V, -V -^^dt^-rr- ,,^ , - "-..^' 4 o •>' oV A .^' ?#;,/ ^-o^-'W/' %;^\/' 'bK r; ^^^';^ A o [No. 59 — Second Series — 3000] Indian Rights Association, 1305 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pa., October, 1901. THE URGENT CASE OF THE MILLE LAC INDIANS. BY S. M. BROSIUS, Washington Agent of the Indian Rights Association. It is quite safe to state in the introduction of this article that probably no tribe of Indians in the United States has suffered to a greater extent by reason of unfulfilled promises and agree- ments on the part of the United States Government than the Mille Lac band of Chippewas, of Minnesota. a synopsis of their history. Under the provisions of the treaty of April 7, 1855, the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota ceded to the United States a large tract of land, and by further provision of the treaty certain reservations were established, including that of the Mille Lacs. This treaty provided for allotments of land in severalty to the heads of families and other persons of the bands over twenty years of age. The Mille Lac Indians, believing that their occupancy of the reservation would be permanent, made exten- sive improvements thereon which they occupied until they died. Their children are now trying to retain title to these lands. Those conversant with the history of the northwest will recall the great Sioux outbreak of- 1862, in which most of the Indians of Minnesota and the Dakotas joined, or made demonstrations of unrest, and among the latter were the Chippewas of Minne- sota. The Mille Lac band of Cheppewas, however, would not join their brethren in these hostile demonstrations, nor did they take any part in the pillaging of the white settlers surrounding I '20 their reservation, as was done by the Pillagers and other bands of the Indians. During this trying period the Mille Lac band sent runners to notify isolated settlers and their families of the threatened danger, and conducted them to places of safety. Nor did their loyalty to the white man stop here. They sent messengers to the hostile camps of Indians engaged in commit- ting the outrages, and notified them that if any of the settlers who had fallen into their hands were injured they (the Mille Lacs) would join with the whites in the effort to protect life and property. This action on the part of the Mille Lacs dis- couraged the Chippewas engaged in the outbreak, and the latter soon dispersed and returned to their separate reservations. These hostile acts resulted in the treaty of March ii, 1863, with the Minnesota Chippewas. Under the first article of this treaty the different bands of Chippewas joined in ceding to the United States the Mille Lac and other reservations in the State of Minnesota ; but the Mille Lacs having refused to relinquish their separate reservation, the Government, recognizing their valuable services and friendship during the year previous, ceded to them by the provisions of the twelfth article of the treaty the exclusive right to occupy the Mille Lac reservation, in words as follows : ^^ Provided, That owing to the heretofore good conduct of the Mille Lac Indians, they shall not be compelled to remove so long as they shall not in any way interfere with or in any man- ner molest the persons or property of the whites." It was understood and agreed at the time of the signing of the treaty by the chiefs and the then United States Senator from Minnesota and chairman of the negotiating Chippewa Commis- sion, that the right of the Mille Lac Indians to the use and occupancy of the Mille Lac reservation would be the same as it formerly had been. Firmly believing that this was true, the Indians made additional improvements on the Mille Lac reserva- tion by clearing and cultivating large tracts of land. In the year 1868, however, a settlement by a white man was made within the limits of their reservation, and the number of white settlers has increased from time to time since that date. ^,^^'\l-C)b\.\l>\o It was in the year 1884 that a resolution was passed by Con- gress prohibiting further entries upon the lands of the Mille Lacs until further legislation was enacted. On January 14, 1889, Congress passed a bill entitled "An act for the relief and civil- ization of the Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota." During the negotiations of the Commission created by the act (commonly called the Chippewa Commission) with the Mille Lac band of Chippewas, at the request of Chief Wah-we-yay- cuni-ig, the Commissioners and Chief arose as a token of sincere friendship, and stood with raised hands while the Indians shouted ''Ho!" This was to make more binding the articles of agreement, especial emphasis having been given the clause of the statute allowing them the privilege of remaining upon their reservation and taking allotments. This clause of the statute, which is still the law, reads : '' Provided, further, That any of the Indians residing on any of the said reservations may, in his discretion, take his allotment in severalty under this act, on the reservation where he lives at the time the removal herein provided for is effected, instead of being removed