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Second-largest U.S. Indian tribe expels slave descendants

  • Second-largest U.S. Indian tribe expels slave descendants
    By Steve Olafson | Reuters – Tue, Aug 23, 2011

    OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - The nation's second-largest Indian tribe formally booted from membership thousands of descendants of black slaves who were brought to Oklahoma more than 170 years ago by Native American owners.

    The Cherokee nation voted after the Civil War to admit the slave descendants to the tribe.
    But on Monday, the Cherokee nation Supreme Court ruled that a 2007 tribal decision to kick the so-called "Freedmen" out of the tribe was proper.

    The controversy stems from a footnote in the brutal history of U.S. treatment of Native Americans. When many Indians were forced to move to what later became Oklahoma from the eastern U.S. in 1838, some who had owned plantations in the South brought along their slaves.

    Some 4,000 Indians died during the forced march, which became known as the "Trail of Tears."

    "And our ancestors carried the baggage," said Marilyn Vann, the Freedman leader who is a plaintiff in the legal battle.

    Officially, there are about 2,800 Freedmen, but another 3,500 have tribal membership applications pending, and there could be as many as 25,000 eligible to enter the tribe, according to Vann.

    The tribal court decision was announced one day before absentee ballots were to be mailed in the election of the Cherokee Principal Chief.

    "This is racism and apartheid in the 21st Century," said Vann, an engineer who lives in Oklahoma City.

    Spokesmen for the tribe did not respond when asked to comment.

    The move to exclude the Freedmen has rankled some African American members of Congress, which has jurisdiction over all Native American tribes in the country.

    A lawsuit challenging the Freedman's removal from the tribe has been pending in federal court in Washington, for about six years.

    As a sovereign nation, Cherokee Nation officials maintain that the tribe has the right to amend its constitutional membership requirements.

    Removal from the membership rolls means the Freedmen will no longer be eligible for free health care and other benefits such as education concessions.

    http://news.yahoo.com/second-largest-u-indian-tribe-expels-slave-descendants-011650136.html

    Does anyone have any info on this? Or any insight?... To me it doesn't look like right the thing
    to do... but I am on the outside looking in...

    Taun

  • Doesn't make sense to me; I'm not sure how this does anything but hurt the Cherokee. And what about Native Americans with European ancestry? Are they good to go?

    OKCThunder

  • The tribe has been having some trouble up top the past few years... pains me to see things like this... Like Thunder said, this only hurts. :(

    LostChickasaw1

  • nm

    This post was edited by SoonerInTN on 3/25/2013 at 6:23 PM

    SoonerInTN

  • Casino profits now split up in fewer shares = higher per-person $$$, plus reduced overhead by dropping so many from the health services, etc., means more money for those who feel they are the "real Cherokees." Greed.........pure and simple.

    “There are two things every man in America thinks he can do: work a BBQ grill and coach college football.” - Greg Schiano

    Boomer69

  • Boomer69 said...

    Casino profits now split up in fewer shares = higher per-person $$$, plus reduced overhead by dropping so many from the health services, etc., means more money for those who feel they are the "real Cherokees." Greed.........pure and simple.

    clap

    “Any people anywhere........have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better.”

    zeeb10

  • SoonerInTN said...

    ... too many people are trying to make a buck off of tribal affiliation....

    Those kicked out had no tribal blood... as in they aren't Cherokee...No Cherokee blood...no freebies.

    Make no mistake...It's all about the freebies...

    INCREDIBLE DOOD

  • I am a member of the Cherokee Nation and I don't receive one penney from the casinos so I call bs on the assertion that fewer members mean more more $ per person. There are no shares.

    My great, great, great, grandfather was forcibly removed from his home and forced to move from Tennessee to Oklahoma. Why should non-Cherokees receive benefits from the Nation and why shouldn't the Nation have the right to determine who has membership ? The decision might be about entitlements and controlling costs but it is also about fairness to the Cherokee people.

    signature image

    oudanny

  • Hey, everybody's cutting costs! Same game, different table.

    elguapo2

  • Cherokees told to take back slaves' descendants
    JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS
    Published: September 13, 2011

    TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A federal order for one of the nation's largest American Indian tribes to restore voting rights and benefits to about 2,800 descendants of members' former slaves threw plans for a special election for a new chief into turmoil Tuesday.

    The federal government sent the sternly-worded letter to the Cherokee Nation after it sent letters last week kicking the descendants out of the tribe and stripping them of benefits including medical care, food stipends and assistance for low-income homeowners.

    The tribe also barred the descendants from voting in a Sept. 24 special election for principal chief. The Cherokee Supreme Court ordered the special election after it said it could not determine with certainty the outcome of a close and hotly contested June election between incumbent Chad Smith and longtime tribal councilman Bill John Baker. The results had flip-flopped between the two during weeks of counts and recounts. Baker had twice been declared winner, but so had Smith.

    The federal government said that unless the descendants, known as freedmen, were allowed to vote, the upcoming election wouldn't be valid.

    "I urge you to consider carefully the nation's next steps in proceeding with an election that does not comply with federal law," Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk wrote in letter Friday to acting Chief S. Joe Crittenden. "The department will not recognize any action taken by the nation that is inconsistent with these principles and does not accord its freedmen members full rights of citizenship."

    Crittenden said the special election would take place as scheduled.

