Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1897-05-27
THE CnER0KEEs HARp LINES.

/ ~ NAAAH AAAbnA 0NN0NOs
--
THE CHEROKEES HARD LINES.
To the thoughtful mind the
spectacle that is now presented in
the matter Of treating with the
Dawes commission is both serious
and ludIcrous. For years and
years the subject of a change Of
government and of land tenure has
been agitated, and the conditions
that have made il at last impera-
tive have existed for long time.
The Cherokee nation has been the
most sorely beleaguered little gov.
ernment on the face of the earth
and has been betrayed and plund-
cred with merciless persistence at
home and abroad, and the only
wonder is that is has remained in
tact as long as it has. In the
treaty Of 1866 the seeds of discord
we're sown, and brought forth an
abundant harvest of trouble in the
Delaware, and Shawnee, and freed.
man cases. The Delawares were
admitted to citizenship for a small
sum and a more foolish trade was
never consummated than the one
admitting the Shawnees. Then
the admission of the freedmen was
an awful blunder, made ten times
worse by the construction placed
upon the treaty by the court of
claims and of the supreme court OF
the United States. While the
Choctaws agreed to allow their
freedmen to take forty acres OF
land per head when the country
was allotted, the Cherokees did
not agree to give them one foot OF
the land of the tribe. They were
simply to have the right to reside
in the country and the use Of un-
occupied land while held in COM
mon. The interests OF the Chero-
kee nation have been sadly neg
lected in Washington and before
the courts. Had the cases been
properly presented the suits Of
the Delawares, Shawnees and ne
groes would never have been de-
cided against the Cherokees. But
there has never been a time, Of
late years at least, when the enc
my could not employ our public
men to undermine and betray the
nation. For instance, in the re.
cent s126, 600 scandal, the men
whom the Cherokees were trusting
at Washington and at home enter.
ed into a scheme whereby s400, ,00C
was appropriated in excess Of the
amount allowed by the courts, and
more than one thousand negroe:
admitted than were on the famous
"Wallace ROLL"
So has it been from the begin
ming. The few have fattened of
the common property of the tribe
and now that the end is approach
ing, the common Indian believes
that be will again be robbed. Th'
situation becomes more hopeless
as the days 60 by, and even nov
we are witnessing a hand to han'
conflict between the fullbloods-
the real Indian-and the monop
olists and boodlers of the tribe
conflict in which the real issu
seems to be, "Shall a portion o
the citizens Of the nation have NOR
than their share Of the common
property2" The fullbloods ar
fighting for principle and t
maintain their birth right, an,
they have the sympathy and tn
moral support of all lovers of righ
and Of liberty on the inside and o.
the out. The men that hav
plundered them should not be pei
mitted to destroy their government
and divide up this country withou
their consent. The broad and hu
name principle enunciated in tn
Sermon on the Mount, "Do unit
others as you would have other
do unto you," shonld be brough
into reouisition.