Freedmen vs Cherokee Nation

No. 91-3561; United States Court of Appeals,Eighth Circuit (1993) http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/986/986.F2d.246.91-3561.html Because the tribe's specific right of self-government would be affected, the general rule of applicability does not apply. Accord Cherokee Nation, 871 F.2d at 938 ("ADEA is not applicable because its enforcement would directly interfere with the Cherokee Nation's treaty-protected right of self-government "). 4 See also Nero v. Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, 892 F.2d 1457, 1463 (10th Cir.1989) (plaintiffs could not assert claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 2000d because they would affect the tribe's right to self-governance in a purely internal matter); Donovan v. Navajo Forest Products Indus., 692 F.2d 709, 712 (10th Cir.1982) (OSHA held inapplicable to tribe in part because enforcement "would dilute the principles of tribal sovereignty and self-government recognized in the treaty"); but contra Smart v. State Farm Ins., 8...

A look at the Court's order in Vann vs DOI https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2003cv1711-41 1. The order cites this as Red Bird vs United States http://supreme.justia.com/us/203/76/case.html U.S. Supreme Court Cherokee Intermarriage Cases, 203 U.S. 76 (1906) Cherokee Intermarriage Cases Nos. 125, 126, 127 and 128 Argued February 19, 20, 1906 Decided November 5, 1906 203 U.S. 76 APPEALS FROM THE COURT OF CLAIMS Syllabus Judgment of the Court of Claims affirmed to effect that all those white persons who married Cherokee Indians by blood subsequently to the enactment of the Cherokee law, which became effective November 1, 1875, acquired no rights of soil or interest in the lands and vested funds of the Nation as citizens, and that those white persons who married Cherokee citizens by blood prior to said date did acquire rights as citizens in the lands belonging to the Nation, and held and owned as national lands, except such of them as lost their rights as Cherokee c...

Some interesting Court of Claims cases, these only go back to 1997 on the web: 1. Harvest Institute vs US (this is the Freedmen case in the Court of Claims) http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/HODGES.HARVEST011508.pdf Court dismissed the action for lack of jurisdiction, failure to state a claim and outside the statute of limitations. The court states any obligation the US had was at the turn of the century (I assume that was the 1900s) 2. UKB vs US and Cherokee Nation http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/FIRESTONE.UKB.final.pdf This case is in reference to the Arkansas River Bed settlement 3. Osage Tribe vs US http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/HEWITT.OSAGE033108.pdf US Constitution recognizes tribes as sovereign nations in Article 1 section 8.

The Hill Washington, DC 04/29/2008 Attacking tribal sovereignty From Jared Hautamaki As a former Congressional Black Caucus staffer, Native American attorney, and recent attendee of the Federal Bar Association Indian Law Conference, I am torn by the unnecessary divisions being caused by the CBC to relations between African Americans, Democrats and Native Americans (Frank sides with CBC, holds fast on Cherokee funding, April 21, and related articles). Reps. Diane Watson (D-Calif.) and Mel Watt (D-N.C.) fail to grasp the very fundamental fact that tribes are sovereign nations, and under basic principles of sovereignty, as well as the Supreme Court precedent of Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez , tribes as nations are entitled to determine their own membership. While I am no fan of the decision to disenroll the Freedmen descendants, the Cherokee Nation is entitled to self-determination. This principle of self-determination has undoubtedly created tensions within Indian Country, with tribes ...

For a more indepth look at this historical time period on DVD through Rich Heape Films, Inc.: "Trail of Tears Cherokee Legacy" produced by Rich-Heape Films, Inc. is a long format Director's Cut, written by Daniel Blake Smith, it chronicles the ethnic cleansing and the hardships endured by the Indians of Southeast America in the 1830s with particular emphasis on the Cherokee Trail of Tears removal. Approximate running time 2 hours. Format: DVD THIS TWO HOUR DOCUMENTARY EXPLORES AMERICA'S DARKEST PERIOD: PRESIDENT ANDREW JACKSON'S INDIAN REMOVAL ACT OF 1830 AND THE FORCED REMOVAL OF THE CHEROKEE NATION TO OKLAHOMA IN 1838... Thousands of Cherokees died during the Trail of Tears, nearly a quarter of the Nation. They suffered beyond imagination and when they finally arrived in Indian Territory, they arrived almost without any children and with very few elders, in a way they arrived with no past and no future. http://www.richheape.com/the-trail-of-tears.htm

