Note 133 — Chapter IV
Reading edition
The fourth article was the objectionable one. It read: “The United States solemnly guaranty to the Wabash, and Illinois nations, or tribes of Indians, all the lands to which they have a just claim; and no part shall ever be taken from them, but by a fair purchase, and to their satisfaction. That the land originally belonged to the Indians; it is theirs, and theirs only. That they have a right to sell, and a right to refuse to sell. And that the United States will protect them in their said just rights.” American State Papers, vol. iv (Indian Affairs, vol. i), p. 338. No citizen of the United States had or has a right to refuse to sell land to the Government. Such a right could not be given to an Indian tribe.