IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA
IN THE MATTER OF )
Lelah-Puc-Ka-Chee, ON)
PETITION FOR WRIT OF)
Habeas - Corpus)
SUPPLEMENT TO PETITIONER,S BRIEF AND ARGUMENT.
I do further, respectfully submit, that the defendants in this case are under the dangerous influences of a powerful local prejudice, which took root and a permanent foot-hold during the administration of of Mr Malins,s predecessor, H,M, Rebok, commonly called,BIG-THUNDER,AND OVER-GROWN-BULK-OF-SELF-SUFFICIENCY, Who prided himself in writing long-high-sounding reports without much regard for the truth and in trampling upon and ignoring every Tribal right of these Indians. As a reward justly merited this Rebok went out of office despised shunned and avoided by over half of these Tribal Indians and leaving to say the least a most sad condition of things for one undertaking to succeed him. The Self-Considered idea of Rebok was that the Indian had no right, that any law compelled him to respect, That he and the State of Iowa had complete jurisdiction over the persons of thse Tribal Indians and in his dealings with them so treated and ignored all their Tribal, social, and domestic laws and usages, and was furthermore continually calling in and enforcing the laws of the State of Iowa in aid of his persecutions of them. In Rebok,s report of September 15th 1898 in Commissioner Jones Report of 1898 on Page 171, thereof, he says, " Cession by the State of Iowa of jurisdiction over the Indians, and their lands to the Federal Government and acceptance of same by Congress in 1896" And on page 163 and other places in such report, he says the Indian Rights Committee, to-wit Fellows, Ebersole, Caldwell, Jackson, and Penrose, formulated and got passed in the Iowa legislature a bill ceding jurisdiction over these Indians and their lands to the Federal Government. I submit the above quotations to show to your honor ignorant Rebok was as to Iowa and himself having personal jurisdiction over these Tribal Indians. That bill referred to by him was passed as originally drafted and became a law of the 26th General Assembly of Iowa page 114 Chapter 110. this law, your honor will notice had only reference to the lands of thse Indians and the jurisdiction over such lands and your Honor will further notice that all that part of his high-sounding report about jurisdiction over the persons of these Tribal Indians is drawn from Rebok,s imagination and self-sufficiency. This man Rebok as he reported so he acted toward these Indians, unfriendly, abusive, and persecuting, and in justification falsely claiming the protection of both State and Federal law. But these Subdued and harmless Tribal Indians were and are poor and without money or influential friends, to right and correct these wrongs and illegalities in the Federal Courts, or to bring them properly congress for full and fair consideration.
Therefore this man Rebok went on ignoring and trampling on their rights until the end of his term, making big-fabulous reports to suit himself, while the many wrongs and abuses received by these helpless Indians at his hands have gone by default unreported. By reason of the above stated facts a deep rooted local-prejudice has taken control and possession of the people generally in that part of the State of Iowa in which this Sac and Fox Indian reservation is located, to the effect that
these dirty, uncivilized, uneducated, skunk-eating, dog-eating, cat-eating, rat-eating, and snake-eating Tribal-Indians have no, social, political, domestic, or religious rights and usages and laws of their own That either under the Federal Constitution or the laws of the United States must or should be respected.
I further submit, to your consideration, that Commissioner Jones to U,S, Agents && Dated Sept,- 9th 1897 on page 7 of his 1898 report is both unreliable and misleading to agents and superintendents of these Government Boarding schools, because Jones must be wrong when he says they can compel attendants at such schools on such Indians Reservation located, without the voluntary consent of such children,s parents Providing the law and policy of the United States Government, as laid down in the case of the United States VS IMODA 4 Mont,-38 is to be followed and respected. Because in the above case the Federal Court refused to enforce the return and attendance to the Government-School located on the Black-Feet Agency and reservation to which Tribe and reservation the children in controversy belonged. I further respectfully submit that petition before you in this case not only shows the law of the above case has been violated and disregarded by the defendants herein but also the policy of the Federal Government. and I am of the opinion that the policy laid down in this Imoda case is the correct one and intended by our Federal Government to be carefully and faithful followed by these defendants. I believe the only legal and correct way to put this policy of our Federal Government by Government Indian Agents and Government Boarding School Superintendents, is clearly and correctly pointed out by George W, James on page 175 of Commissioner Jones Report of 1898.
Let the defendants in this case be ordered and compelled to adopt the course Mr James suggests (Which in my judgment is the only true policy of our Federal Government towards these Tribal Indians intended to be persued) and then the Indian Boarding School at Toledo will be a crowning success but if they should be permitted to go on in the future as in the past then surely this School as wel as the official career of these defendants, as servants of the Federal Government will surely be a signal and sad failure.
Jacob W. Lamb
atty for Petitioners
No SB-Law
Lelah-Puc-Ka-Chee
et al
vs
WG Malin et al
Filed Dec 8th 1899
AJ VanDuzee
By JO Stewart
