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CHEROKEE FMiEWIX, AND INDIANS 9 ADVOCATE.
«s
PRINTED UNDER THE PATRONAGE, AND FOR 'Jflffe BENEFIT'OF THE CHEROKEE NATION, AND DEVOTED TO THE CAUSE OF INDIANS.—E. HOCmNOTT, I.DITCH.
VOL. III.
NEW ECHOTA, SATURDAY JUNE 26, 1830.
MO. 10.
PRINTED WEEKLY BY
.1NO. F. WHEELER,
At $2 50 if paid in advance, $3 in six
months, or $3 50 ii* paid at the end o the
year
l’o subscribers who can read only the
" Cherokee language the price will he $2,00
advance, or $2,50 to he paid within the
year.
"Every subscription will be considered as
' continued unless subscribers give notice to
the contrary before the commencement of a
new year,and all arrearages paid.
Any person procuring six subscribers
And becoming responsible for the payment,
shall receive a seventh gratis.
Advertisements will be inserted at seven-
tv-live cents per square for the first inser
tion, and thirty-seven and a half cents for
* each continuance; longer ones in propor-
’ lioin
t.i.3»AU letters addressed to the Editor,
\jiosl paid, will receive due attention.
&\vy d d ii s i j e e.e j.
^0AV.r.ot)J TAAr 5 U*V* JIufDAa Iv4ot!.J.
pursuing the diclvtes of good faith-,
will unite in enforcing the obligation$
of the treaty ns the supreme law,” &c.
The Senate perceive that this Ex
ecutive injunction founds its require
ments, explicitly, upon the faith, and
authority of the treaty, as the su
preme law, and this a treaty made
with Indians. Yts, Sir, a treaty
with a part of (he very Indians now
asserted by Georgia to he helotv the
reach of treaties—poor objects! with
whom it is declared to he ridiculous
and idle to speak of treating!
Sir, she cannot recall her proclam
ation. Give these sacred doctrines
their full operation here; let their in-j
fluciice prevail in I he eventful issue
now opened for mir decision; and'the j
Indians, who are involved in it, will
be satisfied. 'They have approached I
us with no other plea; they urge no!
other or higher considerations, They
point us to the faith of treaties, and
But another matter is worthy of a se-
I l ions thought. Is there such a clause
ritory northwest of the Ohio,” excep- any Indian of said nation, from eini- spise, and whose State pride is en-
ting one single article prohibiting i«-1 giauiig, or cm oiling as emigrant, he j listed in rounding off their territories,
voluntary servitude. When those »nali uo liauie to inuictmeiil anti con.
States applied to the General Govern- .hnemein m toe common goal, or iq
naent to be formed into Territories,; tiuiu moor m me i eaitenliaiy, nul e x _ in our covenants with the Indian, that
this eventful condition ot the Georgia 1 sstivuiu^Jour jCurs, at ihu uistieu 0l( j when we shall deem it best lor him,
cession was rcmcinbereii by all par-i ul uie v-ouit; amt ii uiq poison isi»i,]] | on the whole, we may break our cn-
ties. Mississippi and Alabama m ibe deter, or alter to deter any Indian, head S >l 8 cniell,s ‘'ini lenre him to his pci
most deliberate manner agreed to the | man, cluei or warrior oi said nation, seL ' n,m ' s/ Notwitl.stnnrlimr our ad
condition, and assumed the articles of lium selling or ceding to the Uniled
the ordinance.as an integral part of | Stales, for the use of Georgia, the
their political condition. When they whole or any part ol said territory,
afterwards proposed to us to he re- or prevent, or oiler to prevent, any
eeived into the Federal Union, acts of I such persons from meeting in council
Congress were duly passed authoriz-! or treaty any commissioner or com
ing them respectively to lurm a con-j rnissioners cm the pi it of the United
slilulion and Male government for the i Stale?, for any purpose whatever, “lie
people within their territories, with j shall be guilty of a high misdemeanor,
this proviso—“That the same?, when j and liable, on conviction, to cnritine-
ao^iE KT.a n-pp 0’e.ns.i; implore us by the constitutional obli-
T V 4J5.I TCTZ TF.iUO-f 5 I) G.T I-ot). I.
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V.IR DO,7Zii&Ivo?.l.
/AGENTS FOR THE CHEROKEE
PIltENIX.
The following persons arc authorized to
receive subscriptions and payments for the ^
.Cherokee , Mm- President: What could have
wrought this entire revolution in o- i
gation of these national eompaets, to
raise around our ancient allies the ef
fective defences which we have so
often promised to mnintn.n. Carry i
out these rules of •public duty, and the !
Cherokee delegation, who have been 1
waiting at your doors with anxious in
terest, will return to their home re
lieved from the burden that now sinks
their spirits, and with the grateful
conviction that the successors of
Washington are still true to his rncm-
lormed, shall be republican, and not
repugnant to the principles of tlie or
dinance of the 13th July, A. D.
1787.” for the territory northwest of
tiie Ohio; and they were afterwards,
upon duly certifying to Congress that
they had conformed to these princi
ples, and engrafted them into their
constitution, admitted into the Re
public. The third article of this or
dinance I have already read and con
sidered, and nil! only add, that human
wisdom and skill could not have de
vised a more effectual safeguard for
the Indian tribes, than are now in
corporated into the laws and consli-
inent at hard labor in the Penitentia
ry for not less than four, nor longer
than six years, at the discretion of
the Court.” It is a crime in Geor
gia for a man to prevent the sale of
his country—a crime to warn a chief
or head man, that the agents of the
United Stales arc instructed “to
move upon him in the line of his pre
judices.” that they are coining to
bribe him to meet in treaty with the
commissioner. By the way, Sir, it
seems these treaties avo very lawful,
w hen made for the use of Georgia. .
H is not surprising that our agents
| advertised the War Department,
t ttt ion ofllie States of Mississippi and (hat if the General
Alabama. It would have been well! fused to interfen
Messrs. Pkip.ce &. Williams, No. 20
'Market St. Boston, Mass.
Geo ii (1 f. M. Tracy, Agent of the A. B.
‘C. F. M. New York.
ltcv. A. D. Eddy, Canandaigua, N. Y.
Thomas Hastings, Utica, N. Y.
llev. James Campbell, Beaufort, S. C.
William Moultrie Reid, Charleston,
:S. C
Col. George Smith, Statesville, W. T.
.Ikremiaii Austil, Mobile, Ala.
llev. Cyrus Kingsbury, Mayhcw, Clioc-
xtaw Nation.
Capt. William Robertson, Augusta,
Georgia.
Col. James Turk, Bellofontc, Ala.
y gi Kft • mi nrdrfTaw I *- ft ^ y *** j'.m kjcuni
EJLtfDIAKT3.
SPEECH
ofM-. Frclinguysen, of New Jersey,
In Senate U. S.—April 6, 1830.
[Concluded.]
I am indebted to the State of Geor
gia for a clear and very satisfactory
exposition of the nature of Indian
treaties, and the obligations that n-
rise from them. It is an authority
for positions, which 1 have had the
honor to maintain, of the greater
weight, as it proceeds from the High
est functionary of her Government.
In February, 1825, the Creeks, by a
treaty made with the United States,
‘ceded all their lands to us within the
geographical limits of Georgia, for
the use of that State. By an article
in the treaty, it was provided that the
United States should protect the In
dians against the encroachments, hos
tilities and impositions oflhe whites,
$tc. &c. until the removal of the Li
llians should have been accomplished
ikccoT^iiig to the terms of the treaty.
The Governor of Georgia, on the 22d
Bay of March, of the same year, issu
ed his proclamation, as “Governor
and commander in Chief of the Army
and Navy of the said Slate, and of
the Militia thereof,” in which, after
stating the conclusion of the treaty al-
pinious, and in three short years? j
Our relations with the Indians have
not changed. Condition an ! circum- |
stance, claim and obligation, remain
precisely the same. And yet, now
we hear that these Indians have been
lor all the time, since Georgia had
existe .ee, a component part of her
population; within the full scope of her t
jurisdiction and sovereignty, and sub-i
ject to tiie control of her laws!
The Peopli of this country will
never acquiesce in such violent < on-!
stiuctions. They will read for them- i
selves; and when they shall learn J
the histoxy of all our intercourse}
with these nations; when they shall ;
perceive the guaranties so often re- j
newed to them, and under what sol
emn sanctions, the American com
munity will not seek the aids of arti
ficial speculations on the requisite
formalities to a technical treaty.—
No, Sir. I repeat it: 'I'hej will
judgeJorthemselves, and proclaim, in
language that the remotest limits of
this Republic will understand—“call
these sacred pledges of a nation's
faith by whit name you please—our
word has been given, and wc should live
and die by our word.”
If the Stale of Georgia is conclud
ed. and morality hound to stay her
hand from invading the lands or the
government of the Indians, the States
of Mississippi and Alabama are e-
qually and more strongly obliged.
They came into the Union after most
of the treaties had been made. The
former in ISIG; These obligations
were liens upon the confederacy, and
they intis) take the benefits with the
burdens of the Union. They cannot
complain of concealment or surprise.
These conventions were all public
ami notorious: and the Indians under
their daily view, in actual separate
possession, exercising the rights of
sovereignty and property.
Moreover, we have heard much of
ready mentioned, and the article in
it for the protection of the Creeks,
the Governor proceeds: “I have, j constitutional powers and disabilities
therefore, thought proper to issue
this, my proclamation, warning all
persons, citizens of Georgia, or oth
ers, against trespassing or intruding
upon lands occupied by the Indians
within the limits of this State, either
far the purpose of settlement or oth
erwise, as every such act will be in
direct violation of the provisions oj the
treaty aforesaid, anil will expose the
aggressors to the most certain and
summary punishment by (he authori-
in his debate. Sir, I proceed to
demonstrate that both Mississippi
and Alabama are, by a fundamental
inhibition in the constitution of their
government, prevented from extend
ing their laws over the Indians.—
When Georgia, in 1802, granted to
the United States the territory that
composes the greater part of these
two States, she made it an express
condition of (lie cession, that the
States to he formed of it should con
form to all the articles of “the ordi-
in these Slates to have reviewed
their own origin; to have examined
the sources of their power before
they, rashly, &. in disregard of princi
ples that me essential to their prt :
lilical existence, usurped dominion
over a community of men as perfect
ly indopendedntof them ns they are
in Mexico. And shall we, Sir, qui
etly submit to the breach -cf condi
tions that we tendered as the indis
pensable terms of their admission;
that were fairly propounded, and
freely and fully accepted? Why.
Sir, it appears to me that the fulfil
ment of sojemn contracts, the good
faith of public, treaties, the funda
mental provisions of State constitu
tions are to he regarded as matters of
very trifling obligation, when they are
nil to he broken through to reach a
feeble and unoffending ally. With a
man of truth and honesty, such high
considerations as address us, would
supersede the occasion for argument;
and how can tee evade them without
deep dishonor?
I have complained of the legisla
lion of Georgia. I will now refer the
Senate to the law of that State pass
ed on 1 lie lfilh December, A. D.
1829, that the complaint may he
justified. The title of the law would
suffice for such purpose without look
ing further into its sections. After
slating its object of adding the terri
tory in the occupancy of the Chero
kee nation of Indians to the adjacent
counties of Georgia, another distinct
office of this oppressive edict of ar
bitrary power is avowed to lie, “/o
annul all laws and ordinances made by
the Cherokee nation of Indians.” And,
Sir, the act docs annul them effectu
ally. For the seventh section enacts,
“that after the first day of June next,
all laws, ordinances, orders and reg
ulations of any kind whatever, made,
passed or enacted by the Cherokee
Indians, either in general Council, or
in any other way whatever, or by any
authority whatever, of said tribe, he,
and the same is hereby declared to he
null and void, and of no effect, as if
the same had never existed.” Sir, here
we find a whole people outlawed—
laws, customs, rules, government, all,
by one short clause, abrogated, and
declared to be void as if they never
had been. History furnishes no ex
ample of Such high-handed usurpation
—the dismemberment and partition
ef Poland was a deed of humane legis
lation compared with this. The suc
ceeding clauses arc no less offensive
seen tors? Notwithstanding our ad
versaries are not entitled to the use
of such humane suggestions, yet we
do not shrink from an investigalion of
this pietence. It will he found as
void of support in fact, as the other
assumptions arc of pi inciplc.
It is alleged that the Indians can
not flourish in the neighborhood of a
white population—that whole tribes
have disappeared under the influence
of his propinquity. As an abstract
proposition, it implies reproach s me-
where. Our virtues certainly have
not such deadly and depopulating pow
er. It most, then, be our vices that
posseses these destructive energies—
and shall we commit injustice, and
put in as our plea for it, that our iu-
teioouise with the 'Indian's has been
so demoralizing that we must drive
them from it. to save them? True,
Sir, many tribes have melted-auvay—?
they have sunk lower and lower—^
and what people could rise from a
condition to which pelief, selfishness,
and cupidity, co: spired to depress
them?
Government re
am! the Indians
were left to the law of the Slates,
they would soon exchange their lands
and remove. To compel by harsh
and cruel penalties such exchange, is
the broad purpose of this act of Geor
gia, and nothing is wanting to fill up
the picture of a disgraceful system,
buttopeimit (he hill before us to
pass, without amendment or proviso.
Then it w ill all stem fair on our stat
ute bool s. It legislates for none hut
those who may choose to remove—
while we know that grinding, heart
breaking exactions are set in opera
tion elsewhere to drive them to such
a choice. By tlie modification I have
submitted. I beg for the Indian tiie
poor privilege of a free exorcise of
his own will. But the law of Geor
gia is not yet satisfied. The last sec
tion declares, “that no Indian, or de
scendant of any Indian, residing with
in the Creek or Cherokee nations of
Indians, shall Lc deemed d competent
witness in any Court of (his Slate, to
which a white person may be a part if.
except such white person rcsiVcs’witli-
in the said nation.” It. did not suf
fice to roll these people of the last
vestige of their own political rights
and liberties—the work was not com
plete, until they were shut out of the
protection of Georgia laws. For.
Sir. after the first day of June nc\t,
a gang of lawless white men may
break into the Cherokee courtry.
idr, had wc devoted the same core
to elevate their moral condition, that
we had to degrade them, the remov
al of the Indians would not now seek
an apology in the suggestions of hu-
manity. But I waive this, and as to
the matter of fact, how stands the ac--
count? M herever a fair experiment
lias been made, the Indians have rea
dily yielded to the inflnenc.es of mot 1 ;
al cultivation. Yes. Sir, they flour
ish under this culture, and rise in (lie
scale of being. They bare shown
themselves to lie susceptible of im
provement, and tiie ferocious A clings
and habits of I lie savage are soothed
and reformed by tbe mild charities of
religion. They can very soon he
taught to understand and appreciate
the blessings of civilization and reg
ular government And I have the opih-j
ions of some of our most cnlighted
Statesmen to sustain me. Mr. Jeffer
son, nearly thirty years af';o, congrat
ulates his fellow citizens upon the
hopeful indications furnished by tbq
laudable efforts of tbe government to
meliorate ll*o condition of these he
was pleased to denominate “our In
dian rioiglibois ’ In his message to
Congress on tiie 8t!i of Dei ember,
1801, he states, “among our Indian
neighbors, also, a spnit of peace find
friendship generally prevails; and I
atn happy to inform you that the con
tinued efforts to introduce among
them the implements and the prac
tice of husbandry, and of Ihe house-
plunder their habitations, murder the hold ails, have not been without sue-?
lies of the State and of the United
States. All gpod citizens, therefore; J nance for the government of the ter
; shall prevent, by threats, menaces,
| or other means, or endeavor to prevent
mother, w ith the children, and all in
sight of the wretched husband and
fat her—and no law of Georgia will
reach llie atrocity. It, is vain to tell
us, Sir, that murder may he traced
by circumstantial prohaBililies. The
charge against this Slate is—you
have by force and violence stripped
these people of the protection of their
government, and now refuse to east
over them the shield of your own
The outrage of the deed is, that you
leave the poor Indian helpless and de
fenceless, and in this cruel way hope
to banish him from his home. Sir, if
this law he enfor. ed, I do religious
ly believe that it will awaken tones
of feeling that w ill go up to God—and
call down the thunders of his wrath.
The end. however, is to justify the
means. “The removal of the Indian
tribes to the west of the Mississippi
is demanded hy the dictates of hu
manity ” This is a w ord of concilia
ting import. But it often makes its
way to tiie heart under very doubt
ful titles, and its present claims de
serve to be rigidly questioned. Who
urges this pleq? They' who covet
the Indian lands—who wish to rid
themselves of a neighbor that they de-
cess. That they are becoming more,,
and more sensible of the superior-
ity of this dependence for clothing
and subsistence over tbe precarious
resources of hunting and fishing And
already are we able to announce that,
instead of that constant diminution of
numbers produced by their wants,
some of them be»in to experience, an in
crease of population ” Upon (fie ay*
lliorily of this great.statesman. I can
direct our government to a much
more effective, as uell ns more just
honorabl i remedy for tbe evils tlirrf.
alflict these tribes, than their pro
posed removal into the wild uncultiv
ated regions of tlie western forests.
In a nil ssn«o to Congress on the 17tli
of October, 1803, Mr. Jefferson re-,
marks, “with many of the other
tribes, improvements n agriculture
and household manuj irture arc ad
vancing, and with all our poaep and
friendship are established on grounds
much firmer than heretofore.” Inhi3
message of the 2d December. 180G,
there is a paragraph devoted to this
subject deserving of our iViost respect
ful consideration. The friends of In
dian rights could not desire the aid of
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