Case Name: CHARLES JOURNEYCAKE, PRINCIPAL CHIEF OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS, v. THE CHEROKEE NATION AND THE UNITED STATES
Court: United States Court of Claims
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1893-04-24
Citations: 28 Ct. Cl. 281
Docket Number: No. 16837
Parties: CHARLES JOURNEYCAKE, PRINCIPAL CHIEF OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS, v. THE CHEROKEE NATION AND THE UNITED STATES.
Judges: 
Reporter: United States Court of Claims Reports
Volume: 28
Pages: 281–321

Head Matter:
CHARLES JOURNEYCAKE, PRINCIPAL CHIEF OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS, v. THE CHEROKEE NATION AND THE UNITED STATES.
[No. 16837.
Decided April 24, 1893.]
On the Proofs.
In 1867 the Delawares become members of the Cherokee Nation by virtue of an agreement or treaty. They thereby acquire 157,600 acres of land, for which they pay $157,600. They also contribute in proportion to their numbers to the national fund. Subsequently the Nation sells a part of its public domain and distributes $690,000 of the proceeds, per capita, among “citizens of the Cherokee Nation by blood,” excluding adopted citizens and their descendants. The Delawares appeal to the United States. The Cherokees suggest that the controversy be submitted to the judiciary. Congress pass an act conferring jurisdiction, legal and equitable, upon this court. (Act 1st October, 1890; 26 Stat. L., p. 638.) Both parties appear voluntarily and the United States as trustee of both litigants.'
I. The agreement or treaty, 8th April, 1867, between the Delawares and Cherokees, whereby the former became a part of the Cherokee Nation, expressly excluded the Cherokees from any right of property in the lands conveyed to the Delawares, and, by implication, the Delawares from any right of property in the lands retained by the Cherokees, the result being that there were two communities in the Cherokee country, each in the matter of property independent of che other, but both subject to the constitution and laws of the Cherokee Nation.
II. All Indian lands were originally communal, the fee being vested in the community as such with a mere right of occupancy in members of the community. But in the Cherokee country the control has passed from the communal owners and become lodged in the state, and the unoccupied lands or “public domain,” analogous to the public lands of the United States, is held absolutely by the government as a trust for governmental purposes and the general welfare.
III. All citizens of tlie oberokee Nation, adopted as well as those of Cherokee "blood, must he regarded in the administration of their constitutional rights, civil, political, and personal, as Cherokees. The National Council is prohibited by the Constitution from making discriminations between different classes of citizens, and is without power to perceive differences which exist only in race or blood. So much of the acts, 18th May, 1883, and 25th November, 1890, as restricts the payment of funds derived from the public domain to “citizens of the Cherokee Nation by blood” is unconstitutional and void; and the complaiuants in this suit are entitled to participate in those funds as if no such restriction had been enacted.
The Reporters’ statement of tbe case:
As this was in legal effect a suit in equity and was heard upon an agreed statement no findings of fact were filed. The statutes by which jurisdiction was conferred on this court and the agreed statement referred to are the following:
Jurisdictional act.
“An act to refer to the Court of Claims certain claims of the Shawnee and Delaware Indians, and the freedmen of the Cherokee Nation, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted, etc., That full jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon the Court of Claims, subject to an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States as in other cases, to hear and determine what are the just rights in law, or in equity of the-Shawnee and Delaware Indians; who are settled and incorporated into the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, east of ninety-six degrees' west longitude, under the provisions of article fifteen of the treaty of July nineteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, made by and between the United States and the Cherokee Nation and articles of agreement made by and between the Cherokee Nation and the Shawnee Indians June seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, approved by the President June ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, and articles of agreement made with the Delaware Indians, April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven; and also of the Cherokee freedmen, who are settled and located in the Cherokee Nation under the provisions and stipulations of article nine of the aforesaid treaty of eighteen hundred and sixty-six in respect to the subject-matter herein provided for.
“ Sec. 2. That the said Shawnees, Delawares, and freedmen shall have a right, either separately or jointly, to begin and prosecute a suit or suits against the Cherokee Nation and the United States Government to recover from the Cherokee Nation all moneys due either in law or equity and unpaid to the said Sbawnees, Delawares, or freedmen, wbicb tbe Oberokee Nation bave before paid out, or may hereafter pay, per capita, in tbe Oberokee Nation, and wbicb was, dr may be, refused to or-neglected to be paid to tbe said Sbawnees, Delawares, or freedmen by tbe Oberokee Nation, out of any money or funds wbicb bave been, or may be, paid into tbe treasury of, or in any way bave come, or may come, into tbe possession of tbe Obero-kee Nation, Indian Territory, derived from tbe sale, leasing, or rent for grazing purposes on Oberokee lands west of ninety-six degrees west longitude, and wbicb bave been, or may be, appropriated and directed to be paid out per capita by tbe acts passed by tbe Oberokee council, and for all moneys, lands, and rights wbicb shall appear to be due to tbe said Shawnees, Delawares, or freedmen under tbe provisions of tbe aforesaid articles of tbe treaty and articles of agreement.
“ Sec. 3. That tbe said suit or suits may be. brought in tbe name of tbe principal chief or chiefs of tbe said Sbawnee and Delaware Indians, and for tbe freedmen, and in their behalf and for their use, in tbe name of some person as their trustee, to be selected by them with tbe approval of tbe Secretary of tbe Interior, and tbe exercise of such jurisdiction shall not be barred by any lapse of time heretofore, nor shall tbe rights of such Indians be impaired by any acts passed and approved by the Cherokee national council. Suits may be instituted within twelve months after tbe passage of this act, and tbe law and practice and rules of procedure in such courts shall be tbe practice and law in these cases; and copies of petitions filed in tbe case at tbe commencement of the suit shall be served upon tbe Attorney-G-eneral of the United States and ■on tbe principal chief in tbe Cherokee Nation by tbe marshal ■of tbe district court for tbe Indian Territory; and that tbe costs of tbe said suit shall be apportioned between tbe United States .and tbe other parties to such suits as to said court law and ■equity shall require. Tbe Attorney-General shall designate and appoint from tbe Department of Justice a person who is competent to-defend tbe said Cherokee Nation and the United States, and tbe said Sbawnees, Delawares, and freedmen may be represented by attorneys and counsel. And the court is hereby authorized to decree tbe amount of compensation of such attorneys and counsel fees, not to exceed ten per centum of tbe amount recovered, and order tbe same to be paid to' the attorneys and counsel of tbe said Sbawnees, Delawares, and freedmen; and all judgments for any sum or sums of money wbicb may be ordered or decreed by such court in favor of tbe Sbawnees, Delawares, or freedmen, and against tbe Oberokee Nation, shall be enforced by tbe said court or courts against tbe said Cherokee Nation by execution, mandamus, or in any other way which tbe court may see fit.
“Sec. 4. That tbe said Sbawnee Indians are hereby authorized and empowered to bring and begin a suit in law or equity against tbe United States Government in tbe Court of Claims to recover and collect from the United States Government any amount of money that in law or equity is due from the United States to said tribes in reimbursement of their tribal fund for money wrongfully diverted therefrom. The right of appeal, jurisdiction of the court, process, procedure, and proceedings in the suit here provided for shall be as provided for in sections one, two, and three of this act.
“Approved, October 1, 1890.”
(26 Stat. L., p. 636.)
“ Chap. 151. An act supplementary and amendatory to an act entitled 'An act to refer to tlie Court of Claims certain claims of the Shawnee andDelaware Indians, and the freedmen of the Cherokee Nation, and for other purpose,’ approved October first, eighteen hundred and ninety.
u Be it enacted, etc., That the Shawnee tribe or band of Indians, whose claims and demands against tbe Cherokee Nation and the United States were referred to the United States Court of Claims for adjudication under the act of Congress passed and approved October first, eighteen hundred and ninety, entitled ‘An act to refer to tbe Court of Claims certain claims of the Shawnee and Delaware1 Indians, and the freedmen of the Cherokee Nation, and for other purposes/ shall present to the said court all their claims against the United States and the Cherokee Nation, or against either or both of them, of every description whatsoever, arising out of treaty relations with the United States, rights growing out of such treaties, and from contracts, expressed or implied, under such treaties, made and'entered into by and between the said Shawnees and Oherokees, and between them, or either of them, and the United States..
“Approved July 6,1892.”
(27 Stat. L., p. 86.)
Agreed facts.
It is hereby stipulated and agreed on the part of counsel representing all the parties, that this cause is hereby submitted to the court on the following agreed facts and upon the briefs and arguments of the respective counsel:
First. That this suit is instituted by authority of the act of Congress entitled “ An act to refer to the Court of Claims certain claims of the Shawnee and Delaware Indians and the freedmen of the Cherokee Nation, and for other purposes,” approved October 1,1890.
Second. That it is provided by the treaty between the United States and the said Cherokee Nation, made on the 19tb day of July, I860, and by tbe fifteenth article thereof, as follows:
“Article 15. The United States may settle any civilized Indians, friendly with the Oherokees and adjacent tribes, within the Cherokee country, on unoccupied lands east of the ninety-sixth degree, on such terms as may be agreed upon by any such tribe and the Oherokees, subject to the approval of the President of the United States, ivliich shall be consistent with the following provisions, viz: Should any such tribe or band of Indians settling in said country abandon their tribal organization, there being first paid into the Cherokee national fund a sum of money which shall sustain the same proportion to the then existing national fund that the number of Indians sustain to the whole number of Oherokees then residing in the Cherokee country, they shall be incorporated into and ever after remain a part of the Cherokee Nation, on equal terms in every respect with native citizens. And should any such tribe, thus settling in said country, decide to preserve their tribal organizations, and to maintain their tribal laws, customs, and usages, not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the Cherokee Nation, they shall have a district of country set off for their use by metes and bounds equal to 160 acres, if they should so decide, for each man, woman, and child of said tribe, and shall pay for the same into the national fund such price as may be agreed on by them and the Cherokee Nation, subject to the approval of the President of the United States, and in cases of disagreement the price to be fixed by the President.
