ENROLLMENT OF ROBERT FIX AND OTHERS, MISSISSIPPI CHOCTAW INDIANS MONDAY, MAY 17, 1937 UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, Washington, D. C. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:30 a. m., in room 424–A, Senate Office Building, Senator Elmer Thomas, of Oklahoma, presiding. Present: Senators Thomas of Oklahoma (chairman), Wheeler, Chavez, and Frazier. The CHAIRMAN. The Chair lays before the committee Senate bill 2268, the same being a bill to enroll certain persons on the final citizenship rolls of the Mississippi Choctaw Indians. At this point the record may show the text of the bill in full, as follows: [S. 2268, 75th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To enroll certain persons on the final citizenship rolls of the Mississippi Choctaw Indians Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to enroll on the final citizenship roll of the Mississippi Choctaw Indians the following persons: Robert Fix, Clara Fix Nichols, Philip Fix, and Gertrude Fix Dalton, said persons being the children and descendants of Jesse Fix and Elizabeth Fix, Oklahoma Choctaw Indians. Said persons, when enrolled by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be entitled to a share in the common property of said nations or tribes; and the Secretary of the Interior shall inscribe the names of such persons on the property rolls of said nations or tribes, and they shall be entitled to participate in all future payments made to persons of like status. The CHAIRMAN. Also, in connection with that subject matter, there is likewise pending before the Senate committee S. 998, the same being a bill for the relief of Robert Fix, Clara Fix Nichols, Philip Fix, and Gertrude Fix Dalton. For the purpose of the record, the bill will be shown in full at this point in the hearing, as follows: [S. 998, 75th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL For the relief of Robert Fix, Clara Fix Nichols, Philip Fix, and Gertrude Fix Dalton Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to pay, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to Robert Fix, Clara Fix Nichols, Philip Fix, and Gertrude Fix Dalton, children of Jesse and Elizabeth Fix, each the sum of $, in full settlement of all claims against the United States by any of the named persons based on the exclusion of all or any of the children or parents, or any of their ancestors, from any roll of the Choctaw Tribe of Oklahoma or of the Mississippi Choctaw Indians: Provided, That no part of the amount ap propriated in this Act in excess of 10 per centum thereof shall be paid or delivered to or received by any agent or agents, attorney or attorneys, on account of services rendered in conection with said claim. It shall be unlawful for any agent or agents, attorney or attorneys, to exact, collect, withhold, or receive any sum of the amount appropriated in this Act in excess of 10 per centum thereof on account of services rendered in connection with said claim, any contract to the contrary notwithstanding. Any person violating the provisions of this Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding $1,000. The CHAIRMAN. In addition to printing the bills, without objection, I will place in the record the report on each bill as submitted by the Department of the Interior. (The reports referred to are inserted in the record at this point.) Hon. ELMER THOMAS, THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman, Committee of Indian Affairs, United States Senate. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This will refer further to your request for a report on S. 2268, directing the Secretary of the Interior to add to the final citizenIship roll of the Mississippi Choctaw Indians the names of Robert Fix, Clara Fix Nichols, Philip Fix, and Gertrude Fix Dalton, children and descendants of Jesse Fix and Elizabeth Fix, Oklahoma Choctaw Indians. By this bill, S. 2268, the claimants seek enrollment on the final rolls of the Mississippi Choctaw members of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, contemplating a charge upon the tribal assets of the Choctaw Nation. These applicants are also seeking compensation on this account in the sum of $5,000 each, through the medium of a direct appropriation from the United States Treasury, as contemplated by S. 998 and H. R. 3430, now pending before Congress. The rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma, including the Choctaws, were closed on March 4, 1907, under the act of April 26, 1906 (34 Stat. L., 137). In February 1900, Jesse Fix, father of the claimants, filed an application with the Dawes Commission for enrollment of himself and the four children named as members of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, by virtue of alleged citizenship rights therein, but not as Mississippi Choctaws. In his supporting testimony, Mr. Fix stated that he was born in Alabama, going from there successively to Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma (Choctaw Nation); that he was a one-fourth blood Choctaw by descent from Peter Picayune; that neither his father nor mother ever lived in the Choctaw