The Chemawa American, January 01, 1915, Page 10, Image 10

TH E C H E M A W A
A M E R IC A N
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sent. T h eir m em orial to the President is a historic docum ent.
President W ilson had set the hour as tw elve fifteen on December ten th .
T he Society represented by its A ctive officers, A ssociate officers, Board,
and by m any m em bers of both divisions m arched prom ptly from their
headquarters at the H otel Pow hatan and reached th e W hite H ouse a few
m inutes before noon. More th an forty delegates were in the b o d y . S en ­
ator R obert L. Owen of Cherokee blood, was already w ith the P resi­
dent as the delegation entered th e reception room in the E xecutive M an­
sion. T he local arrangem ents had been made w ith the Secretary to the
President by M r. Gabe E . P arker who introduced the members of the
Society. T h e P resident stood in the center of his office and shook hands
cordially as each member was presented. T h en , after a short ex p lan a­
tion, Mr. D ennison W heelock read the M emorial, which follows:
D is t r ic t o f C o lu m b ia , C ity of W a s h in g t o n .
H is E x c e l l e n c y , t h e P r e s id e n t o f t h e U n it e d s t a t e s :
A cting under in stru ctio n s of the F o u rth A nnual Conference oi the S o­
ciety of A m erican In d ian s, held on the 6th to 11th of O ctober, 1914, at
th e U niversity of W isconsin, in th e city of M adison, W isconsin, your
petitioners respectfully present th is M em orial.
Congress has conferred special au th o rity upon th e President of the
U nited States respecting the welfare of the Indians, regarded as w ards
of the Federal G overnm ent. W e believe th at th is obligation lies close
to your heart and we, therefore, feel free to suggest to you a few th in g s
w hich seem to us necessary to o u r welfare and progress, to our develop­
m ent as co-laborers and producers. W e believe th a t you feel, w ith th e
progressive m em bers of our race, th at it is anom alous perm anently to
conserve w ithin th e nation groups of people whose civic condition by
legislation is different from the moral stan d ard of A m erican life.
D e f in it io n o f L egal S tatus
As a race, the Indian, under the ju risdiction of the U nited States, has
no stan d in g in court or nation. No man can tell w hat its statu s is,
either civic or legal. Confusion and chaos are the only words descrip­
tive of the situ atio n . T h is condition is a barrier to th e progress of our
people who aspire to higher th in g s and greater success.
W e hold it incontrovertible th a t our statu s in this nation should be
defined by federal au th o rity . W e request, therefore, th a t, as the first
essential to a proper solution of the Indian Problem , and even for the
benefit of the nation itself, this m atter be placed in the hands of a com ­
mission of three m en— the best, the most com petent and the kindliest
men to be found, and that they be authorized to study th is question, and
recom mend to you and to the Congress the passage of a code of Indian
law which shall open the door of hope and progress to our people. O ur