“And the said tribe thus settled shall also pay into the national fund a sum of money, to be agreed on by the respective parties, not greater in proportion to the whole existing national fund and the probable proceeds of the lands herein ceded or authorized to be ceded or sold than their numbers bear to the whole number of Oherokees then residing in said country, and thence afterwards they shall enjoy all the rights of native Oherokees. But no Indians who have no tribal organizations, or who shall determine to abandon their tribal organizations, shall be permitted to settle east of the ninety-sixth degree of longitude without the consent of the Cherokee national council, or of a delegation duly appointed by it, being first obtained. And no Indians who have and determine to preserve their tribal organizations shall be permitted to settle, as herein provided, east of the ninety-sixth degree of longitude without such consent being first obtained, unless the President of the United States, after a full hearing of the objections offered by said council or delegation to such settlement, shall determine that the objections are insufficient, in which, case he may authorize the settlement of such tribe east of the ninety-sixth degree of longitude.”
Third. That in pursuance of the provisions of said treaty the United States did settle the Delaware Indians within the Cherokee country east of the ninety-sixth degree of west longitude upon the terms and conditions as specifically set forth in the following agreement between said Cherokee Nation and the Delaware Indians, as approved' by the President of the-United States, to wit:
“ Articles of agreement made this 8th day of April, A. D. 1867,. between the Cherokee Nation, represented by William P. Boss, principal chief; Riley Keyes, and Jesse Bushyliead, delegates duly authorized, parties of the first part, and the Delaware tribe of Indians, represented by John Connor, principal chief; Charles Journeycake, assistant chief; Isaac Jour- . neycake, and John Sarcoxie, delegates for and on behalf of' said Delaware tribe, duly authorized, witnessetli:
“ Whereas by the fifteenth article of a certain treaty between the United States and the Cherokee Nation, ratified August 11,1866, certains terms were provided, under which friendly Indians might be settled upon unoccupied lands in the Cherokee-country east of the line of 96° of west longitude, the price to be paid for such lauds to be agreed on by the Indians to be thus located and the Cherokee Nation, subject to the approval of the President of the United States; and whereas by a treaty between the United States and the Delaware tribe of Indians ratified August 10,1866, the removal of the said Delawares to the Indian country south of Kansas was provided for; and, in the fourth article whereof, an agreement was made by the-United States to sell to the Delawares a tract of land, being part of a tract, the cession of which by the Oherokees to the-United States was then contemplated ; and whereas no such cession of land was made by the Oherokees to the United States, but in lieu thereof, terms were provided, as hereinbefore-mentioned, under which friendly Indians might be settled upon their lands; and whereas a full and free conference has been had between the representatives of the Oherokees and the-Delawares, in view of the treaties herein referred to, looking-to a location of the Delawares upon the Cherokee lands, and their consolidation with said Cherokee Nation :
“Now, therefore, it is agreed between the parties hereto, subject to the approval of the President of the United States,, as follows:
“The Oherokees, parties of the first part, for and in consideration of certain payments, and the fulfillment of certain con ditions hereinafter mentioned, agree to sell to the Delawares, for their occupancy, a quantity of land east of the line of the 96° west longitude, in the aggregate equal to one hundred and sixty acres for each individual of the Delaware tribe,.who has been enrolled upon a certain register made February 18,1867, by the Delaware agent, and on file in the Office of Indian Affairs, being the list of Delawares who elect to remove to the “ Indian country,” to which' list may be added, only with the consentof the Delaware council, the names of such other Delawares asmay, within onemonth after the signing of this agreement, desire to be added thereto, and the selections of the lands to be purchased by the Delawares may be made by said Delawares in any part of the Cherokee Beservation east of said line of 96°, not already selected and in possession of other parties, and in case the Cherokee lands shall hereafter be allotted among the members of said nation, it is agreed that the aggregate amount of land herein provided for the Delawares, to include their improvements according to tlje legal subdivisions when surveys are made (that is to say, one hundred and sixty acres for each individual), shall be guaranteed to-each Delaware incorporated by these articles into the Cherokee Nation, nor shall the continued ownership and occupancy, of said land by any Delaware so registered be interfered with in any manner whatever without his consent, but shall be subject to the same conditions and restrictions as are by the laws- • of the Cherokee Nation imposed upon native citizens thereof.
“Provided that nothing herein shall confer the right to-alienate, convey, or dispose of any such lands, except in accordance with the constitution and laws of said Cherokee Nation.
“And the said Delawares, parties of the second part, agree that there shall be paid to the said Cherokees from the Delaware funds now held or hereafter received by the United States a sum of money equal to one dollar per acre for the whole amount of one hundred and sixty acres of land for-every individual Delaware who has already been registered upon the aforesaid list, made February 18, 1867, with the additions thereto heretofore provided for.
“And the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and requested to sell any United Stocks belonging to the Delawares-to procure funds necessary to pay for said lands ; but in case he shall not feel authorized, under existing treaties, to sell such bonds belonging to the Delawares, it is agreed that he may transfer such United States bonds to the Cherokee Nation, at their market value at the date of such transfer.
“And the said Delawares further agree, that there shall be paid from their funds now or hereafter to. come into possession of the United States, a sum of money which shall sus tain the same proportion to the existing Cherokee national fund that the number of Delawares registered as above mentioned and removing to the Indian country sustains to the whole number of Cherokees residing in the Cherokee Nation. And for the purpose of ascertaining such relative numbers the registers of the Delawares herein referred to, with such additions as may be made within one month from the signing of this agreement, shall be the basis of calculation as to the Delawares, and an accurate census of the Cherokees residing in the Cherokee Nation shall be taken under the laws of that nation within four months, and properly certified copies thereof filed in the Office of Indian Affairs, which shall be the basis of calculation as to the Cherokees.
“And that there ma.y be no doubt hereafter as to the amount to be contributed to the Cherokee national fund by the Delawares, it is hereby agreed by the parties hereto that the whole amount of the invested funds of the Cherokees, after deducting all just claims thereon, is $678,000.
“And the Delawares further agree, that in calculating the total amount of said national fund there shall be added to the ■said sum of $678,000 the sum of $1,000,000, being the estimated value of the Cherokee neutral lands in Kansas, thus maning the whole Cherokee national fund $1,678,000; and this last mentioned sum shall be taken as the basis for calculating the amount which the Delawares are to pay into the common fund.
“ Provided, that as the $678,000 of funds now on hand belonging to the Cherokees is chiefly composed of stocks of different values, the Secretary of the Interior may transfer from the Delawares to the Cherokees aproper proportion of the stocks now owned by the Delawares of like grade and value, which transfer shall be in part of the pro rata contribution herein provided for by the Delawares to the funds of the Cherokee Nation ; but the balance of the pro rata contribution by the Delawares to said fund shall be in cash or United States bonds, at their market value.
“All cash, and all proceeds of stocks, whenever the same may fall due or be sold, received by the Cherokees from the Delawares under the agreement, shall be invested and applied in accordance with the 23d article of the treaty with the Cherokees of August 11,1866.
“On the fulfillment by the Delawares of the foregoing stipulations, all the members of the tribe registered as above provided shall become members of the Cherokee Nation, with the same rights and immunities, and the same participation (and no other) in the national funds as native Cherokees, save as hereinbefore provided.
“And the children herafter born of such Delawares so in corporated into the Cherokee Nation shall in all respects be regarded as native Cherokees.
“Will P. Boss,
“Principal Chief.
“Biley Keyes,
“Cherokee Delegation. his
“John + Connor,
“'Principal Chief.
“Charles Journeycake,
“Isaac Journeycake, his
“John + Sarcoxie, mark.
“Delaware Delegation.
“Executed and delivered in our possession by the above-named delegates of the Cherokee and Delaware nations, at the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, the day and year first above written.
“John G-. Pratt.
“W. A. Phillips.
“Edward S. Menageth.”
“Department oe the Interior,
“April 11,1867.
“The within agreement between the Cherokee and Delaware tribes of Indians, concluded on the 8th instant, and providing for uniting the two tribes as contemplated by the Cherokee treaty of July 19,1866, is respectfully submitted to the President, with the recommendation that it be approved.
“O. H. Browning,
“Secretary.
“Approved April 11,1867.
“Andrew Johnson.”
That the said Delaware Indians removed to the Cherokee country, and have ever since resided there, and have in every respect fully complied with the agreement on their part.
Fourth. That for all the purposes of this suit the statement certified by Bobert B. Boss, treasurer of the Cherokee Nation, a copy wfiereof is herewith submitted, may be taken as true and correct as to amounts so received and paid out by the Cherokee Nation on account of rents upon leases of grazing privileges on the land of said nation lying west of 96° of longitude.
The statement is as follows :
“Statement showing total amount of moneys received T>y the Cherolcee Nation from the Cherolcee Strip Lire Stools Association.
