Newspaper Page Text
%
*
riljRIIOK^E Pfft<EHTi&
E. JOT, EDITOR-
PRINT VP WEEKLY BY
JOtIN CAADY,
At $2 50 if paid in advance, $3 in six
thonths, or #3 50 if pHid at the end of the
year.
To subscribers who can read only the
pherokee language the price will be $2,00
in advance, or #2,50 to be paid within the
year- . .
Every subscription will be considered as
l Continued unless subscribers give notice to
the contrary before t<lxe commencement of a
mew year, and all arrearages paid.
Any person* procuring six subscribers
Mid becoming responsible for the payment,
shall receive a seventh g-ratis.
; TjF* All letters addressed to the Editor,
?ost paid, will receive due attention.
ti<wy s<?Avo-j).aDh s i j e <x® a*
t*e AVJ’.ritiJ TAJH* W-V* JIxrfEAa I*4a8«I.
b®/if. awii.itfey kt^i D,pp o»0jna
Z TF.AlOviP* DOJA,m-*N.l
TGfZ t»T.P TcSO-A TR DOJ^mIPvo^j, KT
jo»-a o^oju.i j?4vba D»a,s>e»EZ tb ytv
DOJ^e-d®.*, o-y;i d4»p o^bjbj i-4tS)a-
/ ctvyz cpg-r aiie)yta 1 yiy,'' wp*v* gs-a
0 ) ejt , a t*4o8a vmikt*, Tcrz tejboj* ne-
kt^iz n^F G«y*v* o>?jb-
tf.iR noi^K.ifjr
■==5*5
NEW ECU OTA, 25, 1831.
WQ'L.
I f D{A >S.
HOUSE
Marc
The bill, ‘.‘■making appropriations
Depart nit ni
year one thousand eight hundred and
thirty-one,” being under cnnsidera-
these several classes are entitled;
where there are Indians without fam
ilies, the payments are to be made to
them personally, and not to their
chiefs. This mode of distribution is
not, under any circumstances to be
departed from.
I.am, &c.
P. G. RANDOLPH.
^ Act. Seen ta% of War.
To Col. Hush MoNTGOMERy,
Cherokee Agent, Calhoun, Ten.
This order was not confined to the
Cherokees, but, in terms, was issued
to*he other nations. In January la: t,
the Cherokee delegation were inform
ed by the War Department, ‘“that
the order referred to is not applica
ble to the annuities of their nation bfe-
clusively, but tffcthosn of all other tribes
entitled to them.”
To fay nothing of the difficulty,
arising from the ambiguous phraseolo
gy of this order, the House perceives
| at once that it takes from the Indian
j nations the rigtit, and assumes the
j burden, of distributing the Indian nn-
l nuities. It makes them —chief's, war
riors, and all—the mere passive re-
■ cipientj
, our bounty, in sueh pro*
OF REPRESENTATIVES, eportions the Executive may see fit
* *» * i to dole out to them.
_ But, in the first place, l would re/j
for th^ Indian Departenm for the ! spectfully inquire, how is this order
to be executed? Among whom are
the authorities to be distributed? Arc
-l^ent'
• hi rase 1
tion, >ir. BATES, of Mass, moved, females ti be included? Or if only
the following amendment; ‘"That tl|e
iair*na
have
'kief 4®
P the warrior
^ -t males, males of what age? What is
annuities to tile Indiair • nations SSor to be the ratio of distribution^-, 'file
j tribesman be paid hereafter in' the 'order says, “to chiefs, warriors,In
way and manner tlfeey have usually diaus with families, and Indiana with*
been paid since the grant thereof, or out families*” Is the c
unUi said nati^s oT jribes shall res-1 mdfe than This warrior
sp0Wivc!y othm wise direct.” than the Indian? or the
Air. BATES said, he offered thi*family more than the Indian without a
amendment in Committee of the | family? In fixing the ratio of distri-
Who.le. and in drference to the wish- ; bution. is rank of properly to be tak
es of the Committee of Ways and I enTnto the account? -Whatever course
M' :ms, and upon the assurance that : is pursued, by reason that some must
on ‘>p|> ei-unity should be afforded in (fie and softie will be born, the Mouse
the House, lie forbore then to state j perceives that at least an annual cen-
grounds of it. At this late hour j sus will be indispensable; for if these
f the day and late day ol the session, j annuities are due to the people indi-
said My. B., I will confine myself vidually, and not to the nation, exact
trio t ly to Hie point, because l do not J justice mu^ be done to each- Well,
somewhat difficult preHrni-
. . 4 _ P'e^TTfary business being settled, let me
vious question, as^I wish to obtain the suppose the day of payment to have
r ' ! ’ ' arrived. The amount of the annui-
P 1 "' 1 v ww’.tiuat. i iiu mu \JU8llCt H31
intend to afford the slighiest apology Ugir, this
pr occasion fof^i demand of the pie-fftary but
*A*
is
. judgment of the Unuse distinctly up
n ihe^roposiiion involved >in the a*
end merit proposed?
