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Show I LVIII REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. I nnrnher of Reprqsentntires 3s exprrasrd by hills pre~euteda nd spenrhrs modo iu Cua-. m. oss,. I feel it n1.y duty especinllj to invoke ronr consideralion of tho 6ulderr. If any portion~of the 1ndisn Territoryia to be opened to white settlement, then I think thesuggestions whioh I have offered are the most praotioal and wodd cause the leaat possible dissatisfaction and injury to the Indians. Bnt nntil Congress take8 definite aotinn npon thin subject this offioe will feel it to be its dnty to press forward the settling upon lands or homesteads af ell the Indians xest of Oklahoma, and to eucouragethem to open farms, erect houses, andmake othor improvementsss rapidly ss possible ; for no time onght to be lost in teaohing these people to support them-selves, and to stop all work and improvement would throw them into a state of idle-ness which would soon lead to crime and disorder, if not to aotoal conflict among themselves and with theh white neighbors: As the question still remains undecided before Congress and the country, and more than ever increases in interest, I have repeated herewith views indicated in my former reports; and I again offer the recommendation that Congress authorize the Department to appoint a commission which shall visit the-tribes now living west of 980, ant1 ascertain their views on the question of removal to other suitablelands in the Indian Territory east of that meridian. ATTEMPTED SETTLEMENTS IN INDIAN 'PERRITORY. The effective system of policing adopted by the military stationed in the Territory has had the gffect of disconraging any further concerted movement on the Oklahoma lands during the past year. Some few straggling parties have beeli discovered and promptly removed by the troops. The efficiency and prudence with which this policy of the Government has been executed by Col. E. V. Sumner, E. S. Army, who bas been in command most of the time during the last two years, entitles this officer to merited praise. While vigorously executing official orders he has abstained from any harsh or unnecessary exercise of military power towards the citizens of States adjoining the Territory who have sought to effect a lodgment in Oklahoma. INTRUDERS AND DISPUTED CITIZENSHIP IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY. Since the last annual report no change has occurred in the status of this question except in the Cherokee Nation: In December last 3he Cherokee conncil passed an act (approved December 8,1886) '' provi-ding for the appointment of commission to try and determine applica-tions for Cherokee citizenship." This act vests the determination of all claims to citizenship, by blood or descent, in a commission of three citizens of the Cherokee Nation, whose decision is final. .The act is based npon the opinion of the Supreme Court in the oase of the Eastern band of Cherokee Indiansbs. The United States and the Cherokee Na-tion (117 U. S., 311). Under that opinion the Department recognizes the exclusive right of the Cherokee Nation to admit or readmit Cherokees to the rights of |
