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1839. Sept:6. continued. The Principal Chief and Assistant Principal Chief are to be elected by the viva voce votes of all free male citizen to be taken at their respective districts, as soon as they can be laid off; but as it will require some time to do this, the first election shall be held at Tahlequak, before the rising of the present convention. The returns of the election for Principal Chief shall be sealed up and directed to the Pres-ident of the National Committee, who shall open and publish them in presence of the National Council assembled; the person having the high-est number of votes shall be Principal Chief, but if two or more shall be equal and highest in votes, one shall be cho-sen by joint vote of both branches of the council.

The term of service of the Prin-cipal Chief & Assistant Principal Chief, to be four years; and of the Executive Council, two.

The Principal Chief must be a natural born citizen: he must have attained the age of 35 years: both he and his assistant shall, at stated times, receive a compensation for their servi-ces, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which they shall be elected; and they shall not receive, within that period, any other emolument from the Cher-okee nation or any other government. The Principal Chief before entering on the execution of his office, is to swear fidel-ity to the constitution: He is to visit each district at least once in two years to inform himself of the gen-eral condition of the country: he is temporarily to fill vacancies in all appointments vested in the Na-