Hi, everyone, I think it is important to remind everyone from time to time that the reason that nearly all of the applicants for recognition as Mississippi Choctaws (around 1900) were rejected was that they could not prove compliance with Article 14 of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. This article stipulated that all Choctaws who chose to remain in Mississippi rather than removing to Oklahoma should sign up with the federal agent within a specified period of time. The agent would then allot them a portion of land in Mississippi before it was opened to purchase by white settlers and speculators. To make a very long and ugly story short, the agent--Colonel Ward--was both incompetent and hostile to the Choctaws, with the result that very few of these people actually registered, even though thousands tried to do so. Sixty years later, their descendants were denied recognition because they could not prove they had registered or attempted to do so, mostly because the government had no reliable records! Not exactly fair. And it didn't address the question of whether they actually were Choctaw. Kitty

HI kitty isn't that kinda what happened in OK too. I mean my relatives there didn't sign for anything, they had land why get more. it wasn't a listing for who was "indian" it was a land give away right? if they had land why get more, especially someplace where you didn't live near and it would seem to me that the fee land was probably the worst land in way far out places not near towns, and we all know the natives were a social people as a rule. so that whole idea would have gone over very big at all <BG> renee GARBERCNS@aol.com wrote: > > Hi, everyone, > I think it is important to remind everyone from time to time that the > reason that nearly all of the applicants for recognition as Mississippi > Choctaws (around 1900) were rejected was that they could not prove compliance > with Article 14 of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. This article > stipulated that all Choctaws who chose to remain in Mississippi rather than > removing to Oklahoma should sign up with the federal agent within a specified > period of time. The agent would then allot them a portion of land in > Mississippi before it was opened to purchase by white settlers and > speculators. To make a very long and ugly story short, the agent--Colonel > Ward--was both incompetent and hostile to the Choctaws, with the result that > very few of these people actually registered, even though thousands tried to > do so. Sixty years later, their descendants were denied recognition because > they could not prove they had registered or attempted to do so, mostly > because the government had no reliable records! Not exactly fair. And it > didn't address the question of whether they actually were Choctaw. > > Kitty > > ==== CHOCTAW-SOUTHEAST Mailing List ==== > To subscribe to CHAHTA-L list discussions on history, culture, language. Send msg. to CHAHTA-L-request@rootsweb.com > Put "one" word in "body" of message:... "subscribe" without the quotes, nothing in the subject line, turn off signatures. > Nothing in the subject line... Turn off signatures.......