Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1897-12-23
WHAT THE DELAwARES CLAIM.
Synopsis Of the Petition Recently Re-
ported Adversely on by the
Assistant Attorney.

The petition of the Delaware
Indians to the department of the
interior for their rights in the
Cherokee nation is quite lengthy
and after the usual preamble re-
fers to the contract between the
Cherokees and the Delawares by
which the Delawares bought 157, :
600 acres of land and communal
rights in the Cherokee nation for
s279, 4.2S. 1t is stated that the
question of the Delawares' rights
to a vested interest in the Chero-
kee nation arose soon after, and
that it was decided by the suprem e
court of the United States in the
Delawares' favor. 1t is also stat
ed that at the time of this pur-
chase of vested rights there were
over 400 acres of land per capita
in the nation. The story of the
taking of the freedmen's roll in
1880, which only gave them 1874
names, is next told. Some dissatis.
faction was expressed at this roll,
and the United States government
sent Agent Wallace to take a new
one. He received no aid from the
Cberokees in this work, and was
compelled to accept the ex-parte
testimony of those interested, as
the Cherokees absolutely refused
to take part in the revision. Ow-
ing to this fact many names had
been allowed to 60 on the Wallace
roll which had no right there. but
in spite of this, after the decision
of the court of claims that the
freedmen were entitled to equal
rights, the Wallace roll had been
adopted as a basis for distributing
the money involved in the contro-
versy. Not content with that the
head men of the Cherokee nation
entered into an agreement, the
petition states, with the attorney
for the freedmen for taking the
census for a new roll by com.
mission of three, one to be ap-
pointed by the freedmen, one by
the Cherokees aud one by the Sec
retary of the interior.
Then follows" the petition
states, "an incident, to be followed
by others, amazing to all honest
and honorable men. The freed.
men, on their part, by and with
the consent of the officers and
agents of the Cherokee nation,
selected as their commissioner
their leading attorney, Robert II.
Kern, of St. Louis, Mo. This
Wallace roll, which, it was claim.
ed, was rotten and fraudulent, was
to be purged by this commission,
and an honest and clean roll OF
citizens - freedmen - was TO be
made in lieu thereof, and with
what results? The roll was made
by them and, now designated as
the Clifton roll, contained 4, ,552
names, and it is certainly fair tC
assume that the Delawares, with
little or no say in the affairs of the
nation, have been proportionately
robbed by that roll containing more
1000 names of fraudulent and bo-
gus Cherokee freedmen. But the
combination did not stop there
The same schemers that put sale
Kern upon the commission to make
a roll whereby every citizen added
10 it added money to his pocket
concocted the scheme of having the
Cherokee council appropriates40O,
600 to equalize the freedmen s share
in the per capita distribution OF
Cherokee Strip fund, in order thai
they might appropriate to their
own pockets the sum of s126, ,OO(
attorneys fees out of it, that SIPS,
600 being divided between the at
torneys for the freedmen, the at
torneys and agents for the Cherokee
nation, and other prominent Cher
okees, whose influence was USED
in the consummation of this out
rage. This is no idle talk, for we
have in our possession, whenever
desired, ,indisDutable proof of every
statement in this protest"
The document then proceeds tC
relate how the Cherokee councl
had since 1870 been admitting
Cherokees who had remained ir
| Al. oo,1 on1 time forfaitad fh al