The Tomahawk., 1922-05-04
Suit Filled i'm the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia
for the Protection of the Rights of the Chbbezva People,

NuACUl al lcaIiuSS llACSdlly
wrongfully caused about 100000 acre
of said coded lands, much of which
were covered with heavy stands o
pine timber, to be classified as "swam]
and overflowed lands," and have, il
disregard of, said agreement ant
without any authority of law there
for issued or caused to be issued pat
ents to the State of Minnesota cover
ing approximately 100000 acres o.
said lands so illegally classified, with
out any consideration whatsoever tt
the Indians therefor; and that plain
tiff is informed and believes, ant
therefore alleges upon information
and belief, that the Secretary of the
Interior and the Commissioner of the
General Land Office will, unless re-
strained by order Of this Court, issue
patents to the remaining lands so il
legally classified as swamp overfowec
lands without any consideration tt
toe Indians therefor and contrary tc
the express provisions of said agree
ment, thereby causing irreparable in
jury to plaintiff and all other members
of said class, similarly situated.
7. Plaintiff further represents that
by section of said agreement home
stead settlers upon the coded lands
classified as agricultural lands
were to receive patents only upon the
payment of the full purchase price,
viz, $1.25 per acre, which was to be
paid into the trust fund standing to
the credit of all the Chippewa Indians
in Minnesota and which fund was to
bear interest at the rate of per CEN
tum per annum; that by an Act ap-
proved May II, 1900 81 Stats, 1917,
known as the Free Homestead Act, it
was provided, 'that all settlers under
the homestead laws of the United
States upon the agricultural public
lands, which have already been open
ed to settlement, acquired prior to the
passage. of this Act by treaty or
agreement from the various Indian
tribes, who have resided or shall here
after reside upon the tract entered in
good faith for the period required by
existing law, shall be entitled to
| the payment to the local land officers
of THE usual and customary fees, and
no other or further charge of any kind
whatsoever shall be required from
such settler to entitle him to a patent
for the land covered by his entry, call
sums of money so released which if
not released would belong to any In
dian tribe shall be paid to such Indian
tribe by the United States, and in
the event that the proceeds of the
annual sales of the public lands
should be insufficient to meet the pay
ments heretofore authorized from
agricultural colleges and experiment.
al stations, such deficiency for the
support of the colleges and stations
was to be paid by the United States.
Plaintiff represents that none Of the
lands coded under the agreement of
1889 were in 1900 "public lands," nor
have any of them since became public
lands and that said Act of May II,
1900, had and has no application to
said lands, but that the Commission
err of the General Land Office has err
roneously and illegally applied, and
has ever since continued to apply said
Act of May II, 1900, to said coded
lands for the purpose of issuing pat
ents to the entrymen without any pay
ment by the entrymen for the lands so
patented, and has failed or refused to
pay into the trust fund standing to
the credit of all the Chippewa Indi-
ans in Minnesota prior to the issu-
ance of any such patent the $1.25 per
acre for the lands so patented; that
since May II, 1900, several thousand
patents have been issued to homestead
entrymen on the lands coded under the
agreement of 1889 without any pay
ment therefor being made into the
trust fund Of the Indians as required
by said agreement; that plaintiff is
reliably Informed and believes, and
therefore alleges upon information
and belief, that a large number of
applications for patents by home
steaders on said coded lands are now
pending and that said applications
will, unless the Commissioner of the
General Land Office is restrained by
order of this Court, be- approved for
patent and that patents will issue
without the payment of $1.25 per acre
quired by the agreement of 1889,
thereby causing the plaintiff and all
other members of said class further
irreparable loss and injury.
8. Plaintiff represents that by
sections a and of the agreement of
1889 the timber on the lands classified
as spine lands" was to be estimated
and appraised at not less than So per
thousand feet, and that the land and
standing timber thereon were to be
SOlu dL puDlC duCLlOil az Vic H4S ilSoI |
price obtaina BILE, in no event for less
than their appraised value; that in
the disposition of the pine lands I'M
der the administration of the Com
missioner Of the General Land Office
great frauds were practiced by the
underestimation of the timber by the
Government appraisers in the inter
est of the lumber companies; that
these frauds resulted in the Indians
receiving less than eight cents. per
thousand feet for much Of the timber
sold prior to 1898; that the frauds be-
came so notorious that they resulted
in Investigations by officers, of the
Department and Select Committee
of Congress-; that as result of said
Investigations Congress for the pro-
lection of the Indians passed the Act
of June 81, 1903 (32 Stats, 4OO),
which changed the method of dispos.
ing of the timber so that instead of
being sold standing, as provided in
said agreement, it was cut into logs
and sold on bank scale, the land re-