to avoid this variety |
Of conduct, so unbecoming to hu-
is by amicable arrange
ment among the parties interested.
For instance, let each member of
the community relinquish, and |
actually forego, his common right |
10 universal enjoyment in the
whole domain, in consideration
hat he shall have, and be protect
I'd in. the exclusive enjoyment of
certain commensurate portion of it
The most reasonable method for
inding the amount of land to be
.hus set apart for exclusive indi-
vidual use would be simply to di-
yide the number of acres in the
whole domain by the number of
citizens over eighteen years of age;
he quotient will be the number of
lcres in question. The reason for
limiting the age to eighteen years
S this: 1t is not often that per-
ions eighteen years of age and un-
ier ever utilize the soil by their
..ur aHor4s 4 c. l. -