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 OF THE 
 
 DELEGATES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHEROKEE NATION 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PEESIDENT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 United States, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 Semite aito louse of ^mntatifttfl in Congress. 
 
 V/ASHINGTON CHRONICLE PRINT, 
 
 1866. 
 
 

To the President of the United States, and to the Senate and Hte*. 
 
 of Representatives. 
 
 ment iathe Indian Territory." _ onviction of ur people, that 
 
 It is our solemn conviction and the c0 ^ lct ^ c ° ution & J [n cruah 
 if that bill becomes a law, and is wuduito exe ^ such 
 
 us as a people, and destroy ns as a Ration. ^»°P e ° Wch wil f show 
 ^Sr^S^i^ claim on them to 
 
 gamzedfortwoorthieeyeats jiiuij l the 
 
 the lead of Stand Wa.e, lately a Geae.aUn tie re infl > ence9 
 disloyal element, (smal 1 in numbers ^b **"£«* £f t o "Blue Lodges," 
 
 and "K»Wto .f *h. 0°ld» B C »*■£, J emselves int o a Loyal 
 
 ^tno^asT^oofha fc%%%£2£S^ 
 
 blooded Indians. rn •, hn(1(1 to encroachments on 
 
 The object of this League was resist race to e jc 10a inte . r ity 
 
 sacred obligations, to an nnyield.ng Mel, y to our t ™» • 
 
 United States, and to an unfaltering suppoitot ourownr 
 ernment, constituted under those treaties. ^^ 8 ^ of T. 
 formed in every part of ~ «"»giJ*JSy ve „ hei'd among the 
 
 ssaWtwsKL srjs •«»»--• 
 
 sfc^JitaHJS^ MSS Th V rCsiti„n to 
 » was SenT 'While some members of the Society = 
 pro-slavery in their sentiments, yet hey . »vcd the ^ con, J 
 han slavery-while the great ™J«"^1 *^ „S wore op- 
 
 conviction also. txt„*:^ M ; a0 rl ^ robel reeiment, cou- 
 
 Whcn hostilities began, S and Watie raided a ^ rebel reg , 
 
 sisting chiefly of the most desperate characters. Ibere *e 
 
full bloodod Cherokees in this regiment, and a somewhat larger num- 
 ber of mixed blooded Cherokees, but the majority of the regiment 
 were white men, and the majority of those white men were not citizens 
 »l tfte Lherokee -Nation. Set, all the odium of their depredations was 
 
 f^dJed on to the Chei i Ti desperadoes and their friends 
 
 made several attempts to raise the rebel standard in the Cherokee 
 , ' " "on, the loyal populace. either prevent- 
 
 ed the raising of the rebel flag, or tore it down when raised, and 
 <ii>P<r-. ; i those making the treasonable demonstrations, until at 
 ,,"- :i ; •■":'.' rebeU !•"! i" holding a convention at Jiatie's 
 
 *hicb was attended by a very small number. There thev 
 completed their arrangements for a formal alliance with the Con- 
 [efleracy. 
 
 collisions had already takei place between the Loyal Che- 
 rokees and the rebelsin their midst, and a general fight seemed immi- 
 
 such a fight had occurred, there would have been no chance 
 ' l! ~ n foru *. as the whol ofB i McCulloch's for ready 
 
 upon as, while the Choctaws and Ohickasaws, and many 
 "'■ '; ' ■- and Seminoles had already joined the rebellion We 
 
 and Opothleyoholo'a uoble band of Cnwka and Seminoles si 1 alone 
 
 '" our loyalty : but we were Car from the counsel, and the pledged pro- 
 Q of our friend and guardian, the [Jnited States Government 
 L j and earnestly were we solicited to join the rebellion, but we 
 m I mally the time for solicitation passed, and the time for 
 '•"mpu ->,,„ came. V, friend or defender was near. The army of 
 'Z:' i,0 - [i ; l:oh r lU '- ?»■««*»' wMgon* Every post in taVli 
 Jim country and Its vicinity was abandoned, and all the Indian 
 | ; |i| 1 " that conotry *ere traitors, eveo those appointed by Mr. 
 
