Excerpt from A Brief Statement of the Rights of the Seneca Indians in the State of New York: To Their Lands in That State, With Decisions Relative by the State and United States Courts and Extracts From United States Laws, &C. Also, Drafts of a Proposed Memorial to Congress, and a Bill to Enable Them to Lease and Divide Their Lands The principal design of the Committee of the Society of Friends in preparing the annexed statement, is to show the Seneca Indians in the State of New York, the character of the title to the lands they occupy under the decisions of the Courts of the United States, and the Courts of the State of New York. It is known to them that the Government considers all Indians its wards, and as such, under its special protection and oversight. It has charge of their funds, and the annuities they are entitled to are annually paid to them by its officers appointed for the purpose. The history of the origin of the right which certain citizens of the United States have to extinguish, by purchase, the title of the Seneca Indians to their reservations, when they are willing to sell them, has been derived from authentic sources, and is printed, with the legal decisions respecting it, in order to give them a clear understanding of that right. It appears from the decisions of the Courts, as well as the articles of the treaty of 1794, quoted therein, that the Indian occupants cannot be deprived of their lands without their consent. They are "to remain theirs until they choose to sell them," and they are not subject to taxation of any kind. The extracts from laws and decisions of courts, which are added, contain information respecting their rights, which should also be understood. The draft of a Memorial, and the Act which it is proposed Congress shall be requested to pass, are also printed, in order to give an opportunity for all interested in the latter, to examine and carefully consider, before they are presented for the action of that body. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.