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of the Pottawatomie Tribe in which they have not shared, as set forth in the report of the Secretary of the Interior to the House of Representatives, embodied in House Document Numbered eight hundred and thirty, Sixtieth Congress, first session, confirmed in part by the act of Congress of June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and thirteen (Thirty-eighth Statutes at Large, page one hundred and two), appropriating the sum of $150,000 on account. Said sum shall draw interest at the rate of four per centum per annum. And there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purposes aforesaid, the amount of the balance found to be due to said Wisconsin Band of Pottawatomie Indians now residing in the States of Wisconsin and Michigan, as computed by the Secretary of the Interior by the method herein before set forth: Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to pay Erik O. Morstad, of Carter, Wisconsin, who has lived with and cared for said Indians for many years, the sum of $5,000, said sum to be paid from the amount placed to the credit of said Pottawatomie Indians. So that the bill as amended will read:

H. R. 1776, Sixty-fourth Congress, first session.]

A BILL For the relief of the Wisconsin Band of Pottawatomie Indians, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the purpose of carrying into effect the act of June twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four (Thirteenth Statutes at Large, page one hundred and seventy-two), and the act of June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and thirteen (Thirty-eighth Statutes at Large, page one hundred and two), the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to place upon the books of the Treasury to the credit of that portion of the Wisconsin band of Pottawatomie Indians now residing in the States of Wisconsin and Michigan the amount of money which shall be found as a balance due to the said Wisconsin Band of Pottawatomie Indians by the Secretary of the Interior, said balance to be determined as follows: By computing the interest on the original sum of $447,339, declared to be due said Pottawatomie Indians at the rate of four per centum per annum from April first, nineteen hundred and eight, to April fourth, nineteen hundred and ten, and on the balance thereafter found by deducting the various amounts spent out of the appropriations made by Congress for the said Pottawatomie Indians under the act approved April fourth, nineteen hundred and ten (Thirty-sixth Statutes at Large, page two hundred and eighty-eight), act approved August twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and twelve (Thirty-seventh Statutes at Large, page five hundred and thirty-nine), act approved June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and thirteen( Thirty-eighth Statutes at Large, page one hundred and two), act approved August first, ninteeen hundred and fourteen (Thirty-eighth Statutes at Large, page six hundred and six), joint resolution approved March fourth, nineteen hundred and fifteen (Thirty-eighth Statutes at Large, page twelve hundred and twenty-eight), act approved June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and thirteen (Thirty-eighth Statutes at Large, page one hundred and two), said interest to be computed at the rate of four per centum on balance due said Indians between the dates of said acts of Congress and to July first, ninteeen hundred and sixteen, as the proportionate share of the said Wisconsin Band of the Pottawatomie Indians in the annuities and the land of the Pottawatomie tribe in which they have not shared, as set forth in the report of the Secretary of the Interior to the House of Representatives, embodied in House Document Numbered Eight hundred and thirty, Sixtieth Congress, first session, confirmed in part by the act of Congress of June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and thirteen (Thirty-eighth Statutes at Large, page one hundred and two), appropriating the sum of $150,000 on account. Said sum shall draw interest at the rate of four per centum per annum. And there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purposes aforesaid, the amount of the balance found to be due to said Wisconsin Band of Pottawatomie Indians now residing in the States of Wisconsin and Michigan, as computed by the Secretary of the Interior by the method hereinbefore set forth: Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to pay Erik O. Morstad, of Carter, Wisconsin, who has lived with and cared for said Indians for many years, the sum of $5,000, said sum to be paid from the amount placed to the credit of said Pottawatomie Indians.

