The Tomahawk. [volume] (White Earth, Becker County, Minn.) 1903-192?, 1919-05-15


abided by the action of the Sen
ate, thus if the Indian Bill had
become law, the item Of 500, 900
would have been left out entirely.
This final action is due to the un-
dauDted efforts of the members of
the Legislative Committee of the
General Council while at Wash
ington, D. g., last winter, and it
is safe to assume that in the future
Congress will not be easily induced
to appropriate such huge sums
from the tribal property. This
precedent also affords the Chip
pewas a splendid chance of re-
covering from the government the
amounts heretofore expended
which can only be determined by
an accounting.
The success in the swamp and
overflow lands is due to the active
steps taken by the Legislative
Committee and Webster Ballinger,
attorney for the General Council,
in which they filed a petition and
brief with the Secretary of the
Interior praying for a recovery of
these lands, which the Department
held belonged to the State of
Minnesota and not to the Chippe
was. Upon this petition and brief
it was decided by the Interior De-
partment that the lands rightfully
belonged to the Chippewas of
Minnesota, and the Department is
now negotiating with the state
authorities to perfect some ar
rangement and settlement whereby
the Chippewas will recover these
lands or their value in money,
vito interest from the date that
such lands should have been sold
under the treaty OF 1889. The
recovery of these lands will mean
somewhere between three and
eight million dollars additional to
the tribe, which will be paid and
settled for within two years &C
cording to the state officials.
As equally important decision
as the swamp and overflow lands
is the decision of the Solicitor of
the Interior Department which
held that the action of the Indian
Bureau in striking the names and
refusing to enrol! children born of
one white parent off the reserva-
ton, was errenous. This decision
was brought about by the efforts
or the Legislative Committee and
the attorney for the General
Council, Webster Ballinger. Mr..
Ballinger was directed by the leg
islative committee to present the
question to the Interior Depart
ment for an opinion. Accordingly
he filed petition and brief and
supported this by an oral argu'
mcnt. After having the matter
before him for considerable time,
the Solicitor finally rendered an
opinion which sustained the con
tentions of the legislative commit.
tee and Mr.. Ballinger, thus secur-
ing and preserving the rights of
about thousand children: to es-
tates in the tribal trust funds,
which would have been forever
denied them had not the represent
tatiyes of the General Council
taken timely action. The success
in this case not only secures the
rights of the children affected, but
has further esta blished the rights
of all the Chippewa people to
share in the proceeds derived from
the Red Lake Reservation, max
ing it an assured fact which will
amount to several million dollars,
and also their right to reimburse
ment for more than one million
dollars enormously paid out to the
Red Lake Indians alone.
| The SUCCESS Of the representa-
tives of the General Council in
these matters alone have establish
ed claims for several million dol
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