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CII£BOKEE PIIOENIX ANJO INDIANS’ADVOCATE. permanent residence. This was done by Gen. Washington, by Mr. Jefferson, by Mr. Madison, by Mr. Monroe, as can be shown from pub lished documents, and probably by the elder Adams and bis son. To treaties, laws, usage, every public and every private pledge, are to be added the dictates of reason and common sense, and the principles of iprmutable justice. All these stand on the side of the Cherokees. Still Georgia demands all the land which lies within what are called her char tered limits. The nature of tnis de- m'nn'd wifi 6'e examined hereafter. WILLIAM PENN. From the New York Observer. A BRIEF VIEW, Of the present relations between the gov ernment and people of the United States and the Indians within our na tional limits. In the various discussions, which have attracted public attention with in a few months past, several impor tant positions, on the subject of the rights und claims of the Indians, have been clearly and firmly established. At least, this is considered to be the case, by a large portion of the intelli gent and reflecting men in the com- mWity. Among the positions thus established are the following; which, for the sake of precision and easy re ference, arc set down in regular numercial order. 1. The American Indians, now Jiving upon lands derived from their ancestors, and never alienated nor surrendered, have a perfect right to the continued and undisturbed posses sion of these lands. 2. Those Indian tribes and nations, which have remained under their own form of government, upon their own soil, and have never submitted them selves to the government of the whites have a perfect right to retain their original form of government, or to al ter it, according to their own views of convenience and propriety. 3. These rights of soil and of sove reignty are inherent in the Indians, till voluntarily surrendered by them; and cannot be taken away by corn- pacts between communilics of whites, td which compacts the Indians were Sot a party. . 4. From the settlement of the English colonies in North America to the present day, the right of Indians to lands in their actual and peaceable possession, and to such form of gov ernment as they choose, has been admitted by the whites; though such admission is in no sense nccCssary to the perfect validity of Ike Indian title. 5. For one hundred and fifty years, innumerable treaties were made between the English colonists and the Indians, upon the basis of the Indians being independent natious, and having a perfect right to their country and their form of government. 6. During the revolutionary war, the United States, in their confederate character, made similar treaties, accompanied by the most solemn guaranty of territorial rights. 7. At the close of the revoliittoha- jy war, and before the adoption of the federal constitution, the Unite# States, in their confederate character made similar treaties with the Cher okees, Chickasaws and Choctaws. 8. The State of Georgia, after the efose of the revolutionary war, and before the adoption of the federal constitution, made similar treaties, on the same basis, with the Cherokees and Crefeks. 9. By the"constitution of the United Stntes, the exclusive power of ma king treaties with the Indians was conferred on the general governmeut; and, in the execution of this power, the faith of the nation has been many times pledged to the Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws, Choctaws, and other Indian nations. In nearly all these treaties, the national and terri torial rights of the Indians are guar antied to "them, either expressly, or by implication. 10. The State of Georgia has, by numerous public acts, implicitly ac quiesced in this exercise of the trea ty-making power of the United StntcSt 11. The laws of the United Slates as well as treaties with the Indians; { prohibit all persons, whether anting as ndividuals, or as agents of any state from encroaching upon territory se cured to the Indians. By these laws aevere penalties are inflicted upon of fenders; and the execution of the laws on this subject, is specially confided to the President of the United States, who has the whole force of the coun try at his disposal for this purpose. The positions here recited are deemed to be incontrovertible. It follows, therefore: That the removal of any nation of Indians from their country by force,' would he an instance of gross and cru el oppression: That all attempts to accomplish the removal of the Indians by bribery and fraud, by intimidation and threats, by withholding from them a knowl edge of the strength of their cause, by practising upon their ignorance, and their fears, or by vexatious im portunities, interpreted by them to mean nearly the same thing as a command;—all such attempts are acts of oppression, and therefore en tirely unjustifiable: That the United States are firmly bound by treaty to protect the In dians from force and encroachments on the part of a state; and a refusal they are; though the whole power of the United States is pledged to defend them in their possession; yet it is sup posed by some, that they would act wisely, if they would yield to the pres sure, quietly surrender their territory to the United State, and accept a new country