About Cherokee phoenix, and Indians' advocate. (New Echota [Ga.]) 1829-1834 | View Entire Issue (June 17, 1829)
In the year 1780, three years af ter ithe Independence of the gtalcs, which compose this Unioa, hud been “acknowledged by Geeat Britdipy a treaty, at Hopewell, was co,nq%nded - with your nation by the QMled States. ‘The emphatic .la‘nguage it contains }’?hgnnu; e mljslakcfi'i commencing as fotlows — "The commissioners pienis, poientiaries of the United States in Congress asscmbied, give peace to all the Cherokees and receive them into favor and protection of the United States 'of America.” It proceeds then to allot and to define your limits and your hunting grounds. You were secured, in the privilege of pursuing the game; aid from en- roachments by thufiwuilnu No. right however, save a mere posscssory oney'is by the “provisions of the treaty of Hopewell; conceded to your nation. The soil, and the use of it, were suffered to § remain wi%’nu, while the sovereign -1 z\kided, precisely where it did be re, in those States, within whose @g;x{ou were situated. . - Subsequent to this. your people were at enmity with the United States, and wazed f)tvm' upon our frontier settle ments; a durable peace waus not en tered iuto with you, until 1791 At that poriod a good vinderstanding ob tained, hostilities ceased, and by the ~ treaty made and concluded, your na tion was piaced under .the protection of our Government, aond a guaraniee ~ given, favorable to the occupancy and possessiomol your couutry. But the United States. al vays mindful of the aut?writfgé of the States, when treat ins for what was so much desired, peace with ‘their red brothers,. for b re to offer a grarantee adverse to the sovereignty of Georgia. They ¢ uld vot do so; they had not the pow e " At a more recent period, to wit: 1522, the State of Georgia, defining heto:vn proper limits, ceded to the U nite! Strtes, all her western territo ry upon a condition whih was ac cepted, “that the United S:ates shall, at their own expense, extinguish for the use of Georgia as early as the same can be peaceably obtained -on reasonable terms the Indian title, to all the.lands within the State of Georgia.” - She did not ask the milit ary arm of the Government to be em ployed, but in her mildness and for- Lcarance, only, that the soil might be *»yielded to- her,” so soon as it could peaceably be ob'ained.& onreasonable terms.. [a relation to sovereignty nothing is said; or hinted at in the compact; nor was it necessary or even proper, as both the parties to the a greement well knew that it was a _right which already existed in the State in virtue of the Declaration of our Independence, and of the treaty of 1783 alterwards coucluded. " These things have been made known to you frankly, and after the most friendly manmner; and particularly at the making of the treaty "with your nation in 1817, when a portion of your _people stipulated to remove to the west of the Mississippi; and yet it ts ~alleged in your communication to this Department, that you have ‘-been un shackled with the laws of individual States, because independent of them.” The course you have pursued of establishing an independent, substan tive. government, within the territo rial limits of the State of Georgia, ad verse to her will,. and contrary to her | rconsent, has been the immediate cause; which has induced her, to de part from the forbearance, she has so ‘long practiced; and in virtue of her authority, as a sovereign, independent State to extend over your country, %Legislative enactments, which 818 and @very State embraced in the confederacy, from 1783 to the pres ent time, when their independence was a:'mowledged and admitged. pos _esss2d the power to do, apart from any anthovity, oéppos'iggintgl‘ference by the General drovernment. + Bat suppose, and it is 'sngz'estel], mecely for the nurpose of awakeniny yonr hetter jnddément, that _Georgia, ~cannot. ahd ought not, tos@laim the esorcisdnf suh nowar alfern ativelisthen ;)figse)tw.. Nre l'y{ al low me; to call your ’%HP@(W a motyfifit«tdfifllé grave chard fthe convse. which nndera mistaken view of yoar “own richts, you #Hssire this Goverament to adent. Tt is 10 lass. than an invitation, that Efie shall step foriward o arrest the constitutional acts ofan i'wle!)endnnt.gatc, exer cise ] w?"l?n.her own limits, Should this be done, and Ge’brgta persist_in the maintainance of her rights, and her authority, the consequences might be, that the act would prove injurious to us, and in all prebability ruinous to you. The sword might be looked to as the ‘arbiter insuch an interference. —But this can never be done. The President cannot, and will not, be guileyofigg?h such an meclation’. 