Samuel Nelson

“ All agree that the Indian right of occupancy creates an indefeasible title to the reservations that may extend from generation to generation, and will cease only by the dissolution of the tribe, or their consent to sell to the party possessed of the right of pre-emption. ”

“ It has already been shown that the United States have acknowledged the reservations to be the property of the Seneca nation-that they will never claim them nor disturb this nation in their free use and enjoyment, and that they shall remain theirs until they choose to sell them. ”

“ The eighth section provides that the taxes may be assessed, levied, and collected as directed by the act, notwithstanding the occupation of the lands by the Indians. The failure to extinguish the right of the Indians, or to remove them from the possession, shall not impair the validity of said taxes or prevent the collection.
This last section furnishes, doubtless, a solution of what we must otherwise regard as a very free, if not extraordinary, exercise of power over these reservations and the rights of the Indians, so long possessed and so frequently guaranteed by treaties. ”