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Show I REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 121 The result of the investigation made by the commission into citizen-ship matters was the rejection of the applications of a large number of persons, some of whom appealed to the courts in accordance with law; others sought admission to membership through the tribal author-ities of the tribe to which they claimed rights 'by blood. A letter was received in this office from a person who claimed rights in the Choctaw ' Nation, but had been rejected by the Dawes Commission, asking whether his enrollment by a commission that had been appointed by the Ohoctaw Natiou for the purpose of inquiring into citizenship matters, wonld entitle him to such citizenship. This letter was referred to the Dewes Commission for advice as to its understanding of the case. The commission replied that the jurisdiction conferred by the act of 1896 on the commission was exclusive of all jurisdiction in the tribe, and that the act giving the Dawes Commission jurisdictiou operated to repeal or destroy whatever jurisdiction the tribes may have had pre-viously to the act. The understanding of this office, however, as to the intent of theact of 1896 was radically different from the interpretation given it by the 1 commission. The office, remembering the opinion of the Supreme Court in the case of the Eastern Cherokees (117 U. S., 288), understood that the effect of this decision was to hold that the powerto admit a person to citizenship into one of the nations existed exclusively in the Indian national government. If this is correct, then Congress could not grant a jurisdiction to a commission of the United States which mould exclude Indian nations from exercising the power of admitting persons to citizenship which, like the power of naturaliisation, is inherent in all governments. Therefore theinterpretation given the law of 1896 by this office was that the Dawes Commission was given a jnrisdiction to examine into citizenship claims only so far as was necessary to determine whether a person making application was in fact and law a citizen of the nation; that the commission had no power to admit a person of Indian blood to citizenshipin a tribe merely because he was descended from a person previously a member of that tribe; but that before enrolling such appli-cant something more than the fact that he was of the blood of the tribe to which he claimed a right to membership was necessary to be estab-lished, namely, that he was in fact and law au actual member of that tribe. The office further understood that the jurisdiction of the tribal authorities to admit to citizenship persons found by the Dawes Oom-mission not to be members of the tribe remained unimpaired by the act of 1896. This view of the office was so at variance with the views of the com-mission, that November 29,1898, the whole question was submitted to the Department for a ruling, so that the commission and the Indian Office would not be at cross purposes in its correspondence on the |
