OCR Text |
Show 15 arriving at decisions related to Indian affairs. It may be said that the Indian treaty policy under the Confederation failed in the South largely because of the uncooperative attitude of the southern states. IV The interest of the original thirteen states in the Indians included within their states did not end with the ratification of the Constitution. Although, in an assessment of the scope of Federal power in relations with Indian tribes, Chief Justice John Marshall in Worcester vs. Georgia explained that the Constitution confers on the national government "all that is required for the regulation of our intercourse with the Indians; they are not limited by any restrictions on their free actions; the shackles imposed on this power, in the Confederation are discarded," a preliminary examination of the early treaties presented to the Senate by the President has turned up none for tribes within the boundaries of the original thirteen states, except those with the so-called "independent tribes," such as the members of the Six Nations (Iroquois Confederacy) and the Five Civilized Tribes. Even with these, preliminary arrangements were sometimes made by representatives of the states, then Federal Treaty Commissioners were requested to conduct the final ceremonies. If the Federal Government initiated treaties with these independent tribes, the states involved were invited to send observers to participate in discussions and to guard against infringement on state interests. |