The Tomahawk. [volume] (White Earth, Becker County, Minn.) 1903-192?, 1919-03-06

sold and disposed of as provided
by the act If January IL. 1885,.
tile claim being asserted under the
provisions of the act Of March r.,
1850, Sec. 249 O. u. S. r. S. The
departmental officers. acceded to
the demands of the State of Min.
nesota and enormously patented TO
the State about 100000 acres of
land, much of which was covered
with valuable stands of timber.
May 25, 1913, the Chippewa In:
dians, realizing that unless they.
took some effective efforts in their
own behalf, their entire estate
would be squandered, organized
their General Council. That year
the General Council, through it's
proper officers entered protest
with the Secretary of the Interior
against the further issuence of pat.
ents to the State of Minnesota
covering lands coded by the In
dams to the United States under
the agreement of 1889. This pro-
test caused a temporary suspension,
and in 1916 the General Council
through it's attorney renewed the
protest, supporting the protest
this time with citation of legal au..
thority. The Department has
reached the conclusion that the
patents heretofore issued were er-
roneously issued, and the applica-
tions of the State for about 700, 900
additional acres, much of which is
covered with valuable stands Of
timber, have either been denied or
will be denied shortly. Thus the
General Council, in this one in
stance has prev ented the erroneous
issuance of patents to the State Of
Minnesota covering 700, 900 ! acres
of land, which the United States
would have been compelled to have
pAid the Indians for. had the pat
ents been issued, thus saving the
United States several million dol
lars : 1t has likewise saved the
700, 900 acres of land 80 that it can
ba sold under the terms of The
agreement Of 1889 and the pro.
(ceeds put to the credit Of the. In
dams, and has at the same time
fixed a claim against the United
States for the value of the 700, 900
acres heretofore enormously issued
to the State. (See letter dat:d Feb.
ruary Is, 1919, and signed by the
Solicitor of the Department here
matter set out in confirmation of
the above statement.
(p) The General Council has
preserved and protected the tribal
inheritance of the minor children
of the Chippewas against presist.
ent attempt on the part of the In
dian Bureau to exclude them from
their inheritance.
The act of January IA, 1889 Us
Stat, 642. Sec. g., AS ratified by
the. Indians, provided for immedi
ate allotments to all those. mem
bers of the tribe in being. The
children thereafter born we're not
to receive aIlotments but we're to
receive equal distributive shares
of the money derited from the sale
of the coded property. Section Z,
su pra, provides that the permaD.
e6t fund ''sball be divided and
paid to all of said Chippewa In
dams and THEIR ISSUE then
living, in cash. in equal shares.
That is, the law directed that when
the fund, derived from the sale of
the coded property were divided
they should be divided among the
allotted Indians and THEIR
ISSUE THEN LIVING in cash in
equal shares. 80.
In disregard of the lawful rights
Of the minor new born children,
the Indian Bureau, claiming au-
thority under some general law of
Congress, undertook to exclude
many Of the new born children of
allotted parents from participation
in the division of the interest
money and the PRINCIPAL fund.
The General Council, through its
attorney, resisted this attempt on
the part of the Indian Bureau to
deny to these children their lawful
inheritance. The matter is now
pending before the Secretary of.
the Interior, the Solicitor for the
Department having decided the
case, This is confirmed by the let
te$pf the Solicitor dated February
20 1n1n IL ,,k:oh lo<<n. .1c-