beyond the Mississippi, with a new guaranty. In support of this supposition, it is argued, that they can never remain quiet where they are; that they will always be infested by troublesome whites; & that the States, which lay claim to their territory, will perse vere in measures to vex and annoy them. Let us look a moment at this state ment. Is it indeed true, that in the very prime and vigor of our republi can government, and with all our boasted reliance upon constitutions & laws, we cannot enforce as plain an act of Congress as is to be found in our national statute-book? Is it true, that while treaties are declared in the con stitution to be the supreme law of the land, a whole volume of these su preme laws is to be at once avowedly and utterly disregarded? Is tho Senate of the United States, that august bo dy, as our uewspapers have called it a thousand times, to march in solemn procession, andburna volume of trea ties? Are the archives of state to be searched, and a hundred and fifty rolls, containing treaties with Indians, to be brought forth aijd consigned to the flames on Capitol 1 Hill, in the presence of the representatives of the people, and all the dignitaries of our national government? When ambassadors from foreign nations inquire, what is the cauie of this burning? are we to say,“ Forty years ago President Washington and the Senate made treaties with the Indians, which have been repeated & confirmed by successive administra. tions. The treaties are plain, and the termsi reasonable. But the In, dians are weak, and their white neigh bors will be lawless. The way to please these w hite neighbors is, there- iore, to burn the treaties, and then call the Indians our dear children, and deal with them precisely as if no treaties had ever been nude.” Is this the answer to be given to the honest inquiries of intelligent foreigners? Are we to declare to mankind, that in our country, law is totally inadequate to answer the great end for which human laws are made, that is, the protection of the weak against the strong? And is this confession to be made without leeling and without shame? It cannot be. The people of the United Stales will never subject themselves to so foul a reproach. They will not know ingly affixto the character of a repub lican government, so indelible a stig ma. Let it not be said, then, that the laws of the country cannot be executed. Let it never be admitted, that the faith of the nation must he violated, lest the government should come into collision with White intru* a Btate having hut six or seven souls | ders upon Indian lands;-—with intru- to a square mile, counting whites and | ders, whose character is admitted to blacks, and w ith a soil and climate : be lawless; and who can be invested act To dispose of and distribute the j capable of sustaining a hundred to the j with power, in no other way than by thus to protect them would he equal ly an act of bad faith as a refusal to protect them against individuals: and That the Cherokeetf have there fore the guaranty of the United States solemnly and repeatedly given, as a security against encroachnrfents from Georgia and the neighboring states. By virtue of this guaranty the Cher okees may rightfully demand, that the United States shall keep all in truders at a distance, from whatever quarter, or in whatever character, they may come. Thus Secured and defended in the possession of their country, the Cherokees have a per fect right to retain that possession as long ns they pfease. Such a reten tion of their country is no just cause of complaint or offence to any state, or to any individual. It is merely an exercise of natural rights, which rights have been not only acknowl edged but repeatedly and solemnly confirmed by the tlnited States. Although these principled are clear and incontrovertible, yet many per sons feel an embarrassment from con sidering the Cherokees as livirig in the State of Georgia. All this cmhaross- ment may be removed at once by hearing in mind, that the Cherokee country is not in Georgia, in any sense affecting sovereignty, right of soil, or jurisdiction; nor will it right fully become a part of Georgia, till the Cherokees shall first hate ceded it to the United States. Whenever that event shall take place, it will immediately fall into the State of Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama; not by virtue of any compact to which the Cherokees have been a party, but in conscquenee of compacts now ex isting petweeff these states and the United States. This matter is placed •p a perfectly clear light, by the ti tles of various laws of Georgia, Which hare been enacted to dispose of lands obtained from the Creeks. Even so late as the year 1825, the fol lowing tittle is found in the stat ute-book of Georgia: viz: “An ting intercourse with the Indian tribes, tho Cherokee country i6 no more un der the jurisdiction of Georgia, than it is under the jurisdiction of Missou ri, or Pennsylvania; nor can it be un der the jurisdiction of any state, or of the United States, till it shall have been surrendered to the United States by trenty. Let this sup posed embarrassment tberefofe, be finally dismissed. Again, it is supposed, that the ex istence of a little seperate communi ty of Indians, living under their own laws, and surrounded by communities