The Atoka Agreement is a document signed by representatives of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indian Nations and members of the United States Dawes Commission on April 23, 1897, at Atoka, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma ). It provided for the allotment of communal tribal lands of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations in the Indian Territory to individual households of members of the tribes, who were certified as citizens of the tribes. Land in excess of the allotments could be sold to non-natives. Provisions of this agreement were later incorporated into the Curtis Act of 1898, which provided for widespread allotment of communal tribal lands.
22-397: The agreement also reserved the "coal and asphalt lands" from the allotment process. These lands were to be sold or leased, and the proceeds used for the benefit of the two tribes. Under this agreement, the tribal governments were to be terminated on March 4, 1906. These actions were taken to extinguish Native American tribal claims to the land in order to enable the territory to be admitted as
44-605: A legal basis for being laid out, surveyed, and plotted. Any individual could obtain title to the lot in fee simple . The title owner of a lot had the legal right to sell or mortgage the property. An incorporated town or city had the right to self-regulation and levy taxes, allowing them to establish public services. By 1900, the largest towns in Indian Territory had incorporated. These included: Ardmore, with 1,500 residents; Muskogee, 4,200; McAlester, 3,500; Wagoner, 2,300; Tulsa, 1,300; and Eufaula, 800. Residents could not vote for
66-537: A state. In addition, the federal government representatives believed that adoption of subsistence farming by individual households, along the majority model of European Americans, would help these peoples assimilate and prosper. The two tribes ratified the document in November, 1897. However, Chickasaw law required that it be submitted to the voters of the Chickasaw Nation, who rejected it. The Curtis Act required that
88-587: A state.' There was no thought of including Oklahoma (Territory) in the proposed state, and it was well known that the Indians objected to inclusion in a state where the whites would have the controlling voice in government." Thus, the Atoka Agreement was a direct precursor to the Sequoyah Constitutional Convention , which wrote a constitution for the proposed State of Sequoyah and submitted it to
110-451: A vote of the Indian Territory residents. Haskell was skeptical that Congress would accept the proposed Sequoyah convention. He met with the tribal chiefs and told them: "I told the governors that I did not believe that Congress would grant statehood but that they were entitled to it under the (Atoka Agreement of 1898) Treaty," Haskell said. "I told them in the event we failed to secure statehood for Indian Territory that I wanted them to accept
132-638: Is a document signed by representatives of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indian Nations and members of the United States Dawes Commission on April 23, 1897, at Atoka, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma ). It provided for the allotment of communal tribal lands of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations in the Indian Territory to individual households of members of the tribes, who were certified as citizens of
154-581: The Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations . The Atoka Agreement had been rejected by a popular vote of the Chickasaw, but accepted by the Choctaw. The Curtis Act required that the Atoka Agreement be resubmitted to a vote of both nations. The agreement was approved in a joint election on August 24, 1898. The Curtis Act also scrapped the registration of tribal members that had been conducted under the Dawes Act and ordered new enrollments. This Act extended all provisions of
176-415: The Choctaw , Chickasaw , Muscogee (Creek), Cherokee , and Seminole . These tribes had been previously exempt from the 1887 General Allotment Act ( Dawes Act ) because of the terms of their treaties. In total, the tribes immediately lost control of about 90 million acres of their communal lands; they lost more in subsequent years. The act also transferred the authority to determine members of tribes to
198-511: The Dawes Commission as part of the registration of members. Thus, individuals could be enrolled as members without tribal consent. By effectively abolishing the remainder of tribal courts, tribal governments, and tribal land claims in the Indian Territory of Oklahoma, the act enabled Oklahoma to be admitted as a state, which followed in 1907. Officially titled the "Act for the Protection of
220-477: The Atoka Agreement be resubmitted to the voters of both nations. The agreement was approved in a joint election on August 24, 1898. Charles N. Haskell later told an interviewer that the Atoka Agreement "... was made with the express understanding that it was a step towards statehood,... and went so far as to specify that 'the lands now occupied by the Five Civilized Tribes shall be prepared for admission as
