874 THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 



Treaty of 1835 (Revision Indian Treaties, pp. 71, 72), after providing for the perma- 

 nent investment of the funds of the Cherokee Nation, specifies that the interest on 

 these funds shall be paid u annually to such person or persons as shall be authorized 

 and appointed by the nation," * * " and their receipt shall be a full discharge for 

 the amount paid to them." * * * "The council of the nation may, by giving two 

 years' notice of their intention, withdraw their funds, by and with the consent of the 

 President and Senate of the United States, and invest them in such manner as they 

 may deem most proper for their interest." 



Again, article 23 of the Cherokee treaty of 1866 (Revision Indian Treaties, p. 95) 

 provides : 



"All funds now due the nation, or that may hereafter accrue, from the sale of their 

 lands by the United States, as herein provided for, shall be invested in the United 

 States registered stocks at their current value, and the interest on all such funds 

 shall be paid semi-annually, on the order of the Cherokee Nation, and shall be applied 

 to national, school, and orphan purposes." 



You will thus see that our funds are invested for certain specific purposes, to be 

 paid to the order of our nation, and to such persons as are designated by our nation; 

 and they cannot be withdrawn except by the concurrent action of the nation and 

 the President and Senate of the United States, after two years' notice given by the 

 nation; and that if these treaties are to be regarded, it will be a matter of extremely 

 bad faith for you to reward desertions from our nation by violating those treaties 

 and paying out a part of those funds to such deserters. 



Every Congress, for the last seventy years, has passed appropriations carrying out 

 our treaties and appropriating the funds due to be paid our nations, and we protest 

 against your legislating in any other manner. 



What we have said on this point with regard to our public funds is also true in 

 reference to our lands. Not desiring to weary you by quoting our treaties literally, 

 we desire to state that, by reference to some forty or fifty treaties, made between 

 your Government and our nations, to be found in your treaty-book, you will discover 

 that we hold our lands as nations and not as individuals. Also, you will discover 

 the same facts by referring to the patents we hold to our lands, now of record in the 

 General Land Office in the Interior Department ; and you cannot appropriate any of 

 the funds and lands to individuals of our nation, who desire to expatriate themselves, 

 without violating the honor and good faith of your great Government. 



In view of our treaties, Congress has no right to legislate on any of the subject- 

 matter of the bill in question, except for the establishment of a United States court. 

 The " other purposes" in the bill are entirely foreign to the proposition for a court. 

 Very respectfully, your obedient servants, 



W. P. Adair, 



Assistant Principal Chief. 



John L. Adair, 



Chairman. 

 R. M. Wolf, 

 R. Bunch, 



Cherokee Delegation. 

 P. Porter, 

 D. M. Hodge, 



Creek Delegation. 



P. P. PlTCHLYNN, 



Choctaw Delegate. 

 John F. Brown, 



Seminole Delegate. 

 Charles Bluejacket, 

 Charles Tucker, 



Shawnee Iicpresentatives. 

 J. M. Bryan, 

 Old Settler Cherokee Com'r. 



