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this
reservation, and no other Indians would hare rights to the
proceeds & of this reservation but yourselves.
Whilst under the act of 1889 the surplus lands of this
reservation, not required for allotments for yourselves and your
families, may be
thrown open to settlement, in which case every Chippewa Indian of
Minnesota
would have a share of the proceeds arising therefrom.
In case we conclude the agreement that we are talking
about for
this tract of land of 256,152 acres, all of the proceeds of that tract
goes
entirely to the Indians of the Bed Lake Agency.
It would be so provided in the agreement. Another clause
will
provide that the remaining portion, after that is ceded, will belong to
the
Indians of the Red Lake Agency alone. You
can see the way your lands have gone, and the proceeds
of the lands
that you have ceded. There are too
many persons of different agencies interested in it.
Your present condition is unsatisfactory and tenure
uncertain. Bear in mind that I am
talking to you of the cession of this piece on the western side and I
assure
you that you would still retain your interest in the ceded lands that
were
disposed of by that cession of 1889, and that by entering into an
agreement for
this piece of land you forfeit no rights to those claims that you have
presented to me today. They will be
adjudicated regardless of any agreement we may conclude and each will
be
determined upon its merits, and you will each receive your
proportionate share
of the money that has been derived, and will be derived, from the land
ceded in
1889. Now my friends, in the
proposition that I make to you, you have nothing to lose and a great
deal to
gain. You will lose none of the
proceeds of the ceded portion that is still unpaid, and if anything can
be
gotten out of the claims you present it will aid in having it brought
about. You gain a very important
matter by securing yourselves in your reservation which will then
remain
intact, and I am prepared to allow you a very liberal price for that
tract of