'T'he arins of this country can never be "emp*p?’cdx, to stay any State of this Uumon, from the exercise of those legitimate | owers which attach, and belong to their sovereign character. Au interference to the extent of af fording you protection, and the occu panty of your soil is what is demand ed of the justice of this country and will not be withheld; yet in doing this, the right of permitting to you the enjoyment of a separate government, within the limits of a State; and of denying the exercise of sovereignty to that State within her own limits, can not be admitted;—lt is not.within the range of powers granted by the States to the General Government,and there fore not within its competency to be exercised. In this view of the circumstances connected with your application, it be comes proper to remark that no re medy can be perceived, except that which frequently, heretofore has been submitted for your consideration, a removal beyond the Mississippi, where, alone, can be assured to you protection and peace. It mustbe oh vious to you, and the President has instructed me to bring it to your can did and serions consideration, that to continie where you are, within the territorial limits of an independent State can promise you nothing hut in terruption and disquietude. Beyond the Mississippi your prospects will be different. - There you will find no con flicting interests. The United Stotes’ power, and soverignty, “uncontrolled by the high authority of State juris diction, and resting on its own ener gies, will be able to say to you. in'the language of your own nation, the soil shall be yoars while the trees grow, or the strcams run. But situated where you now are, he cannot hold to you such language, or-consent to be guile you, by inspiring _i'nfgour bosoms hopes and expectations, which can not be realized—Justice ‘and friendly feelings cherished- towards our red brothers of the forest, demand that in all our intercourse, frankness should be maintained. The President desires me to say, that the feehngs entértained by him towards your people, are of the most friendly kd; and that in the inter course heretofoye, in past times, so frequently ~had with the Chiefs of your nation, hé failed not to warn them of the ccnsefi?’xfi,‘%‘,es, which would re sult to them from resuding within ~the limits of sovereign States. He holds to them, now, no other language, than that which he has heretofore employ ed; and in doing so, feels counvinced that he is pointing out that course which humanity and a just regard for the inte'est of the Indian will be found to sanction. In the view éntertained by him of this important matter, there is but a single alternative, to yield to the operation of those laws, which Georgia claimsyand has a right to extend throughout her own limits, org remove, and by assocrating with your brothers beyond the Mississippi, to become again united as one nation, carrying along with you that protec tion, which, there situated, it will be in the power of the government to extend.—The Indians being thus brought together at a distance from their white brothers, will be relieved from very many of those interruptions which, situated as they are at pre sent, are without remedy. The gov ernment of the Umited States will then be able to exerci®é over them a paternal, and superintending care to happier advantages to stay encroach ments, and preserve them in peace and amity with each other: while with-the aid of schools a hope may be indulged, that ere dong industry and refinement will take the place of those wandering-habits now so peculiar to the Indian character, the tendency of ‘which is to impede them in their mareh to civilization. : Respecting the infrusions on your lands. submitted also for considera tion, it is sufficient to remark,..#at- of these the Department had already been advised, and instructions have heen forwarded to the Agent of the Cherokees, directing him td cause their removal; and-it is earnestly hoped, that on this matter, all cause for future complaint will cease, and the order prove effectual. . With great respect, your friend, Signed, ' JOHN H. EATON. The Cherokees and Choctaws we! as really Indians, thirty years ago, any on our borders. They were of the same materials with other Indians, had the sa;&posgfilfhe same habits—the sam%snpersti&ions';-—-wepe exposed to the same corrupting influ -ences, frauds and impositions from the whites. A- mighty change has been | effected among them by some means. | They now present the grand spectacle of a pedple rising up from ruin and intellectual degradation, throwing ‘aside the rude manners and the dis tinctive traits of their original char | acter, and embracing those of enlight ened and Christian society—There has never been a time since the first efforts were made for introducipg civilization among the Aborigines, when complete success was thus hope ful. ; We rejoice at what is doing.—ln tellizence of *success® at the stations ‘among the Indians, will be hailed by all christians with peculiar joy. It is believed that they have been sadly overlooked, and that they never have received that share i the distribu ‘tion of missionary labor which ought to have been bestowed on them. If to any nation the American Christian or the American churches owe a debt of gratitute, and are under peculiar obligations, it is to the dying remnant of our Indiantribes. To almost eve ry one, there is a deep, perhaps.it ay be a romantic interest attaching to them. A century hence, much more than now, it is believed, they will be regarded as a deeply injured and a_deeply interesting people. - Most countries. of the Eastern world abouvndswith many relics of an tiguity—with many visible ruins com memorative of human thought and haman action. With us the case.is different. We have among us one, and but one monument of antiquity; and . this is emphatically a living ruin. The few remains of the Indian tribes are to this country, what the broken column and the falling cloisters are to Europe; and the hand of time has not been more destruetive to these remains of human‘art, than have been the relentless cruelty and avarice of the United States to these simple childven of nature. Théy have been diiven back from -the home of their fathers, and repeatedly forced from l all that was dear to them in life; they “are now scattered upon the borders of our continent like the splinters of a ' wreck upon the billowy ocean. . Fis. Tel. Cherokee - Indians.