American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Approximately 20 documents including personal letters addressed to attorneys involved with tribal claims against the United States government, Resolutions of Council, lists of tribal members, and contracts. Bulk of documents associated with Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho efforts to pursue claims against the United States separately from those claims filed by any band or bands of the Sioux. Collection highlighted by documents bearing the names and signatures or marks of members of the Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. Various places, 1909-1924.

15pp document identified in ink on its cover as "Arapaho & Cheyenne" then separately in pencil "Papers left with D.B.H. [Daniel B. Henderson] / by Eugene Fisher Mch 1921." The next page contains a typed statement indicating that the members of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe empower their delegates to select attorneys and enter into any agreements that may be in the best interest of the tribe, and "...further empower the delegate or delegates to explicitly and clearly state the sole desire of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Indians, to serve or segregate from the Sioux in entering into suit or suits before any high tribunal against the Government." The statement is followed by a list of more than 200 tribal members. The Northern Cheyenne's legal status as part of the Sioux Nation was a subject of debate in the 1920s, and Eugene Fisher would play a role in these discussions, testifying before the House of Representatives Committee on Indian Affairs in 1928. --  Signed and witnessed Resolutions of Council  with lists of tribe members from the Northern Cheyenne of Birney, Montana, the "Lame Deer District," the "Ashland District," the "O.D. District / Busby, Montana," the "Rosebud Creek District," and the Northern Arapaho from "Arapaho, Wyoming," undated as well as dated 27 March 1921,  29 March 1921, and 21 April 1921. Resolutions state the intent of these tribes to pursue any suit related to recovery of property in the South Dakota and Blackhills separately from the Sioux.

[With:] "Attorney's Contract Between the Arapaho Tribe of Indians and Daniel B. Henderson, Attorney at Law, City of Washington, District of Columbia." Handstamped by the Office of Indian Affairs on12 November 1923 and 27 May 1924. -- Agreement stating the intent of Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Indians to enter into a contract with Victor J. Evans to represent their claims against the US government. -- Another 10 documents, two listing names of delegation members and the remaining individual letters.

[Also with:] A letter to attorney Daniel B. Henderson from C.H. Gallineaux, a Financial Clerk at the Jicarilla Apache Indian Agency, regarding his his patent in fee, 5 April 1913.

Daniel Brosius Henderson, Sr. (1862-1940) spent the bulk of his career litigating on behalf of America's Native peoples. 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.