To amount received under an act of the national council approved May 19th, 1883. $500,000.00'
To amount collected by treasurer under Chapter xi, Art. ii, Sec. 10, compiled laws. 43,750.00
To amount received under an act of the national council approved Deo. 4th, 1888...-... 300,000.00
$843,750.00'
By amount paid per capita to Cherokees by blood, under an act of the national council approved April 28th, 1886 . 295,000.00'
By amount paid taking per capita census. 5,000.00
By amount paid per capita claims under an act of the national council approved Dec. 13th, 1886. 2,611.25
By amount paid per capita claims under an act of the national council approved Dec. 20th, 1886. 111. 65'
By amount transferred to school fund under an act of the national council approved Dec. 13th, 1886 . 21,064.50'
By amount transferred to general fund under an act of the national council approved Dec. 11th, 1886 . 14,796.00
By amount transferred to school fund under an act of the national council approved Dec. 20th, 1886 .. 3,000.00’
By amount transferred to school fund under an act of the national council approved May 21st, 1887.1. 58,416.60'
By amount transferred to general fund under an act of the national council approved Dec. 8th, 1888.. 35,000.00'
By amount transferred to school fund under an act of the national council approved May 21st, 1887. 1,583.40'
By amount transferred to general fund under an act of the national council approved Nov. 24th, 1888. 15,000.00
By amount transferred to school fund under an act of the national council approved Nov. 24th, 1888 . 23,416.60
By amount transferred to orphan fund under an act of the national council approved Sov. 24th, 1888 . 15,000.00’
By amount transferred to general fund under an act of the national council approved Dec. 8th, 1888 . 35,000.00'
By amount paid per capita to Cherokees by blood, under an act of the national council of Nov. 26th, 1888 . 298,625.00
By amount as expenses in making per capita payment. 1,375.00
By amount paid treasurer in collecting the $43,750.00 under Chapter xu, Art. ii, Sec. 11, compiled laws. 8,750.00'
■ 843,750.00'
“I, Eobt. B. Boss, treasurer of tbe Cherokee Nation, hereby certify that tbe foregoing is a true statement of all moneys received from tbe Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association for grazing privileges on lands west of tbe 96° of west longtitude, and tbe disposition made thereof, as shown by tbe records of this department.
" Witness my band and seal of this department this 13th day November, 1891.
[SEAL.] ■ aBOBT. B. BOSS,
u Treasurer Cherolcee Nation.”
This stipulation is signed, and entered into by and between the counsel hereto this 24th day of December, 1891.
John 0. Chaney,
For the Government*
Maxwell & Chase,
For the Cherolcees.
Tho. C. Fletcher,
For the Delawares*
Mr. Thomas G. Fletcher and Mr. J. H. McGowan for the claimant:
Giving the words used in the treaty and in the contract their natural and usual meanings, it is impossible to resist the conclusion that the Delawares, upon compliance with the terms thereof, did become citizens of the Cherokee Nation on an equality in every respect with native Oherokees.
And the contract of, 1807 was, properly, not less broad and definite in its terms. The Delawares “shall become members of the Cherokee Nation,” with the “same rights and immunities” as native Oherokees. And their children “shall in all respects be regarded as native Oherokees.”
It is difficult to add to the strength of the above terms by authority, argument, or illustration. There is no room for construction, for the very idea and purpose of construction imply a previous uncertainty as to the meaning; where this is clear and unambiguous, there is nothing for construction to do. If any construction were admissible, the presumption always entertained by the courts is in favor of the comprehensive over the restricted. If the Cherokee Nation had wished or intended to restrict the rights of the Delawares as citizens or members of the Nation, it' should have so provided in the contract. The Cherokee constitution makes no distinction or restriction on the rights of citizens of the Nation.
But the rights of the Delawares under this treaty and contract have been heretofore construed. While these constructions are not binding upon this court, they are entitled to persuasive weight and careful consideration. The first is the construction by the Cherokee Nation itself in the most solemn manner and, too, at a time contemporaneous with the execution of said treaty and contract.
As already stated, the constitution of the Oherokees, prior to tbe treaty of 1866, provided that only “native Cherokees” should be citizens of the Nation. The treaty of 1866 contemplated the incorporation into the Nation of other Indians. To meet this new condition of affairs, a condition existing by the consent of and according to terms agreed to by the Cherokee Nation, the constitution was amended to include as citizens Indians adopted into the Nation pursuant to the said treaty. And, at the same time, the constitution was not amended or '-changed in any respect with reference to the rights of citizens. .It is unnecessary to argue the point that those who were thus ■added by the constitution to the ranks of citizens possessed . the same rights as those who had previously been citizens. And as the lands of the Nation were, and are by the same constitution, the common property of the Nation, the new citizens became, ipso facto, sharers in this common property and entitled to their pro-rata part of the proceeds thereof. And no citizen could be deprived of his right or interest therein without a violation of the constitution.
' It is respectfully submitted that this construction and interpretation of the rights of the adopted Delawares, made at a time contemporaneous with the contract and treaty, is entitled to great weight.
Another construction of the rights of the Delawares occurs in the veto message of D. W. Bushyhead, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, dated October 18, 1883, and printed in Senate Ex. Doc. No. 86, Forty-eighth Congress, first session, and filed in this case. This was a veto of a bill passed by the Cherokee legislature providing for the distribution per capita among native Oherokees only of the funds derived from the sale of Cherokee lands. While the bill was passed over this veto, it is submitted that the argument against the bill was, and is, unanswerable. The message itself, both from a moral and legal standpoint, is fit to rank among the state papers of any nation.
A construction of the rights of the Delawares under this treaty and contract by the Executive Department of the United States occurs in the letter of the Hon. Hiram Price, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, which is printed in the executive document above referred to. After a complete statement of the controversy, he declares that “ the constitution and the agreement are so plain and direct that but one construction can be placed thereon,” i. e., that these adopted Indians are entitled to all ther ights of citizens of the Cherokee Nation, which rights include a share in the funds derived from the sale of the lands of the Nation.
Congress has also expressed its opinion as to the rights of the Delawares by the act of October 19,1888 (25 Stat. L., 608). This act appropriates the sum of $75,000 to' be paid the Delawares (and others) who were deprived of their pro rata share of money appropriated by Congress in 1883 to pay for lands bought of the Cherokee Nation, and which the Cherokee legislature had, as before stated, distributed only to native Ohero-kees. This act recites that “ whereas by the said act of the Cherokee legislature the aforesaid freemen, Delaware and Shawnee Indians, have been deprived of their legal and just dues guarantied them by treaty stipulations,” and makes the $75,000 appropriated alien on the lands of the Cherokee Nation.
It is apparent that the constitution of the Cherokee Nation, the opinion of its principal chief, and the executive and legislative branches of this Government sustain the rights of the Delawares asserted in this suit.
The first defense of the Cherokee Nation is embodied in an act of the Cherokee legislature approved April 27, 1886, entitled “An act for the construction of rights of Cherokee citizens as designed to be conferred upon freedmen and friendly Indians by the ninth and fifteenth articles of the treaty of' 1866.” This remarkable legislative“ construction” enacts “ that-the phrase ‘ all the rights of native Cherokees,’ as used in the ninth and fifteenth articles of the treaty of July 19, 1866, between the United States and this Nation, is hereby construed to mean the individual rights, privileges, and benefits enjoyed by white adopted citizens of this Nation before and at the making of said treaty, and who had been by law admitted to all the rights of a native Cherokee, civil, political, and personal, as subjects of the Cherokee Nation oflndians, without acquiring-any right or title to the Cherokee domain or to the proceeds, thereof.” * * *
Considering this “construction” seriously, two points are obvious:
First. It does not purport to construe the contract made by the Cherokee Nation with the Delawares in 1867, wherein it is provided that the latter “ shall become members of the Clierokee Nation, with the same rights and immunities” as native Cherokees. It is confined to the treaty. The legislative power of construction was probably exhausted in making the words “be incorporated into and ever after remain a part of the Cherokee Nation, on equal terms in every respect with native Cherokees,” in the treaty mean “the individual rights, privileges, and benefits enjoyed by white adopted citizens, * * * without acquiring any right or title to the Cherokee domain or the proceeds thereof.”
Second. The treaty involved by this “construction” is an entirely different treaty from that actually made. There is not the slightest intimation in either the treaty or the contract of any such limitations on the rights of the Delawares, nor does the constitution of the Cherokee Nation place any such restrictions or limitations on the rights of Cherokee citizenship. The “ treaty” constructed by the Cherokee legislature of 1886 is an entirely different treaty from that of 1866, to meet the new conditions of which the Cherokee constitution was amended so that the definition of citizenship therein should be broad enough to embrace the Indians who located in the Cherokee country under the terms of said treaty. That constitutional amendment, simultaneous with the treaty, is a far more impressive construction (if construction were necessary) than the act of the Cherokee legislature twenty years after, when rights under the treaty and contract had become fixed and vested.
A second defense of the Cherokee Nation is that because 160 acres of land were set apart for each individual of the Delawares east of the ninety-sixth degree of west longitude (for which they paid $1 per acre), that therefore they acquired no rights in the other Cherokee lands, the common property of the Nation. It will be noticed that the lands so paid for were, by the contract, set apart “ for the occupancy” only of the Delawares. For reasons perfectly apparent it was deemed wise that the Delawares should be located together and that the possession of the lands which they should live upon, cultivate, and improve should be secured to them. They were strangers in a strange land and a small minority of the nation. It would have been-a source of interminable confusion if their location in the Cherokee country had been a matter of uncertainty. But as they became eiti- zens of tbe Nation, “with tbe same rights” as tbe native Cherokees, and as tbe Cherokee constitution made all lands tbe common property of the nation, it is difficult to see any reason why their occupancy of particular lands destroyed their rights as citizens to the common property of the Nation. The Cherokees themselves could not physically occupy all or any large part of the lands of the Nation. It is not a question of occupancy, but of rights as citizens of the Nation in the common property of the Nation when that common property is sold and the proceeds divided.
