[ARE SOLE]

Brotherhood walks, it's all about the cashish.


Regards.

[metmom]

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

OK. So why should anyone object to that?

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

Ah, the crux of the matter.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

When we decided to allow two classes of citizens (one can own casinos, the other cannot) it was only a matter of time before this happened. Next, the percentage of Indian blood will become the test for receiving casino money. They'll start with those who aren't at least 50 percent...

[AD from SpringBay]

Are the Cherokee being niggardly in their approach to tribal membershp? Are they throwing another faggot in the fires of racism?

[Clara Lou]

Descendants of Cherokee slaves received a form of reparation. Reparations are terminated.

[mainepatsfan]

So are the libs capable of accusing the Cherokees of being racist?

[narby]

The Cherokee tribe was forced by the feds to move to Oklahoma from Ga. in the 1800's, but some stayed behind and fought the government about the move. They were later forcefully removed, which led to the "trail of tears", and many died during the difficult trip.

The main tribe, already in Oklahoma, decided that "real" cherokees were the ones who had gotten there first, and cut the "trail of tears" Cherokees out of tribal membership. When the communal tribal lands in Oklahoma were divided up among the members (late 1800's), the trail of tears Cherokees didn't get land (all Cherokee land is now private - no "reservations" exist in Okla.) To this day the trail of tears Cherokees don't get tribal health care and other federal goodies, even if they are 100% "Indian".

(I'm going from 30 year old memory on the history, so no whining if I've got a couple things wrong here)

[montag813]

Indian "blood" is the ultimate get-into-Ivy-League-school-with-mediocre-grades-free card.

[at bay]

Don't know what this is all about? Can you say CASINO REVENUE? At a casino near Fresno only the few hundred tribal members first agreeing to the casino keep the yearly, per member jackpots (Indian profit-sharing)of close to half a million each. Excluded tribal members regularly picket the place trying to join, to no avail.

A group of nameless tribal leaders adorn the casino walls. It might as well say "no new members welcome", even if you can prove blood lineage. What a sham.

The new caption on the old Indian ad could be "First they exclude me from the tribe, then they throw french fries, wrapper and all at me in the street. Man have I been trashed."

Or "You want something to cry about? We'll give you something to cry about. We'll call it sovereignity, but it will really mean, most of you are left out in the cold."

[atomicpossum]

I thought slavery was a White Man thing, and that 'Native' Americans had a PC culture... (ha).

[BeAllYouCanBe]

I have read accounts of African slaves escaping and being caught by Indians in the Ohio Valley. It wasn't a good life to be an African Indian slave.

1. Were these slaves part of the tribe? I suspect they were and participated in the tribal life and should be members.

2. If the "War of Northern Aggression" had not been fought then would these Africans be part of the tribe still? They would have been become members in future generations -- at least I speculate that would happen.

3. With only 8,700 votes this is a very small minority of the tribe - but this is the system.

[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.

[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.

[Hardastarboard]

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

[MuttTheHoople]

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

[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.

[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.

[csvset]

Has Obama commented on this yet?