Acts of Congress
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Acts of Congress
In addition to treaties, which are ratified by the US Senate and signed by the US President, there were also Acts of Congress, Executive Orders and Agreements which dealt with land agreements.
The U.S. military and representatives of a tribe, or sub unit of a tribe, signed documents which were understood at the time to be treaties, rather than armistices, ceasefires and truces.
Treaty-making between various Native American governments and the United States officially concluded on March 3, 1871 with the passing of the United States Code Title 25, Chapter 3, Subchapter 1, Section 71 (25 U.S.C. § 71). Pre-existing treaties were grandfathered, and further agreements were made under domestic law.
How an Act of Congress Works
An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. It can either be a Public Law, relating to the general public, or a Private Law, relating to specific institutions or individuals.
When the legislation of those two kinds is proposed, it is called public bill and private bill respectively.
An Act adopted by simple majorities in both houses of Congress is promulgated, or given the force of law, in one of the following ways:
Signature by the President of the United States
Inaction by the President after ten days from reception (excluding Sundays) while the Congress is in session, or reconsideration by the Congress after a presidential veto during its session. (A bill must receive a 2⁄3 majority vote in both houses to override a president’s veto.)
The President promulgates Acts of Congress made by the first two methods. If an Act is made by the third method, the presiding officer of the house that last reconsidered the act promulgates it.
Under the United States Constitution, if the President does not return a bill or resolution to Congress with objections before the time limit expires, then the bill automatically becomes an Act; however, if the Congress is adjourned at the end of this period, then the bill dies and cannot be reconsidered.
In addition, if the President rejects a bill or resolution while the Congress is in session, a two-thirds vote of both houses of the Congress is needed for reconsideration to be successful.
Promulgation in the sense of publishing and proclaiming the law is accomplished by the President, or the relevant presiding officer in the case of an overridden veto, delivering the act to the Archivist of the United States.
After the Archivist receives the Act, he or she provides for its publication as a slip law and in the United States Statutes at Large. Thereafter, the changes are published in the United States Code.
An Act of Congress that violates the Constitution may be declared unconstitutional by the courts. The judicial declaration of an Act’s unconstitutionality does not remove the law from the statute books; rather, it prevents the law from being enforced.
However, future publications of the Act are generally annotated with warnings indicating that the statute is no longer valid law.
Acts of Congress
Year
Date
Alternative Treaty Name
Statutes
Land Cession Reference (Royce Area)
Tribe(s)
1870
July 15
16 Stat. 359
650
Kickapoo of Texas and Mexico
1870
July 15
16 Stat. 362
534
Great and Little Osage
1870
July 15
16 Stat. 362
530
Great and Little Osage
1871
February 6
16 Stat. 404
403
Stockbridge and Munsee
1871
March 3
United States Code Title 25, Chapter 3, Subchapter 1, Section 71
16 Stat. 566
1871
March 3
16 Stat. 569
650
Kickapoo of Texas and Mexico
1872
April 23
17 Stat. 55
566
Ute
1872
May 8
17 Stat. 85
Kaw
1872
May 23
17 Stat. 159
506
Potawatomi and Absentee Shawnee
1872
May 29
17 Stat. 190
Lake Superior Chippewa
1872
May 29
17 Stat. 190
Cheyenne and Arapaho
1872
June 1
17 Stat. 213
256
Miami (Meshin-go-mesia’s band)
1872
June 5
17 Stat. 228
534
Great and Little Osage
1872
June 5
17 Stat. 228
535
Kaw
1872
June 5
17 Stat. 266
Flathead
1872
June 7
17 Stat. 281
Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux
1872
June 10
17 Stat. 381
Ottawa and Chippewa
1872
June 10
17 Stat. 388
Ottawa of Blanchards Fork and Roche de Boeuf
1872
June 10
17 Stat. 391
Omaha, Pawnee, Oto, Missouri, and Sac and Fox of the Missouri
1873
February 14
17 Stat. 456
538
Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux
1873
February 19
17 Stat. 466
249
New York Indians
1873
March 1
N/A
337
Lac Courte Oreille Band of Chippewa
1873
March 3
17 Stat. 539
542
Pembina Chippewa
1873
March 3
Abolish tribal relations
17 Stat. 631
330
Miami
1873
March 3
17 Stat. 633
543
Creek and Seminole
1873
March 3
17 Stat. 626
544, 583
Round Valley Indian Reservation
1873
March 3
17 Stat. 626
Crow
1874
April 15
Established reservation
18 Stat. 28
565
Gros Ventre, Piegan, Blood, Blackfoot, River Crow
1874
April 29
Agreement of 18 Sept 1873 confirmed
18 Stat. 36
566
Ute
1874
May 26
N/A
567, 568
Pillager Chippewa
1874
June 22
Payment for land by 12 Sept 1854 Treaty
18 Stat. 140
569
L’Anse and Lac Vieux Desert Ojibwe
1874
June 22
Agreement of 26 Sept 1872 confirmed
18 Stat. 166
539
Shoshoni
1874
June 22
2nd payment re Acts of 1872 & 1873
18 Stat. 167
538
Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux
1874
June 22
Purchase of Land
18 Stat. 170
570
From Omaha for Winnegagoes
1874
June 22
Fund removal, as per Treaty 18 May 1854
18 Stat. 156
Kickapoo of Texas and Mexico
1874
June 23
Sale of lands per 1872 Act
18 Stat. 272
Kaw, “Kansas Indian” lands
1874
June 23
NA
18 Stat. 273 not in cite
572
Papago
1874
June 23
NA
18 Stat. 273 not in cite
New York Indians
1874
December 15
Treaty 3 July 1868 amended, land ceded
18 Stat. 291
539
Shoshoni
1875
March 3
Reduced reservation
18 Stat. 445
576, 577
Paiute
1875
March 3
Removed to new reservation
18 Stat. 446
578, 579
Alsea Indian Reservation, Siletz Indian Reservation
1875
March 3
Purchase land for
18 Stat. 447
580
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
1875
March 3
Agreement 23 June 1874 confirmed, Eastern Shawnee lands to Modoc
18 Stat. 447
571
Eastern Shawnee, Modoc
Year
Date
Alternative Treaty Name
Statutes
Land Cession Reference (Royce Area)
Tribe(s)
1880
June 15
N/A
Ute
1891
January 12
26 Stat. 712
Mission Indians
1891
February 13
26 Stat. 749
Sac and Fox
1891
March 3
26 Stat. 1016
506
Citizen Band of Potawatomi
1891
March 3
26 Stat. 1022
525
Cheyenne and Arapaho
1891
March 3
26 Stat. 1027
553
Coeur d’Alene
1891
March 3
26 Stat. 1032
712, 713
Gros Ventre and Mandan
1891
March 3
26 Stat. 1035
496
Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux
1891
March 13
26 Stat. 1016
506
Absentee Shawnee
1892
June 17
27 Stat. 52
400
Klamath River Indian Reservation
1892
July 1
27 Stat. 62
717, 718
Colville Indian Reservation
1892
July 13
27 Stat. 124
552
Coeur d’Alene
1892
July 13
27 Stat. 139
625
Spokane
1893
February 20
27 Stat. 469
720
White Mountain Apache
1893
March 3
27 Stat. 557
650
Kickapoo
1893
March 3
27 Stat. 640
289
Cherokee
1893
March 3
27 Stat. 643
606
Tonkawa
1893
March 3
27 Stat. 644
591
Pawnee
1894
June 6
28 Stat. 86
370
Warm Springs
1894
August 15
28 Stat. 314
411
Yankton Sioux
1894
August 15
28 Stat. 320
400
Yakima
1894
August 15
28 Stat. 332
552
Coeur d’Alene
1894
August 15
28 Stat. 320
Yakima
1894
August 15
28 Stat. 323
479
Alsea et al.
1894
August 15
28 Stat. 326
442
Nez Perce
1894
August 15
28 Stat. 332
652
Yuma
1904
April 21
Turtle Mountain Chippewa Treaty; 10-cent Treaty; Agreement with the Turtle Mountain Band, amended and ratified
33 Stat. 194
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
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