 While thus environed, as the only means of averting the wholesale 
 hter of the loyal Cher, .nvention was ellled. 1 that 
 
 cntion (Augusl 91s1 1861 I under duress the most complete and 
 
 -."■. I-P- polled to empower theauYhorf 
 
 > ■"■■•• to treat with the rebela We repeat it with 
 
 V"'"' eld, and this acti wtake Tyas 
 
 ' ";"' ' ' "'/ ' ^termination. \ hand of Stand Wotie's Rebels 
 
 ; adalr ;( a,lv,.,n,-,al,,lann,ina hotel, in front of the public Squwe 
 
 held. In case the convention had dl 
 
 contrary eoorse, this band was prepared then and there 
 
 ion on the loyal Cherokees. But by S 
 
 i l , nvention, a collision with tha ed for the 
 
 v ""--"- nt to Albert Pi . i;. tx , Com- 
 
 '-vthat we w,ro ready to make a treaty, wnich we hS 
 
 hclav r a ,K h0rtl ' , ? 10p / ' *7 was entered into on 
 
 l '"""-" '» ■ m hoped still toaverl a 
 
 ;;-;'' ■'"-'■■■i Jd reach 1 from th e 
 
 Lhedepredatl v, weresoi 
 
 mg with the rebel army, but really for the purpose 
 
 •orydayc miftedo aUempteS 
 
 ter tin- troatv 
 
was entered into, this regiment was taken into the rebel ^service, but 
 must of its officers, and nearly all of its men were as earnestly ^ loyal 
 to the United States as any soldiers in the Union service Jh s you 
 may doubt, but the reality and earnestness of thei r loyalty wm u 
 abundantly verified by their conduct subsequent to the convent on 
 and the treaty, as it was by their previous course. (,iv.- , us your at- 
 tention while we state a few facts which prove this aaae,rtK>n. _ 
 Opothleyoholo, and the loyal Creeks and Semmoles> Mid portions 
 of other tribes, had been driven from their country by the rebels, and 
 were camped in the western part of the Cherokee country. «en 
 Cooper (rebel) had sent Captain McDaniel, of the CHerok e egunen 
 (and one of our delegates now present.) with a party to induce those 
 loyal Indians to come in and submit to the rebel author* . ' Cap 
 McDaniel went, but instead of fulfilling this mission, he and his men 
 joined the loyal Indians. ,,_!.,,, 
 
 J Still, however, he kept up communication with Gen. Cooper, but 
 whenever he sent a despatch purporting to inform the general of the 
 progress of his mission, he always sent a secret message to the Union 
 League, in the rebel service, informing them of Ins real movements 
 Finally, Gen. Cooper discovered the trick and marched his whole 
 brigade against Opothleyoholo and Capt, McDaniel On the 7th of 
 December, 1861, Cooper camped near his enemy. Member i of the 
 Union League were placed on picket. At nig hfc Capt McDanielap. 
 preached them, was cordially received, passed into the rebel camp 
 and consulted with his friends. They decided that since they ^were 
 compelled to fight, they would take their own choice as to the side 
 on which they would fight. Capt. McDaniel carried back with hun 
 to the Union Indians, a good supply of ammunition, taken from the 
 
 VC ctpTlay in camp until the morning of December 9th, when he 
 discovered that the Cherokee regiment was entirely broken up. 1 
 captains, and five hundred (500) men had gone over to the .Union 
 Indians, carrying with them arms and ammunition, making now over 
 six hundred (600) Cherokee warriors, on the Lnion side. Others 
 belonging to the regiment scattered, and only a small remnant was 
 
 ' e Aftcr a S Cooper was afraid to risk a fight, and began to re treat 
 But a scout from Stand Watie's regiment captured some of the lojal 
 Oherokecs, and ran with them to the rebel lines. Our men Pursued. 
 but the rebels had killed some of the prisoners before they could get 
 to their rescue. This brought on a general engagement, and we 
 fought the rebels for six hours, when they Bed in confusion, leaving 
 their dead and wounded in our hands. w5f i,: n fwn 
 
 All this was done when there was no Federal force Within two 
 hundred (200) miles of us, and no communication with the Unitea 
 States Government or its officers. Solitary and alone, we fought for 
 the Government, when she was unable to redeem her pledge ol pro- 
 tection, repeated in every treaty for three quarters ol a century ana 
 which, in the Treaty of 1835, Article 0th, is thus expressed: « 
 
 United States agree to protect the Cherokees from domestic strife Mid 
 foreign enemies, and against intestine wars between the several 
 tribes." 
 
