Cherokees eject slave descendants

BBC ^ | Sunday, March 4, 2007

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Descendancy stems from the 19th Century Dawes Commission lists

Members of the Cherokee Nation of native Americans have voted to revoke tribal citizenship for descendants of black slaves the Cherokees once owned.

A total of 76.6% voted to amend the tribal constitution to limit citizenship to "blood" tribe members.

Supporters said only the Cherokees had the right to determine tribal members.

Opponents said the amendment was racist and aimed at preventing those with African-American heritage from gaining tribal revenue and government funding.

The Cherokee Nation has 250,000 to 270,000 members, second only to the Navajo.

'Right to vote'

The list of descendants stems from the Dawes Commission, established by Congress more than 100 years ago.

	This is a sad chapter in Cherokee history Taylor Keen, tribal council member

It created two lists - one of "blood" Cherokees and one of black freedmen.

Principal Chief Chad Smith said about 8,700 people had voted - more than the turnout for the Cherokee constitution vote of four years ago.

He said: "The Cherokee people exercised the most basic democratic right, the right to vote.

"Their voice is clear as to who should be citizens of the Cherokee Nation. No-one else has the right to make that determination."

But opponents of the amendment levelled accusations of discrimination.

Tribal council member Taylor Keen said: "This is a sad chapter in Cherokee history... this is not my Cherokee Nation. My Cherokee Nation is one that honours all parts of her past."

Saturday's vote followed a ruling by the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court last year securing tribal citizenship for descendants of freedmen.

Members can obtain government benefits and tribal services including housing and medical support.

Slaves were held by a number of native American tribes and were freed after the Civil War in 1866.

[ichabod1]

Guessing that the majority of Americans have some Amerindian blood--though usually in small amounts only.

I don't believe that for a minute. At this point I think you'd be a lot safer to say that most of us have a lineage that came through Ellis Island. Although, now that I think for a minute, my Grandma was a Southern Lady from New Orleans, so who knows. I may just have some slave owning blood in me. I really doubt it about the amerind though.

[Dustbunny]

How can the election be a 'fraudulent election' if the tribe members voted on it?

How can a person that is not of Cherokee blood hold a membership?

Geeze, my husband is more than 1/16th Delaware, wonder if he can get a membership.

[senorita]

Sorry, but I graduated Magna Cum Laude with no "Indan Money." Stop painting us with a broad brush of ignorance.

Just like any other ethnicity, we have many conservative tribal members and many liberals.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

And yet, it is obvious that the tribal nations are not fully sovereign now, not even as sovereign as the states.

[padre35]

True, but not complete narby, in WNC, a large group of Cherokee stayed behind I think they handle their own affairs seperately from the Oklahoma branch if you will.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

I've done some work in the Andrews-Murphy valley area of Western NC, an area that suffered from the trail of tears. The old USGS topo maps of that area show a scattering of small, rectangular Cherokee reservations deep in the hollers and coves away from the main valley. I'm guessing those are remnants of Indian family land from ancestors that hid out, didn't go to Oklahoma, and received Federal recognition decades later.

[Tax-chick]

Members can obtain government benefits and tribal services including housing and medical support.

Fewer "Cherokees" means a bigger slice of the handout pie for each. TYG.

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"How can a person that is not of Cherokee blood hold a membership?"

There are t-shirts in Oklahoma that say, "What do you call a white man that is 1/2 Indian? Answer, a white man.

I guess the Cherokee believe that you need to have a pure race. Can you imagine a white guy saying that?

[Rb ver. 2.0]

" in WNC, a large group of Cherokee stayed behind I think they handle their own affairs seperately from the Oklahoma branch if you will."

Yep, and they have their own Harrah's Casino at Cherokee, NC.

http://www.nc-cherokee.com/
http://www.harrahs.com/casinos/harrahs-cherokee/hotel-casino/property-home.shtml

[Tax-chick]

The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (subject of this article) and the Eastern Band of Cherokees (NC/GA) are separately recognized by the U.S. government. The different factions have been in place for nearly 200 years. The OK Cherokee government is incredibly corrupt, but some of the other tribal governments out there are even worse.

[at bay]

It's all about the money.

[johnny7]

“Where da' money?!”

[Hardastarboard]

The founders of the United States considered the Indian nations as another nation.

I always wondered how much the US government would respect their soverignty if the Indian nations passed a law mandating that every citizen own a belt fed weapon.

[muawiyah]

Got Dutch?

[Hardastarboard]

So based on this precedent, can we vote to expel our liberals, since they cause us so much trouble?

[montag813]

Sorry, but I graduated Magna Cum Laude with no "Indan Money." Stop painting us with a broad brush of ignorance.

Congratulations on your hard work. But don't blame me for non-existent "ignorance". Native-Americans routinely get bumped ahead of whites and even blacks for elite-school admissions and scholarships, as well as corporate placements, regardless of qualifications. In one high school we surveyed, a "Native blood" female student was admitted and given a full scholarhsip to Wellesley even though 43 other female applicants in her school had both higher grades and higher standardized scores. Affirmative action hurts those from an ethnic group who excel, while others among that groups slide by. This is rarely an issue with Indians, because the amounts are so few. With blacks the effect is extreme--I am white and know many people who go out of their way to avoid black doctors because of the perception that many of them were admitted to med school based only on race. That perception is buttressed by real-world examples, such as "Dr" Patrick Chavis, the landmark affirmative action plaintiff that liberals made a poster child in the 1970s. Chavis got admitted ahead of a more qualified white, which led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling. Chavis later killed a patient in a negligent liposuction, and paralyzed another. Racial quotas like this tarnish those "minorities" who work hard and achieve by themselves.

[MuttTheHoople]

Red-face speak with heap forked tongue to Buffalo People. Bad medicine. Give red face no fire-water or wampum.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Although they (and people from other people groups (races)) might not say it, the general view is that any human half European descended and half non-European descended is usually considered the non-European descent. In those cases, it is as though being of European descent is the exclusive descent.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I think I understand it. Indians are Americans but not all Americans are Indians. America can draft Indians into the Army but they get their own license plates.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

This pretty much sums it up. There have been other groups purging their rolls as well. Money talks. Politics is the tool sometimes of those with power/money to consolidate it more.