A move to destroy the Cherokee Nation By Ben Nighthorse Campbell Posted: 04/28/08 05:24 PM [ET] http://thehill.com/op-eds/a-move-to-destroy-the-cherokee-nation-2008-04-28.html Despite my years in politics, I’m still surprised by Congress’s inability to learn from past mistakes and tendency to interfere where it should not. One of the richer sources of persistent bad judgment is Congress’s tragic history of meddling in the internal affairs of Indian tribes. Yet the House is considering legislation that would destroy the Cherokee Nation, hurt some of America’s poorest citizens, and dictate the outcome of an internal political dispute, despite the fact that Cherokee tribal and federal courts are reviewing the issues. The Cherokee Nation is involved in litigation with a group of individuals claiming to be descendants of slaves, known as Freedmen, who were held by 2 percent of Cherokees before 1863, when the Cherokees voluntarily emancipated them. The Cherokee people voted decisively in Mar...

The Cherokees will loose $108 million dollars in Health Care if the Congressional Black Caucus amendment to the health care bill passes...read the full story: http://freedmen.cherokee.org/Portals/13/Docs/08-07-Cherokee-Nation-Funding-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Three courts considering Freedmen claims By Will Chavez TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – As the Freedmen issue is discussed in the halls of Congress, attorneys for Freedmen descendents and the Cherokee Nation are preparing for more hearings in three different courts. The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals and the Cherokee Nation District Court have Freedmen cases pending. Six Freedmen descendents are waiting for their case, Vann v. Kempthorne (Department of Interior), to be heard in U.S. District Court regarding their citizenship and voting rights in the CN. The plaintiffs contend the CN, with approval from the DOI secretary Dirk Kempthorne, prevented them from participating in the 2003 tribal election and seek a court order declaring the 2003 election invalid. They also want DOI to not recognize the results of the elections until Freedmen are permitted to vote. In December 2006, a federal judge denied the CN’s motion to dismiss Vann v. Kemptho...

Appeals court to hear Freedmen case By Will Chavez Staff Writer TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Oral arguments for the lawsuit Vann v. Kempthorne have been set for May 6 in the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. The three-judge appeals court is expected to review a district court judge’s denial of motions to dismiss the case filed by the Cherokee Nation in 2006. The tribe is challenging its inclusion in a lawsuit filed in 2003 by Cherokee Freedmen descendants led by Marilyn Vann of Oklahoma City. The suit contends the CN, with approval from the Department of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, prevented Freedmen from participating in the 2003 CN elections. Freedmen are seeking a court order declaring those elections invalid and want the DOI secretary to not recognize the results until they are permitted to vote. for the rest of the story: http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/News/News.aspx?StoryID=2824 Judges in this case: Merrick B. Garland Thomas B. Griffith David S. Tatel

Opinion: State of Indian health care is a national tragedy Tim Giago syndicated columnist Published Monday, April 28, 2008 http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/articles/index.cfm?id=26331&freebie_check&CFID=30495308&CFTOKEN=96161569&jsessionid=8830bed289ff83c57538 Mycole James Ferguson and Leah Page will never grow up to find their potential in life. Both infants were stillborn one week apart on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Sadly, this is not an uncommon occurrence on this vast Indian reservation. It is to the shame of America that its indigenous populations are at the bottom of the ladder when it comes to adequate prenatal health care. The families of Mycole and Leah are still suffering from the loss of their children. And yet week after week, month after month and year after year, the names of stillborn Native American infants will be listed on the obituary pages of local newspapers. Sharon Begley wrote in Newsweek that, “In international comparisons of heal...

Federal judge promises to set dollar figure on US mismanagement of Indian trust Brett Murphy at 2:45 PM ET http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/04/federal-judge-promises-to-set-dollar.php [JURIST] US District Judge James Robertson said Monday in a court hearing that he would set a dollar figure [plaintiffs press release] on the US government's alleged mismanagement of trust funds for a group of some 500,000 Native Americans in a 12-year class action lawsuit [plaintiffs website; JURIST news archive] against the US Department of the Interior [official website]. Plaintiffs led by Eloise Cobell have argued that federal government owes them $58 billion, representing its profits from land use violative of trust terms. Congress established the Indian trust in 1887 to hold proceeds from government-arranged leases of Indian lands. Lawyers for the US government have argued that little trust monies are missing from its accounts and have discouraged Robertson from setting any kind of fig...