Since the ' foundation of the Gov
ernment, ikaid \If. 1^, the practice
hgs been one and unSeviating—that
Of paying theSteIndian annuities4o the
ations, and not to the individuals
composing the nations. This Gov-
crpnjynt lifts never intermeddled with
the disbMjMsem^nt or distribution of
.^them. ^Sometimes they have been
:;-Yapplied by (He natives partly for the
^support of their Government, for the
aintennne^ of their schools, the piir-
hnse *f agricultural imnlemeirts, or
f otflea^iurpose which was mo^
leasing to themselves. The annuity
o the Cherokees* has latterly been
aid into the pu^h* treasury of that
ation: the annuity to the Creeks has
ecn paid <o«the jie idmen of the dif-
ereht towns: and the annuities to the
lother jsationa have been paid in the
jjyay am! manner they thought proper
to direct.
S In June last an order lhas issued by
lie Executive reversing this ancient
nd uniform practice I will send
he ofder to the Clerk, and thank him
k read it. It is os follows:
Department of War, )>
18 tune. 18SO. \
j j^ir. The President directs that the
jhrncti *e of onving annuities to the
pTreiisni.-r of the Cherokee nation
■hall■from heneeforth he discontinued;
land *hat,with a view *o secure to.the
anass of thaH’ notion their nroper pro-
.jpoiaion of s"'dv annuity the same
-ahsll be beronfter paid in every case
* to the individuals respectively enti
tled: the* is to spvw to the chie fa .&
wn' rioi s* and common Indians, and
ties exeeds by a fraction two hundred
and forty-five thousand dollars The
annuity to the Cherokees is between
si* and seven thousand. If ^ie dis
trlbtltion be made according to num
bers, without reference to rank, prop
erty, or condition, each Cherolfee
will receive about forty cents as his
share.
Tlie annuities must, therefore, be
paid in silver or copper coin, the
transportation of which will be a
heavy expense. The territory of the
Cherokees does not vary much from
two hudnred by eighty miles in extent,
&n<fcfthe agency is established in the
northwest corner of it. Now, sir,
let me suppose that the agent, Col.
Montgomery, has received his mon
ey, and, \nlb his wagon or mules
laden, is on his way, making his an
nual visitation to eaclf member of the
tribe. Perhaps it is not too much to
say that lie will need a "guard, by
hight at least, if not to protect him
self, to protect his treasure. But l
shall be tpld that this is not the plan;
that the agent is not to go to the peo
ple, but that the people are to dome
to him. Well, sir, be it so. At the
time appointed the Cherokees come
to the agent, at his agency house,
some of them a distance of two
hundred miles—upon an average
near one hundred. Now, the first
thought that occurs to the mind
is, that a single share—fortt
cents—will not pay the expense of
the journey, much less the loss of
time in making it. -The next is, that,
for such a numerous and, I may add
troublesome anddangerops assemblage,
of men, extensive provisions must he
;ikfir families, in the ratio in which| which will add another item
, .. j 1 *' * •
to the pres/nt enormous amount of
our Indian pppaopriations. But, to
proceed. Few of the Indians, except
those who likve had intercourse with
the whites, nave more than one mme,
and that has^ reference frequently to
snne living or meterial object. There
are, forRnstance, many whose name,
in English, beans racoon, or fox, or
bird. Non : s r, I will suppose that
all of the same cognomen come at the
same time to receive their portions
of the annuity: there are three or four
hundred Racoons. The agent pays
the senior. What sort of a voucher
is he to take? The Indian/cannot
write: he ean make the Raepon mark
—that is all. The others p6i|e oy in
succession; and, before the payment
is dll f dftibcU, •'WJjjfjid lose business’
lias been despaehtSl.^isguised by new
paint and new onamenis, return.
Then another class,still, who have
become entitled siute the last cen
sus, and for whom there is no money.
And then come the children of those
who have died since the last cen
sus, claiming their fathers’ sha-e, and
each child his sharfe of that share.
After the R;t' - omis, then come tbo
Foxes, and the Birds, and all the oili
er living things, or material objecis
ture to say, that the Secretary
If, before half meridian, would
throw down hi^iuoney begs and be
off for Tennessee. What is to pio-
teci the agent from endless imposition?
or the Indians from onclless frauds?
