The foregoing instrument was read, considered, and approved by us this 23d day of August, 1839. Aaron Price, Major Pullum, Young Elders, Deer Track, Young Puppy, Turtle Fields, July, The Eagle, The Crying Buffalo and a great number of respectable Old Settlers and late Emigrants, too numerous to be copied.It being determined that a constitution should be made for the inchoate government, men were selected by its sponsors, from those at the Illinois Camp Ground, including as many western Cherokees as could be induced to sign it; their number being less than two dozen out of a total of eight thousand. The constitution as drafted by William Shory Coody, was accepted by the Convention.
Revisions of the Cherokee Peoples Constitution
according to the 2000 Reform Convention
The Eastern and Western Cherokees having again re-united, and
become one
body politic, under the
style and title of the Cherokee Nation: Therefore, We, the people
of the
Cherokee Nation, in National
Convention assembled, in order to establish justice, insure
tranquility,
promote the common welfare,
and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of
freedom
acknowledging, with humility and
gratitude, the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in
permitting us so to do, and imploring
His aid and guidance in its accomplishment--do ordain and
establish this
Constitution for the
government of the Cherokee Nation.
Article I.
Sec. 1. The boundary of the Cherokee Nation shall be that
described in the treaty of 1833 between
the United States and Western Cherokees, subject to such
extension as may
be made in the
adjustment of the unfinished business with the United States.
Sec. 2. The lands owned by, held in
trust for,
or otherwise under the superintendence of the Cherokee
Nation shall remain common property; but the improvements made
thereon,
and in the possession of
the citizens respectively who made, or may rightfully be in
possession of
them: Provided, that the
citizens of the Nation possessing exclusive and indefeasible
right to
their improvements, as expressed
in this article, shall possess no right or power to dispose of
their
improvements, in any manner
whatever, to the United States, individual States, or to
individual
citizens thereof; and that, whenever
any citizen shall remove with their effects out of the limits of
this
Nation, and become a citizen of any
other government, all their rights and privileges as a citizen of
this
Nation shall cease: Provided,
nevertheless, That the National Council shall have power to
re-admit, by
law, to all the rights of
citizenship, any such person or persons who may, at any time,
desire to
return to the Nation, on
memorializing the National Council for such readmission.
Article II.
Sec. 1. The power of the Government
shall be
divided into three distinct departments---the
Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial.
Sec. 2. No person or persons belonging
to one of
these departments shall exercise any of the powers
properly belonging to either of the others, except in the cases
hereinafter expressly directed or
permitted.
Article III.
Sec. 1. The Legislative power
shall be
vested in two distinct branches--a National Committee, and
Council; and the style of their acts shall be--Be it enacted by
the
National Council.
Sec. 2. The National Council shall
make
provisions, by law, for laying off the Cherokee Nation into
eight districts; and if subsequently it should be deemed
expedient, one
or two may be added thereto.
Sec. 3. The National Committee shall
consist of
two members from each district, and the Council shall
consist of three members from each District, to be chosen by the
qualified electors in their respective
Districts for two years; the elections to be held in the
respective
Districts every two years, at such
times and place as may be directed by law. The National Council
shall,
after the present year, be held
annually, to be convened on the first Monday in October, at such
place as
may be designated by the
National Council, or , in case of
emergency, the
Principal Chief.
Sec. 4. Before the Districts shall be
laid off,
any election which may take place shall be by a general
vote of the electors throughout the Nation for all offices to be
elected.
The first election for all three
officers of the Government--Chiefs, Executive Council, members of
the
National Council, Judges and
Sheriffs--shall be held at Tah-le-quah
before
the rising of this Convention; and the term of service of
all officers elected previous to the first Monday in October
1839, shall
be extended to embrace, in
addition to the regular constitutional term, the time intervening
from
their election to the first Monday
in October, 1839.
Sec. 5. No person shall be eligible to
a seat in
the National Council but a Cherokee citizen who shall
have attained the age of twenty-five years.
Sec. 6. The electors and members of
the National
Council shall in all cases, except those of treason,
felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during
their
attendance at elections, and at
the National Council, in going to and returning.
Sec. 7. In all elections by the
people, the
electors shall vote viva voce. All Cherokee citizens, who
shall have attained to the age of eighteen [18] years shall be
equally
entitled to vote at all public
elections.
Sec. 8. Each branch of the National
Council,
when assembled, shall judge of the qualifications and
returns of its own members; and determine the rules of its
proceedings;
punish a member for
disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two thirds,
expel a
member; but not a second time
for the same offense.
