J. B. Milam

Jesse Bartley Milam(1884–1949) was best known as the firstPrincipal Chief of the Cherokee Nationappointed by a U.S. president since tribal government had been dissolved beforeOklahomaStatehood in 1907. He was appointed by PresidentFranklin D. Rooseveltin 1941, who reappointed him in 1942 and 1943; he was reappointed by PresidentHarry S. Trumanin 1948. He died while in office in 1949.

Early life

J. B. Milam,as he was commonly known, was born on March 10, 1884,nearItaly, Texas,to Sarah Ellen (née Couch) and William Guinn Milam.His mother's family had fled theCherokee Nationin Indian Territory to Texas in 1863 as refugees from the fighting during theAmerican Civil War.His father's family had immigrated toTexasfromAlabama.He was Cherokee through his mother, who was a member of the Long Hair Clan. According to the Cherokee matrilineal kinship system, he was considered born into her clan, receiving his social status from her people.In 1887 his family returned to Cherokee Nation lands in northeasternIndian Territoryand settled near what is nowChelsea, Oklahoma.

Milam attended theCherokee Male Seminary,a tribally run college inTahlequah, Oklahoma.In 1901 and 1902, he studied at the Metropolitan Business College inDallas, Texas.After college, he returned to Chelsea and worked in his father's hardware store. He also worked as a cashier at the Bank of Chelsea. He also ventured into the burgeoning oil and gas business. Together with his brother-in-law, Woodley G. Phillips, Milam founded the Phillips and Milam Oil Company, which grew rapidly.

On April 6, 1904, he married Elizabeth Peach McSpadden.Her CherokeeDawes Rollnumber was #12943, while his was #24953. These numbers are from the census rolls of Cherokee citizens from 1899 to 1907 documented by the US federal government's Dawes Commission to allot tribal lands. The couple had two daughters and one son.

In 1915, Milam became the president of the Bank of Chelsea, the first bank in the Cherokee Nation. He later founded the Rogers County Bank inClaremore, Oklahoma.

Fostering cultural studies

In 1922, Milam privately funded Emmet Starr's research of Cherokee genealogy and history,which resulted in the 1917 publication of Starr'sEarly History of the Cherokees.Milam, an avid bibliophile, amassed a collection of over 1600 volumes about Cherokee and Native American history and culture.

Inspired by the inventor of theCherokee syllabary,Sequoyahand his quest to unite Cherokee factions, J. B. Milam funded an expedition toMexicoto find Sequoyah's gravesite. Cherokee and non-Cherokee scholars drove from Oklahoma toEagle Pass, Texas,in January 1939. They discovered what they believed to be his grave near a spring in the Mexican state ofCoahuila;however, they could not conclusively prove the grave belonged to Sequoyah.

Tribal government

The Cherokee Nation's tribal government had been dismantled by the US Federal government under theCurtis Act of 1898,an amendment to the Dawes Act that applied to theFive Civilized Tribesin Indian Territory in allotting communal tribal lands to households of members of the tribes. It also dissolved tribal governments.

TheIndian Reorganization Act(IRA) was introduced in 1934 to enable tribes to develop unicameral governments. Opposition to the IRA led to the creation of theOklahoma Indian Welfare Actof 1936, specifically to restore tribal governments withinOklahoma.However, the Cherokee Nation did not reorganize their government under these acts due to the restrictions on governmental structure dictated by the acts. Principal ChiefWilma Mankillerwrites also that the Cherokee did not want to follow this model because of the difficulties related to "our historical relationship with the United States and our belief in our inherent sovereignty as a nation."

Role as Principal Chief

During the 1920s and 1930s, the Office of the President appointed chiefs to Native American tribes. Cherokee citizens objected to not being able to choose their own leaders. On August 8, 1938, inFairfield, Oklahoma,a grassroots National Council of Cherokees gathered to choose their own Chief. They elected J. B. Milam.On April 16, 1941Franklin D. Rooseveltconfirmed J.B. Milam's appointment as chief.Roosevelt, and laterHarry S Truman,reconfirmed his appointment in 1942, 1943, and 1947. Milam served as chief until his death.

As chief, Milam wanted first and foremost to reconstruct the tribal government and renew tribal claims against the US federal government. He also sought to repatriate culturally and historically significant items to the tribe. To this end, he worked with representatives of theUniversity of Oklahoma,Northeastern State University,and the Carnegie Library of Tahlequah. He placed repatriated items in the care of theOklahoma Historical Society.

Milam helped create several Cherokee language classes and was instrumental in creating theCherokee National Historical Society.He started negotiations for the tribe to purchase the site of the originalCherokee National Female Seminary,the tribal college inPark Hill, Oklahoma,that had burned down in 1887.

In the interest of intertribal treaty rights, Milam was one of the founding members of theNational Congress of American Indians.He participated in their first meeting inDenver, Colorado,in 1944.

Shortly afterward, he established elections for a Cherokee tribal council, with an eye toward rebuilding the Cherokee Nation's democratic government.In 1946, Milam began purchasing land to put into trust as communal land for the Cherokee Nation. In a year's time, he purchased 21,453 acres (86.82 km²) for the tribe.

With the blessing of theBureau of Indian Affairs,Milam convened a national convention in Tahlequah on July 30, 1948. The convention would pursue Cherokee rights to theIndian Land Claims Commissionand elect a Cherokee National assembly. Seven hundred Cherokee men and women participated.Although the goal of the convention was Cherokee unity, it proved fractious. In some participants' views, the convention was dominated by non-Indian attorneys. As a result, theUnited Keetoowah Societyformally expelled J. B. Milam on August 13, 1948. However, the convention did yield some positive results. A standing committee of eleven members was elected, to be led by the Principal Chief. Texas Cherokee were included among those represented.

Legacy

Milam died on May 8, 1949, from heart disease. He is buried in the Chelsea Cemetery.

His daughter, Mildred Elizabeth Milam Viles was active in Cherokee community development, particularly inCookson, Oklahoma.She maintained and expanded upon J. B. Milam's research library. Her son, Philip Hubbard Viles, grandson of J.B. Milam, served for two decades as Chief Justice of the Cherokee Nation.

J. B. Milam's papers are archived at the McFarlin Library at theUniversity of Tulsa.Many of his personal effects and items connected to his membership to theFreemasonsandShrinersare in the collections of theCherokee Heritage Center.

Principal ChiefRoss Swimmerwrites of Milam: "His story is in large part the internal history of the Cherokee Nation as it continued to function and grow despite the policy of the government in Washington.... Milam's life is a touchstone for the history of Indian-White relations."

References

• Fogelson, Raymond D.Handbook of North American Indians: Southeast.Volume 14. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004.ISBN0-16-072300-0.
• Mankiller, Wilma and Michael Wallis.Mankiller: A Chief and Her People.New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999.ISBN0-312-20662-3.
• Meredith, Howard L.Bartley Milam: Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.Muskogee, Oklahoma: Indian University Press, 1985.ISBN0-940392-17-8
• Meredith, Howard L.Modern American Indian Tribal Government.Tsaile, Arizona: Navajo Community College Press, 1993.ISBN0-912586-76-1.

External links

• OsiyoTV Cherokee Almanac: J.B. Milam,video biopic
• "CHC to Present J. B. Milam Exhibit",Cherokee Phoenix
• J. B. (Jesse Bartley) Milam papers, 1925-1950, Department of Special Collections and University Archives, McFarlin Library, The University of Tulsa