American Historical Ephemera and Photography Online

More than 600 letters and documents, spanning ca 1910-1920, comprised of original signed letters, copies of correspondence, telegrams, and various memoranda primarily associated with the Sioux, Assiniboine, and Ponca Nations, and their tribal attorney Daniel B. Henderson of Washington, D.C.

Lot contains five string-bound packets identified as follows: "Sioux / Black Hills / Correspondence / For the Year 1917" containing original and copy correspondence attributed via packet index to more than 70 individuals; "Sioux / Black Hills / Correspondence / Months of September, October, November and December, 1920" containing original and copy correspondence attributed via packet index to nearly 50 individuals; "Year 1920" containing copies of correspondence and documents attributed via packet index to more than 100 non-Native and Native individuals and clients; "Ponca / Delegation Activities / Duplicates," approx. 150 pp, containing typewritten documents associated with 1914 and 1919 Conferences between Henderson and members of the Ponca Indians, and a 1912 interview with Henderson by the Ponca Indians; and "Assiniboine / Memoranda (Typewritten)," 200+pp, containing what appears to be a compilation of research related to Assiniboine tribal history, land claims, prior treaties, and government reports. A small group of loose, primarily handwritten papers also relating to the Assiniboine accompanies the lot, and may be the contents of a previously collated packet for which an unbound cover "Assiniboine / Memoranda (Pencil)" is present.

Most substantive in the lot are the packets of correspondence related to the Sioux. The packets contain letters from tribal leaders to Henderson, letters from Henderson to tribal representatives, letters exchanged between Henderson and his legal associate Victor J. Evans, letters from representatives of the Department of the Interior, and other letters from associates of Henderson. Correspondence deals in part with a compensatory claim for the Black Hills, and efforts by Native representatives to coordinate a meeting of the Great Council or "Black Hills Sioux Council." Other letters in the packets reflect issues that were increasingly being pressed by Native peoples via the courts and petitions to the Department of the Interior, such as land claims and allotments. Much of Henderson's 1917 correspondence is written while he was traveling and engaging directly with his Native American counterparts on their respective reservations.

Daniel Brosius Henderson, Sr. (1862-1940) spent the bulk of his career litigating on behalf of America's Native peoples. His work centered in large part on the legal aftermath of the Dawes Act, allotments, and evaluation of treaties and Native American rights. He was born in Hancock, Maryland, attended the University of Virginia, and by the late 1800s had established a law practice in Kansas City, Missouri. After more than a decade in Missouri, Henderson and his growing family returned to Virginia in 1901. It was in Washington, DC, where the young lawyer would distinguish himself as a prominent attorney with a specialization in Indian claims litigation. Over the course of a decades long career, he represented the claims of multiple tribes in disputes against the US government.

Packets generally in good condition, but with covers and some pages heavily worn, brittle, and with chipping on edges. Overall toning and wear. Binding on the "Assiniboine / Memoranda (Typewritten)" packet is undone, and a small number of pages have come loose from packet.