    "The Cherokee Nation will not be governed by the (Bureau of Indian Affairs)," he said. "We will hold our election and continue our long legacy of responsible self-governance."

    The election has drawn national interest because while the tribe is based in Tahlequah, many of its 300,000 members live outside Oklahoma.

    The freedmen have asked a federal judge to restore their voting rights before the special election, and a hearing is planned next week in federal court in Washington.

    The tribe never owned black slaves, but some individual members did. They were freed after the Civil War, in which the tribe allied with the Confederacy. An 1866 treaty between the tribe and the federal government gave the freedmen and their descendants "all the rights of native Cherokees."

    More than 76 percent of Cherokee voters approved a 2007 amendment removing the freedmen and other non-Indians from the tribal rolls, but no action was taken until the tribe's Supreme Court upheld the results of that special election last month. Cherokee leaders who backed the amendment, including Smith, said the vote was about the fundamental right of every government to determine its citizens, not about racial exclusion.

    But the Department of the Interior said Tuesday that it still believes the expulsion is unconstitutional because it violates the 1866 treaty.

    Marilyn Vann, president of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes, said she hopes the federal order will result in the election being delayed.

    "The freedmen people still have rights in the tribe such as voting," Vann said Tuesday. "We'll have our day in court."

    Read more: http://newsok.com/cherokees-told-to-take-back-slaves-descendants/article/feed/295727#ixzz1XsaJ9zE7

    ss182

  • ss182 said...

    ...

    But the Department of the Interior said Tuesday that it still believes the expulsion is unconstitutional because it violates the 1866 treaty.

    ...

    And of course the US Government has always strictly followed the letter of the treaties it
    has signed with the tribes in the past.... whistling

    Taun

  • I believe the Cherokee Nation is for Cherokee Indians that is recognized by the Dawes Roll. Am I wrong? The Freedman are not Cherokee Indians by blood. To me, that is what should determine if you are a Cherokee Indian or not. If any Freedman can prove he
    or she is Cherokee then they are Cherokee. Why should the Federal Government tell the Cherokees who is Indian or not? I know the
    Federal Government will threaten to stop funding money to the tribe. So the Freedman will probably be given rights for Cherokee funds. Maybe the Cherokee Nation should give the Freedman their own type of I.D card, as long as it does not say they are a Cherokee Indian. I believe I am not a Racist, this is just my opinion, so I could be wrong in the eyes of a Freedman.

    ouhokte

  • Stepfather, his brother, his mother..etc. were in the group of those considered "Cherokee Freedman" (i.e. Slave Decendents/Black Americans). They received no benefits. (Honestly, when my mom told me that, I was surprised.)
    They are proud of who they are! Hybrids! They aren't on the Dawes rolls like the Cherokee tribe is REQUIRING. IT'S NOT A BLOOD QUANTUM REQUIREMENT FOR MEMBERSHIP! IT'S AN ANCESTOR ON THE DAWES ROLLS.

    I wish you could see them. you would immediatley realize that they are mixed with Indian blood. Very light, yellow skin - Wavey - thin air. His brother and mother wear their hair in a braid just like Native Americans. From the back, they look 100% Native Americans. From the front, they look 50/50. Some AA features (lips/Nose) some NA featuers (skin/Hair).

    The Dawes Rolls are wholly inaccurate. Like my Stepfather and his family, (who's names were not on the Dawes rolls), they might be considered "Freedmen" BUT, they DEFINITELY have native American blood in them!

    Again, THEY HAVE NOT RECEIVED OR, SURPRISINGLY, REQUESTED ONE DIME OF BENEFIT MONEY FOR BEING A CHEROKEE CITIZEN.
    So, all this "conservative radio" crap about this being about getting "Freebies" is a load of balogney!!

    This post has been edited 2 times, most recently by soonerliberal on 9/19/2011 at 10:48 PM

    soonerliberal

  • nm

    This post was edited by SoonerInTN on 3/25/2013 at 6:23 PM

    SoonerInTN

  • Deal allowing Cherokee freedmen to vote called milestone

    By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS Comment on this article 2
    Published: September 21, 2011

    TULSA (AP) — An agreement allowing slave descendants once owned by members of the Cherokee Nation to vote for the tribe's principal chief is being called a major victory by the group in its effort to become fully recognized tribal members.

    Attorneys representing descendants known as freedmen believe Tuesday's agreement in Washington D.C. was a milestone because it's the first time the Cherokee Nation admitted in federal court that freedmen have tribal rights.

    The agreement calls for extending balloting for this Saturday's special election until Oct. 8 so eligible freedmen can be notified and participate.

    Tribal officials say the agreement re-establishes the status quo from June and July elections.

    Tribal and federal courts are still considering the larger matter of whether the freedmen should be included as members of the Oklahoma-based Cherokee Nation.

    Read more: http://newsok.com/deal-allowing-cherokee-freedmen-to-vote-called-milestone/article/3606279#ixzz1Yd6XIDS2

    ss182

  • Not sure about the Cherokee's, but not all tribes take a little $$ from their casino revenues and pass it to their members. I do know that the Cherokees have had a hard time with their leadership the past few years. Personally, I don't see the harm in letting the Freedmen remain as members, but I am just a lost Chickasaw. indian

    LostChickasaw1

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