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Acts of Congress and
Agreements with the Various Tribes under which the Work of Enrollment was
Prosecuted
It has been pointed out above that the
intervention of the United States in respect
to the making of the tribal rolls was
necessary because the tribal authorities had
themselves failed to make correct rolls,
owing to their corrupt practices, and that
many persons who were entitled to
citizenship were unjustly deprived of their
rights. From all that has been said it is
apparent that Congress intended to. and
actually did, repudiate the tribal rolls in
a large measure.
In undertaking the work of making the rolls
Congress legislated as guardian upon the
theory that the Indians were wards of the
United States and that, as such, they were
entitled to its assistance and protection in
order to secure and preserve their property
rights. Thus the Government assumed directly
an attitude of responsibility in the matter.
Out of this relationship of guardian and
ward it was the duty of the United States to
take the initiative in securing the
enrollment of each of its wards. The burden
of taking affirmative action lay upon the
United States and not upon the respective
Indians. This is true from a legal
standpoint, but this principle was not
introduced into practice. In practically all
of the acts Congress threw upon the Indian
citizens the responsibility of making
application for their enrollments; in other
words, the duty was imposed upon the ward of
making application to his guardian to secure
rights which the guardian was in duty bound
to secure for those who were entitled to
look to him for assistance and protection.
Notwithstanding the reasons which induced
the Government to undertake the work, its
good intentions seem to have been forgotten
or overlooked. An inspection of the
enrollment laws made by Congress and the
rulings of the department will show that
time and again it was made necessary for the
applicant to apply for his enrollment. Not
only this, but he was also compelled to do
so within arbitrary time limits. The
injustice of this requirement is plainly
seen by contrast. The duty was placed upon
the Indian of taking the first steps-that is
to say. to make application for enrollment,
looking to the securing of his allotment and
his share of the tribal funds. Although thus
left to shift for himself at the most
critical stage in the transaction, he was
not allowed to remain a free agent after
securing his enrollment. The laws regulating
the allotment of the tribal lands imposed
restrictions thereon, under which the same
Indian could not dispose of his land or even
lease the same, with certain minor
exceptions, without the consent of his
guardian. It is very plain that if the
provisions of law relating to guardianship
were properly applied to the Indian in
respect to the sale and leasing of his land
it was improper and unjust to withhold
assistance from him in securing his
enrollment.
The laws governing the making of the rolls
were of three classes, the first of which
were of a general and preliminary character,
embracing within their scope all the Five
Civilized Tribes; the next class of laws was
of a special nature, and contain the
principal acts under which the work of
enrollment was consummated: this class
consists of measures embodied in agreements
with the respective tribes. The third class
of laws was of a supplemental nature, and
relates mainly to the enrollment of new-born
citizens for whom no provision was made in
the various agreements. For convenience I
will set forth the several acts according to
the classification mentioned:
- A.
Acts of a general and preliminary
character:
- B. Acts of a special character:
- (1) Agreement with the Seminole,
December 16, 1897, approved July 1, 1898
(30 Stat., 567)
- (2) Agreement with the Seminoles.
October 7, 1899, approved June 2, 1900
(31 Stat, 250).
- (3) Agreement with Creeks, approved
March 1, 1901 (31 Stat., 861), and
ratified by Creeks. May 25, 1901.
- (4) Agreement with Creeks, approved
June 30, 1902 (32 Stat., 500), and
ratified by Creeks, July 26, 1902.
- (5)
Agreement with the Choctaws and
Chickasaws, approved July 1, 1902 (32
Stat, 641). and ratified by said tribes,
September 25, 1902.
- (6)
Agreement with Cherokees,
approved July 1, 1902 (32 Stat, 716),
and ratified by Cherokees. August 7,
1902.
- C. Acts of a supplemental
character:
The various enrollment acts will now be
considered somewhat in detail and an
effort will be made in so doing to bear
in mind
(1) whether said laws were
adequate to carry out the purposes for
which they were enacted;
(2) whether
said laws were so administered as to
render possible the enrollment of all
persons entitled to citizenship in the
Five Civilized Tribes.
Notes About the Book:
Source: Five Civilized Tribes In Oklahoma, Reports of the Department of the
Interior and Evidentiary Papers in support of S. 7625, a Bill for the Relief of
Certain Members of the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma, Sixty-second Congress,
Third Session, Published 1913, by the Department of the Interior, United States.
Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing
has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual
output.
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