of whites, will be fraught with some great and undefined mischief. This supposed evil is set forth under learned and hard names. It is call ed an anorialy, ammperium inimperio, and by various other pedantic epi thets When the case is accurately examined, however, all the fog clears away, and nothing appears in the prospect but a little tract of country full of civilized Indian, engaged in their lawful pursuits, neither molest ing their neighbors, nor interrupting the general peace and prosperi ty- If the separate existence of the Indian tribes were an inconvenience to their neighbors, this would be but a slender reason for breaking down all the barriers of justice and good faith. Many a rich man has thought it very inconvenient, that he could not add the farm of a poor neighbor to his possessions. Many a powerful nation has felt, it to be inconvenient to have a weak ail'd dependent state in its neigh borhood, and has therefore forcibly joined the territory of such state to its own extensive domains. But this is done at the expense of honor and character, and is visited by the histo rian with his severest reprobation. In the case before us the inconven ience is altogether imaginary. If the United States were examined, with a view to find a place where Indjans could have a residence assigned them, so that they might be as little as pos sible in the way of the whites, not a single tract, capable of sustaining in habitants, could be found more se cluded than the present country of the Cherokees. It is in the mountains, among the head waters of rivers di verging in all directions; and some parts of it are almost inaccessible. The Cherokees have ceded to the United States all their best land. Not a twentieth part of what remains is of a very good quality. More than half is utterly worthless. Per haps three-tenths may produce mo derate crops., 'file people of the United States have a free passage through the country, secured by trea ty. What do they want more? If the Cherokee country were added to Georgia, tho accession would be but a fraction joined to the remotest corner ol that great state;— a stale now scarcely inferior in size to any state in tpe Union except Virginia; lands lately acquired by the United States, for the use of Georgia, df the Creek nation of Indians, by a treaty made and concluded at the Indian Spring, 6n the 12th da^ of February, 1825.” 'fhe act was approved by Governor Troup on the 9th of June, the same year. The first section of the act begins thus; “That the terri tory acquired of the Creek nation of Indians, by the United States, for the use of Georgia, as described in arti cles of a treaty entered into and con cluded between commissioners on the part of the United States and the chiefs, head men and warriors of the Creek nation of Indians,”^. These extracts give a fair account of the whole matter. If the territory was acquired from the Creek nation, it was manifestly the property of the Creek nation before it was thus ac quired. If it was acquired by the U. S. Si through the instrumentality of a trea ty, it w as because the treaty-making power is, by the federal constitution vested exclusively in the United States, and because the Creeks, be ing a nation, could not dispose of their country in any other manner than by treaty. If it was acquired for the use of Georgia, it follows that Geor gia had not the use of it previously. In fact, Georgia had never thought of legislating for the Indian country, till two or three years after the date of this law. According to the 11th ar ticle of the treaty of Holston, and to mile with fhe greatest case, is no mighty inconvenieuce, square Ther therefore, in the arrangement of Providence, by which the Cherokees claim a resting place on the land; fended which Gcd gave to their fa thers. tamely yielding to their acts of en croachment and aggression. The laws can be executed with perfect case. The Indians can be de- The friiith of the nation can be preserved. Let the president of the United States, whenever the In- shall be And as to the learned chimera of J dians shal l be threatened, issue his mperium inimperio, it is, and always | proclamation, describing the danger has been, one of the most common j a,, d asserting the majesty of the laws, things in the world. The whole of i Let him refer to the treaties and the modern Germany is nothing else but J ac J$ °f Congress, which his oath of one specimen after another of imperium office obliges him to enforce; let him inimperio. Italy has an abundance of recite the principal provisions of specimens also. As to our own coun try, we have governments within gov ernments of all sizes, and for all pur poses, from a school district to our great federal union. And where can he the harm of hitting a few of our red neighbors, on a small remnant of their own territory, exercise the rights which God has given them? They have not the power to injure us; and, if we treat them kindly and jusily. they will not have the disposition.