6 
 
 .\ ter this fight, Capt McDaniel was sent to Kansas, with all speed, 
 to beg fche Federal authorities to help as maintain our ground. But 
 in that dark hour of calamity, when in our fidelity to the Union — we 
 had staked our, all — our property — our homes — our country and our 
 no help could be bad. 
 We cannot adequately depict the scenes which followed in conse- 
 qnence of this failure to obtain help from fche Federal army, aa seven 
 thousand (t,000) loyal Indians were driven before a foe, infuriated 
 by defeat, and strongly reinforced. With their eyes turned toward 
 the North, ever hoping for buccot, the warriors battled in the rear. 
 covering the retreat, while the old men.Vith women and children, 
 half starved, half clothed, bare footed, waded through the frozen 
 snows, and breasted the keen windSOn the prairies. Never will their 
 known*. Frozen hands and feet — starved and emaciated 
 frami - — \\ [fl \'<\<r~, and lingering diseases, filling a thousand prema- 
 tura all bear witness to their patriotic suffering 
 
 The patriotic devotion of these people has rarely been equalled in 
 the annals of history. On the Soutk was Texas — on the East were 
 Arkansas and Missouri — all hostile — to the North it was more than 
 two hundred (200) miles to the neafesl aid. A large pan of that 
 andred mile-, was an uninhabited wild, and unprotected from 
 tie- enemy. let that battle was fought by these warriors, and that 
 ace was marched by men, women and children, without aid from 
 Dhited States Government or people. Nad the inhabitants of 
 county in North Carolina started of their own accord to escape 
 tree oi rebellion, and fought and whipped a rebel brigade, and 
 :hed to Washington, even through the cultivated lands of Vir- 
 ginia, they would justly have been landed as heroes. Had these things 
 
 by the African race, the history of that fight and march 
 ■l have been sung in paean- of praise all over the land. 
 After incredible miseries, these ('reck-. Seminole-- and Cherol 
 ami individuals of the tribes '.'cached Kansas. 
 
 I -lion of the Cherokee warriors who had taken part in this 
 
 fight, but whose families were at home, returned home from the hat- 
 tic Qpon the interposition of the Chief, (Jen. Cooper decided to 
 waive an Investigation, and overlook this whole affair. The officers 
 
 permitted to resign. The men returned to the service, and that 
 portion of the regiment which had not gone to Kansas, Was once more 
 
 brought together. These loyal men accepted such terms, simply lie- 
 there \\ a - Dothing else that they could do. to escape being 
 
 hunted down like wild ■ id keep their families from beil 
 
 : abuse the rebels might see fit to heap upon them. With 
 
 ■ hey waited for the day of deliven 
 
 under the e\ e and in the pom er of an ever watchful and suspicion-, foe. 
 
 In the sunin at long wished for deliverance came. 
 
 I a army, under < -i William Wefr, entered our borders. 
 
 more than forty \ . are had been a M 
 
 from the Baptist Missionary Union, ami his Bon, 
 
 J I '■ J M -iouar\ among us, from 
 
 1 McDaniel, with many others who had 
 
 our country by the rebels, wire in that army as 
 
 ; McDaniel sent a member of the 
 
T 
 
 Loyal League, with a message and a letter, to those members of the 
 League who were in the rebel camp. They invited them to forsake 
 the hated standard and enlist under the Stars and Stripes. The 
 Cherokee regiment, in the rebel service, again fell to pieces. The 
 men scattered to every part of the Nation, gathered together their 
 friends, and marched into the Union camp, and enlisted in the Fede- 
 ral army. As the result of this movement, two regiments of Cliern- 
 kees were raised, one of ten companies, and the other of twelve. 
 These, together with the regiment of Creeks and Semino^es, which 
 was already in the Union army, were formed into the Indian Brigade. 
 They were now assured by United States Agents, Carruth and Mar- 
 tin, •• That the Government was prepared to fulfill all its treaty obli- 
 gations to the Cherokees." 
 
