Creek Supplemental Agreement

An Act To ratify and confirm a supplemental agreement with the Creek tribe of Indians, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Commission to the States of America in Congress assembled, That the following supplemental agreement, submitted by certain commissioners of the Creek tribe of Indians, as herein amended, is hereby ratified and confirmed on the part of the United States, and the same shall be of full force and effect if ratified by the Creek tribal council on or before the first day of September, nineteen hundred and two, which said supple- mental agreement is as follows:

This agreement by and between the United States, entered into in its behalf by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, Henry L. Dawes, Tams Bixby, Thomas B. Needles, and Clifton R. Breckenridge, duly appointed and authorized thereunto, and the Muskogee (or Creek) Tribe of Indians, in Indian Territory, entered into in behalf of the said tribe by Pleasant Porter, principal chief, Roley McIntosh, Thomas W. Perryman, Amos McIntosh, and David M. Hodge, commissioners duly appointed and authorized thereunto, wit- nesseth, that in consideration of the mutual undertakings herein con- tained it is agreed as follows:

Definitions.

The words "Creek" and "Muskogee" as used in this agreement shall be deemed synonymous, and the words "Nation" and "tribe" shall each be deemed to refer to the Muskogee Nation or Muskogee tribe of Indians in Indian Territory. The words "principal Chief" shall be deemed to refer to the principal chief of the Muskogee Nation. The words "citizen" or "citizens" shall be deemed to refer to a member or members of the Muskogee tribe or nation of Indians. The word "Commissioner" shall be deemed to refer to the United States Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes.

Allotment of Lands.

2. Section 2 of the agreement ratified by act of Congress approved March, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 861), is amended and as so amended is reenacted to read as follows:

All lands belonging to the Creek tribe of Indians in Indian Terri- tory, except town sites and lands reserved for Creek schools and churches, railroads, and town cemeteries, in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress approved March 1, 1901 (31 Stat. D., 861), shall be appraised at not to exceed $6.50 per acre, excluding only lawful improvements on lands in actual cultivation.

Such appraisement shall be made, under the direction and supervision of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, by such number of committees with necessary assistance as may be deemed necessary to expedite the work, one member of each to be appointed by the principal chief. Said Commission shall have authority to revise and adjust the work of said committees; and if members of any committee fail to agree as to the value of any tract of land, the value thereof shall be fix by said Commission. The appraisement so made shall be submitted to the Secretary of the Interior for approval.

3. Paragraph 2 of section 3 of the agreement ratified by said act of Congress approved March 1, 1901, is amended and as so amended is reenacted to read as follows:

If any citizens select lands the appraised value of which is $6.50 per acre, he shall not receive any further distribution of property or funds of the tribe until all other citizens have received lands and moneys equal in value to his allotment.

4. Exclusive jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon the Commission the to the Five Civilized Tribes to determine, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, all controversies arising between citizens as to their right to select certain tracts of land.

5. Where it is shown to the satisfaction of said Commission that it was the intention of a citizen to select lands which include his home and improvements, but that through error and mistake he had selected land which did not include said home and improvements, said Commission is authorized to cancel said selection and the certificate of selection or allotment embracing said lands, and permit said citizen to make a new selection including said home and improvements; and should said land including said home and improvements have been selected by any other Lapse of time non-citizen of said nation, the citizen owning said heme and improvements prejudicial shall be permitted to file, within ninety days from the ratification of this agreement, a contest against the citizen having previously selected the same and shall not be prejudiced therein by reason of lapse of time or any provision of law or rules and regulations to the contrary.

Descent and Distribution.

6. The provisions of the act of Congress approved March 1, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 861), in so far as they provide for descent and distribution according to the laws of the Creek Nation, are hereby repealed and the descent and distribution of land and money provided for by said act shall be in accordance with chapter 49 of Mansfield’s Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas now in force in Indian Territory: Provided, That only citizens of the Creek Nation, male and female, and their Creek descendents shall inherit lands of the Creek Nation: And provided further, That if there be no person of Creek citizenship to take the descent and distribution of said estate, then the inheritance shall go to noncitizen heirs in the order named in said chapter 49.

Rolls of Citizenship.

7. All children born to those citizens who are entitled to enrollment as provided by the act of Congress approved March 1, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 861), subsequent to July 1, 1900, and up to and including May 25,1901, and living upon the latter date, shall be placed on the rolls made by said commission. And if any such child has died since May 25, 1901, or may hereafter die before receiving his allotment of lands and distributive share of the funds of the tribe, the lands and moneys to which he would be entitled if living shall descend to his heirs as herein provided and be allotted and distributed to them accordingly.

8. All children who have not heretofore been listed for enrollment living May 25, 1901, born to citizens whose names appear upon the for enrollment, etc. authenticated rolls of 1890 or upon the authenticated rolls of 1895 and entitled to enrollment as provided by the act of Congress approved March 1, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 861), shall be placed on the rolls made by said commission. And if any such child has died since May 25, 1901 or may hereafter die, before receiving his allotment of lands and distributive share of the funds of the tribe, the lands and moneys to which he would be entitled if living shall descend to his heirs as herein pro- vided and be allotted and distributed to them accordingly.

9. If the rolls of citizenship provided for by the act of Congress approved March 1, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 861), shall have been completed by said commission prior to the ratification of this agreement, the names of children entitled to enrollment under the provisions of sections 7 and 8 hereof shall be placed upon a supplemental roll of citizens of the Creek Nation, and said supplemental roll when approved by the Secretary of the Interior shall in all respects be held to be a part of the final rolls of citizenship of said tribe: Provided, That the Dawes Commission be, and is hereby, authorized to add the following persons to the Creek roll: Nar-wal-le-pe-se, Mary Washington, Walter Washington and Willie Washington, who are Creek Indians but whose names were left off the roll through neglect on their part. . . .

Miscellaneous. . . .

16. Lands allotted to citizens shall not in any manner whatever or at any time be encumbered, taken, or sold to secure or satisfy any debt etc. or obligation nor be alienated by the allottee or his heirs before the expiration of five years from the date of the approval of this supplemental agreement, except with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior. Each citizen shall select from his allotment forty acres of land, or a quarter of a quarter section, as a homestead, which shall be able for 21 years. and remain nontaxable, inalienable, and free from any incumbrance whatever for twenty-one years from the date of the deed therefor, and a separate deed shall be issued to each allottee for his homestead, in which this condition shall appear.

Selections of homesteads for minors, prisoners, convicts, incompetents and aged and infirm persons, who can not select for themselves, may be made in the manner provided for the selection of their allotments, and if for any reason such selection be not made for any citizen it shall be the duty of said Commission to make selection for him. The homestead of each citizen shall remain, after the death of the allottee, for the use and support of children born to him after May 25, 1901, but if he have no such issue then ho may dispose of his homestead by will, free from the limitation herein imposed, and if this be not done the land embraced in his homestead shall descend to his heirs, free from such limitation, according to the laws of descent herein otherwise prescribed. . . .

Approved, June 30, 1902.