Timeline of the Termination (Voluntary and Involuntary) of the cherokee nation
This section begins one of the most intentionally forgotten histories of the cherokee and the Congress of the United States.
Voluntary
We See That Our Ancient Council Fires Has There Been Extinguished
Again, without the urging of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, we would have never been forced to research and document the dissolution and termination of the cherokee nation.
It is without doubt that this is the first recorded time John Ross openly admits to the requirements of the cherokee nation law that their government ended when they crossed the Mississippi River.
The February 21, 1828 Cherokee Phoenix Volume 1 Issue 1 Published the Constitution of the Cherokee Nation.
Section 2 states, “. . . whenever any such citizen or citizens shall remove with their effects out of the limits of this Nation, and become citizens of any other government, all their rights and privileges as citizens of this nation shall cease; . . .”
They could not return to the old nation East of the Mississippi to re-join because the government ceased to exist when it crossed the Mississippi.
This must have pained John Ross more than anything to admit in a National Council that, “We see that our ancient fire has there been extinguished.” We have found that quote in various locations including: Between Indigenous and Settle Governance Lisa Ford, Rime Rowse, Tim Allen Garrison Chapter Page 55; The Road to Disappearance Angie Debo Page 135; Portraits of North American Indians Smithsonian Institute J. M. Stanley Page 23; Oklahoma Red Book Volume 1, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1912 Page 315; and https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/statesmanship-helped-settle-council-disputes/article_c10c8b69-7947-501a-9f49-75850d38564f.html
http://www.bigorrin.org/archive86.htm
Involuntary
June 28, 1898 Fifty-Fifth Congress Session 2 Chapter 517 of 1898 An Act for the Protection of the People of the Indian Territory, and for other Purposes.
Colloquially known as the Curtis Act, begins the Termination process of the Five Civilized tribes.
Sec. 15 - That there shall be a commission in each town for each one out town sites. of the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Cherokee tribes, to consist of one member to be appointed by the executive of the tribe, who shall not be interested in town property, other than his home; one person to, be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, and one member to be selected by the town. And if the executive of the tribe or the town fail to select members as aforesaid, they may be selected and appointed by the Secretary of the Interior.
Sec. 21 – the Commission of 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 preceeding (sic) Acts of Congress, . . .
SEC. 25 - That before any allotment shall be made of lands in the Cherokee Nation, there shall be segregated there shall be segregated therefrom 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.
Full document if found at: https://govtrackus.s3.amazonaws.com/legislink/pdf/stat/30/STATUTE-30-Pg495a.pdf
Voluntary Requests and Congressional Termination
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, we wish to thank you for all you have contributed to this wealth of knowledge and information.
July 1, 1902
At the request of the government of the cherokee nation to Congress, Congress formally terminated their government, and agreed to the allotment of all of the lands in the 14 counties.
July 1, 1902 The Fifty-Seventh Congress of the United State Session Chapter 1375 of July 1, 1902 32 Statute 716 An Agreement with the Cherokee by Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled agrees to the following:
Sec. 1: Cherokee Nation or tribes of Indians in Indian Territory. (Commentary added: This is an agreement for the cherokee in Oklahoma territory and not the Eastern Band of cherokee)
Sec 7: The words “member” or “members” and “citizen” or “citizens” shall be held to mean members or citizens of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory
Sec 25: The roll of citizens of the Cherokee Nation shall be made as of September first, nineteen hundred and two, and the names of all persons then living and entitles to enrollment on that date shall be placed on said roll by the commission to the Five Civilized Tribes.
Sec. 26: The names of all persons living on the first day of September, nineteen hundred and two, entitled to be enrolled as provided in section twenty-five hereof, shall be placed upon the roll made by said Commission, and No child born thereafter to a citizen , and no white person who has intermarried with a Cherokee citizen since the sixteenth day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, shall be entitled to enrollment or to participate in a distribution of the tribal property of the Cherokee Nation. (this is the death nail of the cherokee nation government and citizenship in the cherokee nation, no one can enroll born after September 1, 1902. There are no living persons entitled to citizenship in the cherokee nation government)
Source Document: Allotment deed 4642, roll # 562 from the Cherokee Nation states “Whereas by the Act of Congress, July 1, 1902 [32 Stat 736] ratified by the Cherokee Nation, Aug. 7, 1902. The cherokee nation voted and approved the Allotment deeds that were issued.
To better understand this, Chief William Charles Rogers, on Nov. 9, 1904, gave the following speech to the Tahlequah National Council,
“But a crisis in our affairs is at hand. The government which our forefathers cherished and loved and labored so hard to perfect, has been sentenced to die. The scepter must soon pass to other hands. Still, we must force back the resentment we feel and accept the condition as they are. The decrees of fate are inexorable. Representative bodies are usually brought together to organize or maintain a government seldom indeed is the spectacle afforded of such a body of men calmly assembled together to prepare for its own dissolution and yet your coming together is largely for that purpose. The importance of this melancholy fact must not be underestimated or approached in a spirit of indifference, the best service of which you are capable is the demand of the hour and painstaking effort should characterize your every act so that the result may rebound to the everlasting credit and benefit of our people.”
April 26, 1906
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
This is the statutory termination required by the enactment of the Curtis Act in 1898. Thus, striping the government of the cherokee nation of its authority, power, and existence and ultimately ending its treaties and treaty relationship with the United States. The Act of Congress means The Cherokee Nation no longer exists as a distinct political entity.
After the terms of the 1906 Termination were completed, on June 30, 1914, the BIA granted the request to the tribal authorities for tribal dissolvement of the Cherokee Tribe of Indians. The cherokee nation asked to be dissolved and terminated in 1902 and was finally terminated as a distinct political entity in 1914 by the final act of the BIA to fulfill the 1906 Act.
Never let it be said that we forgot the words of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to academically verify our history, culture, and anthropology. We now turn to the Eastern Band of cherokees with our research showing termination of their tribe as well.
November 6, 1919
The Eastern Band of cherokee met with Congress to have their tribe terminated. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, on Nov. 6, 1919, agreed with the Congress of the United States to authorize their termination. House Bill 5699 providing for the final disposition of the Affairs of the Eastern Band of cherokee Indians. On Monday, Feb. 6, 1922, 3:15 pm, 67th Congress First Session. H.R. 3852, June 4, 1924, an act providing for final disposition of the Affairs of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina was passed (session 1, chapter 253, 1924).