(So, just who is *an Indian*, it appears the court has struggled for some time to find a *fix*) http://64.62.196.98/News/2005/009988.asp Federal courts try to decide who is legally Indian Wednesday, August 24, 2005 When the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990 ruled that tribal governments lack the inherent authority to prosecute members of other tribes, Congress quickly reacted by passing the " Duro fix." ... The issue has already been tested. In a case involving an ex-Bureau of Indian Affairs officer who embraced his Indian heritage but isn't enrolled in a tribe, a federal judge ruled that he isn't legally Indian and therefore not subject to the jurisdiction of the Spokane Tribe of Washington, which is part of the 9 th Circuit. "At that point, though, he says, 'Wait, I'm not Indian,'" said Bethany Berger, an assistant professor of law at Wayne State University, at a recent Indian law conference. "This seems unfair -- that a guy that's taken ad...

http://indianz.com/News/2008/008375.asp Cherokee Freedmen dispute threatens NAHASDA Thursday, April 24, 2008 Meanwhile, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear another Freedmen case on May 6. The tribe is trying to protect its sovereign immunity from a lawsuit that was originally brought against the Interior Department . Final decisions in the tribal and federal courts could be months away. Rather than wait, members of the Congressional Black Caucus on the House side have been attaching provisions to Indian bills in order to punish the tribe for removing the Freedmen. "They will attach it to every single Indian proposal," Cherokee Chief Chad Smith said at an Indian law conference earlier this month. According to Smith, the Freedmen at one point were citizens of the tribe. "We were truly a republic," Smith said at the 33rd annual Indian law conference hosted by the Federal Bar Association . But he said acts of Congress in the early 1900s terminated the Fre...

(yeah, that's right, blame the Cherokee Nation for this hold up - what part of *the Freedmen are NOT CHEROKEE, does Congress and the CBC not understand) House committees given extension on IHCIA Monday, April 28, 2008 http://indianz.com/News/2008/008424.asp Pallone said there are two main issues holding up passage. The first is the status of the Freedmen, who are the descendants of former African slaves, as citizens of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. The bill will now include a provision to ensure the Freedmen are restored to citizenship within the second-largest tribe in the U.S. The Senate's version did not address the controversy. (the Freedmen were added to the rolls way back in 2006/7 - so what does this mean *to ensure the Freedmen are restored to citizenship*? is this congressional speak for *the Cherokee Nation is still excluded from receiving funding until they *surrender* to the Congressional Black Caucus* - ya'll need to get a grip here, we're in the 21st C...

U.S. spends $3.9 billion on water for others By Kathy Helms Diné Bureau http://www.gallupindependent.com/2008/April/042608water.html WINDOW ROCK — In the past four years, the Bush administration spent $2.3 billion on water infrastructure in Iraq, $1.6 billion on water-related issues in other countries, and $2.5 billion on water rights claims in the West outside Indian Country. On April 19, 2005, the Navajo Nation and the state of New Mexico executed a settlement agreement to Navajo claims of water rights in the San Juan River Basin in New Mexico. Last year, U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman introduced H.R. 1970 — the Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act — which is currently pending in Congress and would authorize the settlement and the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project to provide safe drinking water to the Navajo Nation and Gallup. The Department of the Interior has testified against the bill, and the Office of Management and Budget has opposed funding despite the critical lack of d...

(There is no reason why the CBC can not wait for a court decision in the Freedmen vs Cherokee Nation case - they always have the option to pass legislation if the decision is not in their favor - see how this all works?) Recent Senate Votes Cloture Motion; Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007 - Vote Rejected (56-42, 2 Not Voting) The Senate fell short of the sixty votes necessary to proceed to debate on H.R. 2831, a bill that effectively overturns a recent Supreme Court decision concerning pay discrimination litigation. Sen. Dianne Feinstein voted YES Sen. Barbara Boxer voted YES

Cherokee Nation Enterprises Media Advisory Contact: Mike Miller at (918) 384-7861 © Cherokee Nation - All Rights Reserved April 25, 2008 Cherokee Nation reports “Where the Casino Money Goes” After 70 percent of Cherokee Casinos’ profits are reinvested into job creation, the remaining 30 percent is paid directly to the Cherokee Nation to fund important social services. That figure also reached a record level in 2007, $34 million. That’s more than $8 million over the previous year to fund important services such as health care, education, roads, community services and much more. TULSA, Okla. – Cherokee Nation Enterprises (CNE), which operates seven Cherokee Casinos in northeast Oklahoma, is releasing its third annual report, “Where the Casino Money Goes 2008.” The publication outlines Cherokee Casinos’ impact on job creation and the economy in northeast Oklahoma. CNE has created more than 2,100 jobs in the past four years, 400 of those in 2007 alone. “The best service that we can provide...

