| OCR Text |
Show COMMISSIONER OF IXDIAH AFFAIRS. IV jurisdiction the equal protectiou of the Ism. And every Indian born within the ter-ritorial litnits of the United States to whom allotmcuts shall have been made under the provisions of this act, or under any law or treaty, and every Indian horn within the territorial limits of the Uuited States who has voluntarily taken up within said limits, his resideooa separate and apart from any tribe of Iudisns t h e h n , aod has adopted the habit8 of oiviliaed life, is hereby declared to be s, citizen of the United States and is cotitled to all the rights, privileges, and immunities of suoh oitizens, whether said Indian has been or not, by hirl,h or otherwise a member of any tribe of Iodiaus within the territorial limits of the United States, 4ithout in apymonuer im-pairing or otherwise atfeoting the right of any suoh Iudian to tribal or other prop-erty." Inasnluch, then, as lands held as above, by Iudiao nllottees, can not he calladprop-arlv Indian reservaliona. a. term whioh Congress bas clearly used to indicate those trsota or bodies of land aet apart from the public domain for the aocopation of Indian communities at the pleasure of the United States, but withont any purpose to invest the occupants with more than a right of posseasiou, and inasmuoh as the lands COV-ered by the statute are not "laoda &longing toor occupied by any tribe of Indians uuder anthority of the United States," the cutting or destroying of timber on land which is thos held in severalty by one who i s clothed with the right of citizenship and protected by and suhjeoted to a11 the lam, oivilsudcrirniod, of the Territory in mhichthe land lies, is not an offense ponishahle under the sot of Congress of the 4th of Jons, 1888. I am, yours respect.fully, G. A. JENKS, Beling AttornepGensral. Upon consideration of section 5388 in connection with the above opin-ion, it is concluded that the amended section does not apply to the timber upon lanils as follows: (1) On lands held in severalty by Indians. (2) On unoccupied lands which have been purchased by or'ceded to the United States for the purpose of settling Indians thereon. It is also oonclniled that the section does apply to timber upon lands as folloxs: (1) On lands to which the original title has never been extinguished, but which hare not been specially reserved by treaty or act of Don-gre8s or otherwise, for the use of Indians or for other purl~osess, o long as such lands belong to or are occupied by an Indian tribe. The lands in the lZed Lake Reservation, Minn., are of this class. (2) On lands expressly reserved by treaty or by act of Congress, or set apart by Executive order for the gsc of Indians. The ordinary In-dian reservation is of this class. (3) On lands patented to any tribe of Indians. The lands of the Fire Civilized Tribes are of this class. It is respectfully suggested that every cornsideration of fair-dealing with the Indians who have talten lands in severalty, requires the en-actment of a law that will protect the timber on their allotments from the depredations of timber thieves. I'rotection of such lands and of unoccupied ceded lands can be given effcct~~:tlolyn ly nuder a law as comprehensive as the one that mas suggested by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 15'79, anil to which reference has been made above. A bill to anlend section 2145 of the Revised St.atutes, so as to punish iot13usion on Indian lands by impri~oomenat s well as by line, is pend- |
