Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 15.djvu/669

TREATY WITH THE SIOUX INDIANS. APRIL 29, 1868. 637 forwarded, together with his findings, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose decision, subject to the revision of the Secretary of the Interior, shall be binding on the parties to this treaty. Arvrrcnn VI. If any individual belonging tp said tribes of Indians, or Hseds of legally incorporated with them, being the head of a family, shall desire to {ggQil::,s,,I}°:,l °°` commence farming, he shall have the privilege to select, in the presence ov-ang. and with the assistance of the agent then in charge, a tract of l¤···* ~-eg,. in said reservation,.n0t exceeding three hundred and twenty acres in ex~ tent, which tract when so selected, certified, and recorded in the " land book," as herein directed, shall cease to be held in common, but the same may be occupied and held in the exclusive possession of the person selecting it, and of his family, so long as he or they may continue to cultivate it. Any person over eighteen years of age, not being the head of a f11mi1y, 0¤l¤¤¤ mW may in like manner select and cause to be certified to 'him or her, for :3§°;:£g;1,_f°r purposes of cultivation, a quantity of land not exceeding eighty acres in extent, and thereupon be entitled to the exclusive possession of the same as above directed. For each tract of land so selected a certificate, containing a description 0¤r¤¤<=¤t¤- thereof and the name of the person selecting it, with a certificate endorsed thereon that the same has been recorded, shall be delivered to the party entitled to it, by the agent, after the same shall have been recorded by him in a book to be kept in his office, subject to inspection, which said book shall be known as the “Sioux Land Book." 'I`he President may, at any time, order a. survey of the reservation, Surveys. and, when so surveyed, Congress shall provide for protecting the rights of said settlers in their improvements, and may fix the character of the title held by each. The United States may pass such laws on the subject of alienation and descent of property between the Indians and their de- Alionltion scendants as may be thought proper. And it is further stipulated that glgpggsgfntd any male Indians over eighteen years of age, of any band or tribe that is or shall hereafter become a party to this treaty, who now is or who shall hereafter become a resident or occupant of any reservation or territory not included in the tract of country designated and described in this treaty for the permanent home of the Indians, which is not mineral land, nor reserved by the United States for special purposes other than Indian occupation, and who shall have made improvements thereon of the value of two hundred dollars or more, and continuously occupied the same as a homestead for the term of three years, shall be entitled to receive from G¤¤‘¤1i¤T¤<lithe United States a patent for one hundred and sixty acres of land in- ":‘Q‘c‘:‘,Q’}°":§S:° cluding his said improvements, the same to be in the form of the legal hundred and subdivisions of the surveys of the public lands. Upon application in M"' °f writing, sustained by the proof of two disinterested witnesses, made to ` the register of the local land office when the land sought to be entered is within a land district, and when the tract sought to be entered is not in any land district, then upon said application and proof being made to the commissioner of the general land office. and the right of such Indian or Indians to enter such tract or tracts of land shall accrue and be perfect from the date of his first improvements thereon, and shall continue as long as he continues his residence and improvements, and no longer. _ And any Indian or Indians receiving a patent for land under the forego- mg;;$l;;“g;‘2" ing provisions, shall thereby and from thenceforth become and be a citizen cm to hmm, of the United States, and be entitled to all the privileges and immunities citiyens of the of such citizens, and shall, at the same time, retain all his rights to bene- U'““"l Sm"' fits accruing to Indians under this treaty. ARTICLE VII. In order to insure the civilization of the Indians en- Ed¤°**l°°· tering into this treaty, the necessity of education is admitted, especially of such of them as are or may be settled on said agricultural reservations, and they therefore pledge themselves to compel their children, male and