suitable person akin to them; but it shall be the duty of said Commission to see that said selections are made for the best interests of such parties. Contests-Limitation on. 71. After the expiration of nine months after the date of the original selection of an allotment, by or for any citizen or freedmen of the Choctaw or Chickasaw tribes, as provided in this agreement, no contest shall be instituted against such selection. Sorrels v. Jones, 26 Okla. 569, 110 Pac. 743. 72. There shall be paid to each citizen of the Chicasaw Nation, immediately after the approval of his enrollment and right to participate in distribution of tribal property, as herein provided, the sum of forty dollars. Such payment shall be made under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and out of the balance of the "arrears of interest" of five hundred and fifty-eight thousand five hundred and twenty dollars and fifty-four cents appropriated by the act of Congress approved June twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, entitled "An act for the protection of the people of the Indian Territory, and for other purposes," yet due to the Chickasaws and remaining to their credit in the Treasury of the United States; and so much of such moneys as may be necessary for such payment are hereby appropriated and made available for that purpose, and the balance, if any there be, shall remain in the Treasury of the United States, and be distributed per capita with the other funds of the tribes. And all acts of Congress or other treaty provisions in conflict with this provision are hereby repealed. Agreement Effective After Ratification. 73. This agreement shall be binding upon the United States and upon the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations and all Choctaws and Chickasaws, when ratified by Congress and by a ma jority of the whole number of votes cast by the legal voters of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes in the manner following: The principal chief of the Choctaw Nation and the governor of the Chickasaw Nation shall, within one hundred and twenty days after the ratification of this agreement by Congress, make public proclamation that the same shall be voted upon at any special election to be held for that purpose within thirty days thereafter, on a certain day therein named; and all male citizens of each of the said tribes qualified to vote under the tribal laws shall have a right to vote at the election precinct most convenient to his residence, whether the same be within the bounds of his tribe or not. And if this agreement be ratified by said tribes as aforesaid, the date upon which said election is held shall be deemed to be the date of final ratification. Williams v. Johnson, 32 Okla. 247, 122 Pac. 485. Canvass of Votes-Proclamation. 74. The votes cast in both the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations shall be forthwith returned and duly certified by the precinct officers to the national secretaries of said tribes, and shall be presented by said national secretaries to a board of commissioners consisting of the principal chief and the national secretary of the Choctaw Nation and the governor and national secretary of the Chickasaw Nation and two members of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes; and said board shall meet without delay at Atoka, Indian Territory, and canvass and count said votes, and make proclamation of the result. In witness whereof the said Commissioners do hereby affix their names at Washington, District of Columbia, this twentyfirst day of March, 1902. CHEROKEE TREATY. Approved by Act of Congress July 1, 1902. Ratified by the Cherokee Nation August 7, 1902. (32 Stat. L. 716.) AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE ALLOTMENT OF THE LANDS OF THE CHEROKEE NATION, FOR THE DISPOSITION OF TOWN SITES THEREIN, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. BE IT ENACTED BY THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, DEFINITION OF WORDS EMPLOYED HEREIN. Definitions. SECTION I. The words "nation" and "tribe" shall each be held to refer to the Cherokee Nation or tribe of Indians in Indian Territory. Definitions. SEC. 2. The words "principal chief" or "chief executive" shall be held to mean the principal chief of said tribe. Definitions. SEC. 3. The words "Dawes Commission" or "Commission" shall be held to mean the United States Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes. Definitions. SEC. 4. The word "minor" shall be held to mean males under the age of twenty-one years and females under the age of eighteen years. Definitions-Terms. SEC. 5. The terms “allotable lands" or "lands allotable" shall be held to mean all the lands of the Cherokee tribe not herein reserved from allotment. |