Nation; and that, so far as he knew, neither he nor any of his family had ever been recognized by the Choctaw Tribe as members. This application was not approved. Later in the same year, Jesse Fix made application for identification as a Mississippi Choctaw under article XIV of the treaty of September 27, 1830 (7 Stat. L., 333), known as the "Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek", with the Choctaw Nation of Mississippi. By article III of this treaty the Indians ceded to the United States "the entire country they own and possess" east of the Mississippi River and agreed to remove west of that river as early as practicable. Article XIV provides that each head of a family who wished to remain and become a citizen "of the States" should be permitted to do so by signifying his intention to the agent within 6 months from the ratification of the treaty, and should thereupon be entitled to 640 acres of land for himself and smaller tracts for his children, and that the persons who claim under this article shall not lose the privileges of Choctaw citizenship (in Oklahoma) but upon removal they will not be entitled to annuities. Section 21 of the act of June 28, 1898 (30 Stat. L. 503), provides that the Dawes Commission shall have authority to identify Choctaw Indians claiming land in Mississippi under article XIV of the Treaty of 1830. Section 41 of the act of July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. L., 651), states that all persons thus identified as Mississippi Choctaws entitled to benefits under said article XIV may remove to Oklahoma at any time within 6 months after such identification, and select, settle upon, and receive land in the Choctaw Nation and be enrolled by the Commission; and that the desecendants of any Mississippi Choctaws whether of the full or mixed blood who received a patent to land under article XIV who had not removed to Oklahoma prior to June 28, 1898, shall be deemed to be Mississippi Choctaws entitled to benefits under said article XIV, but that this provision shall not operate to the advantage of any applicant who is not a Mississippi Choctaw of the full blood or who is not the descendant of a Mississippi Choctaw who received a patent to land under said treaty. Thus, to entitle a Mississippi Choctaw to rights with the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma, he had to be either a full blood or the descendant of an ancestor who had complied with the provisions or article XIV of the treaty of 1830, and in addition, must have actually removed to Oklahoma within the time specified. At the hearing before the Dawes Commission on this latter application (for identification as a Mississippi Choctaw) Mr. Fix was asked: "Q. Have you ever been recognized by the Choctaw tribal authorities, by any official act of their national council, as a citizen of that nation?-A. No, sir; I have not. "Q. Did any of your ancestors ever receive land as a beneficiary under the fourteenth article of the treaty of 1830?-A. I do not know that. "Q. Why do you believe that you are entitled to be identified by this commission as a Choctaw Indian entitled to rights in the Choctaw lands under the provisions of the fourteenth article of the treaty of 1830?—A. Well, I believe, because my great-grandmother was a Mississippi Choctaw." He also stated that his wife, Elizabeth Fix, was about one-sixteenth Choctaw through her grandmother, a member of the Patten family; that he did not know whether or not his wife's grandmother was a recognized member of the Choctaw Tribe of Mississippi in 1830 and that so far as he knew, none of his wife's ancestors had ever complied with the provisions of article XIV of the treaty. This latter application was denied by the Dawes Commission on June 10, 1902, and such denial was affirmed by the Secretary of the Interior on November 5, 1902. In my adverse reports of May 25, 1934, on H. R. 3455 and S. 1838 (73d Cong., 2d sess.), to add these names to the rolls, after quoting from the case of United States v. Wildcat (244 U. S. 118), as to the finality of the rolls, I stated that, where mistakes have actually been made, this department is, of course, anxious to see them rectified, but that in the absence of new evidence, "which has not been presented", I would be reluctant to see a precedent established that would undoubtedly lead to a flood of similar applications. It now develops that the names of Joseph Patten, Turner Patten, and P. P. Pitchlyn, claimed by Mr. Robert Fix (one of the applicants), to be his ancestors, appear on various Choctaw annuity rolls between 1840 and 1850. However, even assuming that the claimants can trace their ancestry back to these parties, such facts will not help them here, because no evidence has been adduced that any of such persons ever complied with the provisions of article XIV of the treaty of 1830. As above pointed out, this was necessary to give Mississippi Choctaws any rights with the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma. On the contrary, the presence of such names on the annuity rolls tends rather to disprove the claims of the applicants because under the