 At the very earliest day that the exigencies of the war would per- 
 mit, the National Council was convened in extra session. It met at 
 Cowskin Prairie, in the Cherokee Nation, in February, 1863. There 
 the treaty with the rebels was declared to have been entered into 
 under duress, and, therefore, to have no binding effect, either in law 
 or morals. It was, therefore, abrogated and revoked, and declared 
 to be null and void. But this Council did not stop here. It passed 
 an act expelling from office every disloyal person, and declared their 
 offices vacant. To make their work complete, at that early day (Feb- 
 ruary, 1863,) — before any slave State made a movement towards 
 emancipation — the Cherokee Nation abolished Slavery uncondition- 
 ally and forever, and the enslaving or the holding in slavery of a 
 human being within the limits of the Cherokee Nation, was declared 
 to be a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of from one thousand to 
 five thousand dollars for every offence. These acts are hereunto 
 appended for your information. 
 
 The Cherokee regiments mentioned above fought for the Union in 
 the battles of Bayou Maynard, Spring River, Newtonia, Mayesville, 
 Cane Hill, Prairie Grove, twice at Cabin Creek, twice at Fort Gib- 
 son, at Barren Fork, Honey Springs and Green Leaf — together with 
 many other smaller fights. Under that gallant officer, Col. Wm. A. Phil- 
 lips, the Indian brigade for many months held the most advanced 
 line of the Union army on the south-west, and that against vastly 
 superior numbers, and far removed from supplies or any supporting 
 force. 
 
 How well we have served the Government through all the vary- 
 ing fortunes of the war we will not say. We appeal to the test i nin- 
 ny of the white officers by whose side and under whose command 
 Ave have fought for three years. And we beg leave, respectfully, 
 to refer to a letter written November 21st, 1862, by Gen. J. G. 
 Blunt, then commanding the Army of the Frontier, to Hon. Caleb 1». 
 Smith, then Secretary of the Interior. In speaking of a Cherokee 
 regiment Gen. Blunt says, "It is but justice to say of them, that their 
 discipline and deportment are as good as those of any other troops, and 
 their services of as much, nay of more value to the government in 
 this section of the country than those of any other regiment in the 
 service." 
 
 But especially do we appeal to the testimony of Col. William A 
 Phillips, who so long and so nobly commanded the Indian brigade, 
 
8 
 
 His ample reports are filed in the proper Departments. Let him tell 
 with what zeal and constancy WC have fought and lahored and suf- 
 fered in the service of the Inion. 
 
 We boldly claim that we have done our duty, to the full extent of 
 our power, aa the friends and allies of the Federal Government. More 
 than three fourths of the ahle bodied men of the Loyal Cherokees, fought 
 in the Federal army, which is a vastly larger proportion of men than 
 any Siate in the Onion has furnished for the war. We fought to the 
 end of the war, and after the Last rebel was whipped, we were honor- 
 ably mustered out of th^eservi f eight hundred Chero- 
 kee warriors, fallen by our >idc in your Service, testify that we have 
 
 done <mr duty. Now, having done our whole duty to bhe Govern- 
 ment, all we ask is that the Government do its duty to us — that it 
 fulfill its treaty obligations tons — that itredeem its solemn, reiterated 
 pledges. We ask no gifts, no charities, but -imply our rights— the 
 rights for which we bare fought and bled in your armies, and for 
 which so many of our noblest men have died. 
 
 We make our earnest appeal to the Presidenl of the United States 
 and to Congress. We entreat you to regard sacredly yourpast trea- 
 ties with us, and to enact no Law that shall sweep out of existence 
 those most sacred rights which yod have guaranteed to us forever. 
 