SEC. 2. That from the sum placed to the credit of said Pottawatomie Indians the Secretary of the Interior is hereby directed to pay to the legal representatives of R. V. Belt, deceased (Mrs. Joanna Belt and William O. Belt), in full settlement of the claim of said R. V. Belt, against said Indians, such sum as the Court of Claims, to which the matter of fees of the attorneys for the Wisconsin Band of Pottawatomie

Indians is hereby referred for judgment, shall find to be due the said R. V. Belt and his associates on a quantum meruit for their services in the prosecution of said claim under a contract with representatives of the Wisconsin Band of Pottawatomies, approved by the Commissioner of Indians Affairs, for fifteen per centum on the first day of November, nineteen hundred and two. Suit for said attorneys' fees shall be filed in the Court of Claims within ninety days from the date of approval of this act by petition verified by the legal representatives of the estate of said R. V. Belt, deceased, shall be defended by an attorney to be designated by the Attorney General, and the Court of Claims shall render judgment as upon a quantum meruit for such sum as it shall deem just, after consideration of all services rendered in prosecution of said claim by R. V. Belt and his associates and of the contract approved as aforesaid by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, February 3, 1916.

DEAR MR. STEPHENS: With your letter of January 4, 1916, you submitted copy of H. R. 1776, "For the relief of the Wisconsin Band of Pottawatomie Indians, and for other purposes," with the request that I cause a report to be made thereon for the use of your committee.

The purpose of the bill is to cause to be placed in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of that portion of the Wisconsin Band of Pottawatomie Indians now residing in the States of Wisconsin and Michigan the sum of $427,795, being the balance of the principal due as the proportionate share of these Indians in the annuities and moneys of the Pottawatomie Tribe in which they have not shared, as set forth in the report of the department embodied in House Document 830 (60th Cong., 1st sess.). The provisions of this bill are identical with those of H. R. 9908 (63d Cong., 2d sess.), upon which report was made (copy herewith) January 30, 1914.

Since the date of that report the parties interested have filed additional statement dated January 5, 1916 (copy inclosed), stating more fully the service rendered.

After considering the additional arguments presented I have concluded that there is no serious objection to submitting the claim of these attorneys to the Court of Claims, as proposed in the bill now here. It is noted, however, that this bill repeats the same errors pointed out in the report of January 30, 1914. In line 12, page 1, the figures "$427,795" should be stricken out and in lieu thereof the figures "$426,672.33" should be inserted. In line 7, page 2, the word "two" should be stricken out and in lieu thereof the word "eight" should be inserted.

The Rev. Morstad, a missionary, has lived the greater part of his life among these Indians, rendering them valuable assistance. I am still of the opinion that he should be awarded a sum in partial recognition of these services. The Indians, I am advised, are entirely agreeable to this. I, therefore, suggest at the end of section 1 there be inserted as a part of that section substantially the following:

"Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to pay Erik O. Morstad, of Carter, Wis., who has lived with and cared for said Indians for many years, the sum of $5,000, said sum to be paid from the amount placed to the credit of said Pottawatomie Indians."

The reward thus to be paid to Rev. Morstad should not, in my opinion, be made conditional upon a fee being awarded to the attorneys.

If this bill, H. R. 1776, be amended in the particulars suggested, no objection would be offered by this department to its enactment.

Cordially, yours,

Hon. JOHN H. STEPHENS,

FRANKLIN K. LANE, Secretary.

Chairman Committee on Indian Affairs, House of Representatives.

The Pottawatomie Indians referred to in this bill comprise certain members of what was formerly known as the United Pottawatomie Nation of Indians, who did not remove west of the Mississippi River with other members of the tribe. The Pottawatomie Indians formerly occupied territory of the United States lying in the State of Ohio and south of the Great Lakes. Treaties were made by the United States around the year 1800 with the Pottawatomie Indians providing for

the cession of lands of the Pottawatomie Indians in the States of Ohio and Indiana, and in return for cessions of land held by the Indians the Government of the United States guaranteed certain annuities in perpetuity or otherwise to the Pottawatomie Indians as a nation. The present claimants are descendants of some of these members of the United Pottawatomie Nation. Between 1795 and 1833 other treaties were made with the United Pottawatomie Nation whereby large cessions of land were obtained from the Indians and solemn and binding obligations were contracted between the United States and the Indians whereby the United States agreed to give the United Nation of Pottawatomie Indians other perpetual annuities to be equally divided in accordance with Indian customs among all the members of the nation. By these several treaties the United States recognized the title of the Pottawatomie Indians to various lands to which the Pottawatomies agreed to and did remove in what are now the States of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

