Sec. 17. This Charter may be altered or amended by a Council of the people, convened for that purpose, on three months’ previous notice, by a vote of two thirds of the legal voters present at such convention. Sec. 18. The saw-mills on the different Reservations, now in operation, are hereby declared to be national property, and the funds accruing therefrom shall be by the Council appropriated to national purposes. But nothing in this Charter shall be construed as prohibiting the erection of mills and other works for manufacturing or other purposes, by any private individual, upon his own premises, provided that in so doing he do not trespass upon the rights of any other individual; and all such erections by individuals shall be respected as strictly private property. Sec. 19. The laws passed by the Legislature of the State of New York for the protection and improvement of the Seneca nation of Indians, and also all laws and regulations heretofore adopted by the Chiefs, in legal council assembled, shall continue in full force and effect as heretofore, except so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution or Charter. I hereby certify that the above copy has been examined and compared with the original, now on file in the Archives of the Seneca nation of Indians, by me, and is a correct transcript of the same and of the whole of said Declaration, Constitution, and Charter. William Jemerson, Clerk of the Seneca nation of Indians, Cattaraugus Reservation, Erie County. New York, December 5, 1848. RESOLUTIONS, Adopted by the Convention of the Seneca Nation of Indians, December 4th, 1848. Resolved,—That this Convention feel grateful for the religious and scientific instruction which benevolent societies and individuals have bestowed upon us, as well as for the introduction of proper means among us for our improvement; and particularly do we desire to express our gratitude to the Society of Friends; they were the first to introduce the means for our culture and improvement, and laid the foundation of our education and civilization, by which means we have become wiser and enlightened, and been enabled to see and understand our rights; they also befriended and aided us when friendless, and without means to sustain ourselves in time of peril—always zealous and unremitting in their labors for our welfare. Also to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, in sending us missionaries and teachers to enlighten our minds, and direct us to the true light, and teach us the plan of salvation: and also the State of New York, for their benevolent efforts in enacting laws for our protection and improvement, as well as for the large and generous appropriations made by them for the erection of school-houses, and the payment of school teachers among our people, and we desire that these kind offices may be continued.