The Cherokee Nation Is Terminated and Does Not Exist
Proof 6 – The 1906 Curtis Act
This is a Long Article, but well worth the Read.
April 26, 1906 The Eighty-Sixth Congress of the United States Session 1 34 Stat 137, Public Law 86-192 1906.
An Act to provide for the final disposition of the affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes
An Act For the protection of the people of the Indian Territory, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in all criminal prosecutions in the Indian Territory against officials for embezzlement, bribery, and embracery the word “officer,” when the same appears in the criminal laws heretofore extended over and put in force in said Territory, shall include all officers of the several tribes or nations of Indians in said Territory.
SEC. 9. That the jurisdiction of the court and municipal authority of the city of Fort Smith for police purposes in the State of Arkansas is hereby extended over all that strip of land in the Indian Territory lying and being situate between the corporate limits of the said city of Fort Smith and the Arkansas and Poteau rivers, and extending up the said Poteau River to the mouth of Mill Creek; and all the laws and ordinances for the preservation of the peace and health of said city, as far as the same are applicable, are hereby put in force therein: Provided, That no charge or tax shall ever be made or levied by said city against said laud or the tribe or nation to whom it belongs.
SEC. 11. That when the roll of citizenship of any one of said nations or tribes is fully completed as provided by law, and the survey of the lands of said nation or tribe is also completed, the Commission heretofore appointed under acts of Congress, and known as the ” Dawes Commission,” shall proceed to allot the exclusive use and occupancy of the surface of all the lands of said nation or tribe susceptible of allotment among the citizens thereof, as shown by said roll, giving to each, so far as possible, his fair and equal share thereof, considering the nature and fertility of the soil, location, and value of same ; but all oil, coal, asphalt, and mineral deposits in the lands of any tribe are reserved to such tribe, and no allotment of such lands shall carry the title to such oil, coal, asphalt, or mineral deposits; and all town sites shall also be reserved to the several tribes, and shall be set apart by the Commission heretofore mentioned as incapable of allotment. There shall also be reserved from allotment a sufficient amount of lands now occupied by churches, schools, parsonages, charitable institutions, and other public buildings for their present actual and necessary use, and no more, not to exceed five acres for each school and one acre for each church and each parsonage, and for such new schools as may be needed; also sufficient land for burial grounds where necessary. When such allotment of the lands of any tribe has been by them completed, said Commission shall make full report thereof to the Secretary of the Interior for his approval: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall in any way affect any vested legal rights which may have been heretofore granted by act of Congress, nor be so construed as to confer any additional rights upon any parties claiming under any such act of Congress: Provided further. That whenever it shall appear that any member of a tribe is in possession of lands, his allotment may be made out of the lands in his possession, including his home if the holder so desires : Provided further, That if the person to whom an allotment shall have been made shall be declared, upon appeal as herein provided for, by any of the courts of the United States in or for the aforesaid Territory, to have been illegally accorded rights of citizenship, and for that or any other reason declared to be not entitled to any allotment, he shall be ousted and ejected from said lands; that all persons known as intruders who have been paid for their improvements under existing laws and have not surrendered possession thereof who may be found under the provisions of this act to be entitled to citizenship shall, within ninety days thereafter, refund the amount so paid them, with six per centum interest, to the tribe entitled, thereto ; and upon their failure so to do said amount shall become a lien upon all improvements owned by such person in such Territory, and may be enforced by such tribe ; and unless such person makes such restitution no allotments shall be made to him : Provided further, That the lands allotted shall be nontransferable until after full title is acquired and shall be liable for no obligations contracted prior thereto by the allottee, and shall be nontaxable while so held: Provided further, That all towns and cities here to fore incorporated or incorporated under the provisions of this act are hereby authorized to secure, by condemnation or otherwise, all the lands actually necessary for public improvements, regardless of tribal lines; and when the same can not be secured otherwise than by condemnation, then the same may be acquired as provided in sections nine hundred and seven and nine hundred and twelve, inclusive, of Mansfield’s Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas.
SEC. 21. That in making rolls of citizenship of the several tribes, as required by law, the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes is authorized and directed to take the roll of Cherokee citizens of eighteen hundred and eighty (not including freedmen) as the only roll intended to be confirmed by this and proceeding acts of Congress, and to enroll all persons now living whose names are found on said roll, and all descendants born since the date of said roll to persons whose names are found thereon; and all persons who have been enrolled by the tribal authorities who have heretofore made permanent settlement in the Cherokee Nation whose parents, by reason of their Cherokee blood, have been lawfully admitted to citizenship by the tribal authorities, and who were minors when their parents were so admitted ; and they shall investigate the right of all other persons whose names are found on any other rolls and omit all such as may have been placed thereon by fraud or without authority of law, enrolling only such as may have lawful right thereto, and their descendants born since such rolls were made, with such intermarried white persons as may be entitled to citizenship under Cherokee laws.
It shall make a roll of Cherokee freedmen in strict compliance with the decree of the Court of Claims rendered the third day of February, eighteen hundred and ninety-six.
Said Commission is authorized and directed to make correct rolls of the citizens by blood of all the other tribes, eliminating from the tribal rolls such names as may have been placed thereon by fraud or without authority of law, enrolling such only as may have lawful right thereto, and their descendants born since such rolls were made, with such intermarried white persons as may be entitled to Choctaw and Chickasaw citizenship under the treaties and the laws of said tribes.
Said Commission shall have authority to determine the identity of Choctaw Indians claiming rights in the Choctaw lands under article fourteen of the treaty between the United States and the Choctaw Nation concluded September twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and thirty, and to that end may administer oaths, examine witnesses, and perform all other acts necessary thereto and make report to the Secretary of the Interior.
The roll of Creek freedmen made by J. W. Dunn, under authority of the United States, prior to March fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, is hereby confirmed, and said Commission is directed to enroll all persons now living whose names are found on said rolls, and all descendants born since the date of said roll to persons whose names are found thereon, with such other persons of African descent as may have been rightfully admitted by the lawful authorities of the Creek Nation.
It shall make a correct roll of all Choctaw freedmen entitled to citizenship under the treaties and laws of the Choctaw Nation, and all their descendants born to them since the date of the treaty.
It shall make a correct roll of Chickasaw freedmen entitled to any rights or benefits under the treaty made in eighteen hundred and sixty-six between the United States and the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes and their descendants born to them since the date of said treaty, and forty acres of land, including their present residences and improvements, shall be allotted to each, to be selected, held, and used by them until their rights under said treaty shall be determined in such manner as shall be hereafter provided by Congress.
The several tribes may, by agreement, determine the right of persons who for any reason may claim citizenship in two or more tribes, and to allotment of lands and distribution of moneys belonging to each tribe; but if no such agreement be made, then such claimant shall be entitled to such rights in one tribe only, and may elect in which tribe he will take such right ; but if he fail or refuse to make such selection in due time, he shall be enrolled in the tribe with whom he has resided, and there be given such allotment and distributions, and not elsewhere.
No person shall be enrolled who has not heretofore removed to and in good faith settled in the nation in which he claims citizenship: Provided, however, That nothing contained in this act shall be so construed as to militate against any rights or privileges which the Mississippi Choctaws may have under the laws of or the treaties with the United States.
Said Commission shall make such rolls descriptive of the persons thereon, so that they may be thereby identified, and it is authorized to take a census of each of said tribes, or to adopt any other means by them deemed necessary to enable them to make such rolls. They shall have access to all rolls and records of the several tribes, and the United States court in Indian Territory shall have jurisdiction to compel the officers of the tribal governments and custodians of such rolls and records to deliver same to said Commission, and on their refusal or failure to do so to punish them as for contempt; as also to require all citizens of said tribes, and persons who should be so enrolled, to appear before said Commission for enrollment, at such times and places as may be fixed by said Commission, and to enforce obedience of all others concerned, so far as the same may be necessary, to enable said Commission to make rolls as herein required, and to punish anyone who may in any manner or by any means obstruct said work.
The rolls so made, when approved by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be final, and the persons whose names are found thereon, with their descendants thereafter born to them, with such persons as may intermarry according to tribal laws, shall alone constitute the several tribes which they represent.
The members of said Commission shall, in performing all duties required of them by law, have authority to administer oaths, examine witnesses, and send for persons and papers ; and any person who shall willfully and knowingly make any false affidavit or oath to any material fact or matter before any member of said Commission, or before any other officer authorized to administer oaths, to any affidavit or other paper to be filed or oath taken before said Commission, shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and on conviction thereof shall be punished as for such offense.
SEC. 25. That before any allotment shall be made of lands in the Cherokee Nation, there shall be segregated there from by the Commission heretofore mentioned, in separate allotments or otherwise, the one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred acres purchased by the Delaware tribe of Indians from the Cherokee Nation under agreement of April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, subject to the judicial determination of the rights of said descendants and the Cherokee Nation under said agreement. That the Delaware Indians residing in the Cherokee Nation are hereby authorized and empowered to bring suit in the Court of Claims of the United States, within sixty days after the passage of this act, against the Cherokee Nation, for the purpose of determining the rights of said Delaware Indians in and to the lands and funds of said nation under their contract and agreement with the Cherokee Nation dated April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven; or the Cherokee Nation may bring a like suit against said Delaware Indians ; and jurisdiction is conferred on said court to adjudicate and fully determine the same, with right of appeal to either party to the Supreme Court of the United States.
