Freedmen vs Cherokee Nation

Another example of how this is trying to be *spun*...all of these *stories* fail to include, that these 1. Freedmen are not Cherokee by Blood, they do not have a Cherokee Ancestor on the Dawes Roll; 2. Indian Tribes are sovereign Nations and as such have the right like any other country to determine who is or is not a Citizen 3. Freedmen with Cherokee by Blood or Ancestry and that are on the Dawes Roll are citizens of the Cherokee Nation. Most articles like this are written by Freedmen or their supporters and continue to distort the facts of what is really going on. We just think you should be Cherokee to be a Citizen of the Cherokee Nation. The Freedmen's identity is not within the Cherokee Nation regardless of how they came to be associated with the Indian Tribes - their identity is with other freed slaves and they should push to retain that identity rather than trying to *become* Cherokee. They can still get all the benefits they get from the Cherokee Nation through the U.S. Gov...

We should atone for our 'aboriginal sin' 03/29/2008 Morning Sentinel http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/view/letters/4884582.html We usually think of ethnic cleansing and apartheid as occurring in other lands. But we have our own historical brand of these offenses against humanity. Under the banner of "Manifest Destiny," our Europe-derived ancestors decimated the Native American population and displaced the survivors to undesirable tracts of land. The "apartness" of these peoples has been buttressed, not by military checkpoints, but by an indifferent Bureau of Indian Affairs and a complacent public. Indian reservations are among the poorest areas of rural America, with the poverty-associated problems of inadequate education and unemployment. A small spark of justice was ignited in January when Appeals Court Judge James Robertson ruled that the Interior Department "unreasonably delayed" its accounting for billions of dollars owed to Indian land...

Ok, this is a little off topic here....:) However, I saw a speech Mr. Gingrich gave to the American Enterprise Institute, I think it was yesterday... Among his comments, I'm paraphrasing here: The problem with Native American Culture, among others, is their Culture...once again promoting the white idea we live differently and therefore need again to be brought up to white standards...always amazes me how they continue to want to spend our tax money and then blame us for not making enough to supply their enormous insatiable appetite for more money.... Well, Duh!! Again paraphrasing, he believes that common ownership of property and no entrepreneurial activities is the failing of the Native American Community to come out of what? poverty.... Well, Newt, apparently you need to go back and read your history of American (European) and Native American history ... American Policy: 1600s/1700s - Native Tribes were treated as separate governmental entities with which the Europeans made nume...

When Cherokee Citizens raise any questions about Freedmen citizenship, we are immediately called racist - but as you can see from this article Blacks can freely complain or criticize any other ethnic group without fear of reprisal. Obama's problem with white voters James Pennington, American Thinker The racial dimension of Barack Obama's electability problem is now apparent, but no prominent Democrat dares discuss it openly. Similarly expect no discussion of the subject in the major media. The white working class vote I am not referring to the ongoing and intense discussion of The Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Wright is a separate problem for Obama. Whether Obama has been, or will be, permanently weakened by his long and close association with Wright, or has soared above it with his Philadelphia speech, is not the subject of these thoughts. Something much simpler than the answer to that question has been starkly apparent for some time, certainly since well before the Wright eruptio...

This is what Native American Tribes go through - they have no Native American Caucus or Delegate in Congress to run to for help...this case has been ongoing for at least 10 years...with still no resolution.... American Indian plaintiffs ask gov't for $58B in long-running suit March 20, 2008 22:05 EDT http://www.wlos.com/template/inews_wire/wires.national/22d46125-www.wlos.com.shtml WASHINGTON (AP) -- American Indian plaintiffs are telling a federal court that the government owes them 58 billion dollars for more than a century's worth of mismanaging funds. The lawsuit, which is itself more than a decade old, was originally filed by Blackfeet Indian Elouise Cobell. It claims the government has earned billions since 1887, from money held in trust from American Indian lands that should have been deposited into individual Indian trust accounts. In a January decision, Judge James Robertson said the Interior Department accounting for billions of dollars owed to American Indian landhol...

Rahall Introduces Bill Upholding Federal Trust Relationship with Indian Country WASHINGTON, D.C. 3/17/2008 http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=9416 Working to address one of the top concerns aired by Indian tribes before the House Natural Resources Committee, Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), introduced legislation Thursday mandating that the Administration consult with tribes on policies that directly affect their lives. “Normally, I would be pleased to offer a bill that strengthens the government-to-government relationship between the United States and Indian country. But today, I am disappointed that such legislation is even necessary,” Rahall said. (Congress should pass a law that requires all congresspersons to be certified in Native American Studies prior to proposing any laws affecting Indian Governments or holding any hearings regarding Native Governments) “When the federal government interacts with Indian tribes, it does so on a government-...

By JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau3/19/2008 http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080319_1_A9_spanc00421 WASHINGTON -- Members of Congress are seeking clarification from the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the current status of the Cherokee Nation freedmen descendants and why the agency has not done more to end that long-running controversy. (The Dawes tried to end the controversy long ago - but the Freedmen either sued or raised such a ruckus for land allotments, that the Dawes then added them as Freedmen - Actually it looks like the Curtis Act did take care of this issue - Congresswoman Watson just refuses to accept that - Freedmen are listed with no blood quantum) Four lawmakers, including two House committee chair men, met with BIA director Carl Artman last week. U.S. Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., the most vocal congressional critic of the Cherokee Nation and its efforts to deny citizenship to descendants of former slaves, said both the tribe and the BIA need more o...

An act to provide for the final disposition of the affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That after the approval of this act no person shall be enrolled as a citizen or freedman of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, or Seminole Tribes of Indians in the Indian Territory, except as herein otherwise provided, unless application for enrollment was made prior to December first, nineteen hundred and five, and the records in charge of the Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes shall be conclusive evidence as to the fact of such application; and no motion to reopen or reconsider any citizenship case, in any of said tribes, shall be entertained unless filed with the Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes within sixty days after the date of the order or decision sought to be reconsidered except as to decisions made prior to th...

An act for the protection of the people of the Indian Territory, and for other purposes. By 1896, June 10, ch. 398, ante, p. 81, it is declared to be the duty of the United States to establish a government in the Indian Territory which will rectify the existing inequalities and afford needful protection to the lives and property of citizens and residents therein. For a review of laws relating to the Indian Territory see 1889, March 1, ch. 333, note 1 (ante, p. 39). See also 1895, March 1, ch. 145, ante, p. 70. See also 1897, June 7, ch. 3, ante, p. 87, relative jurisdiction of courts, etc., in Indian Territory.

This is a July 15 th , 1988 case in the United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. No. 87-5377 cite as 851 F2d 1439 (D.C. Cir. 1988) Another lower court decision that discusses in depth the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act (OIWA) - also discusses an interplay between the OIWA and the Curtis Act Again the online opinions for the DC Appeals court only go back to about 1996 depending on which site you search.

This is a Sept 2, 1976 case from the US District Court, District of Columbia which gives an excellent discussion of the Five Tribes Act. Civ . A. No. 74-189 Cite as 420 F.Supp. 1110 (1976) This case is brought by four members of the Creek Nation for declaratory and injunctive relief; main issue was the DOI only dealing with the Creek Chief and refusing to recognize the Creek council; page 1113 item 28 of this case states: "The Act of October 22, 1970, pertaining to selection of principal officers of the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma, was intended to facilitate tribal self-determination and had no effect on the legal authority of the legislative branch of the Creek national government and under federal and Creek law the Creek national legislature retains the authority to make the initial decision controlling the expenditure of Creek funds for tribal purposes....federal officials acted illegally in recognizing the principal chief as the sole embodiment of the government in th...

Five Tribes Act - April 26, 1906 Section 28: That the tribal existence and present tribal governments of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole tribes or nations are hereby continued in full force and effect for all purposes authorized by law. It is this one sentence set forth by the 59th United States Congress that keeps our Nation in tact today.

and what made the Five Civilized Tribes, Civilized you ask? They had a farming culture - the plains Indians are the nomads but Cherokees usually lived in small houses near a stream and were farmers...thus they were civilized... from Wikipedia : All human civilizations have depended on agriculture for subsistence. Growing food on farms results in a surplus of food, particularly when people use intensive agricultural techniques such as irrigation and crop rotation . Grain surpluses have been especially important because they can be stored for a long time. A surplus of food permits some people to do things besides produce food for a living: early civilizations included artisans , priests and priestesses, and other people with specialized careers. A surplus of food results in a division of labour and a more diverse range of human activity, a defining trait of civilizations. from me: so I guess those in fields other than farming are uncivilized.....:)

guess the Dawes took care of this: ARTICLE 1. That the lands now occupied by the Cherokee Nation shall be secured to the whole Cherokee people for their common use and benefit; and a patent shall be issued for the same , including the eight hundred thousand acres purchased, together with the outlet west, promised by the United States, in conformity with the provisions relating thereto, contained in the third article of the treaty of 1835, and in the third section of the act of Congress, approved May twenty-eighth, 1830, which authorizes the President of the United States, in making exchanges of lands with the Indian tribes, “to assure the tribe or nation with which the exchange is made, that the United States will forever secure and guarantee to them, and their heirs or successors, the country so exchanged with them; and if they prefer it, that the United States will cause a patent or grant to be made and executed to them for the same: Provided, always, That such lands shall revert to...

ARTICLE 16. It is hereby stipulated and agreed by the Cherokees that they shall remove to their new homes within two years from the ratification of this treaty and that during such time the United States shall protect and defend them in their possessions and property and free use and occupation of the same and such persons as have been dispossessed of their improvements and houses; and for which no grant has actually issued previously to the enactment of the law of the State of Georgia, of December 1835 to regulate Indian occupancy shall be again put in possession and placed in the same situation and condition, in reference to the laws of the State of Georgia, as the Indians that have not been dispossessed; and if this is not done, and the people are left unprotected, then the United States shall pay the several Cherokees for their losses and damages sustained by them in consequence thereof. And it is also stipulated and agreed that the public buildings and improvements on which they a...

and Georgia just wouldn't give up... 31 U.S. 515 from the Syllabus: The act of the Legislature of Georgia passed 22d December, 1830, entitled "An act to prevent the exercised of assumed and arbitrary power by all persons under pretext of authority from the Cherokee Indians," &c., enacts that: All white persons residing within the limits of the Cherokee Nation on the 1st day of March next, or at any time thereafter, without a license or permit from his Excellency the Governor, or from such agent as his Excellency the Governor shall authorize to grant such permit or license, and who shall not have taken the oath hereinafter required, shall be guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by confinement to the penitentiary at hard labour for a term not less than four years.