Sec. 9. Each branch of the National
Council,
when assembled, shall choose its own officers; a
majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business
, but a smaller number may adjourn from day
to day and compel the attendance of absent members in such manner
and
under such penalty as each
branch may prescribe.
Sec. 10. The members of the National
Council,
shall each receive from the public Treasury a
compensation for their services which shall be three dollars per
day
during their attendance at the
National Council; and the members of the Council shall each
receive three
dollars per day for their
services during their attendance at the National Council,
provided that
the same may be increased or
diminished by law, but no alteration shall take effect during the
period
of service of the members of
the National Council by whom such alteration may have been made.
Sec. 11. The National Council shall
regulate by
law by whom and in what manner, writs of elections
shall be issued to fill the vacancies which may happen in either
branch
thereof.
Sec. 12. Each member of the National
Council,
before seated, shall take the following oath, or
affirmation: I, A.B. do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case
may be,)
that I have not obtained my
election by bribing, treats, or any undue and unlawful means used
by
myself or others by my desire or
approbation for that purpose; that I consider myself
constitutionally
qualified as a member of ____,
and that on all questions and measures which may come before me I
will so
give my vote and so
conduct myself as in my judgment shall appear most conducive to
the
interest and prosperity of this
Nation, and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same,
and to the
utmost of my ability and power
observe, conform to, support and defend the Constitution thereof.
Sec. 13. No person who may be
convicted of
felony shall be eligible to any office or appointment of
honor, profit, or trust within this Nation.
Sec. 14. The National Council shall
have the
power to make laws and regulations which they shall
deemed necessary and proper for the
good of the
Nation, which shall not be contrary to this
Constitution.
Sec. 15. It shall be the duty of the
National
Council to pass laws as may be necessary and proper to
decide differences by arbitration, to be appointed by the
parties, who
may choose that summary mode
of adjustment.
Sec. 16. No power of suspending the
laws of this
Nation shall be exercised, unless by the National
Council or its authority.
Sec. 17. No retrospective law, nor any
law
impairing the obligation of contracts, shall be passed.
Sec. 18. The National Council shall
have the
power to make laws for laying and collecting taxes, for
the purpose of raising a revenue.
Sec. 19. All bills making
appropriations shall
originate in the National Committee, but the Council may
propose amendments or reject the same; all other bills may
originate in
either branch, subject to the
concurrence or rejection of the other.
Sec. 20. All acknowledged treaties
shall be the
supreme laws of the land, and the National Council
shall have the sole power of deciding on the construction of all
treaty
stipulations. Sec. 21. The
Council shall have the sole power of impeachment. All impeachment's
shall be tried by the National
Committee. When setting for that purpose the member shall be upon
oath or
affirmation; and no
person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds
of the
members present.
Sec. 22. The Principal Chief,
assistant
Principal Chief, and all civil officers shall be liable to
impeachment for misdemeanor in office; but judgment in such cases
shall
not be extended further than
removal from office and disqualification to hold office of honor,
trust,
or profit under the Government
of this Nation. The party, whether convicted or acquitted, shall
nevertheless, be liable to indictment,
trial, judgment and punishment according to law.
Article IV
Sec. 1. The Supreme Executive Power of this Nation shall
be
vested in a Principal Chief, who shall
be styled the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. The
Principal Chief
shall hold office for the
term of four years; and shall be elected by the qualified
electors on the
same day and at the places
where they shall respectively vote for members of the National
Council.
The returns of the election
for Principal Chief shall be sealed up and directed to the
President of
the National Committee, who
shall open and publish them in the presence of the National
Council
assembled. The person having the
highest number of votes shall be Principal Chief; but if two or
more
shall be equal and highest in votes,
one of them shall be chosen by joint vote of both branches of the
Council.
The manner of determining
contested elections shall be directed by law.
Sec. 2. No person except a Cherokee
citizen
shall be eligible to the office of Principal Chief; neither
shall any person be eligible to that office who
shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years.
Sec. 3. There shall also be chosen at
the same
time by the qualified electors in the same manner for
four years, an assistant Principal Chief, who shall have attained
to the
age of thirty-five years.
Sec. 4. In case of the removal of the
Principal
Chief from office, or of his death or resignation, or
inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office,
the same
shall devolve on the assistant
Principal Chief until the disability be removed or a Principal
Chief
shall be elected.
Sec. 5. The National Council may by
law provide
for the case of removal, death, resignation, or
disability of both the Principal Chief and assistant Principal
Chief,
declaring what officer shall then act
as Principal Chief until the disability be removed or a Principal
Chief
shall be elected.