SEC. 26. That on and after the passage of this act the laws of the various tribes or nations of Indians shall not be enforced at law or in equity by the courts of the United States in the Indian Territory.
SEC. 27. That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to locate one Indian inspector in Indian Territory, who may, under his authority and direction, perform any duties required of the Secretary of the Interior by law relating to affairs therein.
SEC. 28. That on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, all tribal courts in Indian Territory shall be abolished, and no officer of said courts shall thereafter have any authority whatever to do or perform any act thereto fore authorized by any law in connection with said courts, or to receive any pay for same; and all civil and criminal causes then pending in any such court shall be transferred to the United States court in said Territory by filing with the clerk of the court the original papers in the suit : Provided, That this section shall not be in force as to the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek tribes or nations until the first day of October, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.
SEC. 29. That the agreement made by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes with commissions representing the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes of Indians on the twenty third day of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, as herein amended, is hereby ratified and confirmed, and the same shall be of full force and effect if ratified before the first day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, by a majority of the whole number of votes cast by the members of said tribes at an election held for that purpose; and the executives of said tribes are hereby authorized and directed to make public proclamation that said agreement shall be voted on at the next general election, or at any special election to be called by such executives for the purpose of voting on said agreement; and at the election held for such purpose all male members of each of said tribes qualified to vote under his tribal laws shall have the right to vote at the election precinct most convenient to his residence, whether the same be within the bounds of his tribe or not: Provided, That no person whose right to citizenship in either of said tribes or nations is now contested in original or appellate proceedings before any United States court shall be permitted to vote at said election : Provided further, That the votes cast in both said tribes or nations shall be forthwith returned duly certified by the precinct officers to the national secretaries of said tribes or nations, and shall be presented by said national secretaries to a board of commissioners consisting of the principal chief and national secretary of the Choctaw Nation, the governor and national secretary of the Chickasaw Nation, and a member of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, to be designated by the chairman of said Commission; and said board shall meet without delay at Atoka, in the Indian Territory, and canvass and count said votes and make proclamation of the result; and if said agreement as amended be so ratified, the provisions of this act shall then only apply to said tribes where the same do not conflict with the provisions of said agreement; but the provisions of said agreement, if so ratified, shall not in any manner affect the provisions of section fourteen of this act, which said amended agreement is as follows:
This agreement, by and between the Government of the United States, of the first part, entered into in its behalf by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, Henry L. Dawes, Frank C. Armstrong, Archibald S. McKennon, Thomas B. Cabaniss, and Alexander B. Montgomery, duly appointed and authorized thereunto, and the governments of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes or nations of Indians in the Indian Territory, respectively, of the second part, entered into in behalf of such Choctaw and Chickasaw governments, duly appointed and authorized thereunto, viz, Green McCurtain, J. S. Standley, N. B. Ainsworth, Ben Hampton, Wesley Anderson, Amos Henry, D. C. Garland, and A. S. Williams, in behalf of the Choctaw Tribe or Nation, and It. M. Harris, I. O. Lewis, Holmes Colbert, P. S. Mosely, M. V. Cheadle. R. L. Murray, William Perry, A. H. Colbert, and R. L. Boyd, in behalf of the Chickasaw Tribe or Nation.
AMENDED: PUBLIC LAW 86-192-AUG. 26, 1959
To supplement the Act of April 26, 1906 (34 Stat. 137), entitled "An Act to provide for the final disposition of the affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes", and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled That in order to complete the action for the Choctaw Tribe authorized by the Act of April 26,1906 (34 Stat. 137), entitled "An Act to provide for the final disposition of the affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes", the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, to sell within three years after the date of this Act or as soon thereafter as possible, upon such terms and conditions as he deems proper, all lands, interests therein, and improvements thereon except a one-half interest in the oil, gas, hydrocarbons, and all other minerals or mineral rights in such lands, which one-half interest shall be reserved) that now or hereafter belong to the Choctaw Tribe, or to the Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes jointly, and either are held by the United States in trust for the tribe or tribes or are subject to a restriction against alienation imposed by the United States, and to sell upon such terms and conditions as he deems proper a one-half interest in all oil, gas, hydrocarbons, and all other minerals or mineral rights in any such lands that were acquired by and are owned by the United States pursuant to the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of June 26, 1936 (49 Stat. 1967), as amended (25 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-509), or the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18,1934 (48 Stat. 984), as amended (25 U.S.C. 461 and the following). The remaining one-half interest in such mineral deposits shall be held in trust for the tribe or tribes until conveyed as hereinafter provided. The proceeds from all such sales, after deduction of the costs of sale, shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the tribe or tribes to which the surface rights in the land belonged. As soon as feasible, but not later than three years after the date of enactment of this Act, unrestricted title to the Choctaw portion of the one-half interest in the oil, gas, hydrocarbons, and all other minerals or mineral rights that is directed to be reserved and held in trust by this subsection shall be conveyed by the Secretary to a trustee, corporation, or other legal entity that is organized under State law and that is designated by the Choctaw Tribe and approved by the Secretary. If no such legal entity is designated and approved, unrestricted title to such interest shall be conveyed by the Secretary to the owner of the surface rights in the land. The Chickasaw portion of such one-half interest shall be held in trust until such time as the Secretary determines that it should be sold or conveyed for the benefit of the tribe, which sale or conveyance is hereby authorized.
