The Reservation Roll is made up of those Cherokee families who lived on the East side of the Mississippi river who did not wish to remove to Arkansas. The Reservation Roll is in fact a list of those Cherokee Head-of-Households wishing to remain in the East on a 640 acre plot of land. If their application was approved they would become US Citizens. If the Head-of-Household should die, the land would go to their spouse, or child. If the family were to remove afterward the land would revert to the US government. Further, to ensure that all allotted 'reservations' were properly settled, the Cherokee applicants would participate in a Reservation Census in June of the following year, that being 1818. Those Cherokee not applying to the Reservation Roll were required by the Cherokee Treaty of 1817 to remove to Arkansas. Those Cherokee that removed would also be accounted for in a US Government Census in June of 1818. The idea being that the government would have a complete census of the Cherokee people. Most Cherokee that applied for 'reservations' were denied, and required to remove to Arkansas under the supervision of a US Government official designated by the same.
The Cherokee Treaty of 1817 was concluded at the Cherokee Agency, within what was then viewed as the Cherokee nation by the US Government. The officiating US Government representatives were Major General Andrew Jackson, General David Meriwether, and Joseph McMinn who was then Governor of Tennessee. The Cherokee were represented by a delegation of representatives consisting of chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the highest regard.
These Cherokee were each elected by a council of elders consisting of those considered to be the wisest women and men of the nation. At this time the Cherokee had just survived the Chickamauga War which had lasted near 18 years. As such, the Cherokee had lost many of their great warriors, and resources. Those remaining resources were focused on rebuilding burned towns, and villages. Cherokee hunting grounds had been expended due to colonial army foraging, raiding parties, and invading white squatters. In short, the Cherokee had to rebuild the strength of their nation, and the only avenue left to their elders was through the acceptance of a removal to Arkansas, or to bide their time in the East, learn the White Man's ways, and use them to make their nation strong again. Both avenues were pursued by the Cherokee. In truth, I believe the Cherokee were given a 'take-it-or-leave-it' offer by Maj. Gen. Jackson. The writing and signing of the Treaty of 1817 was a formality demanded by the US Government for the sake of future legal precedents allowing further conquest of Cherokee occupied lands. I also believe this was done to maintain the illusion of civilized government.
The Cherokee leadership would have been content with a promise kept by President James Monroe . Unfortunately, no American President has seen fit to fulfill the US Government's Treat obligations. One could say that not one American President, nor any scheduled, or called session of the United States House of Representatives has kept their Treaty contracts with the Cherokee people. Once the Western States were cemented into the union of the United States, most treaty obligations became impossible to fulfill by the American people, even if they wanted to.
If a modern legal mind were to review the Cherokee Treaty of 1817, they would find that neither the US Government, nor the President truly agreed to any of the proposals made in the treaty by the same. Each proposition of compensation is followed by a loophole, or caveat that allows a specific appointed government official to determine if they wish to fulfill the proposed offers at a given time. The same contract also places specific wording that leaves no such caveats for the Cherokee. One will also notice that the US Government is also offering the Cherokee lands that are only theirs on paper. The government even goes as far to say that the Cherokee must find land that is not claimed by another tribe. However, in the next sentence of the treaty the President outlines how the United States Government will treat with other Indian nations on the Cherokee's behalf once the Cherokee have found the land they want. Why would they do this if the Cherokee must find land not claimed by another tribe? In short, they are selling the Cherokee people land that does not belong to them, and in addition they are adding a real-estate commission obligation due to be paid by the Cherokee. There is also a matter of the compensation being an open-ended option for the government. The government can take back the land if the Cherokee leave it (no amount of time specified), or default on any of their obligations such as the government's time table for the removal. In fact, it is obvious that the government was using the Cherokee and other tribes as a spearhead for their westward expansion. A wise warlord knows that it is better to deal with a weekend enemy than fight a strong one you have never met.