— They have not intruded upon our ter ritory, nor encroached upon our rights. They only ask the privilege of living unmolested in the places where they were born, and in possession of those rights, which we have acknowledged and guarantied. There is one remaining topic, on which the minds of many benevolent men are hesitating; and that is; whe ther the welfare of the Indians would not be promoted by a removal. Though the law of the United States reguli-j they have a right to remain where tho perpetual residence of Indians. these treaties and acts, and declare, In the face of the world, that he shall execute the lnivs, and that he shall confidently rely upon the aid and co operation of all good citizens;—let him do this, and neither he, nor the country will be disappointed. Law will triumph, and oppression will hide its head. But it may lie supposed, after all, that it would be for the benefit of the Cherokees and other tribes to remove beyond the Mississippi, and there enjoy the advantages which are offer ed by the general government. These advantages are developed in a plan which has been some years before the American people, and which is in sub stance, as follows: Congress will set apart a tract of country of moderate dimensions, be yond Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisia na, (principally west of the territory of Arkansas,) and will guaranty it as Upon this tract of country shall he congregated numerous tribes, now re siding. in different states and territo ries. The land shall be divided a- mong tribes and individuals, as Con gress shall direct. The emigrants thus congregated, shall be governed by white rulers till they are sufficient ly amalgamated instructed, and civi lized, to he admitted to some share in tho ' government of themselves. The United States will pay the ex? penso of a removal; will furnish im- pliments of agriculture, the mechani cal arts, schools, and other means of civilization. Intruders will be ex cluded; ardent spirits will never he permitted to pass the line'of demar* kation; good morals and regular habits will he promoted; and the Indians will rise rapidly in the scale of intel ligence and virtue. This is the plan; and some good men have so much con J ficlencc in it, that they advise the In dians to embrace it, as their only re fuge. But before this advice is officiously pressed upon the Cherokees and oth er tribes, let the following things be considered. 1. The Cherokees and oilier tribes* are now separate communities, or nations. They have rights as com munities, and, under this associated character, they hold the United States by the strong obligations of treaties. They can, therefore, so long aS their present relation contin ues, make a strong, united, and ir resistible appeal to the justice and magnanimity of the United States. But the moment they consent to a re moval, the existence of their separate communities wifi cease. Their act of consent to a removal may be ealled a treaty; hut the moment the treaty is signed one of the parties becomes defunct. Let the terms be violated ever so grossly, and there is no nation of Indians to claim redresB. Indivi duals may complain, but there is no community; for by consent to a reuio^ val, the Indians come as much under the government of the United States as th* District of Columbia is. Such a change in their condition is a great onfe; and let no man advise to it, un less lie has duly considered its conse quences. From being an independ ent people, rapidly improving in their character and habits, they will be | df into leading strings, and will instantly * feel that they are vassals. From walking abroad on their own posses sions, as they are now wont to do, they will fee! like paupers and mendicants, taken by the government, and stowed away in a crowded poor-house. At least these feelings Seem very natural, if they are not certain. 2. There must he much suffering, in the removal of the 60,000 souls, which constitute the south-western tribes;--much exposure, sickness, turn er, nakedness, either on the journey, * or soon after the arrival. 3. The removal must be conducted gradually. Of course all existing as sociations must be broken up; and the emigrants would he scattered along, at considerable' intervals, and thus compelled to form new connexions.— This alone would greatly impede their progress in civilization. 4. From the best accounts, which can be obtained of the country, which is selected for this permanent residence of Indians, it is deficient in wood and water, two articles of indispensable necessity to the emigrants. It is certain, that the Chickasaws, who visited this country last year at the expense of government, were unani mously disatisfied with it as a place for their future residence. No'man should advise the Indians to remove from their present habitations, unless he is in possession of. undoubted evi dence that the place, to which they are to be transported, is a desirably residence, or at least a comfortable one. No such evidence has yet been produced. 5. The Crowding together of differ ent tribes, speaking languages entire ly unintelligible to each other, and ac customed to different habits, would be productive of quarrels, and effec tually impede the progress of im provement. 6 • The proposed plan of government is entirely visionary, and lias nothing, in the history of human affairs, to sus tain it. The white rulerB, who should have the charge of controlling and guiding such a heterogeneous mixture of different tribes, would need to be men of the most eminent qualifications; — men of greatwisdom, firmness, pa* tience, disinterestedness, and active