treaty, as pointed out above, Mississippi Choctaws who qualified under article XIV for rights in Oklahoma were not to receive annuities. For the further information of the committee, attention is invited to printed hearings before the subcommittee of the Committee on Indian Affairs of the House of Representatives on H. R. 6852 (72d Cong., 1st sess.) to authorize the enrollment of the same parties upon which apparently, however, the committee made no report. In concluding, with an adverse recommendation, my reports (substantially as herein) on S. 1440 and H. R. 4763 (74th Cong., 1st sess.), for the enrollment of these persons, I stated: "From what has been said above, it is apparent that the claims of the applicants have not been substantiated on either side of the family, either as original citizens of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma or as Mississippi Choctaws entitled to rights therein under article XIV of the treaty of 1830." This matter has been several times thoroughly studied during the past 6 years, with a like unfavorable result in each case. Another careful review of the record in the preparation of this report serves but to confirm the previous adverse conclusion. I recommend that the bill, S. 2268, be not enacted. The Acting Director of the Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of this report to the Congress. Sincerely yours, CHARLES WEST, Acting Secretary of the Interior. REPORT ON S. 998 INTERIOR DEPARTMENT, Hon. ELMER THOMAS, Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This will refer further to your request of January 28, for a report on S. 998, directing the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to Robert Fix, Clara Fix Nichols, Philip Fix, and Gertrude Fix Dalton, children of Jesse and Elizabeth Fix, an unspecified sum each in full satisfaction of their claims against the United States on account of their exclusion from the Choctaw tribal rolls. The rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma, including the Choctaws, were closed on March 4, 1907, under the act of April 26, 1906 (34 Stat. L., 137). In February 1900, Jesse Fix, father of the claimants, filed an application with the Dawes Commission for enrollment of himself and the four children named as members of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, by virtue of alleged citizenship rights therein, but not as Mississippi Choctaws. In his supporting testimony, Mr. Fix stated that he was born in Alabama, going there successively to Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma (Choctaw Nation); that he was a onefourth blood Choctaw by descent from Peter Picayune; that neither his father nor mother ever lived in the Choctaw Nation; and that, so far as he knew, neither he nor any of his family had ever been recognized by the Choctaw Tribe as members. This application was not approved. Later in the same year, Jesse Fix made application for identification as a Mississippi Choctaw under article XIV of the treaty of September 27, 1830 (7 Stat. L., 333), known as the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, with the Choctaw Nation of Mississippi. By article III of this treaty the Indians ceded to the United States the entire country they own and possess east of the Mississippi River and agreed to remove west of that river as early as practicable. Article XIV provides that each head of a family who wished to remain and become a citizen "of the States" should be permitted to do so by signifying his intention to the agent within 6 months from the ratification of the treaty, and should thereon be entitled to 640 acres of land for himself and smaller tracts for his children, and that the persons who claim under this article shall not lose the privileges of Choctaw citizenship (in Oklahoma) but upon removal they will not be entitled to annuities. Section 21 of the act of June 28, 1898 (30 Stat. L. 503), provides that the Dawes Commission shall have authority to identify Choctaw Indians claiming land in Mississippi under article XIV of the treaty of 1830. Section 41 of the act of July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. L. 651), states that all persons thus identified as Mississippi Choctaws entitled to benefits under said article XIV may remove to Oklahoma at any time within 6 months after such identification, and select, settle upon, and receive land in the Choctaw Nation and be enrolled by the commission; and that the descendants of any Mississippi Choctaws whether of the full or mixed blood who received a patent to land under article XIV who had not removed to Oklahoma prior to June 28, 1898, shall be deemed to be Mississippi Choctaws entitled to benefits under said article XIV, but that this provision shall not operate to the advantage of any applicant who is not a Mississippi Choctaw of the full blood or who is not the descendant of a Mississippi Choctaw who received a patent to land under said treaty. Thus, to entitle a Mississippi Choctaw to rights with the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma, he had to be either a full blood or the descendant of an ancestor who had complied with the provisions of article XIV of the treaty of 1830, and in addition, must have actually removed to Oklahoma within the time specified. At the hearing before the Dawes Commission on this latter application (for identification as a Mississippi Choctaw) Mr. Fix was asked: "Q. Have you ever been recognized by the Choctaw tribal authorities, by any official act of their national council, as a citizen of that nation?