Sec. 6. The Principal Chief and
assistant
Principal Chief shall, at stated times, receive for their
services a compensation which shall neither be increased nor
diminished
during the period for which
they shall have been elected; and they shall not receive within
that
period any other emolument from
the Cherokee Nation or any other Government.
Sec. 7. Before the Principal Chief
enters on the
execution of his office, the Principal Chief shall take
the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear, or
affirm,
that I will faithfully execute the
duties of Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, and will, to
the best
of my ability, preserve, protect,
and defend the Constitution of the Cherokee Nation."
Sec. 8. The Principal Chief may, on
extraordinary occasions, convene the National Council at the seat
of government.
Sec. 9. The Principal Chief may, from
time to
time, give to the National Council information of the
state of government, and recommend to their consideration such
measures
as deemed expedient.
Sec. 10. The Principal Chief shall
take care
that the laws be faithfully executed.
Sec. 11. It shall be the duty of the
Principal
Chief to visit the different districts at least once in two
years, to be informed of the general condition of the country.
Sec. 12. The assistant Principal Chief
shall, by
virtue of the office, aid and advise the Principal Chief
in the administration of the government at all times during the
continuance in office.
Sec. 13. Vacancies that may occur in
offices,
the appointment of which is vested in the National
Council, shall be filled by the Principal Chief during the recess
of the
National Council by granting
commissions which shall expire at the end of the next session
thereof. Sec. 14. Every bill which shall
pass both branches of the National Council shall, before it
becomes a
law, be presented to the
Principal Chief; if approved, it shall be signed; but if not, it
shall be
returned, with objections to that
branch in which it may have originated, who shall enter the
objections at
large on their journals and
proceed to reconsider it; if, after such reconsideration,
two-thirds of
that branch shall agree to pass
the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the
other
branch, by which it shall likewise be
reconsidered, and, if approved by two-thirds of that branch, it
shall
become law. If any bill shall not be
returned by the Principal Chief within five days (Sundays
excepted),
after the same has been
presented to the Principal Chief, it shall become a law in like
manner as
if it had been signed, unless
the National Council, by their adjournment, prevent its return,
in which
case it shall be a law, unless
sent back within three days after their next meeting.
Sec. 15. Members of the National
Council, and
all officers, executive and judicial, shall be bound by
oath to support the Constitution of this Nation, and to perform
the
duties of their respective offices
with fidelity.
Sec. 16. In case of disagreement
between the two
branches of the National Council with respect to
the time of adjournment, the Principal Chief shall have power to
adjourn
the same to such time as may
deemed proper; provided, it be not a period beyond the next
constitutional meeting thereof.
Sec. 17. The Principal Chief shall,
during the
session of the National Council, attend at the seat of
government.
Sec. 18. There shall be a council
composed of
five persons, to be appointed by the National Council,
whom the Principal Chief shall have full power and discretion to
assemble; the Principal Chief,
together with the Assistant Principal Chief and the counselors,
or a
majority of them, may, from time
to time, hold and keep a council for ordering and directing the
affairs
of the Nation according to law;
provided, the National Council shall have power to reduce the
number, if
deemed expedient, after the
first term of service, to a number not less than three.
Sec. 19. The members or the executive
council
shall be chosen for the term of two years.
Sec. 20. The resolutions and advice of
the
council shall be recorded in a register, and signed by the
members agreeing thereto, which may be called for by either
branch of the
National Council; and any
counselor may enter their dissent to the majority.
Sec. 21. The Treasurer shall, before,
entering
on the duties of the office, give bond to the Nation, with
sureties, to the satisfaction of the National Council, for the
faithful
discharge of their trust.
Sec. 22. The Treasurer shall, before
entering on
the duties of his office, give bond to the Nation, with
sureties, to the satisfaction of the National Council, for the
faithful
discharge of his trust.
Sec. 23. No money shall be drawn from
the
Treasury but by warrant from the Principal Chief, and in
consequence of appropriations made by law.
Sec. 24. It shall be the duty of the
Treasurer
to receive all public moneys, and to make a regular
statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all
public
moneys at the annual session of
the National Council.
Article V.
Sec. 1. The Judicial Powers shall be vested in a Supreme
Court,
and such circuit and inferior courts
as the National Council may, from time to time, ordain and
establish.
Sec. 2. The judges of the Supreme and
Circuit
courts shall hold their commissions for the term of four
years, but any of them may be removed from office on the address
of
two-thirds of each branch of
the National Council to the Principal Chief for that purpose.
Sec. 3. The Judges of the Supreme and
Circuit
Courts shall, at stated times, receive a compensation
which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office,
but
they shall receive no fees or
perquisites of office, nor hold any other office of profit or
trust under
the government of this Nation, or
any other power.
