Act of Feburary 28, 1877, as per Agreement of Sept. 26, 1876
Chapter 72 –
An act to ratify an agreement with certain bands of the Sioux Nation of
Indians, and also with the Northern Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians. Article 3. The said Indians also agree that they will hereafter receive all annuities provided by the said treaty of 1868, and all subsistence and supplies which may be provided for them under the present or any future act of Congress, at such points and places on the said reservation, and in the vicinity of the Missouri River, as the President of the United States shall designate. Article 4. The government of the United States and the said Indians, being mutually desirous that the latter shall be located in a country where they may eventually become self-supporting and acquire the arts of civilized life, it is therefore agreed that the said Indians shall select a delegation of five or more chiefs and principal men from each band, who shall, without delay, visit the Indian Territory under the guidance and protection of suitable persons, to be appointed for that purpose by the Department of the Interior, with a view to selecting therein a permanent home for the said Indians. If such delegation shall make a selection which shall be satisfactory to themselves, the people whom they represent, and to the United States, then the said Indians agree that they will remove to the country so selected within one year from this date. And the said Indians do further agree in all things to submit themselves to such beneficent plans as the Government may provide for them in the selection of a country suitable for a permanent home, where they may live like white men.
Article 5. In
consideration of the foregoing cession of territory and rights, and upon
full compliance with each and every obligation assumed by the said
Indians, the United States does agree to provide all necessary aid to
assist the said Indians in the work of civilization; to furnish to them
schools and instruction in mechanical and agricultural arts, as provided
for by the treaty of 1868. (Also to provide the said Indians with
subsistence consisting of a ration for each individual of a pound and a
half of beef, (or in lieu thereof, one half pound of bacon,) one-half
pound of flour, and one-half pound of corn; and for every one hundred
rations, four pounds of coffee, eight pounds of sugar, and three pounds of
beans, or in lieu of said articles the equivalent thereof, in the
discretion of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Such rations, or so much
thereof as may be necessary, shall be continued until the Indians are able
to support themselves.) Rations shall, in all cases, be issued to the head
of each separate family; and whenever schools shall have been provided by
the Government for said Indians, no rations shall be issued for children
between the ages of six and fourteen years (the sick and infirm excepted;)
unless such children shall regularly attend school. Whenever the said
Indians shall be located upon lands which are suitable for cultivation,
rations shall be issued only to the persons and families of those persons
who labor, (the aged, sick, and infirm excepted;) and as an incentive to
industrious habits the Commissioner of Indian Affairs may provide that
such persons be furnished in payment for their labor such other necessary
articles as are requisite for civilized life. The Government will aid said
Indians as far as possible in finding a market for their surplus
productions, and in finding employment, and will purchase such surplus, as
far as may be required, for supplying food to those Indians, parties to
this agreement, who are unable to sustain themselves; and will also employ
Indians, so far as practicable, in the performance of Government work upon
their reservation. Article 7. To improve the morals and industrious habits of said Indians, it is agreed that the agent, trader, farmer, carpenter, blacksmith, and other artisans employed or permitted to reside within the reservation belonging to the Indians, parties to this agreement, shall be lawfully married and living with their respective families on the reservation; and no person other than an Indian of full blood, whose fitness, morally or otherwise, is not, in the opinion of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, conducive to the welfare of said Indians shall receive any benefit from this agreement or former treaties, and may be expelled from the reservation. Article 8. The provisions of said treaty of 1868, except as herein modified, shall continue in full force, and, with the provisions of this agreement, shall apply to any country which may hereafter be occupied by the said Indians as a home; and Congress shall, by appropriate legislation, secure to them an orderly government; they shall be subject to the laws of the United States, and each individual shall be protected in his rights of property, person, and life. Article 9. The Indians, parties to this agreement, do hereby solemnly pledge themselves, individually and collectively, to observe each and all of the stipulations herein contained, to select allotment of land as soon as possible after their removal to their permanent home, and to use their best efforts to learn to cultivate the same. And they do solemnly pledge themselves that they will at all times maintain peace with the citizens and Government of the United States; that they will observe the laws thereof and loyally endeavor to fulfill all the obligations assumed by them under the treaty of 1868 and the present agreement, and to this end will, whenever requested by the President of the United States, select so many suitable men from each band to co-operate with him in maintaining order and peace on the reservation as the President may deem necessary, who shall receive such compensation for their services as Congress may provide. Article 10. In order that the Government may faithfully fulfill the stipulations contained in this agreement, it is mutually agreed that a census of all Indians affected hereby shall be taken in the month of December of each year, and the names of each head of family and adult person registered; said census to be taken in such manner as the Commissioner of Indian Affairs may provide.
Article 11. It
is understood that the term reservation herein contained shall be held to
apply to any country which shall be selected under the authority of the
United States as the future home of said Indians.
[Seal] George
W. Manypenny
Attest: [Here follows the signature of Marpuja-luta (Red Cloud), and others of the Oglala Sioux, Arapaho, and Cheyenne.]
Dated and
signed at Spotted Tail agency, Nebraska, September 23, 1876. The foregoing articles of agreement having been fully explained to us in open council, we, the chiefs and headmen of the various bands of Sioux Indians, receiving rations and annuities at the Cheyenne River agency, in the Territory of Dakota, do hereby consent and agree to all the stipulations therein contained, with the exception of so much of article 4 of said agreement as relates to our visit and removal to the Indian Territory; in all other respects the said article remaining in full force and effect.
Witness our
hands and seals at Cheyenne River agency, Territory of Dakota, this 16th
day of October, A. D. 1876. The foregoing articles of agreement having been fully explained to us in open council, we, the undersigned chiefs and headmen of the various bands of Sioux Indians receiving rations and annuities at the Standing Rock agency, in the Territory of Dakota, do hereby consent and agree to all the stipulations therein contained, with the exception of so much of article four of said agreement as relates to our visit and removal to the Indian Territory; in all other respects the said article remaining in full force and effect.
Witness our
hands and seals at Standing Rock agency, Territory of Dakota, this 11th
day of October, A. D. 1876. The foregoing articles of agreement having been fully explained to us in open council, we, the undersigned chiefs and headmen of the Sioux Indians, receiving rations and annuities at Crow Creek agency, in the Territory of Dakota, do hereby consent and agree to all the stipulations therein contained, with the exception of so much of article 4 of said agreement as relates to our visit and removal to the Indian Territory; in all other respects the said article remaining in full force and effect.
Witness our
hands and seals at Crow Creek agency, Territory of Dakota, this 21st day
of October, A. D. 1876.
The foregoing
articles of agreement having been fully explained to us in open council,
we, the undersigned chiefs and headmen of the Sioux Indians, receiving
rations and annuities at Lower Brule agency, in the Territory of Dakota,
do hereby consent and agree to all the stipulations therein contained,
with the exception of so much of article 4 of said agreement as relates to
our visit and removal to the Indian Territory; in all other respects the
said article remaining in full force and effect. The foregoing articles of agreement having been fully explained to us in open council, we, the undersigned chiefs and headmen of the Sioux Indians, receiving rations and annuities at the Santee reservation, in Knox County, in the State of Nebraska, do hereby consent and agree to all the stipulations therein contained, saving, reserving, and excepting all our rights, both collective and individual, in and to the said Santee reservation, in said Knox Country and State of Nebraska, upon which we, the undersigned, and our people are now residing.
Witness our
hands and seals at Santee agency, county of Knox, State of Nebraska, this
27th day of October, A. D. 1876.
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