Eastern Shawnee Tribe of OklahomaHistory Summit

September, 2015

Constitutional History

Professor G. William Rice, University of Tulsa College of Law

What is a Constitution?

A body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.

http://www.bing.com/search?q=constitution+defined&src=IE-TopResult&FORM=IETR02&pc=UP97&conversationid=

What is a Constitution?

1. the mode in which a state or society is organized; especially the manner in which sovereign power is distributed

2. the basic principles and laws of a nation, state, or social group that determine the powers and duties of the government and guarantee certain rights to the people in it

3. a written instrument embodying the rules of a political or social organization

Merriam-Webster Dictionary, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitution

What is a Constitution?

1. the system of fundamental principles according to which a nation, state, corporation, or the like, is governed. 2. the document embodying these

principles. 3. the way in which a thing is composed or

made up; makeup; composition:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/constitution

Constitutional Forms

1. Oral / Traditional2. Written3. Mixed

Constitutional Functions

1. Describe and Establish the Fundamental Organs of the Government

2. Empower Each of Those Organs to Do the Job for Which They are Created / Chartered

3. Limit the Government to Prevent it From Doing Certain Things (optional)

Constitutional Purposes

1. To establish the fundamental organic law by which a people and/or territory will be governed.

2. To adopt a set of agreed processes and rules for the establishment of subordinate laws regulating conduct and resolving disputes.

Early Eastern Shawnee TribalConstitutional Activities

1. Original Government was Constituted of Chiefs, and Assistants

2. Perhaps First Experience in Written Governmental Structure was Participation in the Intertribal Council of the Indian Territory

3. ESTO next established a written Constitution and Charter Under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act and Indian Reorganization Act.

4. Finally, a superseding Constitution was ratified on April 4, 1994, and amended march 2, 1999.

Indian Territory Council1. ARTICLE 12. The Cherokees agree that a general council,

consisting of delegates elected by each nation or tribe lawfully residing within the Indian Territory, may be annually convened in said Territory, which council shall be organized in such manner and possess such powers as hereinafter prescribed. TREATY WITH THE CHEROKEE, 14 Stat. 799, Proclaimed August 11, 1866.

2. Similar language in Treaties with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, 14 Stat. 785, Proclaimed August 11, 1866; Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, 14 Stat. 769, Proclaimed July 10, 1866; and Seminole Nation, 14 Stat. 755, Proclaimed August 16, 1866.

3. Potawatomi also treated with respect to such Council, 15 Stat. 531, Proclaimed, August 7, 1868.

Indian Territory CouncilJOURNAL.

OKMULGEE, Tuesday, September 27, A. D. 1870.Council convened at 9.30 A. M.

Superintedent Enoch Hoag presiding.J. G. Vore, Secretary pro tem.

Credentials of members of different tribes presented,and the following delegates admitted to seats :

CHEROKEE NATION, Wm. P. Ross. Riley Keys. Allen Ross.MUSKOKEE NATION, G. W. Stidham. Pleasant Porter. Etc.

OTTAWAS, Francis King.EASTERN SHAWNEES, - Lazarus Flint.

QUAPAWS, George Lane. SENECAS, James King. WYANDOTTES, James Hicks.

Indian Territory Council1870 Committee Reports

The committee to whom the duty was assigned of reporting upon the agricultural interests and resources of the Indian Territory, regret to say that they have no data upon which to estimate, even approximately, the quantity of land in cultivation within the limits ofthe Indian Territory.The Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles, Shawnees, Delawares, Senecas, Quapaws, Ottawas, Wyandottes, and the confederated Peorias, Weas, Piankeshaws, and Kas-kas-kias, are an agricultural people and rely upon the cultivation of the soil and the raising of stock for their livelihood,

Indian Territory Council1870 Committee Reports

OKMULGEE M. N.,December 17, AA. D. 1870.

Your committee to whom was referred, by resolution of the General Council of September 30, 1870, the subject of the populations and educational interests of the several nations represented in the General Council, report as follows :The committee have no means of ascertaining the exact population of the several nations, and therefore are compelled to give it approximately from the information they have been able to obtain ; and in their opinion it will exceed the figures given below. . . . . .OTTAWAS. The Ottawas . . . . have a school in successful operationof fifty-two scholars. Population of Shawnees, - - 80; Wyandottes, 160;Senecas, - - 188; These tribes have no schools among them.