(b) To convey without consideration, upon request of the Choctaw Tribe, to a trustee, corporation, or other legal entity that is organized under State law and that is designated by the tribe and approved by the Secretary, an unrestricted title to any of the lands that are subject to sale under subsections (a) and (d) of this section, together with all mineral rights therein: Provided That if such lands are held for the benefit of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes jointly, the Choctaw Tribe shall pay to the Chickasaw Tribe prior to such conveyance the appraised value of the undivided Chickasaw interest.
(c) To convey to the life tenant, his heirs, devisees, successors, or assigns unrestricted title to the entire interest in lands and improvements thereon, including mineral deposits, that were acquired pursuant to the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of June 26,1936 (49 Stat. 1967), as amended (25 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-509), or the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), as amended (25 U.S.C. 461 and the following), by the United States in trust for a designated individual Indian for his lifetime and thereafter in trust for the tribe.
(d) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, to sell within three years after the date of enactment of this Act or as soon thereafter as possible, upon such terms and conditions as he deems proper, or to transfer to a Federal agency or to a public body for public use, the lands, interests therein, and improvements thereon which have been acquired by the United States for use of the Choctaw Tribe under authority of title I I of the National Industrial Recovery Act of June 16, 1933 (48 Stat. 200), and subsequent Acts, administrative jurisdiction over which has heretofore been transferred by the President from the Secretary of Agriculture to the Secretary of the Interior by Executive Order Numbered 7868, dated April 15, 1938. The proceeds from such sales, after deduction of costs of sale, shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the tribe.
SEC. 2. Nothing in this Act shall deprive any Indian of any individual right, ownership, or contract right he may have in land that is sold.
SEC. 3. Any one or more of the enrolled members of the Choctaw Tribe or their descendants who occupy under a written lease or permit from the Bureau of Indian Affairs a portion of any lands subject to sale under the provisions of this Act shall have the right to purchase at such sale the lands which they occupy for a price equal to the highest acceptable competitive bid therefor, less the appraised value of any improvements which they may have placed thereon and which were not a part of the consideration for the lease or permit.
SEC. 4. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to execute such patents, deeds, assignments, releases, certificates, contracts, and other etc. instruments as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the provisions of this Act, or to establish a marketable title to any property disposed of pursuant to this Act.
SEC. 5. Nothing in this Act shall abrogate any valid lease, permit, license, right-of-way, lien, or other contract heretofore approved. Whenever such instrument places in or reserves to the Secretary any powers, duties, or other functions with respect to the property subject hereto, the Secretary may transfer such functions, in whole or in part, to any Federal agency with the consent of such agency.
SEC. 6. The Secretary is authorized to set off against any indebtedness payable to the tribe or to the United States by an individual member of the tribe, or payable to the United States by the tribe, any funds payable to such individual or tribe under this Act and to deposit the amounts set off to the credit of the tribe or the United States as the case may be.
SEC. 7. The Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), as amended (25 U.S.C. 461), and the Act of June 26,1936 (49 Stat. 1967), as amended (25 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-509), shall not apply to the Choctaw Tribe and its members after the date of enactment of this Act, except that the provisions of section 1 of the Act of June 26, 1936, with respect to taxes on lands that are held by the United States in trust shall continue in effect until the trust is terminated, and any trust for the benefit of an individual Indian that was created pursuant to such section shall be terminated only as otherwise authorized by this Act or by any other Federal statute.
SEC. 8. Nothing in this Act shall affect any claim heretofore filed against the United States by the Choctaw Tribe.
SEC. 9. Nothing in this Act shall affect the provisions of the Act of August 11,1955 (69 Stat. 666).