The third defense of the Cherokee Nation is that the amount paid by the Delawares under the contract was inadequate and not an equivalent consideration for the property rights acquired thereunder. This alleged inadequacy is produced by ■estimating all the lands of the Nation as worth $1.25 per acre in 1867, and assuming that the Cherokee Nation had a good title to said lands that they could convey to purchasers. The amount actually paid by the Delawares under the contract was $279,424.28.
Admitting for the purpose of argument that the sum paid by the Delawares was not in proportion to the value of all the lands of the Cherokee Nation, it is conceded to have been all that they were required to pay under the terms of the contract. And the contract was made between parties who dealt on equal footing, and was approved by the United States, a disinterested third party, having^ the same regard for the interests of each. It is well-settled law that inadequacy of consideration alone is not sufficient to avoid a contract. As Mr. Justice Bradley said in Graffam v. Doble (117 IT. S. B., 180), “ The rule has become almost universal that a sale will not be set aside for inadequacy of price unless the inadequacy be so great as to shock the conscience, or unless there be additional circumstances against its fairness.” And in the same case, quoting Kerr on Fraud and Mistake, the same Justice says : “ Inadequacy of consideration, if it be of so gross a nature as to amount in itself to conclusive and decisive evidence of fraud, is a ground for canceling the transaction.”
' It will hardly be contended that this contract, made between parties equal in business experience and intelligence, made after a full and free conference (as recited in said con tract), made in pursuance of and according to the terms of a prior treaty, made under the supervision of and bearing on its face tbe unqualified and disinterested approval of the United States, acquiesced in by both parties without question for twenty years, is based on a consideration so inadequate “as to amount in itself to conclusive and decisive evidence of fraud.” As was said by Principal Chief Bushyhead, in the veto message above referred to, “The Cherokee Nation of Indians had the right of property holders to either sell their common property to, or share it with, others, if they saw fit, for large or little consideration, by agreement, contract, or treaty, by their own motion and will.”
It is respectfully submitted that the refusal of the Cherokee Nation to permit the Delaware Indians, citizens of that Nation, to share pro rata in the proceeds of the common property of the Nation is in violation of its own constitution, in violation of the treaty of 1866 between theUnited States and said Cherokee Fation, contrary to the explicit and unambiguous terms of its contract with the Delaware Indians, and that this court should render judgment in favor of said Delaware Indians and against said Cherokee Nation for such sums as have been wrongfully withheld from them.
Mr. George S. Chase, of Maxwell & Chase, for the Cherokee Nation.
Mr. John 0. Chaney (with whom was Mr. Assistant Attorney-General Ootton) for the United States:
It will be seen that tlie whole trend and purpose of the treaties of 1866 was in the interest of securing harmonious political relations among the various factions and elements of these people.
It is in view of all the circumstances and this state of feeling and uniform purpose of the Congress of the United States to suppress factional discord and establish throughout the land, and especially in the Southern country, where slavery had formerly existed, equal civil and political rights and powers, that we must consider and construe the acts, treaties, and contracts involved in this case.
That the Delawares at the time of entering into this agreement had no thought of acquiring any interest in any lands other than those specifically mentioned in the agreement is abundantly evident and apparent in almost every line of the-instrument itself.
The language of the agreement is a limitation so strict that it can not be misunderstood; alimitation is clearly deelaredbotk as to amount and as to location. Mark how carefully these-limitations are expressed:
“ The Cherokees * * * agree to sell to the Delawares * * * a quantity of land east of the 96th degree, in the aggregate equal to one hundred and sixty acres for each individual, * * * and the selections by theDelawares may be made in any part of the reservation east of said line of 96°, etc.”
What language could be stronger than this? These new members of the Cherokee political family are to have a home,, but the limits of it are strictly defined, so that there can be no mistake. They are to have 160 acres for each person, regardless of sex or age, no more, no less, and they are told that it must be taken east of 96°, as the domain lying west of that line is notin the transaction. In further emphasis of the fact that this is a specific pinchase of a limited and definite amount of lands it will be noticed that the Delawares are careful to secure themselves against the possible contingency that the’ Cherokee home reservation east of 96°. may some day be allotted in severalty, and,for fear there may not be sufficient land therein to allow 160 acres to each, they are careful to provide that in such contingency “ one hundred and sixty acres for each individual shall be guaranteed to the Delawares incorporated by .these articles, etc.” (See the Cherokee-Delaware-agreement.)
This precaution alone deprives this transaction of all semblance of the essential features of mutuality contended for by plaintiff and stamps it as a simple purchase of quantity in. place.
Article 15 of the treaty of 1866, under authority of which the agreement in question is made, is peculiar. It proposes-two plans by which friendly Indians may incorporate with the-Cherokees. Let us examine them more closely.
Indians incorporating under the first plan were simply to mingle with the Cherokees on equal civil and political terms,, participating in the benefits and protection of Cherokee laws- and administration of justice, witli equal advantages of schools, .asylums, and institutions supported from the interest of Cherokee funds; and were by such contribution to pay their due proportion of the cost of the administration of the Cherokee .government, and that was to be the end of it. But in case they should elect to maintain some form of tribal organization which would, in the nature of things, in a measure segregate them from the body of the Cherokee Nation and require their location upon specific property, the further provision was made, as a matter of justice to the Cherokee Nation, that lands ,so exclusively occupied should be paid for at a price to be .agreed upon between the contracting parties.
As already herein stated, the fact that this purchase of land ■contemplated and reached only the specific limit nominated in the instrument itself is apparent everywhere upon the face of the agreement, and is the only conclusion that comports with all the circumstances surrounding the transaction as a whole, .and which does not make necessary a strained, forced, unnatural, and illogical interpretation.
We are asked to believe that these shrewd Cherokees, with a per capita wealth of $1,416, were willing to take into their fold, in full participation of all their possessions, 985 Del.awares, bringing with them a per capita payment of but $283.68, thereby decreasing the per capita wealth of the Olier-■okees — men, women, and children — nearly $100, and increasing the per capita wealth of the Delawares nearly $1,100. Yet this is the construction the court is asked to put upon this .agreement, and that, too, in the face of and against its plain letter and terms.
There is no more familiar maxim of law than expressio unius ■est exclusio alterius, the expression of one is the exclusion of ■others. The agreement m question, in order “that there may be no doubt hereafter” as to the amount of Cherokee resources to be affected by it, specifically enumerated just what should be included. In the expression of these, by a rule of construction as old as jurisprudence itself and sanctioned by centuries ■of judicial recognition and approval all over the world, all else was and is excluded as completely and absolutely as if such ■exclusion had been expressed in terms the most positive and emphatic. Thus is this most unreasonable contention of plaintiff’s counsel, that an entire community of interest existed between these parties, equally nnsustained by tbe plain letter of tbe instrument itself and tbe necessary and well-established rules of interpretation.
But even this is not all. We are told that under this agreement there was to be complete mutuality and that all possessions of the Cherokees were to be shared with their brothers, the Delawares, without any reservations, and this, notwithstanding the fact that they had paid but about one-seventh the nominal value of those possessions. That would seem unfair enough, but it is the least unconscionable part of it. While the Delawares were thiis demanding so much for so little in this “mutual” compact, it appears from the report of the Indian Office that they were holding back as private and personal funds from the Cherokees nearly a million of cash assets ($889,191.04), the annual interest of which they were then and are now receiving and distributing to Delawares by blood only, to the exclusion of their generous Cherokee brothers, whom the Delawares are insisting shall not be permitted to enjoy any exclusive benefits. They here and now declare that all of the Cherokee possessions and income must enrich the' “mutual” coffers, to which the Cherokees have already contributed 500 per cent more than their foster brothers.
It will occur to the most casual with irresistible force that ■ the mere suggestion of the fact that these Ddlawares themselves held out from the common treasury every cent of their tribal funds not mentioned in said agreement, and required by its terms to be paid, falsifies the whole structure, purpose, and character of complainant’s case.
They did not surrender their lands in Kansas with the understanding that they should have a common heritage with the Cherokees in the Cherokee country.
Thus they were to have and receive an amount of land equal to 160 acres for each man, woman, and child — just that; no more. Then, in order to secure them a safe home, with the advantages of good government, schools, churches, asylums, seminaries, etc., together with protection of life and property and equal participation in the administration of public affairs, the Government arranged that they should pay into the Cherokee fund an amount of money bearing the same relation to the Cherokee national fund then existing that their numbers did to the whole number of Cherokees. As this national fund was simply and solely an administration fund, and its proceeds used for no other purpose, there was no hardship in that. The $1,000,000 coming Aom the “ neutral ” lands was added, for the reason that the proceeds of those lands were to be placed in this same general administration fund as soon as received, and, in fact, were so added. The other properties of the Cherokees were not mentioned, because it was not contemplated that the proceeds of any of them would ever be added to this fund, but as a matter of fact a large part of the proceeds of the “ strip” lands was added, and the benefits of it have since been enjoyed by these Delawares equally with the Oherokees, without the payment of a cent in consideration therefor. The Delawares did not put all their funds into the common till, for the reason that they had paid all their purchase had called for at the time j but, when the common fund was swelled bi yond the limits contemplated in the agreement they ought in good conscience and common fairness to have put in their proportion out of the abundant means they were holding back and enjoying as exclusive Delaware funds.
Within the last two years and since the agitation of the unreasonable claim set up in this suit, these same Delawares have caused over $400,000 of their separate funds to be paid out per capita to Delawares only.
