OCR Text |
Show xxxii FIFTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF oommitted on an Indian reservation within a Territory, the Indians that committed it must be tried by the same court that would try white men who had committed the same crime under the same conditions; and that therefore the United States court and not the Territorial court has jurisdiction in the cases referred to above. GASH PAYMENTS TO IND~ANS. Duriog the past year about $630,000 has been paid to Indians in cash from annuity fuuds guarantied by treaty and from interest on trust funds. Nearly one-half of this amount consisted of the interest on the Osage trust funds, which is paid to that tribe in quarterly installments. Annuity payments are made per capita, on carefully prepared rolls, 5earing name, age, and sex of each annuitant, the annuitants being mmbered consecutively and arranged in family groups, the head of each group receiving and receipting for the aggregate share of self and family Births and deaths are noted, and precaution taken to prevent oversight ar imporLtion. It is gratifying to note that'no disturbance or dissatisfaction worthy .of remark attended any of the payments. Such dissatisfmtion as formerly existed among the Sac and Fox of Iowa aud the Wisconsin ' Winuebagoes in regard to their annuity payme~ltsh as gradually disap- peared, so that but few of them n m refuse to attend payments or to t.ake their allotted shares. Citizen Pottawatumka. In the last report of this Bureau reference was made to the course which had been decided upon for the equitable division of the Pottawatomie indemnity fund among the Citizen Pot-tawatomies and the members of the Prairie Band of Pottawatomies; also to the tact that the Prairie Band had received its proportion of the fund, but that several obstacles lay in the way of a similar pay-ment to the Citizen Pottawatomies. Payment to the latter has 8inm been satisfactorily made. Eel River Illiamie8. Early in August last a special agent was de- ' tailed to yay to these Indians, per capita, as authorized by act of Jnne - 29,1888, the sum of $22,000, being in full of all demands under their treaties with the United States. A census of these people, prepared and forwarded by the special agent, was submitted to the Deparbment October 23, with a report to the effect that this census was approved by only a part of the persons enrolled thereon, those refusing to approve claiming that they only were properly entitled to this money, and that the others never had any right to be enrolled aa Eel River Miamies or to share in their annuity. Those who claim to be the trne Eel River Niamies filed a protest against payment to the others of any part of this money, and employed. legal assistance for the preparation of a brief of their case, which pro- |