Well Dave, it appears the Cherokee delegation has dropped out of the draft.
Posted on 08/30/2011 5:16:20 AM PDT by Paladins Prayer
Just a week ago this Monday, the Cherokee Nation’s Supreme Court ruled that the tribe may revoke the citizenship rights of black members. The case stemmed from a 2007 vote in which the Nation amended its constitution to allow the expulsion of the descendants of Cherokee-held slaves; this inspired a lawsuit by the “Freedmen,” as the black Cherokee are known. A district court found in favor of the Freedmen, but the Supreme Court overturned that ruling, arguing that the Cherokee alone have a right to determine who is and is not a fellow tribesman. The result is that these erstwhile Cherokees, approximately 3,000 strong, will now be denied benefits that inclusion in the tribe affords, such as free healthcare and education, and voting and housing rights.
The Freedman had enjoyed Cherokee citizenship status ever since it was granted through a treaty with the U.S. government after the War Between the States. Previous to this, the Cherokees, along with tribes such as the Choctaw and Creeks, kept thousands of African slaves (additionally, some Indians allied themselves with the Confederacy during the war).
While these facts aren’t generally found in school textbooks, they should surprise no one. Slavery was once ubiquitous throughout the world, and North America’s indigenous people were no exception. For their embrace of the institution predated the white settlers’ arrival; moreover, this event presented new slaveholding opportunities: Some Indians made slaves of Europeans as well as Africans.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenewamerican.com ...
The Black Caucus will now extend its nation-wide anti-Tea Party tour to include protests at Indian casinos. “Share the loot!”
Want to break some more treaties?
>> Africans are not Indians <<
It depends. Apart from the Navajo and Hopi, most of the modern USA’s “Indians” have at least as much Caucasian DNA than purely “Native American” DNA.
So if a Cherokee or Choctaw can be 1/2 or 3/4 Caucasian, why can’t one of his tribal brethren be 3/4 African?
Well Dave, it appears the Cherokee delegation has dropped out of the draft.
I’m guessing that this is ALL about the money. After the casino opened in Cherokee NC, much wompom has been coming into the tribe. I think those that are 1/32 Cherokee (if their ancestors were on the “Daws roll” in 1920’s) are illegible for casino payouts of some pretty hefty sums (about 8-10K a year per person). Alas, I’m only 1/128th Cherokee....
I’m guessing that this is ALL about the money. After the casino opened in Cherokee NC, much wompom has been coming into the tribe. I think those that are 1/32 Cherokee (if their ancestors were on the “Dawes roll” in 1920’s) are illegible for casino payouts of some pretty hefty sums (about 8-10K a year per person). Alas, I’m only 1/128th Cherokee....
Actually, one of my great, great, grandmothers was Cherokee and another was Choctaw. And no, I'm not considered a member of either nation.
The Cherokee split during the Civil War, largely over the question of slvery. Some fought for the North. Many fought for the South [along with some of the Choctaw,Creeks and Seminoles].
Stand Watie, a Cherokee, was a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army, and, if I remember correctly, one of the last Confederates to surrender
Sadly this is true, and, though slavery is no longer ubiquitous, it is widespread and deeply entrenched in some parts of the word--even in the 21st century.
Slavery is one of the most horrible evils ever devised.
Those interested in its abolition should contact the American Anti-Slavery Group: http://www.iabolish.org/
"their embrace of the institution predated the white settlers’ arrival"
Definitely. Indian tribes routinely employed both slavery and torture before and after the arrival of Europeans. This includes the Indian tribes living along the Atlantic Coast of North America.
"Some Indians made slaves of Europeans as well as Africans."
Yes. This was one of the dangers of the frontier--even when the frontier was within the original thirteen English colonies along the Atlantic Coast: capture and enslavement of Europeans, especially European children. The Spanish in Florida encouraged this. They considered the English colonies to be illegal occupation of Spanish lands and their Protestant religion to be heresy. They encouraged the kidnapping of English children as a benevolent rescue of them from heresy--nevermind that they remained Indian captives, unenlightened by Catholicism.
The blacks did own slaves.
According to federal census reports, on June 1, 1860 there were nearly 4.5 million Negroes in the United States, with fewer than four million of them living in the southern slaveholding states. Of the blacks residing in the South, 261,988 were not slaves. Of this number, 10,689 lived in New Orleans. The country’s leading African American historian, Duke University professor John Hope Franklin, records that in New Orleans over 3,000 free Negroes owned slaves, or 28 percent of the free Negroes in that city.
http://americancivilwar.com/authors/black_slaveowners.htm
The Cherokee are operating under a special circumstance. A post Civil War treaty said they must accept freed slaves held by the Cherokee as citizens of their nation. OK, but what about their descendants - and how far into the future?
A lot of “tribes” here in the northeast are hard pressed to find any member who is more than 25 percent by blood. Some of these “tribes” are basically corporations for the purposes of owning a tribal casino. Nevertheless, an individual must be able to prove “blood” within so many generations to be able to claim membership.
You might have a claim should you choose to pursue it!
okay....NOW can we all admit that all of this racial gerrymandering is stupid and destructive?
I’m not sure but I think the Cherokee are matrilenial. So the child of a slave woman would not count.
***Facts are not popular with some folks. An example -—Africans are not Indians. [American indigenous people]****
Neighter was Bill Clinton or Ward Churchill who claimed to be (honorary) Cherokees.
funny!
That would be me. Sounds like I left some money on the table prior to this ruling.
ping!
I also know...that there were cases of whites and blacks taken into tribes...and treated as slaves.
I wonder if this wasn't the case with the Cherokee's.
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