If our contention herein could by any interpretation be held not to be correct, still this plaintiff would be in no better plight, and this fact further establishes the soundness.of our position beyond any peradventure, for the reason that if the Delawares are to claim • an interest- in all this Cherokee domain then they ought to “put up” what they possess, thereby bearing the burdens while enjoying the benefits. They have not by their conduct, viewed in this spiritj fulfilled the requirements, of article 15 of the treaty of 1866, which distinctly provides that—
“The said tribes, thus settled, shall also pay into the national fund a sum of money, to be agreed on by the respective parties, not greater in proportion to the whole existing national fund and the probable proceeds of the lands herein ceded or authorized to be ceded or sold than their numbers bear to the whole number of Oherokees then residing in said country and thenceafterwards they shall enjoy all the rights of native Oherokees.” '
The lands “ceded” by that treaty were the Kansas “strip” and “neutral” lands mentioned in the seventeenth article thereof, and those “authorized to be ceded or sold” are the lands lying west of the ninety-sixth degree and mentioned in the sixteenth article of said treaty. Has the above-quoted provision of treaty been carried out. Most certainly not. Even the not oversensitive Delawares have not the temerity to make such a claim, and the agreement does not even hint at it. As stated before, they were not attempting to purchase so much as this and the Cherokees were not undertaking to sell. This agreement was simply carrying into effect a portion of the powers granted by said article 15, and the extent to which such powers were being exercised and of the rights and benefits purchased by said Delawares was clearly and plainly set out and expressed in said agreement.
If a suitor “ asks equity” he must “ do equity.” Is the court going to allow the Delaware Indians to go into the Cherokee country, to receive the benefits of the accumulations of the Cherokee Nation without equitable contribution, while holding and enjoying exclusively their own wealth?
It would seem that there is at least one right which is- not common to both tribes.
The Cherokee can go anywhere upon the unoccupied domain, build himself a home, and enjoy his possessions; the Delaware must stay on the 157,600 acres set off to him in a “ compact form.”
If he is to have every right of the native Cherokee he would not be confined to the lands set apart to the Delawares.
And if he can exclusively occupy the 157,600 acres and has equal rights in and to the general Cherokee domain he is endowed with rights and privileges superior to the Cherokee.
Why should the Delaware have the exclusive right to the 157,600 acres, and equal rights with the native Cherokee in all the rest of the land? Has he paid for any such rights? Was not the amount of the land the Delaware should get specifically named and located?
The Delawares had the best end of the bargain as it was. Good conscience does not require that the great advantage gained by the Delawares in their arrangement with the Cherokees should be extended to other things not thought of — not mentioned at the time the bargain was made — but rather a strict adherence to the letter of the contract should follow.

Opinion:
Nott, J.,
delivered, tbe opinion of the court:
Communal property is an estate which is neither national nor individual; that is to say, where the fee is vested neither in a person, or number of persons in their own right, nor in a body corporate ¡or politic. In this country it is substantially unknown, less so than in England, where a semblance to communal property in commons and right of common still has a practical existence.
It is indeed not improbable that many of our troubles with the Indian tribes have sprung from the fact that our treaty-making commissioners and agents were ignorant of its nature, and of the fact that all Indian lands were communal property. We have indeed in this country communities, so called, religious or social, but there the fee of real property is vested in an artificial person, a corporation, or in trustees. We have also joint tenants and tenants in common; but there the fee is in the individual or a number of individuals, and the estate of each passes, according to its nature, to his successor or his heirs. Apart from the Indian tribes communal property is. with us a thing unknown.
The distinctive characteristic of communal property is that every member of the community is an owner of it as such. He does not take as heir, or purchaser, or grantee; if he dies his right of property does not descend; if he removes from the community it expires; if he wishes to dispose of it he has nothing which he can convey; and yet he has a right of property in the land as perfect as that of any other person; and his children after him will enjoy all that he enjoyed, not as heirs but as communal owners. When the Government of the United States sells a tract of land no citizen has a direct personal interest in the property. He may as a matter of public policy approve of the sale or condemn it, but there is nothing in the land which he can call his own.
The Indian, on the contrary, acknowledges no authority in his chiefs and headmen to dispose of his individual rights as a communal owner; and even where a majority of a tribe sanction a sale, it is in his eyes the case of a majority taking away the property of the minority and disposing of it without their consent. The public domain of the United States is in legal effect the corporate property of the Government; the lands of tbe Indian tribes are something in which every individual' of the community has a right of use and enjoyment as absolute- and complete as that of any other person in the world.
The constitution and laws of the Oherokees, since that people came within the confines of civilization, have followed, in a limited extent, the traditions and usages of the race, and have embodied in them in varying degrees the fundamental principle- and characteristics of communal property.
The preamble of their constitution, September 6, 1839, like-that of the Constitution of the United States, sets forth the-general purpose of the instrument:
"We, the people of the Cherokee Nation, in national convention assembled, in order to establish justice, insure tranquility, promote the common welfare, and to secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of freedom — acknowledging with humility and gratitude the goodness of the Sovereign Euler of the Universe in permitting us so to do, and imploring His aid and guidance in its accomplishment — do ordain and establish this constitution for the government of the-Cherokee Nation."
The constitution then takes up (and it is most significant-that it does so by its first article) the subject of paramount importance in the Indian mind — of more importance than the form of government, than the right of representation, than the-right of trial by jury, or of habeas corpus, or of any of those-principles of civil liberty, which, in the "Anglo-Saxon mind are held supreme, the subject of their lands:
" Sec. 2. The lands of the Cherokee Nation shall remain common property; but the improvements made thereon, and in the possession of the citizens of the Nation, are the exclusive- and indefeasible property of the citizens respectively who made or may rightfully be in possession of them: Provided,. That the citizens of the Nation possessing exclusive and indefeasible right to their improvements, as expressed in this-' article, shall possess no right or power to dispose of their improvements.in any manner whatever, to the United States, individual States, orto individual citizens thereof; and that whenever aDy citizen shall remove with his effects out of the limits, of this Nation, and become a citizen of any other government, all his rights and privileges as a citizen of this Nation shall cease: Provided, nevertheless, That the national council shall have power to readmit, by law, to all the rights of citizenship,, any such person or persons who may, at any time, desire to-return to the Nation, on memorializing the National Council for such readmission.
"Moreover, the National Council shall have power to adopt such laws and regulations, as its wisdom may deem expedient and proper, to prevent citizens from monopolizing improvements with the view of speculation."
The amendment of 1866 modifies the foregoing as follows :
" Sec. 2. The lands of the Cherokee Nation shall remain common property until the National Council shall request the survey and allotment of the same, an accordance with the provisions of article 20th of the treaty of 19th of July, 1866, between the United States and the Cherokee Nation."
With these restrictive provisions should be considered the brief grant which the constitution contains of legislative power :
" Sec. 14. The National Council shall have power to make all laws and regulations which they shall deem necessary and proper for the good of the Nation, which shall not be contrary to this Constitution."
The legislation of the Cherokees recognizes again and again the communal character of the seizin or occupancy of the land. It is not "lawful for any citizen of the Cherokee Nation to sell any farm or other improvement in said nation to any person other than to a 'bona fide' citizen thereof;" nor "to rent any farm or other improvement to any other person than a citizen of the Indian Territory." (Eevised Code, 1874, Art. m, sec. 112, p. 234.) "No person shall be permitted to settle or erect any improvement within one-fourth of a mile of the house, field, or other improvement of another citizen without his, her, or their consent, under the penalty of forfeiting such improvement and labor for the benefit of the original settler; provided, it may be lawful however, where a settler has a field one-half mile or more from his residence, and where there may be a spring or rünning water and timber, for another citizen to improve and settle one hundred yards from such field so situated." (Act 2ith September, 1839, id., p. 249.)
The law regulating intermarriage with white men or foreigners provides that should a citizen of the United States or any foreign country "become a citizen of the Cherokee Nation by intermarriage" and be left a widower, he shall continue to enjoy the rights of citizenship unless he shall marry a person "having no rights of Cherokee citizenship by blood; in that case, all of his rights acquired under the provisions of this act shall cease." (Revised Code, 1874, Art. xv, sec. 74, p. 223.) If be abandons bis wife, be "shall thereby forfeit every right and privilege of citizenship," and shall "be removed from the Nation." (Sec. 75.) There is also a significant provision attached to the law allowing citizenship by intermarriage which shows how clearly the communal character of the property of the Nation is recognized; that is to say, property of which all the citizens of the nation are joint owners and in which each has a direct personal interest:
" Provided, also, That the rights and privileges herein conferred shall not extend to right of soil or interest in the vested funds of this Nation, unless such adopted citizen shall pay into the general fund of the national treasury, a sum of money to be ascertained and fixed by the national council, equal to the 'pro rata' share of each native Cherokee, in the lands and vested wealth of the Nation, estimated at five hundred dollars " (id., p. 224).
With these inbred views concerning their communal property and this traditional belief in their own direct personal interest in all property held by the nation, it is not a matter for wonder that a controversy should have arisen between those who are Cherokees by blood and those who are Cherokees by adoption. This controversy, so far as it is involved in the present Case, relates to the proceeds of lands sold by the nation to the United States, and to the rents of lands leased for grazing purposes to certain so-called cattle associations, and to moneys derived from the sale of property, but held in trust for the benefit of the Cherokee Nation by the United States. The controversy is brought before the court by a suit in which the Delawares, who became members of the Cherokee Nation in 1867, are claimants in fact, and the Cherokee Nation is defendant.
