Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1898-03-17

afterwards bought an equal share
of land with the Cherokees for a
less sum of money than the Della
wares paid, leaving entirely out of
the question the S160 each regis.
tered Delaware paid for the 1eO
acres he is now contending for.
The Cherokee-Shawnee sale was
made after mature deliberation.
Those conducting the negotiations
on the part of the Cherokees were
eminent in ability. They certainly
knew the value of the Cherokee
land at that date, certainly were
better able to judge of its value
then than we are after a lapse of
thirty years. The fact that they
sold citizenship in the Cherokee
nation for less than the Delawares
paid outside of the s160 for the
100 acres in controversy is the
strongest corroborative evidence
of the justice of the registered
Delaware claim.
A frequent contributor by the
euphoneous name of Too-qua-stee
devotes considerable space to the
Delaware claim. He is evidently
a scholar, and the style and spirit
of his articles are in the main fair,
but his conclusions are so extra
ordinary as TO require some notice.
| Judge he is a lawyer. | do not
mean one of natures handiwork,
as the name would indicate, and
one therefore who is accustomed
to reach conclusions through right
and reason, but a lawyer trained
in the science of misconstruction--
man who is too often called upon
to place a good construction on
bad transaction. The ability he
possesses to misconstrue an agree
ment could only come through
thorough training and long exper-
fence. Too-qua-stee asserts that
the Delawares were bound by the
treaty under which they came
here to take a specific tract of land
in compact form, described by
metes and bounds. If know any
thing about the import of language
the 18th article of the treaty of sc,
under which the Delawares came
to the Cherokee nation. provided
two ways in which friendly In
dians might be located in the
Cherokee nation east of the 96 :.
One was wherein those locating
abandoned their tribal organiza-
tion, in which case they were to
become Cherokee citizens and
equal in every respect with native
Cherokees, which carried with it
the right to locate on any unoccu-
pied land east of go The other
was where the located tribe did
not abandon its tribal organization,
in which case a distinct territory
was to be set off by metes and
bounds. The Delawares came in
under the first provision and as a
consequence had right 10 locate
on any uhoccupied land east of the
go The language of the agree
ment on this point is so conclusive
that it appears strange that any
one ever took a different view of
the question. In the first place
they were to be on equal terms in
every respect with native Chero-
KEGS. Then they were to locate
on lands anywhere east of the
SO : not already in possession of
others. And the plural is invari-
ably used in speaking of the selec-
tions, which would hardly have
been the case if it had been the
intention to restrict the Delawares
to a distinct body of land. 1t is
hardly within the limits of reason
to suppose that the Cherokees and
Delawares would have made the
agreement they did if it was con-
trary to treaty stipulations, Or that
the government would have APP
proved of it after they had made
it. One thing is certain, the Della
wares understood the agreement to
give them the right TO locate on
any unoccupied lands east of the
96 not already in possession of
other parties, for from the first
they settled wherever fancy die
tated 1t is highly probable that
the Cherokees so understood ii or
they would from the beginning
have restricted the Delawares to
given quantity of land 10 compact
form. WILLIAM NAIRN.