to and taking such allotment on White Earth Reservation." The minutes giving the proceedings of the various councils held with the Mille Lac and other bands of Chippewas during the pending of the negotiations with the Chippewa Commission authorized by the act of January 14, 1889, are preserved in printed form in Executive Document No. 247, 51st Congress, ist Session (H.R.), and show conclusively that the representations made to the Indians by the Commission, in addition to the words of the statute itself, were that the allotments might be taken on the Mille Lac reservation by all who desired to remain at their old home. The Chippewa Commission which negotiated the agree- ment of 1889 was also the allotting agent, and the promises thus made by this Commission would seem to be all the more bind- ing and sacred. After the Indians had assented to the terms of the 1889 agreement, the whole political machinery of the State seems to have set to work to force the Mille Lacs off their homes and to locate upon the White Earth Reservation, which, though only about two hundred miles distant, differs very much in cli- matic conditions. Although the Mille Lacs appealed to the Commission to allot them lands upon the reservation where they lived, the request was uniformly refused on one pretext or an- other. In the mean time 'other settlers were locating upon the Indian lands and harassing the Mille Lacs so that they were in sore distress. An illustration of the abuses to which they were subjected may be cited in the case of Ain-dus-o-ke-shig, who is yet plead- ing for justice. During the month of April, 1890, all of the Mille Lac Indians who could work sought employment of the lumbermen operating in the vicinity of Mille Lac, who had logs to drive to markets and mills from the point where the timber was cut. Being expert log-drivers, they all found employment. Among these was Ain-dus-o-ke-shig, now one of the chiefs of the Mille Lac band. He was absent from home about two months working on one of the log drives. When he returned to his home he found a new house built on his premises, and his own house being used as a blacksmith shop. He addressed the man he saw there in English, but the latter could not understand, as he was a Scandinavian ; so the chief secured an interpreter and was informed that the land had been entered in the Land Office by this foreigner. Notwithstanding his prior right to the land and the premises, Ain-dus-o-ke-shig moved away therefrom in order to avoid trouble, though sorely tempted to take the matter into his own hands and deal with the Scandinavian as he deserved. The chief built a new house on another tract of land on the reser- vation, but it was not long before this too was claimed by whites and he was forced to remove from this land also. Ain- dus-o-ke-shig then settled upon a portion of the lands upon which his grandfather had lived and cultivated at least fifty years ago, and which has since then been occupied and cultivated by the latter' s children, including Ain-dus-o-ke-shig' s father, who was then alive. Here a house has been built, making the third one erected by the chief. Although several attempts have been made to remove Ain-dus-o-ke-shig and the other Mille Lacs on the tract in question, he has resisted such efforts and says he will not peaceably submit to any further removal. Another instance that may be cited is that of an old Indian named May-qua-me-wan-o-quit, whose home was taken by a Scandinavian settler also. The Indian had lived upon this home for forty years. He was turned out by the Scandinavian and his dwelling converted into an ice-house. In a council held at Mille Lac, in September, 1898, at which one of the Chippewa Commissioners was present, Ain-dus-o-ke-shig feelingly referred to the bad treatment he had received from the Government and the whites, adding that in 1862, during the great Sioux uprising, his treatment of the whites had been very different, and that he had saved from being massacred the parents of some of the very men who had acted so unjustly toward his people. Ain-dus-o- ke-shig died two years since as a result of a cold contracted through exposure, as he was then living in, a tepee. Is it to be wondered at that his sons now living are bitterly opposed to the white settlers ? Many similar instances of injustice and cruelty can be cited as a result of driving the Mille Lacs off their old homes that they loved so well. No less than seventy-five gardens and fields have been wrenched from the possession of these Indians through the same heartless processes. The Government itself has been weak and vacillating in the treatment of the Mille Lacs. On January 9, 1891, the Secre- tary of the Interior decided that the lands of the Mille Lac reser- vation were a part of the Public Domain and subject to home- stead entry, notwithstanding the statute which provided for allotment to all Mille Lac Indians who desired to remain thereon, and after refusing to allow them to so locate. Settlers immedi- ately filed upon the valuable lands of the reservation, especially the pine lands, so that all but about 5,000 of the 61,114 acres contained within the