 In the 5th Article of the Treaty of 1835, we find this pledge, viz.: 
 "The United States hereby cov< lanl and agree, thai the lands ceded 
 to the Cherokee Nation in the foregoing articles, shall in no future 
 time, without their consent, be included within the territorial limits 
 or jurisdiction of any State or Territory." Similar pledges have been 
 repeated in other treaties. ('., , j , u now violate this stipulation, by 
 including us in the Indian territory wbicb this bill proposesto erect? 
 We have already suffered enough in this way. By the Kansas and 
 Nebraska bill, a tracl of eigbl h indred thousand (800.000) acres of 
 our land, for which we paid to the Government half a million of dol- 
 lars ($500,000), was included ip the territory of Kansas. Ll is now 
 in the State of Kansas, and to a -it i- inhabited by white 
 
 people. This measure w.t I year.- before the war, and in vi 
 
 lation of the express terms of our tr cited above. (See, ah 
 
 Article 2d, lasl ■ . and Article Bd, of the same treaty.) If such a 
 state of things should arise in transactions between individuals, the 
 
 very least demand of justioe would be to pay the full value of that 
 traet of land to l be injured party. 
 
 But again, io Article 5th, of ti r I above, it is 
 
 covenanted and agreed thai the United States "shall secure to the 
 Oberokee Nation, the right, by their National Councils to make and 
 I \ into effect sacfa laws as they may deem necessary for the govern- 
 ment and protection of the persons and property within their own 
 
 oountry belonging to their people, i inected 
 
 themselves with them " < Ian j on now. in the face of this pl< dge, af- 
 ter we dave forme, | ■ c institutional Q ivernment, and so long, and 
 uceesfully administered it. can J from as the Last postage 
 
 oftbe right of self-government, by placing us under a Governor, 
 Jud m td Attornej -. in I hi of \\ bom we arc to 
 
 no voice; and a Governor, ■ lb Buch extraordinary 
 
 powers, that do law can be past to? thus, not only sub- 
 
verting our present government, but rendering it impossible for us 
 ever, to have any government of our own. 
 
 Have we not suffered enough, in that the torch, both of friend and 
 foe, has consumed our dwellings, and desolated our land, and in that 
 the armies of both parties to the war have subsisted on our cattle? 
 While we were fighting the battles of the Union, our land, which 
 you could not protect, though pledged to do so, ^fts infested by "Jay- 
 hawkers," and army followers from the North, who drove out and 
 carried from our country, millions of dollars worth of stock and other 
 property, so that we are utterly impoverished. In confirmation of 
 this statement, we cpiote the words of Hon. Justin Harlan, U. S. In- 
 dian Agent, in his report for 1864. Judge Harlan says, " While the 
 rebels, bushwhackers, and guerillas, have taken [from the Cherokees] 
 horses, cattle, hogs, corn, and other crops — all they wanted — white 
 men, loyal, or pretending to be so, have taken five times as much, and 
 all kinds of stock has been driven North and West, and sold." We 
 might quote much more of the same purport. 
 
 That which aggravates our sorrow still more, is the fact, that all 
 the robbers and jayhawkers, who have been stealing our stock, and 
 all the faithless officials, who have been plundering both the Govern- 
 ment and the Indians, are loud in denouncing the Cherokees as rebels 
 — hoping by their unscrupulous slanders, to divert attention from 
 their own villainy. Thus they have deceived and misled many good 
 and honest men. We are wronged and belied, while war and pesti- 
 lence and famine have filled our land with mourning and death. 
 
 During the progress of the war, white and African refugees have 
 been fed and clothed atpublic expense. Of this we do not complain. 
 But when our people were driven from their homes, in which the 
 United States was bound to protect them, the Indians' own money 
 was appropriated to feed them, and these appropriations were so used 
 that scarcely a tithe of the money's value ever reached the Indians. 
 
