The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1904-02-12
CHOCTAW INDIANS
MAY LOSE LANDS
Injunction Proceeding by
Dawes Commission to Pre-
vent Allotment.
MILLIONS OF
!. -
Choctaws Are Indians Who Refused
to Leave Mississippi During Gen
eral Exodus and Do Not Want
to Live in Territory.

Muskogee special: The injunction
proceeding commenced against the Dawes
commission to prevent its allotting lands
to Mississippi Choctaws opens the largest
and what promises TO be the most per-
picking question with which the commits
sion has ever had to deal in the settlement
of the estate of the Indians.
The Mississippi Choctaws are the II.
dams who remained in Mississippi when
the general exodus occurred In pursuance
of the treaty by which they We're given
the lands that now comprise the Choctaw
and Chickasaw nations. notwithstanding
they refused to move to the new country.
they were still retained on the rolls and
have therefore never lost their vested
rights in these lands.
There. are several thousand of these
claimants and many Of them have a clear
claim to allotment and each allotment has
a cash value amounting to Sc, 900 or 81, 0O0.
But to receive and hold this allotment and
participate in the tribal. benefits in. cash
in tie treasury and the large coal ana as
phait royalties collected each year by the
nation, the Mississippi Choctaws must
leave their homes in Mississippi and es-
taa ish residence in the Choctaw nation.
10 do this requires the selection of an al
slounent and three years residence there
on. Until these terms are complied with
tie title to the land is not complete.
The Mississippi Choctaws did not under
stand the value Of their rights In the
s Cnoctaw nation and refused to come to
the territory. So the commission had to
send enrolling parties into the districts
where they lived, and, with st~enographers
and attorneys. they made a roll Of all who
were entitled to a citizens right. This
work took nearly a year to complete and
some of the best men the commission had
were detailed to do the work. They had
to go into the homes Of the full-bloods
and, with interpreters, ascertain their
family history and make a record of it and
compare with the rolls in the hands of
the government.
When the time came to bring these In
dams to the territory many Of them re-
fused to come and others did not nave the
money TO pay their way. The result was
the government made an appropriation
of $4,000 for transporting them. The
Dawes commission sent a party of Its
men to Mississippi and there collected all
Indians on the rolls who could not trans
port themselves, chartered a special train
and brought them to Atoka, where the
Choctaw LAM office is located. Here a
camp was established and rations issued
to the Indians. The Indians We're igno-
rant of the country and it became neces-
sary for the commission to locate the In
dams on allotments as was deemed best
for them. There are hundreds of them
who have not yet been placed. They are
established in camps and every two weeks
the supply wagon goes to each camp. The
name of each Indian is on the rolls and
a certain amount of food is delivered to
each. Each Indian must receive his SUP.
ply IN person.
If the Mississippi Choctaws are knocked
out of allotment by the injunction asked
for, the government will have on its
hands these Indians and no place to pu,
them. They are relying on the govern,
ment and are as helpless as babes. They
came as unwilling wards of the govern
ment and IL the attorneys for the natio1
succeed in keeping them from securing
allotment they Will be in a worse condi
ton tina when they left Mississippi.