Indian Territory Council – 6th Session 1875

OFFICERS.ENOCH HOAG, Sup't Indian Affairs, President,

G. W . GRAYSON, Secretary,WILLIAM ROBISON, Sergeant-at-Arms.

LIST OF DELEGATES.Eastern Shawnees.

James Choctaw.

Indian Territory CouncilCommittee Reports 1875

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE.EASTERN SHAWNEES.The Eastern Shawnees number ninety-three. Their land is on the east bank of Spring river, bordering the State of Missouri. On their ten thousand acres are timber, water and a rich soil, which is good to farm and pasture. They own forty horses, one hundred and twenty-five cattle, and two hundred hogs. They cultivate five hundred acres. Their houses are made of hewed logs, about which, are apple trees, peaches and cherries. They raise grass for hay, and plenty of vegetables for table use. There are twenty-nine houses. They have farmed enough to know its meaning, and intend to be comfortable if the coming crop is good.

Indian Territory CouncilCommittee Reports 1875

THE WYANDOTTS, SENECAS AND SHAWNEES.These tribes have a mission school among them, under the care of the Friends, which as to instruction, management, and attendance, is well reported. The number of these diminutive nations is not growing, though they have been very small a long time, and if they are not growing smaller it is on account of their school, which by teaching them how to accommodate themselves to the demands of progress, will enable them to escape the fatal results of a collision with it.#

CONSTITUTIONOF THE

INDIAN TERRITORY.

WHEREAS, The people of the nations of Indians inhabiting the Indian Territory, have agreed by treaty with the Government of the United States, and been by its agents invited, to meet in general council under the formes prescribed by the treaties of 1866, and the action thereon of the Government of the United States, having thus met to frame the laws and arrange the machinery of a government for the country occupied and owned by them, in order to draw themselves together in a closer bond of union, for the better protection of their rights, the improvement of themselves, and the preservation of their race, and relying on the guidance and favor of Almighty God to carry out in a consistent and practicable form the provisions of said treaties at the earliest practicable day, do hereby enact and promulgate the following as the constitutionor organic law of the said Indian Territory:

CONSTITUTIONOF THE

INDIAN TERRITORYARTICLE III.SEC. 1. The legislative power shall be vested in a General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives ; and the style of their acts shall be "Be it enacted," or, "Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the Indian Territory.“ SEC. 2. The Senate shall consist of one member from each nation whose population is two thousand citizens, and one member for every additional two thousand citizens or fraction greater than one thousand : Provided, nations with populations less than two thousand may unite and be represented in the same ratio ; And provided further, that the Ottawas, Peorias, and Quapaws, shall be entitled to one Senator ; and the Senecas, Wyandottes and Shawnees to one Senator ; andthe Sac and Foxes to one Senator.

CONSTITUTIONOF THE

INDIAN TERRITORY

ARTICLE III.SEC. 4. The House of Representatives shall consist of one member from each nation, and an additional member for each one thousand citizens, or fraction thereof, greater than five hundred.

IRA / OIWASec. 13. The provisions of this Act shall not apply to any of the Territories, colonies, or insular possessions of the United States, . . . . : Provided, That Sections 2, 4, 7, 16, 17, and 18 of this Act shall not apply to the following named Indian tribes, the members of such Indian tribes, together with members of other tribes affiliated with such named tribes located in the State of Oklahoma, as follows: . . . . Shawnee, . . . .Sec 2 extended the trust periods on Indian allotments until further action by Congress;Sec 4 prohibited most transfers of trust or restricted Indian lands to non-Indians by sale or otherwise;Sec 7 authorized the Secretary to create or expand reservationsSec 16 provided for tribal Constitutions binding on the SecretarySec 17 provided for the Secretary to issue charters of incorporation to tribesSec 18 allowed tribes to vote to reject the IRA: Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984).