 Ye Rulers of America, our cry is unto you as unto God-fearing 
 men. Let justice be done — Let our country, and the sacred right of 
 self-government, guaranteed by treaties, be secured to us — Give us a 
 reasonable indeminty for our losses — Let an equitable settlement be 
 ! made for our lands in Kansas — Let the interestdue and accruing on our 
 investments be paid over, as provided by treaty, that our Govern- 
 ment and schools and seminaries may be sustained — that an orphan 
 asylum may be provided for our thousand orphans, many of them the 
 children of heroic soldiers, fallen fighting for the Union. 
 
 Now that the unity of your own great Republic has been secured, 
 and the blood and toil and suffering of patriotic Cherokees have 
 helped to cement the Union, we ask that you preserve and protect 
 both the integrity and the peace of our Nation, against the machinations 
 of all those who would rend it to fragments. 
 
 Our people are already far advanced in civilization, and are all 
 anxious for still further advancement in all that pertains to civilization 
 and Christianity. With the blessing of God, all we want to make us a 
 
10 
 nappy and prosperous people, is ,bat the Government secnre to 
 our rights, immovably. 
 
 Smith Christie, Late Capt. Co. A, Third ] 
 
 Indian Regt., U. S. V. , - 
 James McDaniel, Late Capt Co. A, be- 
 
 cond Indian Regt., U. b.\ • 
 Thomas P«GG, Late Capt. Co. B, Third 
 
 Indian Regt., I'. S. V. 
 White Catcher, Late Capt. Co. lj W™ 
 
 Indian Regt., U. S. V. 
 DandslH. Ross, Late Sutler, Thirdlndian 
 
 J. B. Jones, Late Chaplain, Second In- 
 dian Regt, U. S. V- . 
 
 S H Benue, Late 1st Lieut. ( O.A, third 
 Indian Regt, l T . B. \ 
 
 us 
 
 Che;:«>keb 
 
 Delegation 
 
 Washington, D. C. January 24A, L866. 
 
 RD 12.8 
 
 My3 
 

 11 
 
 Whreas, on the 21st day of August, 1861, a General Convention of the 
 people of the Cherokee Nation was held at Tahlequah, in the Cherokee Na- 
 tion, -whereat it was " Resolved, That, reposing full confidence in the consti- 
 tuted authorities of the Cherokee Nation, we submit to their wisdom the 
 management of all questions which affect our interests, growing out of the 
 exigencies of the relations between the United and the Confederate States of 
 America, and which may render an alliance on our part with the latter States 
 expedient and desirable," and, whereas, in accordance wilh said resolutions, 
 a Treaty of Alliance and Friendship was entered into, on the 7th day of Oct., 
 A. D., 1861, between Albert Pike, Commissioner representing said Con- 
 federate States, and the said authorities of the Cherokee Nation. And, 
 whereas, said proceedings were the result of the absence of the protection 
 guaranteed to the Cherokee Nation, by the Government of the United States, 
 and the overwhelming pressure of the circumstances which surrounded them, 
 consisting in part of the secession of the States of Missouri, Arkansas and Texas, 
 and the Creek, Seminole, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations, the presence of the 
 troops of the Confederate States on our borders, and in our country, and the 
 calling into the service of a regiment composed of disaffected Cherokees and 
 whites, under the authority of Gen. McCulloch, and the purpose of the Con- 
 federate States, as manifested by the Legislation of their Congress, and the act6 
 of their Commissioners, to sieze the Indian country, through an arrangement 
 with a reckless minority of the Cherokee people, or by force of arms, if neces- 
 sary, and which said circumstances isolated the Cherokee Nation, weak and 
 unarmed, and cut them off from communication with the Government at 
 Washington, except through faithless Government Agents, and thus deprived 
 them of all freedom, and coerced them into the acts cited above. 
 
 And, whereas, acts performed under such duress, have no binding effect, in 
 law or morals. 
 
 Therefore : Be it enacted by the National Council, That the Treaty of the 
 7th of October, 1861, between the Confederate States and the Cherokee 
 Nation, and all proceedings had thereon, be and the same are hereby revoked 
 and declared to be null and void. 
 
