Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1898-03-10

by blood, and had no reference to
the property status of the Della
wares on the day OF allotment.
So far as the Cherokee constitu-
tion and laws standing in the way
of the Delaware view of the treaty,
they do not from the fact that when
the lands are allotted the constitu-
tion and laws, as they now exist,
will be obsolete-there will be a
new order of Things, not contrary
to but in accord with the treaty.
There was a valid reason for the
clause in the treaty giving each
registered Delaware 160 acres OF
land at the time of allotment. A
treaty had been made between the
United States government and the
Cherokees by which it was agreed
that the government might locate
friendly Indians on unoccupied
lands in the Cherokee nation. 1t
was not known how many would
be located within our borders,
whether there would be 160 acres
per head in the final division OF
not. The Delawares desired to
pay enough money to secure that
much land for each registered
Delaware. The Cherokee ees set the
price, the Delswares paid the
money and the United States APP
proved of the transaction.
If it be contended, as has been
done. that the Delawares paid an
insufficient amount for so much
land it may be sufficient answer to
refer to the fact that the Shawnees
afterwards bought an equal share
of land with the Cherokees for q
less sum of money than the Della
wares paid, leaving entirely out of
the question the Sl60 each regis.
tered Delaware paid for the $50
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 a 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- a-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 no'
mean one of natures handiwork
as the name would indicate, anC
one therefore who is accustomed
to reach conclusions through righ
and reason, but a lawyer trained
in the science of misconstructiOn-
a man who is too often called upon
to place a good construction on {
bad transaction. The ability ht
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 10Th article of the treaty of &c
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 go
One was wherein those locating
abandoned their tribal organiza
ton, in which case they were tC
become Cherokee citizens anC
equal in every respect with Eative
Cherokees, which carried with il
the right to locate on any unoccu
pied land east of 96o. The other
was where the located tribe did
not abandon its tribal organization,
in which case a distinct tie rritory
was to be set off by metes and
bounds. The Delawares came in
under the first provision and as a
consequence had a right to locate
on any unoccupied land east of the
96o The language of the agree
ment on this point is SO conclusive
that it appears strange that any
enc 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
960 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 ap-
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
SO : not already in possession of
o ther parties, for from the first
they settled wherever fancy die