Interesting language out of this case, click on the case name above for the full text.....long since been eliminated from the National Conscious...basically this case said Georgia as a state couldn't enter and take Cherokee land - unfortunately Georgia just took it anyway... 30 U.S. 1 from the Syllabus: The Cherokees are a State. They have been uniformly treated as a State since the settlement of our country. The numerous treaties made with them by the United States recognise them as a people capable of maintaining the relations of peace and war; of being responsible in their political character for any violation of their engagements, or for any aggression committed on the citizens of the United States by any individual of their community. Laws have [p2] been enacted in the spirit of these treaties. The acts of our Government plainly recognise the Cherokee Nation as a State, and the Courts are bound by those acts. from Marshall's opinion in the case: Though the Indians are ackn...

I just like this clip from this movie...

or know their Native Dances....

Most Cherokees today can't even speak their native language...

If they trash our Chief, they will trash our Nation...

Greetings Urban Indian Health Community- The Urban Indian Health Institute is proud to release its ground breaking report titled: Reported Health and Health-Influencing Behaviors Among Urban American Indians and Alaska Natives. The report finds additional evidence that American Indians and Alaska Natives living in urban areas face major hurdles in reaching health status similar to their fellow Americans. Findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a national telephone survey conducted yearly and coordinated by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), show America Indians and Alaska Natives living in selected urban areas were more likely to report difficulty accessing health care, had higher rates of risk behavior, and experienced worse health outcomes than the general population. Income differences were shown to play a role in explaining some of the health disparities, but differences in some reported health indicators were not income dependent. To down lo...

(Urban Indian Clinics serve those not Indian or those self ID'd as Indian - which means they are not Citizens of a Federally Recognized Tribe - no wonder Indians have inadequate health services - Federal Recognition of the Juaneno Tribe of San Juan Capistrano takes us closer to an Indian Clinic http://www.juaneno.com/ ) Increasingly Urban AI/AN Population Faces Poverty, Barriers To Health Care By Matt Pueschel Posted: 25-February-2008 http://www.usmedicine.com/dailyNews.cfm?dailyID=368 WASHINGTON—A new report released in November by the Urban Indian Health Commission and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation illuminated concerns over rising health disparities in American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) living in urban areas. Entitled "Invisible Tribes: Urban Indians and Their Health in A Changing World," the report details how nearly 67 per cent of the country’s 4.1 million self-identified AI/AN now live in metropolitan areas and how many are poor with high ra...

And Still the Waters Run: The Betrayal of the Five Civilized Tribes by Angie Debo ISBN-10: 0806119039 ISBN-13: 9780806119038 Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press - January 1988 Format: Paperback To get your copy: http://www.bookfinder4u.com/IsbnSearch.aspx?isbn=0806119039&mode=direct

(Black Caucus) Controversies Ralph Nader In 2004, Green Party presidential candidate and consumer activist Ralph Nader attended a meeting with the Caucus, where he says that Congressman Mel Watt , later the chair of the Caucus, twice uttered an "obscene racial epithet" towards him; Watt subsequently did not offer an apology. Nader wrote to the Caucus afterwards: "Instead, exclamations at the meeting... end[ed] with the obscene racist epithet repeated twice by Yale Law School alumnus Congressman Melvin Watt of North Carolina . One member of your Caucus called to apologize for the crudity of some of the members. I had expected an expression of regret or apology from Congressman Watt in the subsequent days after he had cooled down. After all there was absolutely no vocal or verbal provocation from me or from my associates, including Peter Miguel Camejo , to warrant such an outburst. In all my years of struggling for justice, especially for the deprived and downtrodden, ...

Rolls The 1866 treaty did not, however, lead to full acceptance of freedmen in the Cherokee Nation. This resistance was largely due to economic factors. In 1880, a census was compiled in order to distribute per capita funds related to recent land sales. In the same year, the Cherokee senate voted to deny citizenship to freedmen who had failed to comply with the 1866 treaty by returning to the Cherokee Nation within six months. However the 1880 census did not even include those freedmen who had never left, claiming that the treaty granted civil and political rights, but not the right to share in tribal assets. [23] Cherokee Chief Dennis Wolf Bushyhead (1877-1887) opposed this action, but was overridden by the Council. The federal government intervened, passing a bill in 1888 mandating that adopted citizens of the Cherokee nation share in tribal assets, and compiled what was known as the Wallace Roll in 1889 to count those who were included (including 3,524 freedmen). [24] The freedmen...