Spilyay tymoo., June 29, 2022, Page 7, Image 7

Spilyay Tymoo
June 29, 2022
Page 7
D.McMechan/Spilyay
Walking in the Honoring Veterans Parade, June 25, 2022.
The Treaty of 1855 ~
(The tribes this month marked
the One-Hundred and Sixty-Sev-
enth Anniversar y of the signing of
the Treaty of 1855, June 25. The
opening Treaty articles appeared in
the previous Spilyay Tymoo; and the
following are the final articles of the
document.)
Article 5. The United States
further engage to secure and pay
for the services and subsistence,
for the term of fifteen years, of
one farmer, one blacksmith, and
one wagon and plough maker; and
for the term of twenty years, of
one physician, one sawyer, one
miller, one superintendent of
farming operations, and one school
teacher.
The United States also engage
to erect four dwelling-houses, one
for the head chief of the confed-
erated bands, and one each for the
Upper and Lower De Chutes bands
of Walla-Wallas, and for the Was-
copum band of Wascoes, and to
fence and plough for each of the
said chiefs ten acres of land; also
to pay the head chief of the con-
federated bands a salary of five
hundred dollars per annum for
twenty years, commencing six
months after the three principal
bands named in this treaty shall
have removed to the reservation,
or as soon thereafter as a head
chief should be elected:
And provided, also, That at any
time when by the death, resignation,
or removal of the chief selected,
there shall be a vacancy and a suc-
cessor appointed or selected, the sal-
ary, the dwelling, and improvements
shall be possessed by said successor,
so long as he shall occupy the posi-
tion as head chief; so also with refer-
ence to the dwellings and improve-
ments provided for by this treaty for
the head chiefs of the three princi-
pal bands named.
Article 5.The President may,
from time to time, at his discre-
tion, cause the whole, or such por-
tion as he may think proper, of the
tract that may now or hereafter be
set apart as a permanent home for
these Indians, to be surveyed into
lots and assigned to such Indians
of the confederated bands as may
wish to enjoy the privilege, and lo-
cate thereon permanently.
To a single person over
twentyone years of age, forty acres;
to a family of two persons, sixty
acres; to a family of three and not
exceeding five, eighty acres; to a
family of six persons, and not ex-
ceeding ten, one hundred and
twenty acres; and to each family
over ten in number, twenty acres
for each additional three members.
And the President may provide
such rules and regulations as will
secure to the family in case of the
death of the head thereof the pos-
session and enjoyment of such per-
manent home and the improve-
ment thereon; and he may, at any
time, at his discretion, after such
person or family has made loca-
tion on the land assigned as a per-
manent home, issue a patent to
such person or family for such as-
signed land, conditioned that the
tract shall not be aliened or leased
for a longer term than two years
and shall be exempt from levy, sale,
or forfeiture, which condition shall
continue in force until a State con-
stitution embracing such lands
within its limits shall have been
formed, and the legislature of the
State shall remove the restrictions.
Provided, however, That no
State legislature shall remove the
restrictions herein provided for
A signing page of the Treaty of 1855. The original document is
housed in the United States National Archives, Washington, D.C.
without the consent of Congress.
And provided, also, That if any
person or family shall at any time
neglect or refuse to occupy or till
a portion of the land assigned and
on which they have located, or shall
roam from place to place indicat-
ing a desire to abandon his home,
the President may, if the patent
shall have been issued, revoke the
same, and if not issued, cancel
the assignment, and may also with-
hold from such person, or fam-
ily, their portion of the annuities,
or other money due them, until
they shall have returned to such
permanent home and resumed the
pursuits of industry, and in default
of their return the tract may be
declared abandoned, and thereaf-
ter assigned to some other person
or family of Indians residing on
said reservation.
Article 6. The annuities of the
Indians shall not be taken to pay
the debts of individuals.
Article 7. The confederated
bands acknowledge their depen-
dence on the Government of the
United States, and promise to be
friendly with all the citizens thereof,
and pledge themselves to commit
no depredation on the property of
said citizens; and should any one or
more of the Indians violate this
pledge, and the fact be satisfacto-
rily proven before the agent, the
property taken shall be returned, or
in default thereof, or if injured or
destroyed, compensation may be
made by the Government out of
their annuities; nor will they make
war on any other tribe of Indians
except in self-defense, but submit
all matters of difference between
them and other Indians to the Gov-
ernment of the United States, or
its agents for decision, and abide
thereby; and if any of the said In-
dians commit any depredations on
other Indians, the same rule shall
prevail as that prescribed in the case
of depredations against citizens; said
Indians further engage to submit to
and observe all laws, rules, and regu-
lations which may be prescribed by
the United States for the govern-
ment of said Indians.
Article 8. In order to prevent
the evils of intemperance among
said Indians, it is hereby provided,
that if any one of them shall drink
liquor to excess, or procure it for
others to drink, his or her propor-
tion of the annuities may be with-
held from him or her for such time
as the President may determine.
Article 9. The said confeder-
ated bands agree that whensoever,
in the opinion of the President of
the United States, the public in-
terest may require it, that all roads,
highways, and railroads shall have
the right of way through the res-
er vation herein designated, or
which may at any time hereafter
be set apart as a reservation for
said Indians.
This treaty shall be obligatory on
the contracting parties as soon as
the same shall be ratified by the
President and Senate of the United
States. Joel Palmer, Superintendent
of Indian Affairs, O.T