The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1898-11-14
THE CHIEFS MESSAGE.
Delivered to the Cherokee
Council Last Week.
To THE NATIONAL COUNCIL:

since | have been honored with
the office of principal chief, you
have assembled in obedience to
our law and it becomes my constl-
tutional privilege of submitting to
you such information of our gov
ernment in my possession and to
make such suggestions as occur to
me for its future direction as will
best subserve the interests of our
people. The past year has yielded
abundant returns to our farmers,
and our people individually are
prosperous, but as a nation no
such crisis has confronted us since
our removal west of the Missis-
sippi, and | most earnestly entreat
that tyour deliberationsbe devoid OF
partisan or class prejudices and
that you meet the conditions which
confront us with patriotic devotion
to our people. You should re-
member that the interests of one
class of our people are the same as
the other. What is best for the
fullbloods is likewise best for the
other classes, and warn you now
agsinst those who would engender
i'll feeling between any classes OF
our people. They are enemies to
us all. Meet them quietly and
calmly talk the situation over and
confront it with your best judg-
ment, invoking the wisdom of the
Divine Ruler, who shapes the des-
tinies of all nations.
SCHOOLS.
We have now 124 primary
schools and three high schools
running at the expense of the gov
ernment and for detailed informa-
tion concerning them you are re-
ferred to the annual report of the
board of education herewith sub
mitted. / desire to call your at
tention particularly to the def
cheney in our school fund. Our an
nuity for this fund in round num-
bers, amounts to about $50, 600.
To this should be added the
amount received for board at the
high schools and the total hereto
fore received makes an amount in
sufficient to meet the expenditures
made under annual appropriations
which usually amount to about
$4,000. Now that there will be
no more national certificates with
which to pay board I am confident
that if you can find the means of
paying off the present deficiency
and the money paid on account of
board be made Immediately avail
able there will, with rigid econ
omy, be sufficient means to con-
tinue our school system, as it ex-
lists at present, in successful oper-
alton. We also receive small
amount from the Kansas City,
Pittsburg & Gulf railroad and the
Kansas and Arkansas Valley rail
road, part of which is placed to
the credit of the school fund.
ORPHAN ASYLUM.
/ have no special recommends
tion with reference to this charit-
able institution to make except to
urge the suggestion made last year
to the egect that the standing ap-
preparation of November %, 1871,
be repealed and the board of edu-
cation be prohibited from drawing
acquisitions against this fund in
excess of the annuity in each year.
A number of requisitions were
drawn by the board of education
on this fund during the past year
which | declined to honor for reas-
ons that | will more fully explain
in a special message when | will
submit them to you for your con-
sideration and action.
JUDICIARY.
For more than one hundred
years, since 1885, the government
of the United States has continu-
ally recognized as binding the SOL
emn treaty obligations entered in
to by and between the United
States and the Cherokee nation.
For many years past bills viola
tive Of our treaty rights have been
introduced in congress, but were
never enacted into law. Many
congressional committees have Wis
tied our country and without ex-
ception in their reports, stfenu.
01slv r1rged congrese To take some