SEC. 10. I n any per capita distribution of tribal funds that is here-after made to members of the Choctaw Tribe, or their heirs or legatees, no payment shall be made in an amount that is less than $1, and any share that is less than $1 shall be credited to the appropriation available for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
SEC. 11. No principal chief of the Choctaw Tribe shall be appointed pursuant to section 6 of the Act of April 26, 1906 (34 Stat. 137), after a legal entity is designated and approved pursuant to subsection (a) of the first section of this Act, or after three years from the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is sooner.
SEC. 12. (a) The Secretary of the Interior is directed to exercise the discretionary authority granted by the Act of May 24, 1949 (63 Stat. 76, 84), to distribute per capita all of the funds held by the United States for the benefit of the Choctaw Tribe; except the amount necessary for the operation of the Choctaw Tribal Government until a legal entity is designated and approved pursuant to subsection (a)of the first section of this Act or until three years from the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is sooner.
(b) Any per capita sum or other tribal funds or securities accruing to any member of the Choctaw Tribe or to his heirs or legatees, under this or any other Act, including any such sums that have been credited to individual Indian money accounts without application of the Indian for his distributive share of the tribal asset involved, that is not claimed by such person within seven years after the Secretary has first announced the procedure for submitting claims or within two years after the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is later, shall escheat to the tribe by operation of law and shall be transferred by the Secretary immediately upon the expiration of such time to the legal entity that is designated and approved pursuant to subsection (a)of the first section of this Act. If no such legal entity is designated and approved within three years from the date of enactment of this Act, any sums that would escheat to the tribe under this subsection shall escheat to the United States and be deposited in the miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury.
(c) The legal entity organized under State law and designated and approved pursuant to subsection (a) of the first section of this Act, if any, shall be the successor in interest to the Choctaw Tribe for all purposes.
Approved August 25, 1959.
EDITORIAL ASSERTION:
An Act to provide for the final disposition of the affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes
Section 11 “shall proceed to allot the exclusive use and occupancy of the surface of all the lands of said nation or tribe susceptible of allotment among the citizens thereof, as shown by said roll, giving to each, so far as possible, his fair and equal share thereof, considering the nature and fertility of the soil, location, and value of same”
Section 21 “that in making rolls of citizenship of the several tribes, as required by law, the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes is authorized and directed to take the roll of Cherokee citizens of eighteen hundred and eighty (not including freedmen) as the only roll intended to be confirmed by this and proceeding acts of Congress, and to enroll all persons now living whose names are found on said roll, and all descendants born since the date of said roll to persons whose names are found thereon”
“Said Commission is authorized and directed to make correct rolls of the citizens by blood of all the other tribes, eliminating from the tribal rolls such names as may have been placed thereon by fraud or without authority of law, enrolling such only as may have lawful right thereto, and their descendants born since such rolls were made, with such intermarried white persons as may be entitled to Choctaw and Chickasaw citizenship under the treaties and the laws of said tribes.
Said Commission shall have authority to determine the identity of Choctaw Indians claiming rights in the Choctaw lands under article fourteen of the treaty between the United States and the Choctaw Nation concluded September twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and thirty, and to that end may administer oaths, examine witnesses, and perform all other acts necessary thereto and make report to the Secretary of the Interior.” This is for the final rolls of the Choctaw and Chickasaw.
SEC. 26. That on and after the passage of this act the laws of the various tribes or nations of Indians shall not be enforced at law or in equity by the courts of the United States in the Indian Territory. This is the end of the laws of the Five Civilized Tribes various tribes in that they no longer have authority within the United States (including the about to be newly formed state of Oklahoma)
SEC. 28. “That on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, all tribal courts in Indian Territory shall be abolished, and no officer of said courts shall thereafter have any authority whatever to do or perform any act thereto fore authorized by any law in connection with said courts, or to receive any pay for same; and all civil and criminal causes then pending in any such court shall be transferred to the United States court in said Territory by filing with the clerk of the court the original papers in the suit : Provided, That this section shall not be in force as to the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek tribes or nations until the first day of October, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.” On July 1, 1892 All Tribal Courts in Indian Territory, about to become the state of Oklahoma, ceased to exist except for the Choctaw and Chickasaw whose Tribal Courts ceased to exist on October 1, 1898.
AMENDED SEC. 11. “No principal chief of the Choctaw Tribe shall be appointed pursuant to section 6 of the Act of April 26, 1906 (34 Stat. 137), after a legal entity is designated and approved pursuant to subsection (a) of the first section of this Act, or after three years from the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is sooner.” This was to allow for the disposal of one half of the mineral rights leases to be retained by the United States and the rest to be sold.