J. B. Milam

Jesse Bartley Milam (1884–1949) was best known as the first Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation appointed by a U.S. president since tribal government had been dissolved before Oklahoma Statehood in 1907. He was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941, who reappointed him in 1942 and 1943; he was reappointed by President Harry S. Truman in 1948. He died while in office in 1949.

Early life J. B. Milam, as he was commonly known, was born on March 10, 1884, near Italy, Texas, to Sarah Ellen (née Couch) and William Guinn Milam. In 1887 his family returned to Cherokee Nation lands in northeastern Indian Territory and settled near what is now Chelsea, Oklahoma.

Milam attended the Cherokee Male Seminary, a tribally run college in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. In 1901 and 1902, he studied at the Metropolitan Business College in Dallas, 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. which resulted in the 1917 publication of Starr's Early History of the Cherokees.

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

The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) was introduced in 1934 to enable tribes to develop unicameral governments. Opposition to the IRA led to the creation of the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936, specifically to restore tribal governments within Oklahoma. However, the Cherokee Nation did not reorganize their government under these acts due to the restrictions on governmental structure dictated by the acts. Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller writes 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, in Fairfield, Oklahoma, a grassroots National Council of Cherokees gathered to choose their own Chief. They elected J. B. Milam. On April 16, 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt confirmed J.B. Milam's appointment as chief. the tribal college in Park Hill, Oklahoma, that had burned down in 1887.

In the interest of intertribal treaty rights, Milam was one of the founding members of the National Congress of American Indians. He participated in their first meeting in Denver, 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 for the tribe.

With the blessing of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Milam convened a national convention in Tahlequah on July 30, 1948. The convention would pursue Cherokee rights to the Indian Land Claims Commission and 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, the United Keetoowah Society formally 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.