OCR Text |
Show .>.,IT-:' - . ..' ..- . - . .. .~ , ' . .-,:.:. + ., ~.?~;.:.~--:*<, . .~ ... . - ~ . .~. . . ~ . ..- -. ,; . : - ~..- .. . ~ .~. . . . - . ( - ,... ;:: , > . . ~ .. .. . 2 . . . . . . . . - .~. . .. -. . . . . . _. . . ~. . ;?.-' . , ' ~ . - ,. - . . .~ .. ~ . , ~- . ~ ' .. . , . . ~ . ~ ~. - . . . . .. . .:. '32 REPORT OF THE COM~ S E . IONEO~F INDIAN :@FLIRS. . . . , . . . , .. . . ' I.~. ;.... . .. . . ' ~lrigkl~omahawak ,f ull-blood Sifiux'Indian, anc ~ 1 . a J. k ne E. Wal- <. .. . .. .. . , . . 'dron, s woman of mixed'Si'ou~I ndian qnd white blood, both claimed @ . .. -- ~, . .:- ... specific tract of land as their allotmc%lt under .seotion 13 of the act of h . .-. :Maroh 2,1889 (25 Stats., 888, 892),,Litod ivide a portionof the i;eserva- .\. . tion of.the Sioux nation of Indians is Dakota into separate reserva-. ..:.b 7. ' :.. . . , . ,. -. tions:? ek. ' . . . , . That section reads as follows: . , -. :Any Indian meiring md entitred to rations and bnnnitiesat eitber of the'agenoies , . . . medtioned in thia act et the time the qeme shall take effect, but residing upon sny ~ . . portion of sajd Great Reeervation not included either of the separate reservations . herein established, may, at bin option, within one year from tlie time whenthisnot .. . shall take effect, and within one year after he haa been notified of his said right of . : iption inBn6h manwr ss the Secretary of the Interior shall dirsot, byrecording his . : . , . ,~ . eleation with the proper agent st the egenoy to yhich he belongs, have the allot. ~ -- . : mmt to whiob lxe.wonld be otherwise entitled,on one of said separate ryemations , , . : upon the land where such Indim %may then reside, eto. .. Under this prbvision it appears that ~ r s Jfq e E . ~ i d r o na, quar- .~ .. , ;I ter-blood Santee, established her' residence on a tract of land near .ae ~:... - >., , city of Pierre, S. Dak., onJuly 4,1889, a ~Bdlac k Tomahawk established . . - . , . , . his residence on the same tract between the dates of Jnly 20 and 30, - . . . - 1889; that on September 10,1890, 'Mra. Waldron recordedher seleeiion - . . , of thetract & her allotment,at the Cheyenne ,River Agency; and on . ' .-~. . . October 4 following Black ~ o m a h k rke corded at the same agency his' . . . . .* -.. , . . selection of the tract as his allotment. .. . . , - , The assistant attarney-general, to whom the case was leferred by jiu, ~. . gave an opinion dated November 27,1891; that MmrsWi aIdron is pot an. . . . .. . . ' Indian, and was not at the date of the &.referred to entitled. to receive . . . . rations and annuities at the Cliqenne River Agency, on the gronnd that , ..~... ... the common-law rule .....: . - - ILt hat the offspring of free persons follows the ' , ~-. . condition of the fither prevails in determining the status of kbildren ' ' - . . born of a white man, at citizen of' the United States, and an Indian' -. * - ,. , , woman his wife;" * * *- 'Lchildren of such parents are therefore . . .: . =. ., bybirth not Indians, but citizens of theunited States, and chsequently , . .not entitled to allotments under &he act of .March 2,1889." (Depart- , . . ~- ,. ment Decisions, Vol. 13, p. 683.) -.. .... .~ .. .. . . ~ . In that decision the Department concurred, by letter of December :. . . 1% 1891, but it subsequenkly suspended %tion under this.decision and .. . . I. recalled the case, and it is now held in the Department underr+vise- . - mc:nt. The question involved in this case is obc of greatest importafme' .to a large number of persons who have been regarded md .treated as Indians and-who =.gad 6hensselves as.members of India~tr.i bes with righb of property as snrh. In fact, few, if any, eases are presented for the ronsider~tiorio f tliiu office atie'eetin'g the lands and fnndu of Indian tribes that donotin a greateror lessdegree involve this qaestion. I have ~- . therefore given much thought to the subject solely with a view t~ a; . . , ,, ,. ' .. . . : . ,, .- , . - , - |