—The last Ma con Messenger says, a report is in circulation in this place, founded on a letter from a resident in' the Chero kee Nation, that they have come to the conclusion to sell their lands and emigrate; and that they will remain no longer than the present Summer. We do not understand what steps they have taken, if any, further than the resolution; but think there is rea son to give some credit to the inform ation.—-Bav. Geor. [The above is ol tiue.] _ NBW BOHOTAS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 1829. From the documents which we this day lay before our readers, there is not a doubt of the kind of policy, which the present ad ministration of the General Government intends to pursue relative to the Indians, President Jackson has, as a néighboring editor remarks, “recognized the doctrine contended for by Georgia in its full extent.” It is to be regretted that we were not unde ceived long ago, while we were hunters and in our savage state. It appears now, from the communication of the Secretary of War to the Cherokee Delegation, that the illus trious Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe were only tantalizing us,” when they encouraged us in the pursuit of agri cu'ture and Government, and when they afforded us the protection of the United States, by which we have been preserved to this present time as a mation. Why were we not toldJong ago,‘gz we could not be permitted to establish a gevernment within the limits of any state? then we could have borne disfiintment much easier than now. The pretext for Geor gia to extend her jurisdiction over the Cherokees has always existed. The Cher okees have alwayg;had- a govegxiflent of their own. N otlm, however, was said when we were governed by savage laws, ~when the abominable law of retaliation carried death in our midst, when it was a lawfu'l act to shed the;vblood of a person charged with witcheraft, when a brother could kill'a brother with impunity, oran in nocent man suffer for an offending relative. At that time it might have been a matter of charity to have extended over us the mantle of Christian laws & regulations. But how happensit nd%;’hf@éfbéifig fostered by the U. States, & advised by great and good men to establish a government of regular law; when the aid and protection_ of the Gener al Gevernment have heen pledged to "us; when we, as dutiful “children” of the Pres ident, have followed his instructions and advice, and have established for ourselves a government of regular law; when every thing looks so promising around us, that a storm is raised by the extension of tyranni cal and unchristian laws, which threat ens to blastall our rising hopes and expect ations? ‘ ; "There is, as would naturally be suppos ed, a great rejoicing in Georgiar Itis a time of “important news”—gratifying in telligence”--The Cherokee lands are to be obtained speedily.” It is even reported that the Cherokees have come to the con clusion tosell, and move off to the west of the Mississippi—not so fast. We are yet at our homes, at our peaceful firesides, (°x cept those contiguous to Sandtown, Carroll, &c.) attending to our farms and uscful oc cupations. ] Wed%;&d congluded to gi_\'e our_ readers fully our thoughts on the subject, which we, in the above remarks, have merely in troduced, but uponsreflection & remember ing our promise, that we will be moderate, we have suppressed ourselves, and have withheld, what we had intended should oc cupy our editorial column. We do not wich,by any means,urfnecessarily to excite the minds ofthe Cherokees. 'T'o our home _readers we submit the subject without any special comment. They will judge for themselves. 'To our distant readers, who may wish to know how we feel under pres< ent circumstances, we recommend the me morial, the leading article in our present number. 'We believeit just'y contains the views of the nation. GREAT EARTHQUAKE IN SPAIN. An Earthquake was felt on the 21st March at Madrid, and many other parts of Spain= In the pro vince of Murcia it occasioned the most afflictive disasters. The fol lowing is an abstract of Letters to the 27th of March, -~ Murcia, capital of the province— Not asingle church or edifice that has not been considerably damaged. The bridge of . Segura which unites the two parts of the city, has suffered materially. Severul houses have been ruined, and a- great number of persons perished. Carthagena—The quarter of Ser rath has been ruined. Saint Fulgencia disappeared. Rojales, La Granga, Cox, San Miguel, Colosa, and several other cities and villages, have suffered a great deal of injury. La Mata is a heap of ruins; the earthquake has dried up two salt lakes. ! Torre-Vejo—Not a single house