The United States, as trustees of one or both of the parties, are also joined as defendants, and all of the parties have appeared and been heard by counsel. The jurisdiction of the court is derived from an act of Congress (Act 1st October, 1890, 26 Stat. L., 636), empowering the court "to hear and determine what are the just rights in law or in equity of the Shawnee and Delaware Indians, who are settled and incorporated into the Cherokee Nation," and from the voluntary appearance of the respective parties. It should be noted that the idea of subjecting these foreign litigants to the jurisdiction of this court did not originate in Congress. The proposition to submit the controversy to tbe arbitrament of the judiciary of the United States came from the Cherokee Nation in a communication addressed by their delegates to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, June 10, 1890. It should also be noted that the laws of the Cherokees recognize the liability of the government to the suit of the citizen without limitation or restriction, going even to the full extent of the civil law. Brown's Case (6 C. Cls. R., 171, 193).
The Cherokee Nation shall be liable to all persons whatever,, citizens of the Nation, having claims at law or equity against her, to the same extent as individual persons are liable to each other, and may be sued by any citizen having a cause of action.. (Code 1874, p. 240, Sec. 130.)
The claim of the Delawares springs out of an agreement dated the 8th April, 1867, whereby they were admitted into and became a part of the Cherokee Nation. Without adverting to particular words and phrases, it is manifest that that agreement was made for the attainment of three principal objects: First, for the purchase by the Delawares of homes within the-Cherokee country; second, for their joint ownership and equal participation in the national fund held in trust by the-United States for the benefit of the Cherokees; third, for the adoption of the Delawares and their children after them as " members of the Cherokee Nation with the same rights and immunities" "as native Cherokees."
This instrument so brought before the court for construction is a contract entered into by two parties of communal owners, and its subject of bargain and sale consists of two kinds of communal property. One of these was a fund in the Treasury held by the G-overnment of the United States in trust tor the benefit of the Cherokee people. It had been derived from the sale of Cherokee lands, and had been reserved from moneys which would otherwise have been paid per capita to the communal owners; and it represented and was in every sense, if not in form, the communal property of the Cherokee people. Manifestly, if the Delawares were to be incoporated into and become a p&rt of the Cherokee Nation with all the rights and immunities of native Cherokees, it would be but just that they should contribute to this fund in whose benefits they would share.
The agreement accordingly provides that the Delawares shall contribute a proportionate amount and be thereafter jointly and severally and equally interested with the Cherokees in the augmented fund. The numbers of the communal owners was fixed or made ascertainable by the agreement, the amount of the primary fund in the treasury was known, the amount to be paid in was a simple matter of calculation, and the result was that the arrangement left the individual interests of the communal owners precisely what they were before, each Delaware and each Cherokee continuing to receive, directly or indirectly, per capita that same dividend that he would have received if the merger of their funds had not taken place. This part of the agreement has not been susceptible of misconstruction and concerning it no controversy has arisen.
There being thus established one communal fund to which all were to contribute equally and in which all were equally to share, the agreement further provides for the sale of land in the Cherokee country to the Delawares, which should furnish homesteads for these new inhabitants and future citizens of "the Cherokee Nation; and it is this part of the agreement from which the controversy of the case has sprung.
This land which the Cherokees " agree to sell to the Delawares for their occupancy" is to be enough for the agricultural homes of the new inhabitants and no more. The quantity is fixed at and limited to " one hundred and sixty acres of land for each individual of the Delaware tribe"; that is, "of the Delawares who elect to remove to the Indian country.'" The " selections of the lands to be purchased by the Delawares may be made by said Delawares in any part of the Cherokee Beservation, east of the line of the ninety-sixth degree of west longitude,-not already selected and'in the possession of other parties."
In case of the future allotment of land contemplated by the first amendment of the Constitution, 1806 {supra), and the twentieth article of the treaty with the United States, 1866, "it is agreed that the aggregate amount of land herein provided for the Delawares, to include their improvements according to the legal subdivisions, when surveys are made (that is to say, 160 acres for each individual), shall be guarantied to each Delaware incorporated by these articles into the Cherokee Nation." It is also guarantied that "the continued ownership and occupancy of said lands by any Delaware" shall not "be interfered with in any manner whatever without his consent, but shall be subject to the same conditions and restrictions as are by the laws of the Cherokee Nation imposed upon the native citizens thereof. " Finally, while individual rights are guarantied and the future allotment of land in severalty is contemplated, the present communal character of the estate granted is carefully guarded by a general proviso, "that' nothing herein shall confer the right to alienate, convey, or dispose of any guch lands, except in accordance with the constitution and laws of said Cherokee Nation."
We may pause for a moment here to analyze the results of this agreement. The occupancy and right of occupancy of the lands sold, together with the buildings which might be attached to the freehold, i. e., all " improvements," as they are popularly termed, were to be the individual property of the purchasers ; the estate in the land was to remain communal and continue subject to the constitution and laws of the Cher-, okees ; in case of a future allotment of lands within the Cherokee Nation these were to be allotted exclusively to the Delawares.
It seems plain to the court that this part of the agreement is for the sale of a specific thing for a specific price. It indeed merely fixes the rate per acre at which land may be purchased, and leaves the Delawares free (within certain restrictions) to take as much or as little as they needed. If they took 50,000 acres they would pay $50,000; if they took 51,000 acres they would pay $51,000. As a matter of fact, they took 157,600 acres and paid $157,600. The money was the consideration named for the land, and the land the consideration named for the money. The Clierokees as grantors conveyed no right or interest other than in the lands sold, and the Delawares as grantees acquired no right or interest in lands other than those for which they paid. As to the communal element of the estate conveyed, considered in the abstract, it is manifest that while the lands granted remained communal they were not owned in common by the Clierokees.
The right of occupancy and the remote right.to the fee were both vested in the Delawares. The agreement expressly excluded the Clierokees from any right of property in the lands of the Delawares, and by implication (in the absence of a pro vision to the contrary) excluded tlie Delawares from any right of property in the lands of the Cherokees. After it was executed and its covenants performed, there would be two communities in the Cherokee country, and each in the matter of property, so far as the agreement was involved, would be independent of the other; but the property rights of both would be subject to the constitution of the Cherokee Nation, and (within constitutional limitations) to the laws of the Cherokee government.
The facts and circumstances attendant on the transaction, and which were known to the contracting parties when they entered into the agreement, sustain the construction that the court is constrained to give to it. They have been set forth with vigor and clearness in the communication from the delegates of the Cherokee Nation to the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate, before cited, from which we extract the following paragraph:
"As has been seen, the Delawares purchased 157,600 acres of Cherokee lands lying east of the 96th degree. That was an absolute and unconditional purchase, and in which lands the Cherokee Nation has no title or interest. Again, the fund of the Cherokee Nation in which the Delawares were to share was fixed at $1,678,000.
"It is estimated, taking $1.25 per acre for the land as a basis of valuation, that the wealth of the Cherokee Nation at the date of the agreement was:
'Strip' lands, ceded by the 17th article of the treaty of 1866, over 400,000 acres. $500,000
'Neutral' lands ceded by same article. 1, 000,000
Lands lying west of the 96th degree, about 8,000,000 acres . 10, 000, 000
Land east of the 96th degree, about 5,000,000 acres. 6, 250, 000
National fund.:. 678, 000
Malting a total of. 18,428,000
"At the same time the population of the Cherokee Nation was about 13,000, making a per capita wealth of $1,416. By adding to the national wealth of the Cherokees the amount received from the Delawares and the Shawnees, we find a total of $18,757,424, and by adding the population of these two tribes to that of the Cherokees the number will be found to be 14,757, and a division will show a per capita wealth of something over $1,200. Now, it seems absurd to sa.y that the Cherokee people were willing and so ignorant as to diminish their per capita wealth from $1,400 to $1,200, and give to the Delawares a per capita wealth of $1,200 for $123.00, and to the Shawnees a like per capita wealth for the sum of $19.00, and at the same time permit these two tribes to share in the funds which they paid as a consideration for the rights and privileges with the Oherokees. We submit that no such inequality and injustice was ever intended. If such was the intention, why was not the value of the Cherokee 'Strip' lands in Kansas, which were being disposed of for the benefit of the Oherokees at the same time and under the same article of the treaty that the neutral lands were being disposed of, and also the Cherokee 'Outlet'lands, added to the Cherokee national fund as a basis for calculating the amount to be paid to the Oherokees by these people?"
This statement must not be taken without some modification. There were, indeed, at the time two tracts of land, the Cherokee Strip and the Neutral Lands, which the United States were to survey and sell to their own citizens for the benefit of the Oherokees. What was to be done with the proceeds of the Cherokee Strip was not a subject of stipulation between the Oherokees and Delawares. It may have been understood or expected that they would be paid into the treasury of the Nation and used or held for governmental purposes, and not distributed to or funded for the benefit of the Oherokees as communal owners. Such,- indeed, was the fact.
Out of a total of $523,873, which was derived from the sales of lands in the Cherokee Strip, $25,000 was appropriated to an asylum and $401,559 was used for general governmental purposes, and none was set aside for the exclusive benefit of the communal owners, the Oherokees. The "neutral lands," whose avails were to augment the national fund, were estimated in the agreement as of the value of $1,000,000, and the Delawares paid in their proportion upon that basis, although the avails might not augment the fund for several years, and the treaty authorized a sale in mass for $800,000. Sales were contemplated by the treaty, I860 (article 16), in the great body of land lying west of the ninety-sixth degree, commonly known as the " Cherokee Outlet," but these sales were restricted to " friendly Indians," "not exceeding 160 acres for each member of each of said tribes thus to be settled," — and the value of the mass of 8,000,000 acres in 1866 could not well have been as much as $10,000,000.
