OCR Text |
Show 10 REPORT OF THE BOARD OF IXDIAX COMMISSIONERS. Pasquale. The difficulties of last summer, it is believed, had their origin, not with the Indians, bat with the whites instigating them, and the contest was as to which of the districts should have the Chief resident with them, to attract and the better to control the labor which they are unwilling to dispense with. Taking the situation as it is, we believe the only just, and best solution of the difficult question of the Mission Indians, is for Congress to pass a law, giving to Indian families the same amount of land allowed to whites undfir the homestead law, securing to those who now occupy them the little homes and patches on which they or their forefathers have lived for so many years, and allowing tho. se who have none to select them upon any unoccupied land. They should receive a title inalienable for twenty years, not sub-ject to execution, & c., and each Indian farm should he subject to the law which protects reservationsfrom white intrusion, and its occupants to the intercourse laws. They should be subject in all other respects to the existing laws, and each Indian settler upon land, and of proper age, should be entitled to all the rights of citizenship. An able and humane agent should be appointed to protect, advise, and instruct them, and see to the proper registration of their lands. If these Indians, as has been reported, owned their lands under the Mexican rule, and the United States failed to have their rights repre-sented before the claims commission, the measure proposed is but an insig-nificant reparation of a great wrong. It should not be delayed, and least of all should it be prevented by the objections of white men of adverse interests, should they be made. CIVILIZED INDIANS IN INDIAN TERRITORY. The civilized tribes in the Indian Territory have held the second ses-sion of their animal congress, and clearly demonstrated their ability to legislate wisely for their own welfare and that of jtheir neighboring tribes. Delegates were present from the Cherokees, Creeks, Chiekasaws and Choctaws, Seminoles, Cheyehnes, Arapahces, Wichitas, and affil-iated bands; and though it was the first time that several members had ever attended such a meeting, yet their conduct was good, and the pro-ceedings altogether animated and harmonious. The marked ability of some of the speakers, and the general talent displayed at this council will compare favorably with that found in older legislative bodies. A copy in brief of the report of their proceedings is appended, ( Appendix Ae.) Commissioner John D. Lang assisted in the removal of a portion of the Cherokees irom North Carolina to their new home in the Indian Territory ; his report will be found herewith, marked Ai. THE ONEIDAS. The Oneida Indian reservation in Northern Wisconsin remains as r-ported last year. The difference of opinion among the members of the tribe as to the wisdom of dividing the lauds in severalty, and dispos-ing of such as they do not need, not being reconciled, the board recom-mend that no action be taken until the Indians agree. INDIANS BECOMING CITIZENS. Lastly, we may refer to the Winnebagoes and Pottawatomies, who, having " been for many years under the care of the missionaries and in |