This is the end of my blog on the Cherokee Reservation Roll of 1817, and the Treaty of 1817. The relevance for this topic is related to the reasoning behind the Cherokee nation refusing enrolment to those who's families left the people for a period of time, or accepted one of many 'reservation/allotments' offered by the government. It should be noted that those people that have family members listed on the 1817 Roll, 1818 Census, or 1817 Treaty may be able to receive a certificate from a historical 'Old Settlers' group through the Cherokee Heritage center in Oklahoma.
The Cherokee Treaty of 1817 was concluded at the Cherokee Agency, within what was then viewed as the Cherokee nation by the US Government. The officiating US Government representatives were Major General Andrew Jackson, General David Meriwether, and Joseph McMinn who was then Governor of Tennessee. The Cherokee were represented by a delegation of representatives consisting of chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the highest regard.
These Cherokee were each elected by a council of elders consisting of those considered to be the wisest women and men of the nation. At this time the Cherokee had just survived the Chickamauga War which had lasted near 18 years. As such, the Cherokee had lost many of their great warriors, and resources. Those remaining resources were focused on rebuilding burned towns, and villages. Cherokee hunting grounds had been expended due to colonial army foraging, raiding parties, and invading white squatters. In short, the Cherokee had to rebuild the strength of their nation, and the only avenue left to their elders was through the acceptance of a removal to Arkansas, or to bide their time in the East, learn the White Man's ways, and use them to make their nation strong again. Both avenues were pursued by the Cherokee. In truth, I believe the Cherokee were given a 'take-it-or-leave-it' offer by Maj. Gen. Jackson. The writing and signing of the Treaty of 1817 was a formality demanded by the US Government for the sake of future legal precedents allowing further conquest of Cherokee occupied lands. I also believe this was done to maintain the illusion of civilized government.
The Cherokee leadership would have been content with a promise kept by President James Monroe . Unfortunately, no American President has seen fit to fulfill the US Government's Treat obligations. One could say that not one American President, nor any scheduled, or called session of the United States House of Representatives has kept their Treaty contracts with the Cherokee people. Once the Western States were cemented into the union of the United States, most treaty obligations became impossible to fulfill by the American people, even if they wanted to.
If a modern legal mind were to review the Cherokee Treaty of 1817, they would find that neither the US Government, nor the President truly agreed to any of the proposals made in the treaty by the same. Each proposition of compensation is followed by a loophole, or caveat that allows a specific appointed government official to determine if they wish to fulfill the proposed offers at a given time. The same contract also places specific wording that leaves no such caveats for the Cherokee. One will also notice that the US Government is also offering the Cherokee lands that are only theirs on paper. The government even goes as far to say that the Cherokee must find land that is not claimed by another tribe. However, in the next sentence of the treaty the President outlines how the United States Government will treat with other Indian nations on the Cherokee's behalf once the Cherokee have found the land they want. Why would they do this if the Cherokee must find land not claimed by another tribe? In short, they are selling the Cherokee people land that does not belong to them, and in addition they are adding a real-estate commission obligation due to be paid by the Cherokee. There is also a matter of the compensation being an open-ended option for the government. The government can take back the land if the Cherokee leave it (no amount of time specified), or default on any of their obligations such as the government's time table for the removal. In fact, it is obvious that the government was using the Cherokee and other tribes as a spearhead for their westward expansion. A wise warlord knows that it is better to deal with a weekend enemy than fight a strong one you have never met.
This is the end of my blog on the Cherokee Reservation Roll of 1817, and the Treaty of 1817. The relevance for this topic is related to the reasoning behind the Cherokee nation refusing enrolment to those who's families left the people for a period of time, or accepted one of many 'reservation/allotments' offered by the government. It should be noted that those people that have family members listed on the 1817 Roll, 1818 Census, or 1817 Treaty may be able to receive a certificate from a historical 'Old Settlers' group through the Cherokee Heritage center in Oklahoma.
