While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Cherokee Agreement, Roll of Citizenship, July 1, 1902
SEC. 25. The roll of citizens of the Cherokee Nation shall be made as of September first, nineteen hundred and two, and the names of all persons then living and entitled to enrollment on that date shall be placed on said roll by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes.
SEC. 26. The names of all persons living on the first day of September, nine teen hundred and two, entitled to be enrolled as provided in section twenty-five hereof, shall be placed upon the roll made by said Commission, and no child born thereafter to a citizen, and no white person who has intermarried with a Cherokee citizen since the sixteenth day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, shall be entitled to enrollment or to
participate in the distribution of the tribal property of the Cherokee Nation.
SEC. 27. Such rolls shall in all other respects be made in strict compliance with the provisions of section twenty-one of the act of Congress approved June twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight (Thirtieth Statutes, page four hundred and ninety-five), and the act of Congress approved May thirty-first, nineteen hundred (Thirty-first Statutes, page two hundred and twenty-one).
SEC. 28. No person whose name appears upon the roll made by the Dawes Commission as a citizen or freedman of any other tribe shall be enrolled as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.
SEC. 29. For the purpose of expediting the enrollment of the Cherokee citizens and the allotment of lands as herein provided, the said Commission shall, from time to time, and as soon as practicable, forward to the Secretary of the Interior lists upon which shall be placed the names of those persons found by the Com mission to be entitled to enrollment. The lists thus prepared, when approved by the Secretary of the Interior, shall
constitute a part and parcel of the final roll of citizens of the Cherokee tribe upon which allotment of land and distribution of other tribal property shall be made. When there shall have been submitted to and approved by the Secretary of the Interior lists embracing the names of all those lawfully entitled to enrollment, the roll shall be deemed complete. The roll so prepared shall be made in quadruplicate, one to be deposited with the
Secretary of the Interior, one with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, one with the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, and one to remain with the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes.
SEC. 30. During the months of September and October, in the year nineteen hundred and two, the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes may receive applications for enrollment of such infant children as may have been born to recognized and enrolled citizens of the Cherokee Nation on or before the first day of September, nineteen hundred and two, but the application of no person whom soever for enrollment shall be received after the
thirty-first day of October, nineteen hundred and two.
SEC. 31. No person whose name does not appear upon the roll prepared as herein provided shall be entitled to in any manner participate in the distribution of the common property of the Cherokee tribe, and those whose names appear thereon shall participate in the manner set forth in this act : Provided, That no allotment of land or other tribal property shall be made to any person, or to the heirs of any person, whose name is on said
roll and who died prior to the first day of September, nineteen hundred and two. The right of such person to any interest in the lands or other tribal property shall be deemed to have become extinguished and to have passed to the tribe in general upon his death before said date, and any person or persons who may conceal the death of anyone on said roll as aforesaid for the purpose of profiting by said concealment, and who shall knowingly
receive any portion of any land or other tribal property or of the proceeds so arising from any allotment prohibited by this section, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and shall be proceeded against as may be provided in other cases of felony, and the penalty for this offense shall be confinement at hard labor for a period of not less than one year nor more than five years, and in addition thereto a forfeiture to the Cherokee Nation of
the lands, other tribal property, and proceeds so obtained.
SEC. 32. The Cherokee school fund shall be used, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, for the education of children of Cherokee citizens, and the Cherokee schools shall be conducted under rules prescribed by him according to Cherokee laws, subject to such modifications as he may deem necessary to make the schools most effective and to produce the best possible results ; said schools to be under the supervision of a
supervisor appointed by the Secretary and a school board elected by the national council.
SEC. 33. All teachers shall be examined by said supervisor, and said school board and. competent teachers and other persons to be engaged in and about the schools with good moral character only shall be employed ; but where all qualifications are equal, preference shall be given to citizens of the Cherokee Nation in such employment.
SEC. 34. All moneys for carrying on the schools shall be appropriated by the Cherokee national council, not to exceed the amount of the Cherokee school fund; but if the council fail or refuse to make the necessary appropriations, the Secretary of the Interior may direct the use of a sufficient amount of the school fund to pay all necessary expenses for the efficient conduct of the schools, strict account thereto r to be rendered to
him and the principal chief.
SEC. 35. All accounts for expenditures in carrying on the schools shall be examined and approved by said supervisor, and also by the general superintendent of Indian schools in the Indian Territory, before payment thereof is made. .
SEC. 36. The interest arising from the Cherokee orphan fund shall be used, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, for maintaining the Cherokee Orphan Asylum for the benefit of the Cherokee orphan children.
SEC. 37. Public highways or roads two rods in width, being one rod on each side of the section line, may be established along all section lines without any compensation being paid there for, and all allottees, purchasers, and others shall take the title to such lands subject to this provision ; and public highways or roads may be established elsewhere whenever necessary for the public good, the actual^ value of the land taken
elsewhere than along section lines to be deter mined under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior while the tribal government continues and to be paid by the Cherokee Nation during that time ; and if buildings or other improvements are damaged in consequence of the establishment of such public highways or roads, whether along section lines or else where, such damages, during the continuance of the tribal government, shall be
determined and paid for in the same manner.
