Alice Lamey et al.

Alice Lamey was one of those brave women of Indian Territory who persisted in her claims of possessing Chickasaw blood and was determined to have the Dawes Commission and the Chickasaw Nation acknowledge her family as Chickasaw Indians by blood.



Image Courtesy of
Carlotta "Kemp" Wheeler
Design by Terry Ligon

 It is unfortunate the decisions of the Dawes Commission and the so called customs of the Chickasaw Nation denied the ancestry of Simmion Lamey and his children. They were enrolled as Chickasaw Freedmen despite the insistence of Simmion’s father being a full blood Chickasaw.



Senate Document 298 (59th Congress, 2nd Sesson p.2)



The actions of the Dawes Commission with the approval of the tribes meant that thousands of people who actually possessed “Indian blood” were left off the citizenship rolls based on the antebellum custom of determining race by the “status” of their mother.

Senate Document 298 (59th Congress, 2nd Session p.8)

In other words if you mother was a slave your "blood" was contaminated and you were not considered to be an "Indian by blood." Only if you mother happened to be "Indian" or "white" you would be considered an Indian. It would appear these attitudes continue with the leaders in the Five Slave Holding Tribes today.  

Senate Document 298 (59th Congress, 2nd Session p.5)

When the attorney’s for the freedmen sought a transfer to the “citizens by blood” roll the Dawes Commission and the tribes completely ignored the mandate that people with Indian blood should be placed on the blood roll; in other words, basic genealogy and lineal descent.

When analyzing documents of “mixed blood” African-Natives we begin to see the pattern and nature of the Dawes Commissions refusal to acknowledge everyone who possessed Indian ancestry.

When the Dawes Commission refused to accept an application for citizenship by blood based on Simmion Lamey’s father, they used the status of his mother, Rose Alhuntubby being an enslaved woman and completely ignored established laws on lineal descent. Their decision was enough to deny this family and all of their descendants to ever be considered Choctaw or Chickasaw.



Alice Lamey et al. F-100 Joe & Dillard Perry Files



As the records will bear out the Lamey family was not alone in having their rights refused which resulted in another miscarriage of justice. Each member of this family would have been allotted three hundred and twenty acres of land that was given to those with Choctaw or Chickasaw. Along with the rights and privileges of citizenship the Lamey family to this day has not been properly acknowledged as being Chickasaw.



Image of Tippie Lamey Courtesy of
Carlotta "Kemp" Wheeler
Graphic Design by Terry Ligon

  

Clearly the Dawes Commission’s actions have made it difficult for all of the “transfer cases” on Bettie’s List to prove their “Indian blood.” The fact that most of the Five Slave Holding Tribes disingenuously claim they will accept anyone with Indian blood on the Dawes Roll, probably doesn’t mean this class of people?

It will take a great deal of moral courage on the part of the tribes to acknowledge the many wrongs their ancestor’s have done.

It will take even more courage for the people and leaders of these tribes to acknowledge that there are people with "Indian blood" who are today being excluded based on some racist custom rooted in slavery.

Note: Lamey family researchers may want to look at additional records concerning this family's claim for Chickasaw citizenship by blood. These files are located at the NARA Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX and the file are listed in the Joe and Dillard Perry database as F-100, F-219, F-64 and so on.


I have a special request if you obtain the files. Since I'm compiling a database with all of the documentation for Bettie's List I could use a copy of each file except F-100 Alice Lamey.

856	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Tippy	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-100	90C
857	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	William	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-100	90C
2059	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Eddie	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-219	90C
405	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Robert	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-064	90C
404	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Dewey	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-064	90C
403	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Elizabeth	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-064	90C
1173	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Irena	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-156	90C
853	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Noah	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-099	90C
858	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	William	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-101	90C
855	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Mary	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-100	90C
891	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Robert	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-110	90C
859	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Albert	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-101	90C
860	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Charley	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-101	90C
861	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Daisy	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-101	90C
862	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Evalina	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-101	90C
863	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Tommie	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-102	90C
889	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Sampson	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-110	90C
890	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Dewey	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-110	90C
854	Choctaw-Chickasaw	Lamey	Bessie	Joe and Dillard Perry	F-100	90C