Sec. 4. No person shall be appointed a
judge of
any of the courts until attaining the age of thirty years.
Sec. 5. The Judges of the Supreme
and Circuit
courts shall be as many Justices of the Peace as it
may be deemed expedient for the public good, whose powers,
duties, and
duration in office shall be
clearly designated by law.
Sec. 6. The Judges of the Supreme
Court and of
the Circuit Courts shall have complete criminal
jurisdiction in such cases, and in such manner as may be pointed
out by
law.
Sec. 7. No Judge shall sit on trial of
any cause
when the parties are connected in interests with the
Judge by affinity or consanguinity, except by consent of the
parties. In
case all the Judges of the
Supreme Courts shall be interested in the issue of any case, or
related
to all or either of the parties,
the National Council may provide by law for the selection of a
suitable
number of persons of good
character and knowledge, for the determination thereof, and who
shall be
specially commissioned for
the adjudication of such cases by the Principal Chief.
Sec. 8. All writs and other process
shall run
"In the Name of the Cherokee Nation," and bear test and
be signed by the respective clerks.
Sec. 9. Indictments shall
conclude---"Against the Peace and Dignity of the Cherokee Nation." Sec.
10. The Supreme Court shall, after the present year, hold
its
session annually at the seat of
government, to convened on the first
Monday of
October in each year.
Sec. 11. In all criminal prosecutions
the
accused shall have the right of being heard; of demanding the
nature and cause of the accusation; of meeting the witnesses face
to
face; of having compulsory
process for obtaining witnesses in their favor; and in
prosecutions by
indictment or information, a
speedy public trial, by an impartial jury of the vicinage; nor
shall the
accused be compelled to give
evidence against ones’ self.
Sec. 12. The people shall be secure in
their
persons, houses, papers, and possessions from
unreasonable seizures and searches, and no warrant to search any
place,
or to seize any person or
thing, shall issue, without describing them as nearly as may be,
nor
without good cause, supported by
oath or affirmation.
Sec. 13. All persons shall be bilabial
by
sufficient securities, unless for capital offenses, where the
proof is evident or presumption great.
Article VI
Sec. 1. The free exercise of religious worship, and
serving God
without distinction, shall forever be
enjoyed within the limits of this Nation; provided, that this
liberty of
conscience shall not be so
construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify
practices
inconsistent with the peace or safety
of this Nation.
Sec. 2. When the National Council
shall
determine the expediency of appointing delegates, or other
public agents, for the purpose of transacting business with the
government of the
Principal Chief shall appoint and commission such delegates or
public
agents accordingly. On all
matters of interest, touching the rights of the citizens of this
Nation,
which may require the attention of
the
government through the medium of its proper officers.
Sec. 3. All commissions shall be "In
the
name and by the Authority of the Cherokee Nation," and be
sealed with the seal of the Nation, and signed by the Principal
Chief.
The Principal Chief shall make
use of his private seal until a National seal shall be provided.
Sec. 4. A sheriff shall be elected in
each
district by the qualified electors thereof, who shall hold the
office two years, unless sooner removed. Should a vacancy occur
subsequent to an election, it shall be
filled by the Principal Chief, as in other cases, and the person
so
appointed shall continue in office until
the next regular election.
Sec. 5. No person shall, for the same
offense,
be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall the
property of any person be taken and applied to public use without
a just
and fair compensation;
provided, that nothing in this clause shall be construed as to
impair the
right and power of the National
Council to lay and collect taxes.
Sec. 6. The right of trial by jury
shall remain
inviolate, and every person, for injury sustained in person,
property, or reputation, shall have remedy by due process of law.
Sec. 7. The appointment of all
officers, not
otherwise directed by this Constitution, shall be vested in
the National Council.
Sec. 8. Religion, mortality and
knowledge being
necessary to good government, the preservation of
liberty, and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of
education
shall forever be encouraged
in this Nation.
Sec. 9. The National Council may
propose such
amendments to this Constitution as two-thirds of each
branch may deem expedient, and the Principal Chief shall issue a
proclamation, directing all civil
officers of the several districts to promulgate the same as
extensively
as possible within their
respective districts at least six months previous to the next
general
election. And if, at the first session
of the National Council, after such general election, two-thirds
of each
branch shall, by ayes and noes,
ratify such proposed amendments, they shall be valid to all
intent and
purposes, as parts of this
Constitution; provided that such proposed amendments shall be
read on
three several days in each
branch, as well when the same are proposed, as when they are
ratified.
Done in convention at
Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, this sixth day of September, 1839,
GEORGE LOWREY,
PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL CONVENTION