Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs - 1886

Page 24

~~ ~~ 7 " r .REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. XIX 1 i The decision of the attorney-General that the system of leasing In-dian lands which has hitherto prevailed is illegal without the consent of Congress ouly adds to the dUXculties which beset this office in deal- I in.g with thie question of leaaea. In my last report this matter waa re-ferred to as follows:. I cannot too strongly impress npon the Department theimportance of an early dia-position of this muoh vexed qnestioq. The leasing syatem ahonld either he legalized, with pmper mslrictions, or it should bs abolished altogether. In its present loose and indefinite shape it is a source of the greatest emharrgssment to this office, and a hinderanee to the proper and effective administration of Indian affairs. If Congress would aothorize Indians to dispose of their grass, o. would t@ke any definite action as to the policy which this office can legbllg pursue in regard to Indian grazing lands, it would materially ' lessen the perplexities and confusion which now pertain to the subject. Moreover, if some way could be adopted by which, under proper re-strictions, the snrplus grass on the several Indian reservations~could be utilized with profit to the Indians, the annual appropriations needed to care for the Indians could be C~rreSp~IIdinglayn d materially reduced. ALLOTMENTS OF LAND IN SEVERALTY AND PATENTS. During the year 17 certificates of allotments havebeell issued to the Indians on the Lake Traverse Reservation, under ttie treaty with the Sisseton and Wahpeton bai~dso f Sioux (15 Stats., 505); 2 to the Indians on the White Earth Reservation, under the treaty with the Chippewas of the Mississippi, concluded March 19, 1867 (16 Stats., 721); 65 to the Sioux Indians at the Rosebud Agencj, under the sixth article of the Sioux treaty, concluded April 29, 1863 (15 Stats., 637); and 12 to the Sioux Indiansat the Crow Creek Agenc~', nnder the same treaty. Patents have been issued as follows: Two hundred and eighty.one to . . the Chippewas of Lake Superior, on the Bad River, Lac Court Oreilles: 17Anse and Vienx de Serh and Fond du Lac Reservations, nnder the pr6visions of the third article of the treaty of September 30, 1854 (10 Stats , ll10); 3 to the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Sioux, nnder the Gfth article of the treaty of February 19, 1867 (15 Stats., 505); 123 to the Santee Sioux Indians, under She treaty of April 29,1868 (15 Stats., 63i); 68 to the Chippewas of Saginaw: Swan Creek, and Black River, nnder the treaties of August 2,1855 (11 Stats., 631), and October -18,1864 (14 Stats., 657); 167 to tGe Puyallup Indians, under the treaty of December 26,1854 (10 Stats., 1132); 46 to the S'Eokomish Indians, nnder the treaty of JanuarJ' 26,1855 (12 Stats., 933); 1 to ~LI Omaha Indian, nnder the act of August 7, 1882 (22 Stats.? 341); and 1 to a Winnebago Indian, nnder the act of February 21, 1863 (12 Stats., 658); making the total number of certificates 86 and of patents 690; grand total, 776. Two special agents are now engaged in the work of allotting the Iands on the Crow Reservation in Montana.