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deed rob them of their lands, but it allows perpetual incursions to be made on them. In a few years the same white population which now flocks around them, will track them to the solitudes of the Arkansas; they will then be exposed to the same evils without the same remedies; and as the limits of the earth will at last fail them, their only refuge is the grave.
The Union treats the Indians with less cupidity and rigour than the policy of the several states, but the two governments are alike destitute of good faith. The states extend what they are pleased to term the benefits of their laws to the Indians, with a belief that the tribes will recede rather than submit; and the central government, which promises a permanent refuge to these unhappy beings, is well aware of its inability to secure it to them.[1]
Thus the tyranny of the states obliges the savages to retire, the Union, by its promises and resources, facilitates their retreat; and these measures tend to precisely the same end.[2] “By the will of our Father in heaven, the governor of the whole world,” said the Cherokees in their petition to congress,[3] “the red man of America has become small, and the white man great and renowned. When the ancestors of the people of these United States first came to the shores of America, they found the red man strong: though he was
- ↑
This does not prevent them from promising in the most solemn manner to do so.
See the letter of the president addressed to the Creek Indians, 23d March, 1829.
(“Proceedings of the Indian Board, in the City of New York,” p. 5.) “Beyond the
great river Mississippi, where a part of your nation has gone, your father has provided
a country large enough for all of you, and he advises you to remove to it. There
your white brothers will not trouble you; they will have no claim to the land, and
you can live upon it, you and all your children, as long as the grass grows or the water
runs, in peace and plenty. It will be yours for ever.”
The secretary of war, in a letter written to the Cherokees, April 18th, 1829 (see the same work, page 6), declares to them that they cannot expect to retain possession of the land, at the time occupied by them, but gives them the most positive assurance of uninterrupted peace if they would remove beyond the Mississippi: as if the power which could not grant them protection then, would be able to afford it them hereafter!
- ↑ To obtain a correct idea of the policy pursued by the several states and the Union with respect to the Indians, it is necessary to consult, 1st, “The laws of the colonial and state governments relating to the Indian inhabitants.” (See the legislative documents, 21st congress, No. 319.) 2d, “The laws of the Union on the same subject, and especially that of March 30th, 1802.” (See Story's Laws of the United States.) 3d, “The report of Mr. Cass, secretary of war, relative to Indian affairs November 29th, 1823.”
- ↑ December 18th, 1829.
other settler not of the Indian race, should establish himself upon the territory of the Cherokees, the United States would withdraw their protection from that individual, and give him up to be punished as the Cherokee nation should think fit.