-A. No, sir; I have not. “Q. Did any of your ancestors ever receive land as a beneficiary under the fourteenth article of the treaty of 1830?-A. I do not know that. "Q. Why do you believe that you are entitled to be identified by this commission as a Choctaw Indian entitled to rights in the Choctaw lands under the provisions of the fourteenth article of the treaty of 1830?—A. Well, I believe, because my great grandmother was a Mississippi Choctaw." He also stated that his wife, Elizabeth Fix, was about one-sixteenth Choctaw through her grandmother, a member of the Patten family; that he did not know whether or not his wife's grandmother was a recognized member of the Choctaw Tribe of Mississippi in 1830, and that, so far as he knew, none of his wife's ancestors had ever complied with the provisions of article XIV of the treaty. This latter application was denied by the Dawes Commission on June 10, 1902, and such denial was affirmed by the Secretary of the Interior on November 5, 1902. In my adverse reports of May 25, 1934, on H. R. 3455 and S. 1838 (73d Cong., 2d sess.), to add these names to the rolls, after quoting from the case of United States v. Wildcat (244 U. S. 118), as to the finality of the rolls, I stated that, where mistakes have actually been made, this Department is, of course, anxious to see them rectified, but that in the absence of new evidence, which has not been presented, I would be reluctant to see a precedent established that would undoubtedly lead to a flood of similar applications. It now develops that the names of Joseph Patten, Turner Patten, and P. P. Pitchlyn, claimed by Mr. Robert Fix (one of the applicants), to be his ancestors, appear on various Choctaw annuity rolls between 1840 and 1850. However, even assuming that the claimants can trace their ancestry back to these parties, such facts will not help them here, because no evidence has been adduced that any of such persons ever complied with the provisions of article XIV of the treaty of 1830. As above pointed out, this was necessary to give Mississippi Choctaws any rights with the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma. On the contrary, the presence of such names on the annuity rolls tends rather to disprove the claims of the applicants because under the treaty, as pointed out above, Mississippi Choctaws who qualified under article XIV for rights in Oklahoma were not to receive annuities. For the further information of the committee, attention is invited to printed hearings before the subcommittee of the Committee on Indian Affairs of the House of Representatives on H. R. 6852 (72d Cong., 1st sess.) to authorize the enrollment of the same parties, upon which apparently, however, the committee made no report. In concluding, with an adverse recommendation, my reports (substantially as herein) on S. 1440 and H. R. 4763 (74th Cong., 1st sess.), for the enrollment of these persons, I stated: "From what has been said above, it is apparent that the claims of the applicants have not been substantiated on either side of the family, either as original citizens of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma or as Mississippi Choctaws entitled to rights therein under article XIV of the treaty of 1830." Having been thus far defeated in their efforts to be enrolled, the applicants now seek compensation on this account in an unnamed sum each, through the medium of a direct appropriation from the Treasury, as contemplated by the present bill S. 998. The approximate value of a single share in the Choctaw property is about $4,800. On this basis it would require approximately $19,200 for the four applicants here involved. This matter has been several times thoroughly studied during the past 6 years, with a like unfavorable result in each case. Another careful review of the record in the preparation of this report serves but to confirm the previous adverse conclusion. I, therefore, recommend that the bill, S. 998, be not enacted. Sincerely yours, CHARLES WEST, Acting Secretary of the Interior. The CHAIRMAN. Governor Johnson, last Thursday Senator Frazier called up a bill which proposes to enroll Robert Fix, a brother, and two sisters. At that time I made the statement that the Chickasaws and Choctaws in Oklahoma were very much opposed to this bill; that I did not want any action taken on the measure until the representatives of the Indians could be present and might have an opportunity to be heard. This bill was considered last year by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and approved by that committee. I was satisfied at that time that the bill could not get by the House of Representatives because all of the Oklahoma Congressmen were against the bill. |