How fcau the agent make the pay
ments? or, il’he can, how produce the
requisite vouchers? * It is a plan ex
pensive and tropic some to us; vexa
lions and ruinous the Indians. This
lan with a order makes La annuity a debt due to
individuals: ^ou must, in justice,
therefoie, serf it paid to them. Hence
we shall have a neW class u! private
claims upon this Government, out
numbering all others.
But, sir, 1 deny the right of the
Exeqfhtive to make this order. Tlfft'sc
annuities are debit due to she Indians
—not gratuities. They are debts
for which you have the value receiv
ed. You owe them. Your relation
to them is that of debtor, not master
They are not only debts, but .they
are debts due to nations. They .arc
recognised as'such by every treaty—
not as debts due to individuals, but,
in terms, to nations. They are debts
due nations who have a government of
their own, and want not our interpo
sition in their affairs: The Chero
kees, the Creeks, and Chickasaws,
are well known. The Secretary of
War tells us, that, in the Choctaw’
nation, ‘‘there are three divisions,
each of which is governed by a chief,
“who, within his limits, acts inde
pendently of the others. In his
government he is aided by minor and
“subordinate chiefs, called captains,
each of whom acts, within his partic
ular sphere, distinct. The peo
are subordinate to the captains
“captains to the chiefs” And all tb._
other nations have a government 0 f
some sort—such os they rb/ose—one
that satisfies them—ar.U this should
satisfy us Now, sir, I demand, by
what right do vy<> undertake to say
that these annuities shallAbe paid to
indmdvftIs"/ Might we not as well
ho'pfe saiVUhat the purchase money of
Louisiana should be phid to the cit
izens of FrVpce? Or may we not as
Well now say N that the debts due the
States of this Union shall be paid, not
to the order o)\|he Government, not
into the State Ttpaiury, but diiootly
to the people? AwWet but the Ex
ecutive send agenfe^and sub-agents
nough int o the States, and they will
find among'the ignorant, the disaffect
ed, the servile, and the sycophantic,
those who will apptove the measure,
and, if need be, implore it * Sir, you
h&ve no right, but the right of the
strongest, the right ot hins who puts
hand upoli the hilt df his sword for his
proof. You have the P ower ~}}\ ( ‘'
“agent’s power”-lbat is all
the House hear the opinion of Mr. the strong confidence they b el m U e
JefTersou upon this subject? In 1808 L uth and justice of their cause a
ho spoke to the Chiefs of the Upper in the integrity,.the .honor,
Cherokee towns as follows: deuce of the Court, they see*
‘You complain that yeti do not re
ceive your T just proportion ot the
annuities we pay your nation—that
the chiefs of the lower tonns take
for, them more than their share. My
children, this distribution is made
by the authority of the Cherokee nation,
and according to their own rules,
over which we have no control. We
reference of the question,
gia declines it! Nay
cxe-
lecislon of
your now cue upon their e< tistitu-
tionality. The Executive rebioi S'he
one, and Georgia opposes amt will,
if possible defeat, the oilier. In
ibis anomalous condition of ll ’i'gs. it
became ni*e< ssary for them to emdloy
counsel u... !o incur many and heavy
expenses: and when their delegation
left for VY’asIfftigion? the L» nisi 'ive
| Council tf the Cherokee N.ii ion gave
| lliem authority to draw for such imrt
tlic Indi-1 of the annuity due from the L <e(l
to them ! Srates, as the exigency of the?* • os©
1 have lli : oLH i be-
is no question ns to
They did.-MU’ '
refused, and S'iil is re-
ihe Executive. Aj, the
and L«col-
sl.e insists
i upon the exclusive right, in vnlue of
her State sovereignty, to settle this
question finally and irreversibly lor
herself, and by her ow n Com is, die
judges of which are eleoed periodi
cally by her own citizens—are imbu**
ed, I will not say inflamed, with her
do our duty in delivering the annuities j own feelings—swayed by her own
io the head men oj the nation, and toe j interests, having a common share in
pretend to no authority over them, to no | the wheel of the lottery that is to
rHit of directing how they are to be dis- make partition and distribution of the
fnfmfed.” spoils of tlie nation at their bar, an®
These are the correct principles j against which the treaties and the
upon this subject, of which one would ' laws the\ annul, are Jhe oliily in-
think the practice of this Govern- j terposing harrier and defence,
ment for forty years, independent of i Against thivt^“ Cherokees. in their
the terms in your bond, would be! weakness, . an dWy protest, and they
satisfactory proof as of the wisdom do protest, and claim eithei
of vhich it has been a continued illus-J out ion of tb
tration.