The statement, in a word, is a clear and forcible presentation of the facts from the present Cherokee point of view. Nevertheless, after all due allowances have been made, it is apparent that the Delawares retained their separate national fund of $889,191 in the Treasury of the United States as their separate property, and that the property of the Cherokees vastly exceeded that which they contributed to the communal estate and the consideration which they paid for a foothold in the Cherokee country. Moreover, as citizens of the Nation they have had the benefit of the moneys derived from the Cherokee Strip, and the national fund has been augmented and augumented until it now amounts to $2,636,634, and to this augmentation the Delawares as Delawares have contributed nothing.
But there is another part of this controversy which has caused more doubt and which how brings the court to a different conclusion.
The agreement of 1867, which we have been considering as a mere contract, was something more than a deed of bargain and sale, viz, a treaty. After being executed by the delegates of the Nation it was "ratified by the National Committee June 15, 1867." (Laws of the Cherokee Nation, p. 281.) By this treaty two independent bodies politic united and became one, the lesser, according to its terms, being merged in the greater. The compact regulated and guaranteed the individual and political rights of those who surrendered their independent corporate existence and became members of the Cherokee nationality. It assured them of something more than mere residence and rights of property upon Cherokee territory, viz, that upon their enrollment and compliance with the conditions and stipulations of the agreement "all of the members of the tribe, registered as above provided, shall become members of the Cherokee Nation, with the same rights and immunities" "as native Cherokees."
What, then, were these "rights and immunities" which the Delawares acquired by becoming "members of the Cherokee Nation?"
The constitution, in its first article (before quoted), uses the term "citizens," and a subsequent provision prescribes and declares who the citizens of the h) ation shall be:
" Sec. 5. No person shall be eligible to a seat in the National Council but a free Cherokee male citizen who shall have attained to the age of twenty-five years.
"The descendants of Cherokee men by all free women, except the African race, whose parents may have been living together as man and wife, according to the customs and laws of this Nation, shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges of this Nation, as well as the posterity of Cherokee women by all free men. No person who is of negro or mulatto parentage, either by the father's or the mother's side, shall be eligible to hold any office of profit, honor, or trust under this government."
At that time, therefore, the right of citizenship was strictly limited to native Cherokees of Cherokee descent. By the amendments of 1866 the requirements of citizenship were changed :
" Sec. 5. No person shall be .eligible to a seat in the National Council but a male citizen of the Cherokee Nation, who shall have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and who' shall have been a bona fide resident of the district in which hé may be elected at least six months immediately preceding such election. All native born Cherokees, all Indians, and whites legally members of the nation by adoption, and all freedmen who have been liberated by voluntary act of their former owners or by law, as well as free colored persons who were in the country at the commencement of the rebellion, and are now residents therein, or who may return within six months from the 19th day of July, 1866, and their descendants, who reside within the limits of the Cherokee Nation, shall be taken and-deemed to be citizens of the Cherokee Nation."
Therefore the Delawares, according to the express terms of the treaty of union, that is to say, the agreement of 1867, became " members of the Cherokee Nation with the same rights and immunities as native Cherokees f and according to the then existing constitution, the amendment of November 29, 1866, " all Indians," "legally members of the Nation by adoption" are classed with "native born Cherokees," and shall be "taken and deemed to be citizens of the Cherokee Nation." The Delawares were Indians; they became "legally members of the Nation by adoption;" they must be "taken and deemed to be citizens" identical in all constitutional rights with "native-born Cherokees."
The resulting question, therefore, which is thus brought be- fore the court for determination is, what were these constitutional "rights and privileges" of the Delawares as adopted citizens of the Cherokee Nation?
Herbert Spencer has said, "Did primitive communal ownership survive, there would survive the primitive control of the uses to be made of land." (The Man v. The State, p. 386, ed. 1892.) In the Cherokee country the converse of this is the condition of affairs. "The primitive control of the uses to be made of land" bas passed from the communal owners and become lodged in the State — that is to say, in the government of the nation — and the communal owners as such exercise no more control over the national territory than the citizens of the United States exercise over the public lands of the United States. Of this the statutes of the Oherokees afford overwhelming evidence.
The constitution, as before quoted, recognizes a right of occupancy under the name of "improvements" as "an exclusive and indefeasible property " in citizens rightfully in possession, but at the same time expressly vests in the National Council "power to adopt such laws and regulations as its wisdom may deem expedient and proper to prevent citizens from monopolizing improvements [i. e. occupancy] with the view of speculation." A statute contemporaneous with the constitution is entitled "An act regulating settlements on the public domain."' (Act Sept. 24,1839, Laws of the Cherokee Nation, ed. 1875, p. 249). A statute for the preservation of trees refers to trees-"standing and growing upon the public domain" (id., p. 143, § 67). The Act 14th December, 1870 (id., p. 252), declares the conditions upon which railroad ties and other material shall " be furnished from the public domain." The Act 17th December, 1869 (id., p. 255), is entitled "An act for the protection of the public domain," and the Act 14th December, 1870 (id., p. 257),. "An act in relation to the public domain."
All of these statutes and many others justify by their provisions the use of the term "Public Domain." A statute relating to minerals declares that "All gold, silver, lead, copper, iron, stone coal, petroleum, salt, or medicinal water," which has been or may be discovered within the limits of the country, "is the property of the Cherokee Nation," and provides for the leasing of mines, petroleum beds, salt works, and of mineral springs (id., 226). The act regulating settlements on the public domain declares that if they be left unoccupied they shall " revert to the Nation as common property " (id., p. 249). The statute for the preservation of trees makes it a misdemeanor to cut down, kill, or destroy any fruit or nut-bearing tree " standing and growing upon the public domain of the Cherokee Nation" (id., p. 143). The act relating to railroad ties-imposes a royalty to be paid for taking timber from the public domain or stone from tie quarries of tie Nation (id., p. 252). The act for tie protection of the public domain requires a citizen to take out a license before lie can dispose of sawed lumber, and to pay into tie treasury 15 per cent of the money he receives for it (id., p. 255). The act in relation to the public domain provides that at each and every station along the line of any railroad passing through "the lands of the Cherokee Nation there shall be reserved to the Cherokee Nation one mile square," and that these tracts so reserved "shall be laid off into town lots and sold at public sale to the highest bidder," who shall acquire thereby no other rights "than those of use and occupancy," "provided that this act shall not be so construed as to interfere with any of the mineral resources of the public domain" (id., p. 257). The act for the support and education of orphan children empowers the trustees "to' occupy .and hold as much land, not exceeding two miles square, as they may deem necessary for farming, and mechanical purposes" (id., p. 258). The act authorizing the transfer or sale of Cherokee lands west of the Arkansas authorizes the sale of "all the Cherokee lands" "commonly known as the Cherokee Outlet." The act 19th May, 1883, recognizes "the unoccupied lands belonging to the Cherokee Nation" as having been set apart by a previous statute "to produce revenue from .grazing," and authorizes and directs the Principal Chief "to execute a lease for all the unoccupied lands of the Cherokee Nation" west of the Arkansas. And other statutes and treaties have recognized and exercised the power of absolute sale and alienation without authority from or ratification by communal owners.
With this power of regulation and control of the public domain a,nd the jus Msponendi lodged in the government of the Nation, it is plain that the communal element has been reduced to a minimum and exists only in the oe-•cupied lands. And it is manifest that with the growth of civilization, with all of its intricacies, and manifold requirements, the communal management of the public domain would have been utterly insufficient, and if it had continued would have been a barrier to the advancement of civilization itself.
With these powers of absolute ownership lodged in the Cherokee government, the power to alienate, the power to lease, the power to grant rights of occupancy, the power to restrict rights of occupancy, and with the exercise of those powers running back to the very year of the adoption of the constitution, and receiving from that time to the present, the unquestioning acquiescence of the former communal owners, the Cherokee people, it is apparent that the "public domain" •of the Cherokee Nation is analogous to the "public lands" •of the United States or the " demesne lands of the Crown," and that it is held absolutely by the Cherokee government, as all public property is held, a trust for governmental purposes and to promote the general welfare.
A strong argument in favor of the Cherokee Nation undoubtedly might be made upon the assumption that so long as the public domain is held and used for public purposes it must be held and used for the benefit of all citizens, but that whenever it shall cease to be held as public property and be surrendered to its communal owners it must be restored to those from whom it was taken, to those who were in fact and not constructively the owners, and who in equity and right are entitled to it or to its proceeds5 just as land which is no longer used for a public road is not sold for the benefit of the community, but reverts to the specific owners from whom it was taken for public uses; and that the means and methods for making the distribution and the ascertainment of the former or actual parties entitled to the fund are matters necessarily and properly within the legislative discretion of the National Council. To these propositions there are in the opinion of the court two answers:
First. The constitution declares that "the lands of the Cherokee Nation shall remain common property." The context shows that this brief provision was intended to place two restrictions upon the legislative power: First, the fee in the lands of the Gherokees was not to be given away to individuals and corporations as the lands of the United States have been given; second, the holding of the fee by the Cherokee government was not absolute but as "common property." By the term "common property" was undoubtedly intended that the lands should be held for the general welfare of all persons entitle'd to share in the "rights and privileges" declared and established by the constitution — that is to say, of all Cherokee citizens.
