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MAY
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The ChemawaAmerican
P r i n t e d a t C h e m a w a , O r e g o n , a n d D e v o t e d to t h e I n t e r e s t s o f I n d i a n E d u c a t io n
Vol. X X III
W ednesday, October 27, 1920
Facts About Oklahoma Indians
By CATO SELLS
U. S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs
(Continued from last issue)
The Act of March 3, 1901, made all Indians of the
Live Tribes citizens of the United States, and the Act
of February 8, 1887, known as the Dawes Act or the
General Allotment Act, provided a way for conferring
citizenship upon Indians of other tribes within the
boundries of what is now the State of Oklahoma.
The tribal or communal interests of the Indians in
their lands were being gradually broken up into al
lotments of land in severalty by transferring tribal title
into individual holdings with restrictions imposed on
the allottee’s right to sell or otherwise dispose of his
land unless with the approval of the government. In
some cases the allottees received fee patents with re
strictions against alienation for twenty-five years and
in others patents with a period of trust for that time.
Here we had in a sovereign state thousands of In
dians who had received full United States citizenship,
but whose lands and other property were still held
under the protecting arm of the government. We had
American citizenship and restrictions against the full
personal control ol lands. This impressed me as a
condition that should not continue indefinitely, and a
more liberal practice was begun with reference to In
dians who were qualified to look after their business
affairs.
This tentative plan brought encouraging results and
largely decided me in announcing the “ Declaration of
Policy” of April 17, 1917, which provides that a broad,
liberal policy shall henceforth prevail to the end that
every Indian of twenty-one years or over, as soon as
ascertained to be as competent to transact his own busi
ness as the average white man, shall be given full
control of his lands and funds and thus cease to be
a ward of the government. This policy was further
greatly enlarged by the subsequent declaration to give
a fee patent to, or release from United States control
in other ways, every allottee who had at least one-half
white blood.
Under these broader policies, the total number of
No. 4
Indians released from government supervision has
reached nearly 21,000, Oklahoma sharing a large per
centage.
In the years pi ior to 1913 somewhat over 6000 fee pat
ents had been issued, and from that year to the date of
the new policy about 3,542 fee patents were issued,
approximately 9,500. It will be seen that under this
liberal procedure many more Indians have been releas
ed from government control since 1917 than in all prior
years.
Under various acts of congress the restrictions on
the control of lands of many of the Five Tribes allottees
were absolutely removed and the Indians and inter
married whites given full responsibility of citizenship.
As rapidly as conditions will properly permit, we hope
to place in the hands of every Indian who is compet
ent the full control of all his trust property; and I ven
ture to suggest that it would be in the interest of all
the good citizens of Oklahoma, not only as a business
proposition but for other high considerations, to give
encouragement to every Indian released from govern
ment control, to the end that his property may be
kept intact and that he may be shielded from those
who might seek to involve him in transactions that
would result in the loss of his land or money.
I have held to the principal of protecting the Indian
in his property rights until he shows a responsible
capacity for taking care of himself in competition
with the white man, believing that this is scarcely a
greater service to the one than to the other. No state
can thrive on the pauperism of any considerable ele
ment of its population. There is something wrong
with the social, civic and economic standards of any
state where there is a large improvident class of cit
izens.
The Wealthy Osages
In the northeast corner of Oklahoma is the Osage
Indian reservation, belonging to about 2,100 Indians
who have been called the richest people, per capita,
in the world. This section of the great state of Okla
homa is one of the wonderful oil-producing fields of
the country, and its wells daily pour great wealth up
on these Indians. From their oil and gas royalties
(Continued on page 4)