Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons today made a public statement on the current status of a claim against the United States filed with the Indian Claims commission in 1948 by the Creek Indian Tribe.
The claim involves compensation for about nine million acres in Georgia and Alabama, ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Fort Jackson in 1814.
Commissioner Emmons’ statement was prompted by the large volume of correspondence the Department of the Interior has received from people in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, who feel they are entitled to share in the claim. Many of these people, he said, apparently have been misinformed concerning the status of the claim and the steps that will be necessary for them to establish any rights they may have.
The Indian Claims Commission is an independent Federal agency and not a part of the Department of the Interior. The text of Commissioner Emmons’ statement follows:
“The claim of the Creek Indians against the Government has not yet been determined finally. The case is still pending before the Indian Claims Commission. If the final judgment is favorable to the claimants, it would be necessary for the Congress to appropriate such amount as may be due the Indians, and these funds would then be placed in the Treasury of the United states to the credit of the Creek Indians.
“In these circumstances it would be necessary for Congress by separate legislation to authorize the distribution of this money and either specify in such law, in general terms, the qualifications of those who would be entitled to share in the distribution consistent with the findings of the Indian Claims Commission or authorize the Secretary of the Interior to do this by regulation.
"Application blanks, for which there would be no charge, would be made available by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and information given as to where they may be obtained and when, with whom, and by what date they should be filed. Information would also be given as to the information or facts which must be furnished in support of such application.
“At that time a deadline would be established for filing the application. Thereafter the Commissioner of Indian Affairs would proceed to examine each application and determine the eligibility of the applicant. When this work has completed, a roll would be prepared of those entitled to share and on the basis of the number of persons on such roll and the amount of funds available for distribution, the per capita share of each enrolled person would be fixed.
“The employment of a genealogist or other person to trace the ancestry of an applicant is not a requirement of the Government but a matter for each individual to determine for himself. The Government does not require the payment of a fee for filing applications.”