reservation were claimed by settlers. The decision of the Secretary was reversed on April 22, 1892, it being held that the lands should be disposed of in accordance with the terms of the act of January 14, 1889. Congress was now asked to come to the rescue of the settlers who had under the guise of law made settlement, and a joint resolution was passed, December 19, 1893, quieting title upon the lands thus settled upon between the dates of the decisions of the Secretary above cited. On May 27, 1898, Congress enacted other legislation confirming the titles acquired by whites upon the Mille Lac lands, with a proviso that certain tracts of land should be reserved for the use of the Mille Lac Indians for a burial place. Within a few months the site guaranteed the Indians as a burial place has been settled upon by whites, who claim title through the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and the State of Minnesota. It is stated that about 100 Mille Lac Indians were ejected from their homes in May, 1901, by the sheriff of Mille Lac County, and their dwellings and property burned or otherwise destroyed, owing to white settlers having some semblance of title to the lands occupied by the Indians for generations. What relief is there for these Indians in their distress? It is a well-settled principle of law that Congress cannot deprive the humblest citizen of right to property, so that if the Mille Lac Indians have not parted with the right of occupancy, they can enforce their right by appeal to the courts. In the case of the United States vs. Thomas (151 U. S. 577), the Supreme Court of the United States held, October 20, 1893, as follows: ''We, therefore, are of opinion that by virtue of the treaty of 1842, in the absence of any proof that the Chippewa Indians have surrendered their right of occupancy, the right still remains with them, and that the title and right which the State may claim ultimately to the sixteenth section of every township for the use of the schools is subordinate to this right of occupancy of the Indians, which has, so far as the court is informed, never been released to any of their lands." The question settled by the court in the case cited is similar to the one involved in the Mille Lac claim. Other decisions have also been rendered fortifying this finding of the court. The Mille Lac Indians have 'funds jointly with the Chippewas of Minnesota deposited with the Federal Treasury, and have here- tofore appealed through attorneys with whom they have entered into contracts to have attorney fees allowed by the Department of the Interior, which so far have been refused. Under Section 2T03, Revised Statutes of the United States, no legal contract can be made with any tribe of Indians which provides for the P /.4,3. payment of attorney fees unless approved by the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The present policy of the Secretary of the Interior is not to allow any Indian tribe to employ attorneys, claiming that the Government is sufficiently able to protect their interests. It was plainly not the intention of Congress that no attorneys should be employed and paid from Indian funds, else the law- making power would have prohibited such contracts or rendered the agreement for compensation void. The Executive Depart- ment of the Government is an interested party with adverse interests to those of the Indians, since through its wavering policy settlers have obtained a foothold within the limits of the Mille Lac reservation, and the Government would no doubt be compelled to pay heavy damages in the event of the ejectment of these settlers. It would therefore seem evident that the Department is not a fair judge to decide the question as to the rights of the Chippewas involved. In this claim of the Mille Lacs recourse can be had to a statute amended during the last session of Congress, which provides for bringing suit in the Circuit Court of the United States by a claimant for an allotment of lands. Such a case on behalf of one or more of the Mille Lac Indians would involve the question as to their rights to the lands of their reservation. Although the finding of the court might be favorable to the Indians, but few evictions would follow, and these only in cases of recent wrongs where the Mille Lacs have been driven off their lands. With such a decision, however, the Indians would be in a position to dictate terms of damages to a certain extent, so that a fair sum might be secured as damages and to reimburse them for the loss of their reservation thus unlawfully appropri- ated. The lesson would be a salutary one for both the Govern- ment and settlers, who are continually encroaching upon Indian rights. The Indian Rights Association has always maintained this cardinal principle, which we think commends itself to fair- minded persons ; Indians should never be forced to be removed from lands which they possess, and which are capable of rendering them self-supporting. On the contrary they should be encouraged to make permanent homes on such lands, and to mingle naturally with the civilized life about them. 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