United States Congress (December 3, 1803) ratified A Treaty Between the United States and the Kaskaskia Tribe of Indians.
This treaty, which had been recommended by President Thomas Jefferson, included the annual support of a Catholic missionary priest of $100, to be paid out of the Federal treasury.
At a later date two other treaties with similar provisions were made: the Treaty with the Wyandots etc., in 1805 and the Treaty with the Cherokees in 1806. The treaty provided:
<And whereas the greater part of the said tribe have been baptized and received into the Catholic Church, to which they are much attached, the United States will give annually, for seven years, one hundred dollars toward the support of a priest of that religion, who will engage to perform for said tribe the duties of his office, and also to instruct as many of their children as possible, in the rudiments of literature, and the United States will further give the sum of three hundred dollars, to assist the said tribe in the erection of a church.> 1803US001
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1803US001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). United States Congress, December 3, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson signs the Treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians, 1806 with the Wyandotte Indians, and 1807 Cherokee Indians. Costanzo, Federal Aid to Education and Religious Liberty, 36 U. of Det. L.J., 1, 15 (1958). Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 64. Daniel L. Driesbach, Real Threat and Mere Shadow: Religious Liberty and the First Amendment (Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1987), p. 127. Richard Peters, ed., The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846), A Treaty Between the United States and the Kaskaskia Tribe of Indians, 23 December 1803, Art. III, Vol. VII, pp. 78-79., Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., 1805, Vol. VII, Art. IV, p. 88, Treaty with the Cherokees, 1806, vol.VII, Art. II, p. 102. Robert L. Cord, Separation of Church and State (NY: Lambeta Press, 1982), p. 39. "A Treaty Between the United States of America and the Kaskaskian Tribe of Indians." 7 Stat. 78-9 (1846). Daniel L. Driesbach, Real Threat and Mere Shadow-Religious Liberty and the First Amendment (Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1987), p. 127.