In the year 1830 the Pottawatomie Indians, by reason of various cessions of land which they had made to the Government of the United States, and by reason of settlements which had been made in the country they occupied, were divided into a number of bands and distinct tribes occupying defined territory in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and to some extent Indiana, near the shores of Lake Michigan.

By an act of Congress approved May 28, 1830 (4 Stats., 411), it was directed that treaties should be negotiated with Indian tribes holding lands east of the Mississippi River, these treaties to provide for an exchange of lands which the Indians held east of the Mississippi River and their removal to the then unoccupied domain west of the Mississippi River. The act provided for an exchange of lands, and by section 3 thereof the President was directed to solemnly assure the tribes agreeing to make the exchange of lands "that the United States will forever secure and guarantee to them and their heirs or successors the country so exchanged with them, and if they prefer it that the United States will cause a patent or grant to be made and executed to them for the same.' The act also provided that the United States should undertake the work of settling the Indian emigrants in their new home.

Pursuant to this act of Congress various treaties were made with Indian tribes. These treaties provided in one form or another that the Indians removing west of the Mississippi River should acquire title in fee to their new homes, subject only to reversion to the United States in the event the Indians should become extinguished or abandon the same. Under the provisions of the act of 1830 the Five Civilized Tribes and various other Indians removed west of the Mississippi River and received in return for the cession of their lands east of the Mississippi River lands in the West and patents therefor or assurances of a permanent title equivalent to a title in fee by patent. By a treaty concluded September 26, 1833 (7 Stats., 431; 2 Kappler, 402), at the present city of Chicago, the Pottawatomie Indians ceded to the United States all of their lands along the western shore of Lake Michigan, and in consideration thereof the United States agreed to give them a new reservation of not less than 5,000,000 acres of land in the vicinity of the present city of Council Bluffs, Iowa. The United States also agreed in consideration of the exchange

to make certain annual money payments to the Indians. The previous perpetual annuities, of course, likewise continued in force. The lands ceded were tribal lands held in common, and under the terms of the treaty negotiated at Chicago in 1833 each individual member of the nation was to receive his proportionate share in tribal lands or funds. The treaty provided that the Pottawatomies should receive the same title to their lands as was received by other Indian tribes exchanging their homes east of the Mississippi River for homes west of the Mississippi River, and, as heretofore shown, this title was to be a communal title in fee simple.

At the time the treaty of Chicago of 1833 was negotiated the Indians, as stated, were in detached bands, and those members of the nation living in the northern part of Wisconsin declared that there was no right in the bands which negotiated the treaty of 1833 to undertake to cede their homes and their lands in Wisconsin. After the treaty of Chicago of 1833, 14 separate treaties were made by the United States with separate bands, all providing for the removal of the Indians west of the Mississippi River, but none was made with the Wisconsin Pottawatomies separately.

By article 4 of the treaty of 1833 it was provided that the annuities due to the Indians "shall be paid at their location west of the Mississippi River." Quite a large number of the Indians, especially those in Wisconsin, refused to remove west of the Mississippi River. Article 4 had stated the place of payment of their annuities to be at their new location, the object of said article being to make an inducement to the Indians to remove west of the Mississippi River.