SEC. 38. The lands which may hereafter be set aside and reserved for town sites upon the recommendation of the Dawes Commission under the provisions of the act of Congress approved May thirty-first, nineteen hundred (Thirty-first Statutes, page two hundred and twenty-one), shall embrace such acreage as may be necessary for the present needs and reasonable prospective growth of such town sites, not to exceed six hundred and forty
acres for each town site.
SEC. 39. Whenever any tract of land shall be set aside by the Secretary of the Interior for town-site purposes, as provided in said act of May thirty-first, nine teen hundred, or by the terms of this act, which is occupied at the time of such segregation by any member of the Cherokee Nation, such occupant shall be allowed to purchase any lot upon which he then has improvements other than fences, tillage, and temporary improvements,
in accordance with the provisions of the act of June twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight (Thirtieth Statutes, page four hundred and ninety-five), or, if he so elects, the lot will be sold under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and he shall be fully compensated for his improvements thereon out of the funds of the tribe arising from the sale of the town sites, the value of such improvements
to be determined by a board of appraisers, one member of which shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, one by the chief executive of the tribe, and one by the occupant of the land, said board of appraisers to be paid such compensation for their services as may be determined by the Secretary of the Interior out of any appropriations for surveying, laying out, platting, and selling town sites.
SEC. 40. All town sites which may hereafter be set aside by the Secretary of the Interior on the recommendation of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, under the provisions of the act of Congress approved May thirty-first, nineteen hundred (Thirty-first Statutes, page two hundred and twenty -one), with the additional acreage added thereto, as well as all town sites set aside under the provisions of this act having a
population of less than two hundred, shall be surveyed, laid out, platted, appraised, and disposed of in like manner, and with like preference rights accorded to owners of improvements as other tow r n sites in the Cherokee Nation are surveyed, laid out, platted, appraised, and disposed of under the act of Congress of June twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight (Thirtieth Statutes, page four hundred and ninety-five), as modified
or supplemented by the act of May thirty-first, nineteen hundred : Provided That as to the town sites set aside as aforesaid, the owner of the improvements shall be required to pay the full appraised value of the lot instead of the percentage named in said act of June twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight (Thirtieth Statutes, page four hundred and ninety-five).
SEC. 41. Any person being in possession or having the right to the possession of any town lot or lots, as surveyed and platted under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, in accordance with the act of Congress approved May thirty-first, nineteen hundred (Thirty-first Statutes, page two hundred and twenty-one), the occupancy of which lot or lots was originally acquired under any town-site act of the Cherokee Nation, and
owning improvements thereon, other than temporary buildings, fencing, or tillage, shall have the right to purchase the same at one-fourth of the appraised value thereof.
SEC. 42. Any person being in possession of, or having the right to the possession of, any town lot or lots, as surveyed and platted under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, in accordance with the act of Congress approved May thirty-first, nineteen hundred (Thirty-first Statutes, page two hundred and twenty-one), the occupancy of which lot or lots was originally acquired under any town-site act of the Cherokee Nation, and
not having any improvements thereon, shall have the right to purchase the same at one-half of the appraised value thereof.
SEC. 43. Any citizen in rightful possession of any town lot having improvements thereon other than temporary buildings, fencing, and tillage, the occupancy of which has not been acquired under tribal laws, shall have the right to purchase same by paying one-half the appraised value thereof: Provided, That any other person in undisputed possession of any town lot having improvements thereon other than temporary buildings, fencing, and
tillage, the occupancy of which has not been acquired under tribal laws, shall have the right to purchase such lot by paying the appraised value thereof.
SEC. 44. All lots not having thereon improvements other than temporary buildings, fencing, and tillage, the sale or disposition of which is not herein other wise specifically provided for, shall be sold within twelve months after appraisement, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, after due advertisement, at public auction, to the highest bidder, at not less than their appraised value.
SEC. 45. When the appraisement of any town lot is made and approved, the town-site commission shall notify the claimant thereof of the amount of appraisement, and he shall, within sixty days thereafter, make payment of ten per centum of the amount due for the lot, and four months thereafter he shall pay fifteen per centum additional, and the remainder of the purchase money he shall pay in three equal annual installments without
interest ; but if the claim ant of any such lot fail to purchase same or make the first and second payments aforesaid or make any other payment within the time specified, the lot and improvements shall be sold at public auction to the highest bidder, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, at a price not less than its appraised value.
SEC. 46. When any improved lot shall be sold at public auction because of the failure of the person owning improvements thereon to purchase same within the time allowed in said act of Congress approved June twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety -eight (Thirtieth Statutes, page four hundred and ninety-five), said improvements shall be appraised by a committee, one member of which shall be selected by the owner of the improvements
and one member by the purchaser of said lot ; and in case the said committee is not able to agree upon the value of said improvements, the committee may select a third member, and in that event the determination of the majority of the committee shall control. Said committee of appraisement shall be paid such compensation for their services by the two parties in interest, share and share alike, as may be agreed upon, and the amount of said
appraisement shall be paid by the purchaser of the lot to the owner of the improvements in cash within thirty days after the decision of the committee of appraisement.