 Be it further enacted, that the Cherokee people reassert the binding obliga- 
 tions of their treaties with the United States, and claim at their hands the 
 protection, rights, and privileges guaranteed by them, and due to the Chero- 
 kee people by the fidelity they have shown to the Government, while in the 
 service of her army. 
 
 Be it further enacted, That the principal Chief be requested to call a conven- 
 tion of the Cherokee people as early as practicable, and lay before them, for 
 their approval and ratification, the provisions of this act. 
 
 Cowskin Prairie, Cherokee Nation, | 
 February 18th, 1863. ) 
 
 Signed, 
 LEWIS DOWNING, 
 
 Pres. pro tern. National Committee. 
 Concurred in Council, 
 
 SPRING FROG, 
 
 Speaker of Council. 
 
 WILLIAM SCRAPER, 
 
 Clerk of Council. 
 Approved, Feb. 18th, 1863. 
 
 THOMAS PEGG, 
 
 Acting Principal Chief. 
 
 An act for the removal of disloyal men from office. 
 
 Be it enacted by the National Gonncil, That all officers of the Cherokee Na- 
 tion, in the legislative, judicial, and executive departments, and all other 
 
1*2 
 
 oflicers whatsoever, who are disloyal to the Government of the United Slates 
 and to thai of the Cherokee Nation, he and the same are herehy removed 
 from office, and their rcpective offices are hereby declared vacant. 
 
 LEWIS DOWNING, 
 
 Pies, pro tern., National Committee. 
 J. B. JUNKS, Clerk National Committee. 
 Cowskin Prairie, Cherokee Nation, ) 
 February 20th, 18G3. j 
 
 Concurred in Council, Feb. 20th, 1868. 
 
 SPRING FROG, Speaker Council. 
 WM. M. SCRAPER, Clerk Council. 
 Approved, February 20th, 1868. 
 
 THOS. PEGG, Acting Principal Chief. 
 
 An Act Emancipating th {Jlavea in iht Cherokee Notion, 
 
 I;, U enacted by th KtZ, That all Negro and other slaves, 
 
 within the limits of the Cherokee Nation, be and they are hereby emanci- 
 pated from slavery,— and any person or persons who may have been held in 
 ulavery, are hereby declared to /<■ fori ot rfree. w 
 
 H< it further enacted, Thai this act snail go into effect on the twenty-fifth 
 (25th) day of June, 1888. And any person who, after the said 25th (lay of 
 June, 1868, -hall offend against the provision- ot this act, by enalavi 
 holding any person in slavery within the limits of the Cherokee Nation, he 
 or she so offending shall, on conviction thereof before any of the Courts of 
 this Nation having jurisdiction of tl forfeit and pay for each offence, 
 
 a sum not [ess than one thousand ($1,000) dollar*, nor molt' than live thou- 
 000) dollars, at the discretion of Hie Court. 
 
 Two thirds of said fine shall be paid into the National Treasury, and one 
 •hird -ball be paid, in equal sums, to the Solicitor and the Sheriff of the Dis- 
 trict in which the offence shall have been committed. And, it is hereby, 
 made the duty of the Solicitors, of the several , to see that this law 
 
 . enforced. Rut in ease any Solicitor shall m gleel or fail to discharge 
 lii- duties herein, and shall be convicted thereof, be -ball be deposed from his 
 
 office, and -ball thereafter be Ineligible to bold any office ot trust or honor 
 
 in this Nation. 
 The Acting Principal Chief ii hereby re. mired to give due notice ot ti, 
 />. it further i lacted, That till laws and parts of law- conflicting with the 
 
 provisions of this act, be and are hereby repealed. 
 
 ( towskin Prairie, C. N, -. 
 P.!, aut, 1868. I 
 
 k i i:\vis DOWNING, 
 
 Clerk National Com. Pr< . National Committee. 
 
 Concurred in Council, 
 
 Approved Feb. Slat, 1868. 
 
 BPRING PROG, Speaker of Council. 
 
 'ill"-, i' PrincipaJ chief. 
 

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