Richard T., I have so very little knowledge of the early east reparations, but have heard the lands being called reserves. 'Everything' I have read , was tied to "reward" for military service.. rather than who the person was . And,.. it was mentioned that these military service lands (or reserves) were negotiable value and most often quickly sold for whatever could be had ... (many cases received by the widow of the soldier and then sold by her.) Records of these land bounties exist , but I can't tell you how to get there from here. So, if the Ind quickly sold his military land , he dissolved the connections associated with it , if that makes any sense. Some of the oldest early lands obtained in Arkansas were military land bounty in origin. Richard B. ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 12:19 PM Subject: [CREEK-SOUTHEAST] Other Eastern Creek families who received Federalreparations > > The letter about the Poarch Creeks ticked my mind about a question I posed > last month to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation's Justice Department. I am a > descendant of one of the many Friendly Creek families in the Southeast, > who > received nominal reparations from the US Government during the 1930s. The > funds > were to compensate descendants of Friendly Creeks, who had their reserves > illegally taken from them by state or local governments. Our reserves > were > originally granted for service to the United States during war time. They > were > essentially veteran's land grants, not Indian reservations, but much > larger than > the grants given to most Caucasian veterans. However, legally these > reserves > were absolutely identical in status to those reserves granted the > ancestors of > the Poarch Creeks - who are federally recognized. > > My question to the Creek official was this: Since the reparations were > paid > to Friendly Creeks on the basis that they were Creek Indians granted land > by > the Federal government, and that neither state nor local governments had > the > right to terminate Federal grants of lands to American Indians, was it > possible that the descendants of these grantees were eligible for > citizenship in > the Muscogee (Creek) Nation? > > The answer is no. The current Muscogee (Creek) Constitution restricts > citizenship to those persons who are direct descendants of persons listed > on the > Dawes Rolls. In an earlier telephone conversation, the court staff member > mentioned that there were thousands of people in Oklahoma alone, who were > true > Creeks and descended from Creeks who took allotments in 1905. However, > like > my ancestor, who took an allotment, their ancestors feared being listed on > the > Dawes Roll. Therefore, they are not eligible for citizenship. > > Thus, if your family received an Eastern Creek reparation, and was not > part > of the group of families ancestral to the Poarch Creeks, at this time you > are > not legally considered a Creek Indian as far as the BIA is concerned - > even > if the US Dept. of Justice considered your family legitimately Creek in > the > 1930s or earlier. Theoretically, if all of us reparation descendants > came > together, we could petition for Federal recognition. However, there is a > Catch > 22 on this approach. One of the criteria used by the Bureau of Indian > Affairs is that the petitioning tribe must have lived as an Indian > community on the > same tract of land dating back to the time of their initial recognition > as > Indians. Thus, if your family's land was stolen from you because they > were > Creeks, you can't legally be a federally recognized Creek now. > > The one type of Creeks in Georgia who have the strongest case for Federal > recognition are the descendants of the Ware County (Waycross) Creeks. > There > is irrefutable evidence that this band of Creeks lived in the vicinity of > the > Okefenokee Swamp as a Native American community until it was purchased by > the > United States government in the 1930s and 1940s. I may have an ancestor > in > that group, but am not sure. Perhaps the descendants of the Okefenokee > Creeks should first form a state recognized tribe in Waycross, and then > petition > for Federal recognition. > > Richard T. > > > > > > > > > **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your > budget? > Read reviews on AOL Autos. > (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 > ) > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > >