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.

[roscommon]

The REAL story here is that these descendants of former slaves want to continue such a tight relationship with their former ancestor's *masters*. You would never see this phenomena occur with the progeny of slaves who worked on white plantations.

-Roscommon

[aruanan]

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

So these guys really are the aboriginal rednecks!

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

Yes, but what about descendants of children produced by Indians and the slaves? If the Cherokee nation is to detemine what constitutes purity, they're going to be in huge trouble if they ever hope to use any kind of objective criteria. It looks to me that these former slaves of Indians could stand, via reparations, to make a real killing off the lucrative casino industry.

[muawiyah]

Notice that the finding in question (about Chavis) was made by an "....administrative law judge..."

It's not like he was put on trial for this (as far as I know).

Still, Bakke's real problem with the admissions board was the anti-military bias of several of its members.

Chavis would have been admitted with or without Bakke around.

The US government should ahve withheld all federal aid or contracts from the University of California as a consequence of their actions in the Bakke case.

Alas, this was 1973 and the Liberals were riding high and anti-military attitudes were popular.

The persistent failure by Malkin and others to recognize this component of Bakke's problem is truly astounding.

[decimon]

The tribe I'm descended from only considers those who can trace tribal lineage back to 1800 to be members today.

Does lineage include percentage?

[Tax-chick]

A few years ago when I looked into it (Der Prinz has Cherokee ancestors :-), anyone with a provable ancestor on the Dawes Roll could register with the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. It really built up their numbers (and therefore their perceived value as a political bloc).

[mainepatsfan]

I don't recall seeing that as a requirement.

[BigCinBigD]

Stalking Hubcap and He who sits in melon patch were unable to be reached for this article.

[Cvengr]

Well, I guess this means any reparation payments to blacks for past slavery can be debited from the Native American budget accounts.

[Jack Black]

The existence of semi-sovereign Indian tribes within the USA is a really interesting thing.

In many states now as draconian laws are getting passed to outlaw smoking even in bars, these laws don't apply to Indian reservations. On Hotel/Casino near here (Lucky Eagle) had a large "Smoke Easy" even complete with cigar manufacturers, cigar store owners, free booze and scantily clad serving girls. Lots of stuff was raffled off. Collections were taken for the armed services.

In Travis McGee's book "Domestic Enemies" the Indian reservations have begun minting their own money out of gold, as the US $ has devalued to near uselessness.

As the rest of the nation becomes a hellish nanny state there maybe many things we have to go to "Indian Country" to enjoy.

Say what you will about their problems, at this point they seem better able to provide basic freedoms (like say having a nice Avo #2 with your Johnny Walker) than most of the States of the Union.

It is a strange anachronism that they are all racial states. Everywhere else racial states are bad. The Serbs, who are about as auntonomous a little band as the Cherokee only wanted to accomplish what the Indians in this story are doing - sort out those of pure blood from the mongrels and cast the mongrels out of the motherland.

This double standard I find amusing, rather than irritating for some reason.

[Cvengr]

Every instance of association with Indian nationals, direct or remote, Indian or government agency, which I have had over a lifetime of living in the American Southwest, have been accompanied by an intuition of corruption worse than if one was associating with close friends of Tony Soprano.

I've also never known a privately owned business fulfilling a simple contract relationship with an Indian nation to have not been defrauded some fair value of their effort, if not their entire enterprise.

IMHO, they bring most of their woe upon themselves.

[padre35]

A tribla council for the Eastern Band changed the "Blood Percentage" from 1/16 to 1/32 and the fur really flew let me tell ya'.

For the Eastern Band, you have to be on a roll that listed all of the families that stayed behind in order to get a cut from the casino profits.

alas, the casino is both booze and smoke free however, the entire county is "dry"no booze for sale at the local Walmart...

[csvset]

Has Obama commented on this yet?

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I have family connections to to Choctaw tribe. My ggrandmother and her brother both married into a family there, but I am descended from a different hubby, so I don't connect...but I am distantly connected to Will Rogers because of that! GGrandma's first husband's sibling was married to his second cousin! LOL! Small world!

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"any human half European descended and half non-European descended is usually considered the non-European descent"

In the strange world we live in today:

Tiger Woods considers himself American.

Barack Obama considers himself African-American.

When I lived in California (two years ago) our neighbor kids were white but acted, listened to black music, talked and dressed ghetto black.

In the same neighborhood Vietnamese kids dressed white, talked white and hung with whites.

I guess what I'm saying here is you can be what ever you want to be -- who really cares anymore?

[Tax-chick]

I guess what I'm saying here is you can be what ever you want to be -- who really cares anymore?

Nobody would, if not for the government's "divide and conquer" policies.

I just wanted a Cherokee Nation license plate for the coolness factor :-).

[aft_lizard]

Lets remember that American Indian Tribes are continously bombarded with people claiming to be descendents or have Indian blood. My cousin went down to Oklahoma and try to become Choctaw and all the benefits and negatives that come with it because our family has about 1/16th Choctaw blood.

I personally don't care what the Cherokee want to say, they are recognized as a nation with in a nation and are allowed to a certain extent have there own laws, as far as I am concerned they earned it and we as a nation gave them this right. We can't "indian" give on this, like we have so many times before.

[Tax-chick]

Fascinating.

[philetus]

It looks to me that these former slaves of Indians could stand, via reparations, to make a real killing off the lucrative casino industry."

How? They will have to sue a sovereign nation.
Can you sue another nation because they kicked you out?

[Tax-chick]

There was a rash of people connected with tribal governments "going missing" when we lived in Oklahoma. Also a fistfight between two rival leaders of the Cherokees, on the courthouse lawn in Tahlequah.

I think the "Sopranos" comparison has a lot going for it!

[DeaconBenjamin2]

Well, I find it hard to believe that the later Cherokees (those who traveled the trail of tears) were dispossessed of tribal membership, since they were led by John Ross, who led the tribe up through the War between the States. I also would note that John Ross (it is widely believed but not proven) had all of the signators of the treaty killed off except one, Stand Watie, who became a Confederate Brigadier General.