Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1899-03-31
INDIAN SOVEREIGNTY.
The st, Regis Tribe Declares That II
H. Belongs Neither TO Cam
ada Nor to Us. ....

twill be news to most people on this
continent that there exists in North
America a community which sets up a
claim equivalent to Independent sover-
eighty and withholds allegiance to
either British or American rule. No
formal demand to be recognized as a
separate state has been put forward,
but rights have been asserted which, if
recognized, would involve the creation
of all independent, nation, not a large
one, certainly, but yet nation indie
pendent of all external control. The
people who so proclaim themselves are
the St. Regis Indians, occupying small
reservation below the St. Lawrence on
the New York state frontier. Mutter-
ings of discomfort have for some time
been heard among the Indians who are
descendants of old Caughnawagas and
Mohawks, and the dissatisfaction has
been kept alive by agitators among
them who have urged them to return
to the, customs of their forefathers,
elect their councillors in the tribal way
and free themselves from the restraints
of the Indian act of the dominion.
The situation is complicated by the
fact that the reservation is intersected
by the international boundary line, SO
that, while there is one community.
there are two reserves under different
administrations, one being subject to
the Canadian government and the 9th
err to the state of New York. These In
dams assert their rights under an
agreement made in 1897 between the
state of New York and a number of
Caughnawaga and St. Regis chiefs, by
which the state agreed to pay them
an annuity and set aside the land that
is now comprised in the American res
ervation in consideration Of the relin-
punishment of all claims to Indian lands
in the state of New York. The Indians
were settled upon the Canadian reser-
walton in 1850, having been transferred
from Caughnawaga to St. Regis. In
der the treaty of Client, in ;1S14, the
boundary line between Canada and New
York state was SO fixed as to cut the
reservation in two. The Indians say
that this division should never have
been made, and that they should be
recognized as a nation, having the
right to appoint their own chiefs, to
make laws and to administer them, re-
gardless of the white mans law on
either side Of the boundary line. They
demand the right, to dispense justice
according to the ancient customs Of the
Iroquois. .... s;-..... .....
What they have proposed to the do
minion officials recently sent to confer
with them is that in the event of one
of their number being accused of a
crime they shall first pass upon the evil
dence, and if prima facie case be es-
tablished they will turn the accused
over to the civil authorities of Canada
or Of the state of New York to be fur
Their dealt with. Attic conference held
on their reserve recently there were
present American as we'll as Canadian
Indians, and half a day was given up
to the presentation of their claims. A
careful hearing was accorded them by
the Canadian officials, and pains were
taken to show them that the assertion
of independent powers was altogether
inconsistent with their allegiance to
either country in which they lived.
While the Canadian officers were
upon the reserve a United States con-
stable visited the American portion of
it to arrest an Indian accused of horse
stealing, but instead of capturing the
Indian the Indians captured the con-
stable and made him a prisoner. The
officer, having subsequently escaped,
endeavored to execute his warrant. The
Indian resisted, and in the struggle that
followed the constable fatally shot the
prisoner. The interior department is
taking steps to restore contentment
among the St. Regis.-N. Y. Sun.