James there were no forfeitures. When the lands were allotted they were divided in various acreages so that all the children in the family received the same amount while all heads of families received the same amount. So in a large family, there could be a large number of acres where as just a husband and wife, if they were both members would each have the same amount. Many Cherokee households were headed by females. There may have been some unscrupulous and illegal land transactions after the lands were allotted but they were not part of any law. Those lands not in trust could be sold by the various citizens but even then then the government was notified. Land in trust has to have the approval of the BIA in order to pass out of the individual Indian's hands. The Dawes commission was not empowered to dispose of lands they were charged with the creation of a list of members of the tribes who would be eligible to receive their portion of the lands. The final say in these membership lists was a committee created by the tribe. This committee's decision was final but individuals who felt they were unjustly omitted could file legally and challenge the decision in a claim court set up to adjudicate these disagreements. All those court decisions were transcribed and are part of the record. Lathel ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Brown" <patton14@crosstel.net> To: <indian-territory-roots@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 01, 2006 4:02 PM Subject: [INDIAN-TERRITORY-ROOTS] land allotment > I need to know if the following scenario could have been a possibility? > > " Two people get married( lets assume they are members of the Creek Tribe.) They both have 160 acres land allotments. Because of there marriage, one must forfeit the allotment." > If this could have happened...to whom was the lamd forfeited? > Was it possible that this was some kind of compliance either with the Dawes Commission or "state" ? > > Thank You > > James BROWN > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to INDIAN-TERRITORY-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >