Between the year 1902 and 1905 the Dawes commission enrolled citizens of the Cherokee Nation for the purpose of allotment and the final dissolution of the Cherokee Nation. The book, And Still The Waters Run by Angie Debo, exposed the greed and corruption in what we have learned was one of the biggest land grabs of the twentieth century. Once the allotments had been made, greedy speculators and politicians set about the business of swindling the unsuspecting Indians out of their property. Within twenty years 80% of all Indian lands in Oklahoma was in white hands.

Although American citizenship was part of the agreement between the U.S. Government and the Cherokee Nation, many Cherokees did not enroll willingly. Redbird Smith, the image reflected in lamp, was taken in chains to be enrolled at Muskogee. Today our citizenship in the Cherokee Nation is based on the very roll that was meant to do away with the Cherokee forever.

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