SEC. 47. The purchaser of any unimproved town lot sold at public auction shall pay twenty-five per centum of the purchase money at the time of the sale, and within four months thereafter he shall pay twenty-five per centum additional, and the remainder of the purchase money he shall pay in two equal annual installments without interest.
SEC. 48. Such towns in the Cherokee Nation as may have a population of less than two hundred people not otherwise provided for, and which, in the judgment of the Secretary of the Interior, should be set aside as town sites, shall have their limits defined as soon as practicable after the approval of this act in the same manner as provided for other town sites.
SEC. 49. The town authorities of any town site in said Cherokee Nation may select and locate, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, a cemetery within suitable distance from said town, to embrace such number of acres as may be deemed necessary for such purpose. The town-site commission shall appraise the same at its true value, and the town may purchase the same within one year from the approval of the survey by
paying the appraised value. If any citizen have improvements thereon, said improvements shall be appraised by said town-site commission and paid for by the town : Provided, That lands already laid out by tribal authorities for cemeteries shall be included in the cemeteries herein provided for without cost to the towns, and the holdings of the burial lots therein now occupied for such purpose shall in no wise be disturbed : And pro vided
further, That any park laid out and surveyed in any town shall be duly appraised at a fair valuation, and the inhabitants of said town shall, within one year after the approval of the survey and the appraisement of said part by the Secretary of the Interior, pay the appraised value to the proper officer for the benefit of the tribe.
SEC. 50. The United States shall pay all expenses incident to surveying, plat ting, and disposition of town lots, and all allotments of lands made under the provisions of this plan of allotment, except where the town authorities may have been or may be duly authorized to survey and plat their respective towns at the expense of such towns.
SEC. 51. No taxes shall be assessed by any town government against any town lot remaining unsold, but taxes may be assessed against any town lot sold as herein provided.
SEC. 52. If the purchaser of any town lot fail to make payment of any sum when due, the same shall thereafter bear six per centum interest per annum until paid.
SEC. 53. All lots or parts of lots, not exceeding fifty by one hundred and fifty feet in size, upon which church houses and parsonages have been erected, and which are occupied as such at the time of the appraisement, shall be conveyed gratuitously to the churches to which such improvements belong, and if such churches have enclosed other adjoining lots actually necessary for their use, they may purchase the same by paying the
appraised value thereof.
SEC. 54. Whenever the chief executive of the Cherokee Nation fails or refuses to appoint a town-site commissioner for any town, or to fill any vacancy caused by the neglect or refusal of the town-site commissioners appointed by the chief executive to qualify or act, or otherwise, the Secretary of the Interior, in his discretion, may appoint a commissioner to fill the vacancy thus created.
SEC. 55. The purchaser of any town lot may at any time pay the full amount of the purchase money, and he shall thereupon receive title there for.
SEC. 56. Any person may bid for and purchase any lot sold at public auction as herein provided.
SEC. 57. The United States may purchase in any town in the Cherokee Nation suitable lands for court-houses, jails, or other necessary public purposes for its use by paying the appraised value thereof, the same to be selected under the direction of the department for whose use such lands are needed, and if any person have improvements thereon the same shall be appraised in like manner as other town property, and shall be paid for by
the United States.
SEC. 58. The Secretary of the Interior shall furnish the principal chief with blank patents necessary for all conveyances herein provided for, and when any citizen receives his allotment of land, or when any allotment has been so ascertained and fixed that title should under the provisions of this act be conveyed, the principal chief shall thereupon proceed to execute and deliver to him a patent conveying all the right, title, and
interest of the Cherokee Nation, and of all other citizens, in and to the lands embraced in his allotment certificate.
SEC. 59. All conveyances shall be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, which shall serve as a relinquishment to the grantee of all the right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the lands embraced in his patent
SEC. 60. Any allottee accepting such patent shall be deemed to assent to the allotment and conveyance of all lands of the tribe as provided in this act, and to relinquish all his right, title, and interest to the same, except in the proceeds of lands reserved from allotment.
SEC. 61. The acceptance of patents for minors and incompetents by persons authorized to select their allotments for them shall be deemed sufficient to bind such minors and incompetents as to the conveyance of all other lands of the tribe.
SEC. 62. All patents, when so executed and approved, shall be filed in the office of the Dawes Commission, and recorded in a book provided for the purpose, until such time as Congress shall make other suitable provision for record of land titles, without expense to the grantee, arid such records shall have like effect as other public records.
This site
includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes
reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These
items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be
interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes
implied .
Laws, Decisions and Regulations Affecting the work of the Commissioners to Five Civilized Tribes, 1893-1906, Copyright 1906