Senate Committee Passes Bill To Promote Health Careers Among American Indians [Apr 25, 2008] http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51770 The Senate Indian Affairs Committee on Thursday approved a bill sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) that aims to encourage American Indians to pursue careers in health care, the AP/Billings Gazette reports. The bill would provide federal grants to create nursing and other health care education programs at tribal colleges and increase staff at American Indian health clinics. According to the AP/Gazette, American Indians have higher death rates than the rest of the nation for most leading causes of death, and rates of substance abuse, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and suicide are particularly high (AP/Billings Gazette, 4/24). The bill -- the Through Higher Education, Promoting the Advancement of Tribal Health Act -- would also allow tribal colleges to launch community outreach programs focused on disease management, substa...

For Immediate Release April 25, 2008 Contact: Amanda Clinton (918) 384-6944 Or Kelli Bruer (918) 384-7974 www.CherokeeCasino.com Cherokee Casino donates supplies to local schools CLAREMORE, Okla. - Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs and Cherokee Casino Resort recently donated school supplies to Sequoyah-Claremore Elementary, Verdigris Elementary and Justus-Tiawah Elementary in response to the recent state education budget cuts. Cherokee Nation Enterprises, which operates Cherokee Casinos, reached out to local schools requesting a list of needed supplies to finish out the school year. The supplies were donated and collected by casino employees. “The teachers and I are ecstatic,” said Lisa Trent, principal of Sequoyah-Claremore Elementary. “This paper is like gold to us! We can’t thank Cherokee Nation Enterprises enough to take the time to think about our school. This will honestly help us make it through the rest of the year.” Cherokee Casino employees donated much-needed school supplies...

Cole charges 'blackmail' over Indian housing bill By JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau 4/24/2008 http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080424_1_A13_spanc86238 WASHINGTON -- Rep. Tom Cole has accused a House committee chairman of "legislative blackmail" by threatening to keep an Indian housing bill from a final vote if it does not include provisions punishing the Cherokee Nation in the long-running controversy over the tribe's freedmen descendants. "This is legislating with a gun to the head of the Cherokee Nation," Cole, R-Okla., said this week, adding that lawmakers should allow the courts to settle the issue. "This is what got the Cherokees to Oklahoma in the first place . . . the misuse of congressional power." Cole, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, also joined the National American Indian Housing Council in expressing concern that Congress' response to the Cherokee controversy could jeopardize passage of t...

A little about John Cornsilk and his United Cherokee Nation ( UCN ). John operates also from an old document, 1839 Constitution amended in 2000 , that states any Cherokee Citizen who leaves the 14 counties (Indian Territory) is considered a traitor and is denied membership in the tribe forever. "Article I. Sec. 1. The boundary of the Cherokee Nation shall be that described in the treaty of 1833 between the United States and Western Cherokees, subject to such extension as may be made in the adjustment of the unfinished business with the United States. Sec. 2. The lands owned by, held in trust for, or otherwise under the superintendence of the Cherokee Nation shall remain common property; but the improvements made thereon, and in the possession of the citizens respectively who made, or may rightfully be in possession of them: Provided, that the citizens of the Nation possessing exclusive and indefeasible right to their improvements, as expressed in this article, shall possess no ri...

U.S. Supreme Court SANTA CLARA PUEBLO v. MARTINEZ, 436 U.S. 49 (1978) 436 U.S. 49 SANTA CLARA PUEBLO ET AL. v. MARTINEZ ET AL. CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT No. 76-682. Argued November 29, 1977 Decided May 15, 1978 Respondents, a female member of the Santa Clara Pueblo and her daughter, brought this action for declaratory and injunctive relief against petitioners, the Pueblo and its Governor, alleging that a Pueblo ordinance that denies tribal membership to the children of female members who marry outside the tribe, but not to similarly situated children of men of that tribe, violates Title I of the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 (ICRA), 25 U.S.C. 1301-1303, which in relevant part provides that "[n]o Indian tribe in exercising powers of self-government shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of its laws." 25 U.S.C. 1302 (8). The ICRA's only express remedial provision, 25 U.S.C. 1303, extends the...