Treaty language clearly defined
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Editor,
After reviewing the language of the Hellgate Treaty and discovering it authorized allotment to individual Indians and selling of the “residue” (excess) of the land to non-Indians, as conveyed in my last letter, I delved into the Flathead Allotment Act of 1904 and the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.
The FAA is obviously authorized by the language of Article VI of the Hellgate Treaty and is clear in its intent: “An act for the survey and allotment of lands now embraced within the limits of the Flathead Indian Reservation, ... and the sale and disposal of all surplus lands after allotment.”
The 1934 Act, sometimes referred to as “The New Deal for Indians” (it came out of the FDR administration) was a 180-degree change in federal Indian policy. It stopped the process of allotment by stating “that hereafter no land of any Indian reservation ... shall be allotted in severalty to any Indian.” (Meaning “severed” from the land as a whole for “individual” Indian ownership as opposed to “tribal” ownership.)
Importantly, the Indian Reorganization Act was very clear regarding lands that had been sold under the FAA and “withdrawn” from reservation status. Section 3 of the act states: “The Secretary of the Interior ... is hereby authorized to restore to tribal ownership the remaining surplus lands of any Indian reservation heretofore opened … Provided, however, that valid rights or claims of any persons to any lands so withdrawn ... shall not be affected by this Act: …”
“Surplus lands” were “restored to tribal ownership”; “withdrawn” lands were not.
The proposed CSKT water compact defines “Flathead Indian Reservation” as “all land within the exterior boundaries of the Indian Reservation established under the ... Treaty of Hellgate ... notwithstanding (meaning “in spite of”) the issuance of any patent, and including rights-of-way ...”
When assumed definitions are incorrect, conclusions based on those definitions most likely are also.
Scott Kerr
Moiese