The constitution was not a statute to run for a day or- a year, but a supreme law which was to continue, with occasional modi fications, and regulate and assure tbe civil and political and personal rights of Oberokee citizens for all time. The persons who were equally entitled-to its benefits in 1839 were the citizens of the Cherokee Fation then in being; and the persons who were entitled to its benefits in 1883 or in 1890 were the citizens of the Cherokee Nation then in being. A common property in the lands of the Cherokee Nation was one of those rights and privileges, and being such could not be divested or extinguished by the legislative power.
Second. The treaty or agreement with the Delawares of 1867 provides that "the children hereafter born of such Delawares so incorporated into the Cherokee Nation shall in all respects be regarded as native Cherokees." The amendment to the constitution of 1866 classifies all citizens as (1) "native-born Cherokees," (2) Indians by adoption, (3) whites by adoption, (4) freedmen liberated by the voluntary act of their owners or by law, and (5) free colored persons. When the agreement declared that all children born after the Delawares became citizens of the Cherokee Nation should "be regarded as native Cherokees," it placed them with the "native-born Oherokees" of the amendment — that is to say, it declared that they should be regarded as children of Cherokee blood. Since this agreement was entered into more than a quarter of a century has passed away, and it must be assumed that nearly half of the citizens of the Cherokee Nation have been born during this period. As against these who are of Delaware parentage no' possible discrimination can be made either under the constitution or under the agreement.
We have spoken of the Oherokees as possessed of a superior equity in this money in their character of communal owners to the Delawares. But, in fact, no such equity exists. The Oher-okees are selling the heritage of their fathers and the patrimony of their children, and dividing the money among the present generations — that is, among themselves — instead of funding it as a part of their national resources for the welfare of those who are to come after them; and this despite the obligation which rests upon generations and individuals to transmit to their posterity as much as they have inherited from their ancestors.
The Delawares when they entered into the agreement had no right to expect that the lands of the Cherokees would be sold and that they would be admitted to share in the proceeds by virtue of either their purchase or their citizenship. They can not now say that they were induced to enter into the agreement on the faith bf any, such expectation. But they had a right to expect that that which the laws of the Oherokees defined as "the public domain" would continue to be held and used for national purposes and the general welfare; and they certainly could not have anticipated or been bound to anticipate that the public domain of the Nation would be diverted from public to private uses and its proceeds be divided among a portion of the people to the exclusion of themselves.
Moreover, it is equally apparent that no such expectation existed on the part of the Oherokees. They guarded their national fund and provided for its enlargement and for the disposition to be made of the money to be derived from the sale of the neutral lands; and they -required the Delawares to contribute to the national fund on the basis of this augmentation; and they admitted them to become "members of the Cherokee Nation with the same rights and immunities and the same participation in the national funds as native Oherokees; " and they agreed that " children hereafter born of such Delawares shall in all respects be regarded as native Oherokees," and yet they did not, by one line or one sentence reserve to themselves an exclusive right in the public domain, or provide for the contingency of a sale of more than half of their then national territory.
The present condition of affairs is not a casus omissus, but an afterthought — a new element which did not exist when the agreement was made; a new condition of affairs which has been created since by the act of one of the parties. It is true that if the public domain or its proceeds had been wholly reserved for public purposes, the Delawares would participate as citizens in many benefits — in immense benefits for which they did not pay; but their case would be like that of all immigrants coming into all civilized countries, who reap where they have not sown, and acquire a common interest in the common property without the payment of an equivalent in money.
The constitution of the Oherokees was a wonderful adaptation to the circumstances and conditions of the time, and to a civilization that was yet to come. It was framed and adopted by a people some of wliom were still in tire savage state, and the better portion of whom had just entered upon that stage of civilization which is characterized by industrial pursuits; and it was framed during a period of extraordinary turmoil and civil discord, when the greater part of the Cherokee people had just been driven by military force from their mountains and valleys in Georgia, and been brought by enforced immigration into the country of the Western Cherokees; when a condition of anarchy and civil war reigned in the territory — a condition which was to continue until the two branches of the nation should be united under the treaty of 1846 (27 C. Cls. R., 1);. yet for more than half a century it has met the requirements-of a race steadily advancing in prosperity and education and enlightenment so well that it has needed, so far as they are concerned, no material alteration or amendment, and deserves-to be classed among the few great works of intelligent statesmanship which outlive their own time and continue through succeeding generations to assure the rights and guide the destinies of men. And it is not the least of the successes of the constitution of the Cherokees that the judiciary of another nation are able, with'entire confidence in the clearness and wisdom of its provisions, to administer it for the protection of Cherokee citizens and the maintenance of their personal and political rights.
Besting its conclusion upon the constitution, the court is of the opinion that all citizens of the Cherokee Nation must be regarded in the administration of their constitutional rights, civil, political, and personal, as Cherokees; that the National Council is in effect prohibited by the constitution from making discriminations concerning the common property of the Nation between different classes of citizens, and is without power, in the administration of its trust, to perceive differences which exist only in race or blood; that so much of the-acts 18th May, 1883, and 25th November, 1890, as restricts the payment of funds which were derived from the public domain,, to "citizens of the Cherokee Nation by blood," is unconstitutional and void; and that the plaintiffs in this suit are entitled to participate in those funds as if no such restriction had been enacted.
In view of the fact that this case is in legal effect a suit in equity which may be followed by a decree for specific per- formarme, by injunction or other equitable remedy, and that the evidence consists entirely of statutes, treaties, and public-documents involving construction, the court will not file a finding of facts; but the agreed statement of facts and such other evidence as may be desired by any party will be certified to the Supreme Court.
The court will hear counsel as to the form of the decree to be entered in accordance with this decision; and in the meantime the entry of judgment will be suspended.
The following decree was entered on the 22d May, 1893 :
This cause coming on to be heard upon the petition, answers,, agreed facts, proofs, and arguments submitted by the parties, respectively, and the court having heard the same, and considered the just rights in law and equity of the Delaware? Indians who are settled and incorporated into the Cherokee Nation, in pursuance of the authority vested in the court by the act of Congress entitled "An act to refer to the Court of Claims certain claims of the Shawnee and Delaware Indians,, and the freedmen of the Cherokee Nation, and for other purposes," approved October 1,1890;
And it appearing to the court that under the provision of article 15 of the treaty of July 19, 1866 (14 Stat. L., p. 799),.' and the agreement made by and between the Cherokee Nation and the Delaware Indians, dated the 8th day of April, 1867,' approved by the President the 11th day of the same month, the said Delaware Indians were admitted into and became a part of the Cherokee Nation entitled to equal rights and immunities and to participation in the Cherokee national funds and common property in the same manner and to the same extent as Cherokee citizens of Cherokee blood;
It is ordered, adjudged, and decreed that so much of the acts of the Cherokee national council of May 18,1883, and of November 25,1890, as restricts the distribution of funds which were derived from the public domain to citizens of the nation by blood, be held and deemed contrary to and in derogation of the constitution of the Cherokee Nation, and that the said. Cherokee Nation, or its trustees, the United States, account for, render, and pay to the said Delawares out of any funds of the said nation in its national treasury, or in the custody of the United States as trustees, not specifically appropriated by law to other purposes, or out of funds that may hereafter «orne to the possession of said trustees belonging to the Cherokee Nation, a sum equal to the aggregate amount which the Delawares would have received if the before-mentioned unconstitutional restrictions in said statutes had not existed.
And it is further adjudged and decreed that the claimants in this suit and those whom they represent, being citizens of the Cherokee Nation, of Delaware blood or parentage, be adjudged and decreed to be entitled to participate hereafter in the common property of the Cherokee Nation in the same manner and to the same extent as Cherokee citizens of Cherokee blood or parentage may be entitled, and that in the distribution of the proceeds and avails of the public domain, or common property of the nation among the citizens thereof by distribution per capita at any time hereafter, the defendants The Cherokee Nation and the defendants The United States as trustees of The Cherokee Nation be enjoined and prohibited from making any discrimination between Cherokee citizens of Cherokee blood or parentage and Cherokee citizens of Delaware blood or parentage to the injury or prejudice of the latter.
And it is further adjudged and decreed as to the participation of the Delawares in the two funds referred to in the two statutes of the Cherokee Nation hereinbefore declared to be unconstitutional, which sums amount in the aggregate to $600,000, that such distribution shall be based on the agreed census of the native and adopted citizens as ascertained and agreed upon, to wit, 26,771, being taken as the whole number of Cherokee citizens oí all descriptions, and the said Delawares being taken as 759 of said whole number, and that the fund so ascertained, to wit, the sum of $17,011, be paid by the treasurer of the Cherokee Nation or by the Secretary of the Interior of the United States to the individual Delawares, per capita, who would have been entitled to the same if the unconstitutional restrictions and discriminations in said statutes had not existed.
And it is further ordered, adjudged,' and decreed that the respondent, The Cherokee Nation, pay the cpsts of this suit.
And it is further ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the compensation to be paid to the attorney and solicitor of the complainants in this cause be 10 per centum of the amount that the said complainants shall receive under this decree, which compensation is hereby ordered to be paid upon the adjustment and receipt of the amounts as ascertained and paid over or set apart to said Delawares, to wit, 10 per centum of $17,011, being $1,701.10. And that if any further recovery be had under this decree, the right of the' claimants' attorney to' further costs and allowances be reserved to be hereafter determined and fixed by the court.
And it is further ordered and decreed that if the judgment hereinbefore declared be not carried out and satisfied within six months from the time a copy of this decree shall have been served' on and delivered to the principal chief of the Oherokees and the Secretary of the Interior of the United States, the claimants may apply to the court for such further order, relief, or remedy as may be meet.