242-467: The Curtis Act. He believed that the Five Civilized Tribes needed to make changes. He thought that the way ahead for Native Americans was through education and use of both their and the majority cultures, but he also had hoped to give more support to Native American transitions. The Curtis Act called for the abolition of tribal governments on March 6, 1906. In 1924, it declared all Indians to be citizens of
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#1732873647666264-533: The Dawes Act to the lands of the Five Civilized Tribes . In the end, the large parts declared by the government to be "surplus" to their needs were made available for sale, including to non-Natives. An estimated 90 million acres of land formerly reserved for Native Americans were removed from their control. The Curtis Act also authorized the incorporation of towns in Indian Territory. This meant that towns had
286-692: The People of Indian Territory", the Act is named for former Vice President Charles Curtis , a Republican congressman from Kansas and its author. He was of mixed Native American and European descent: on his mother's side Kansa , Osage , Potawatomi , and French ; and on his father's side three ethnic lines of British Isles ancestry. Curtis was raised in part on the Kaw Reservation of his maternal grandparents, but also lived with his paternal grandparents and attended Topeka High School. He read law, became an attorney, and later
308-516: The President or Congress in Indian Territory. The U.S. President appointed territorial government officials, so the question of voting for these officials was irrelevant. However, under the Curtis Act, male residents of Indian Territory, including American Indians, who met voter qualifications were permitted to vote. After Oklahoma was admitted as a state in 1907, residents could also vote for state officials. Atoka Agreement The Atoka Agreement
330-522: The United States. Due to the nature of the lands in Indian Territory and the dry climate, the 160-acre allotments were often too small to permit profitable farming, and many Indian families had to give up and lost their lands in future years. The Act incorporated the basic points regarding land allotments and termination of tribal governments that had earlier appeared in the Atoka Agreement between
352-430: The document in November, 1897. However, Chickasaw law required that it be submitted to the voters of the Chickasaw Nation, who rejected it. The Curtis Act required that the Atoka Agreement be resubmitted to the voters of both nations. The agreement was approved in a joint election on August 24, 1898. Charles N. Haskell later told an interviewer that the Atoka Agreement "... was made with the express understanding that it
374-451: The tribal governments were to be terminated on March 4, 1906. These actions were taken to extinguish Native American tribal claims to the land in order to enable the territory to be admitted as a state. In addition, the federal government representatives believed that adoption of subsistence farming by individual households, along the majority model of European Americans, would help these peoples assimilate and prosper. The two tribes ratified
396-483: The tribes. Land in excess of the allotments could be sold to non-natives. Provisions of this agreement were later incorporated into the Curtis Act of 1898, which provided for widespread allotment of communal tribal lands. The agreement also reserved the "coal and asphalt lands" from the allotment process. These lands were to be sold or leased, and the proceeds used for the benefit of the two tribes. Under this agreement,
418-505: The verdict of Congress and support statehood for the two territories." Haskell said that all the representatives of the Five Civilized Tribes signed an agreement to that effect. Curtis Act The Curtis Act of 1898 was an amendment to the United States Dawes Act ; it resulted in the break-up of tribal governments and communal lands in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indian Territory :
440-443: Was a direct precursor to the Sequoyah Constitutional Convention , which wrote a constitution for the proposed State of Sequoyah and submitted it to a vote of the Indian Territory residents. Haskell was skeptical that Congress would accept the proposed Sequoyah convention. He met with the tribal chiefs and told them: "I told the governors that I did not believe that Congress would grant statehood but that they were entitled to it under
462-410: Was a step towards statehood,... and went so far as to specify that 'the lands now occupied by the Five Civilized Tribes shall be prepared for admission as a state.' There was no thought of including Oklahoma (Territory) in the proposed state, and it was well known that the Indians objected to inclusion in a state where the whites would have the controlling voice in government." Thus, the Atoka Agreement
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#1732873647666484-576: Was elected to the United States House of Representatives and Senate. He served as Vice-President under Herbert Hoover. In the usual fashion, by the time the bill HR 8581 had gone through five revisions in committees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, there was little left of Curtis' original draft. In his hand-written autobiography, Curtis noted having been unhappy with the final version of
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