IRASec. 16. Any Indian tribe, or tribes, . . . , shall have the right to organize for its common welfare, and may adopt an appropriate constitution and bylaws. which shall become effective when ratified by a majority vote of the adult members of the tribe, . . . , at a special election authorized and called by the Secretary of the Interior under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe. Such constitution and bylaws when ratified as aforesaid and approved by the Secretary of the Interior shall be revocable by an election open to the same voters and conducted in the same manner as hereinabove provided. Amendments to the constitution and bylaws may be ratified and approved by the Secretary in the same manner as the original constitution and bylaws. In addition to all powers vested in any Indian tribe or tribal council by existing law, the constitution . . . shall also vest in such tribe . . . the following rights and powers: To employ legal counsel, the choice of counsel and fixing of fees to be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior; to prevent the sale, disposition, lease, or encumbrance of tribal lands, interests in lands, or other tribal assets without the consent of the tribe; and to negotiate with the Federal, State, and local Governments. The Secretary of the Interior shall advise such tribe or tribal council of all appropriation estimates or Federal projects for the benefit of the tribe prior to the submission of such estimates to the Bureau of the Budget and the Congress.

IRASec. 17. The Secretary of the Interior may, upon petition by at least one-third of the adult Indians, issue a charter of incorporation to such tribe: Provided, That such charter shall not become operative until ratified at a special e1ection by a majority vote of the adult Indians living on the reservation. Such charter may convey to the incorporated tribe the power to purchase, take by gift, or bequest, or otherwise, own, hold, manage, operate, and dispose of property of every description, real and personal, including the power to purchase restricted Indian lands and to issue in exchange therefor interests in corporate property, and such further powers as may be incidental to the conduct of corporate business, not inconsistent with law, but no authority shall be granted to sell, mortgage, or lease for a period exceeding ten years any of the land included in the limits of the reservation. Any charter so issued shall not be revoked or surrendered except by Act of Congress.

Both Sections 16 and 17 have been amended by Congress. Section 16 now provides time limitations for Secretarial approval, limits his disapproval powers, and grants federal courts jurisdiction to review Secretarial disapprovals. Section 17 has been amended so that the Tribe’s governing body accepts any Charter issued by the Secretary. No referendum vote needed.

OIWA, Section 325 U.S.C. 503

Any recognized tribe or band of Indians residing in Oklahoma shall have the right to organize for its common welfare and to adopt a constitution and bylaws, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe. The Secretary of the Interior may issue to any such organized group a charter of incorporation, which shall become operative when ratified by a majority vote of the adult members of the organization voting: Provided, however, That such election shall be void unless the total vote cast be at least 30 per centum of those entitled to vote. Such charter may convey to the incorporated group, in addition to any powers which may properly be vested in a body corporate under the laws of the State of Oklahoma, the right to participate in the revolving credit fund and to enjoy any other rights or privileges secured to an organized Indian tribe under the Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984): Provided, That the corporate funds of any such chartered group may be deposited in any national bank within the State of Oklahoma or otherwise invested, utilized, or disbursed in accordance with the terms of the corporate charter.

IRA / OIWA

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWSOF THE

EASTERN SHAWNEE TRIBE OF OKLAHOMAii

•RATIFIED DECEMBER 22, 1939

CORPORATE CHARTEROF THE

EASTERN SHAWNEE TRIBE

OF OKLAHOMA+

RATIFIED DECEMBER 12, 1940

IRA / OIWA

IRA / OIWA

IRA / OIWA

IRA / OIWA

IRA / OIWA

IRA / OIWA

IRA / OIWA

IRA / OIWA

IRA / OIWACONSTITUTION OF THE

EASTERN SHAWNEE TRIBE OF OKLAHOMAPREAMBLE

We, the Eastern Shawnee Indians of Oklahoma, whose inherent sovereignty has existed since historic times, and who therefore hold those inherent powers to self-government that have not been extinguished by Congress, wish to develop a stronger self-determination policy in order to advance socially and economically, and to take advantage of the Thomas-Rogers Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of June 26, 1936 (49 Stat. 1967), do adopt the following onstitution which shall supersede the Constitution and Bylaws of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe approved by the Assistant Secretary of the Interior on November 7, 1939.

Ratified: April 4, 1994 per tribal website.