I might stop here, but T should do
injustice to the claims of the Indian
nations if I were to oiru't to state
briefly the effect of this t icier upon
them. 1 will not speak of its object.
it is known to this House, to tiic
country, and to the world, that the
Cherokees are engaged in a most
ncqual conflict for their existence
ns a nation. '1 hey claim of the Uni
ted States the execution of
an treaties which guaranty
protection, and*!the execution of the j might r^un c
hitercoutse law ot 1802, in watch the J fore mu; the it*
provisions of those tieaties are cm- i Wie pnwei
bodied. Georgia has decided that I payoi nt was
these treaties as also the law, are
uncdndlirutionai and void. The Ex
ecutive has confirmed that -cecis on,
and refuses to execute them. Thus
the Cherokees are abandoned to
their fate. In order to try this im
portant, and to them and to us inter
esting and momentous question, the
Cherokees, in a case in the Courts
of Georgia in which one ot the tribe
was put on trial for bis file, tor an
offence committed within the juris
diction of the Cherokee nation,
caused those treaties to be pleaded,
which, if constitutional, ousted Geor
gia of her jurisdiction of the case,
and turned the criminal over to the
Courts cf his owm nation, to be pun
ished according to the laws of his
own People. The Courts of Georgia
decided that the treaties were un
constitutional, and LonclemnOt! the
prisoner to death. To bring the ques
tion under the revision of the Su
preme Court, of the United fetal es
—a constitutional question under the
treaties of the United States, and
therefore most apiUQ'piiately to be
examined and decided there—a writ
ot error was brought, according to
the provisions of
1V - which Cieorgia had notice, and which
pie|^eovgia defeated by executing the
the i Cherokee. This execution was a-
' gainst law, if there be any force if.
the Indian treaties, or iu the inter
course law of 1C02. Thus defeated
by such an act, the Cherokees have
applied to the Supreme Court for an
injunction against Georgia to slay her
hand. Now’, permit ine to pause
here for a moment and iaguirci, hod
the Cherokees defined trus forum,
and refused to submit this question
to its decision, would not the world
have said it was because they had no
confidence in the justice of their
cause? And the Cherokees might
wot! hovn n»o.iv®rait Wo hold your
fused by
same ti .e, the Creek Delegation
have been l aid so fai as lin y needed
for their expenses, and sn i.u sine
N: ill'll owed fo: ike © In: ation of
the Creek children npon t o!. J Pin*
son s’ isim in Kentucky. ’ Bui even
the Creeks, as I am well informed,
were refused, Until assurance was
given that they nefo no* here co-op
erating with the Cherokees. The
House, therefore, perceives, that
this order cuts off at once the re
sources of the Cherokees, and as lar
as this Government can do it.; and, at
tins crisis ul their affairs, takes from
lfifem the means of defence, .tiki de
nudes them for sacrifice. The fur
ther effect of this order w ill be, to
create a severalty and individuality
of interest throughout all the Indian-*
Nations, that will weaken the mutual
dependence and destroy the subsist
ing haimony among chiefs, warriors,
and people; bringing the agents and
sub-agents ot the United States into
contact with every individual native,
and affording them an opportunity, if
they shall be base enough, to use it,
to distract, confound, and break them
existing law" of] up for ever. 1 beg the House, there
fore, to cinsider the nature and ex
tent of our obligations tb these
Tribes, gmd whether it is not due to
justice, and to our own hoKor, if no
thing be due to them, to interfere in
their behalf, at least so far as this
amendment goes.
I have thus spoken briefly of the
tendency and effect ol this order.
Allow’ rne to inquire, in conclusion,
what necessity or occasion there ib
for it? The Secretary has given uS
the rules by which his department is
governed. Some of the Choctaw-
Nation, r^t satisfied with the h.l©
treaty, • undertook to depose one of
their Chcifs and to elect another.—^
They bn vc noticed to the Wal De? ‘
of what thev had* done.-—
Will
you hold it by virtue of them. Uown
to these disastrous times you have
al\v#ys considered them as valid,_and
acted upon them as valid.
Supreme Court is alien t® us; wo had
no agency in its formation—can have
no influence with nor control over it:
its interest and bias will be jn favor
of your People, and against us.^ All
this they might have said, Yet in
treaties, for which we have paid you part ment
_, ve have parted with our land. ancP The S ccretaTy informed them, that
1 - ■ iTown “this Government meant not to inter-
“/ere with their manner of self govern-
“ment—it cannot recognise what hae
‘been done by a few—when qbosen
“by a majority of the division, and
that fact certified by their “ General
Council, the Chiefs will be recog*
nised ” Very property the Secret'd*
ry here says,., that the‘complainant?
aqd 'acts'of individuals cannot be rb*