is standing—the town a heap of ruins— the number of killed and wounded is very great—2oo bodies have already been dag out. : Ovihuela—Some edifices have fal len; the number of deaths here is but seven, the whole populationis in the fields. Giardamar is ng longer in €xist ence; two wind mills only are stand ing, the village having entifely disap peared. : Maajda, and several other villages in the vicinity, have sustained great injury. g Rafal--This village: has been de stroyed; the number killed ¥and wounded is immense. Aix-Garres—Several houses have tumbled; and a mountain near the town has rolled away, and several in dividuals have perished. . iy - Benejuzar—The greater part of the houses have fallen; the number of wounded is considerable, - and the killed amount to 250. o Almoravi—Not a single house or edifice remaining on this foun*tion. | Already 400 persons have been taken dead from the " ruins, besides a large number of wounded. % The earthquake of the 21st was: accompanied by a tremendous noise. Travellers observed at the moment of the shock a column of fire proceeding from the eastern coast of Murcia. Nor have the shocks ceased ever since the 2lst in that ‘province, ‘and further evils were expeci o - ¥ The number of dead is incalcula ‘ble. After four hundred bodies had ‘been dug out of the ruins of Almoray’ seventy more were found. Minéral springs have been removed to the dis tance of six miles from, ‘the place where their sources originally were. The river Segura, which flowed through the city of Murcia, has changed its course and its mouth. Four great craters are opened af Benjuzar, and emit lava and .infece tious exalations. Two other craters open at the place where Torrevjali was built, & pour forth torrents of feetid water. The King has taken® measures’ to succour the victims of this disaster. He has ordereq]-v:‘aflthe revenues of the provihce of Murcla to be employed in relieving the per-- sons' whom this misfortune has re duced to misery. It is said also that 80,000 francs, the produce of the sale of oil, have been destined for the same purpose. Military.—The two Companies of the 4th Regiment of U. S, Artillery under command of Col. M'Rea, which’ have been heretofore stationed at this_post, in compliance with orders from the Department of War, wiil proceed to Augusta in the Steamboat Carolina on Moanday. This move ment is not only intended probably as a healthful ‘change, for the summer; but Augusta may be considered a more convenient station, in case of any ne cessity which may possibly exist for the “assistance of the troops in carying into effect the laws of the %’ate of Georgia with reference to the Chero kees.— Savannah Georgian, ‘ A detachment of fifif’?&fßécruigs of the United States army, enlisted at Greenville, S. C. and (he “adjoining: district of Spartanburgh, ‘by Captain’ Butler, left the former on the 13th for Fort Mitchel, Alabama, to cdt plete a company ‘of the 4th Regiment of Infantry stationed at that place, and it is presumed, with a view off?acil-* itating the movements of ihe emigra ting Creek [ndians' Waest of the Mis sissippi.— Sav. Georgian, , ‘ Steam boat Casualties.~~The number of steam-boat accidents, during the pres ent season. has been’ almost unparal leled—from what causes we are unable to determine. The following is the most complete list of losses and damages, that we bave'been able to procure: o j The Columbus—near the month of the Ohio: boat and cargoentirely lost. The Illincis—between tlie. moxffih of the Ohio and St. Louis: hoat and car go entirely lost. The Pilot—in the Mississippi, above the mouth of the Ohio. The Montezuma—a few miles - below Helena: boat and ‘3’ greater part of the cargo, entirely lost.— The Decatur—entirely los. . The Muskingum—lost on Red River.— The Natchez--at the mouth of False River. The Belle Cre'ol\e—\-entirely . lost. The Hercules—run déwn by a brig below New-Orleans, and entirely lost. The General Carrol—recently run in contact with the Diana, and sunk in fifteen minutes;——hundred miles below Louisville: boat and car go entirely lost. The catalogue of partial losses, is too extensive for detailed agcount. Some of the most serious are, the Talma, HiLerna, Pat- ‘ riot#Brandywine, ‘Florida. The Tal ma was discovered to he on fire, with ove hundred and fifty kegs of powder on board of her.. She was scuttled and sunk before the flames reached it,. Since raised.—Natchez Ariel. - Imagination.—The following, case’ lately’ occurred, under the eare of M.. Maury, at the hospital of St. Lou _is:—A young man from the country, ‘alabourer, imagined that he had swal. lowed a young' snake in a glass of water. It is"five years (said lve) 'since the accident occurred, since ~which time the animal has net ceased to grow. It has now attained an enor mous size, and produces great incon venicnce, constantly in motion, it {ra verses the belly, mounts into the chest, & somtimes rises up to the left eye, ° when T have a distinct perception of its size and color. Sometimes its movements are so violent and painful, that T am obliged to constrain them, by Seizin§ and squeezing it through the parietes of the abdomen.” The patient described a variety “of cir cumstanees connected with his in{er nal enemy, and appealed to the by \standers whether they did not hear-