Many of the Wisconsin Pottawatomies refused to remove to the new home west of the Mississippi River; in fact, about 2,000 refused to go. The United States held that the treaty of 1833 had ceded their lands to the United States, and the Government of the United States took possession of the same and sold these lands as public domain to settlers. Thus, those Indians who elected to remain in Wisconsin lost all of their lands in the State of Wisconsin, and since then have eked a precarious existence and have been wanderers in the northern part of the State. The reason given by the Indians for refusal to remove was that the chiefs who had undertaken to negotiate the treaty of 1833 had no right to represent them or to attempt to cede their lands. The Government, however, as stated, held otherwise and took possession of the lands. Attempts were made to force the Wisconsin Bands of Pottawatomies to remove west of the Mississippi River, with the consequence that because of the drastic measures adopted about 1,500 of the 2.000 Indians referred to above fled to Canada. Indian Office then forfeited the share in lands and funds secured to the tribe as a whole of those members of the Pottawatomies who refused to remove from the State of Wisconsin, and instead paid over the moneys and lands it held as a trustee for all of the Indians to those members who did remove west of the Mississippi River. The attention of Congress was called to the matter in 1864, and by act of June 25, 1864 (13 Stat., 172), Congress declared that no forfeiture had occurred and directed that the shares of those Wisconsin Pottawatomies who had not removed west of the Mississippi River should be withheld in the Treasury and retained to their credit until such time H R-64-1-vol 2—15

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as they might remove to the then home of the tribe in Kansas. This act provided as follows:

To enable the Secretary of the Interior to take charge of certain stray bands of Winnebago and Pottawatomie Indians now in the State of Wisconsin, with the view to prevent any further depredations by them upon the citizens of that State, and for provisions and subsistence, $10,000: Provided, That the proportion of annuities to which said stray bands of Pattawatomies and Winnebagoes would be entitled if they were settled upon their reservations with their respective tribes shall be retained in the Treasury to their credit, from year to year, to be paid to them when they shall unite with their said tribes, or to be used by the Secretary of the Interior in defraying the expenses of their removal, or in settling and subsisting them on any other reservation which may hereafter be provided for them. (13 Stat., 172.)

The Indian Office continured to ignore the Wisconsin Band of Pottawatomies and forfeited all shares in tribal lands and funds of those Pottawatomies who continued to reside in Wisconsin or went to Canada. At this time practically the entire funds of the Pottawatomies have been disbursed and those members of the tribe who remained in Wisconsin have been deprived of any shares in the tribal lands and funds.

Your committee has carefully considered the treaties, the laws, and the facts set forth in the hearings on H. R. 1776 and is of the opinion that the United States as the guardian of the Wisconsin Band of Pottawatomie Indians now within the border of the United States should account to them for their just and proportionate share of the tribal lands and funds of the Pottawatomie Nation of Indians. These Indians are impoverished and are to a considerable extent a burden upon the State of Wisconsin. Your committee therefore recommends that Congress appropriate a sufficient sum of money to pay what is due the Pottawatomie Indians now resident in the States of Wisconsin and Michigan by placing to their credit the balance due them, said balance to be determined by the Secretary of the Interior as follows: By computing the interest on the original sum of $447,339 at 4 per cent per annum from April 1, 1908, to April 4, 1910, and on the balance thereafter found by deducting the amounts expended out of the appropriations made by Congress for the Pottawatomie Indians of Wisconsin under the

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said interest to be computed at the rate of 4 per cent to July 1, 1916. The reason for recommending that the rate of interest be 4 per cent is that most of the funds to the credit of various Indian tribes in the United States bear interest at the rate of either 3 per cent or 4 per cent, and there seems to be no good reason why the fund of the Pottawatomie Indians should bear interest at a higher rate.

Section 2 of the bill provides for the payment of the fees due the attorneys who have represented the Indians. The evidence shows that one of these attorneys had been engaged for more than 10 years in the prosecution of the claims of the Indians before his death in 1912, and that since 1905 two other attorneys have been engaged in assistance of the attorney having the contract with the Indians. It has further been shown to your committee that they have been com

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