Cherokee man's lack of birth certificate turns into driver's license problem

ATHENS (WATE) -- There's a new federal ID requirement that says you have to produce a birth certificate when your driver's license expires.

A Native American named Aldea "Hawk" Silverhawk called 6 On Your Side to explain why he doesn't have a birth certificate and how difficult it is to prove where he was born.

Years ago, many Tennesseans were born at home and delivered by a midwife. In some cases, there's no record of the birth.

For those who fall under these circumstances, if you can show documentation of early schooling or your parent's birth, you can get what's called a delayed birth certificate.

6 On Your Side recently met Hawk and his wife, Loreen, at the Living Heritage Museum in Athens to learn more about his dilemma.

Hawk is a Cherokee who was delivered by a midwife in 1938. At age seven, he left the Tennessee mountains. He was sent west by himself where he attended a private boarding school on a reservation.

He's driven big trucks for nearly 50 years, but his commercial Tennessee license expired three months ago and he can't get an error on it changed.

His age on his Tennessee license is 60, as of last November." "My birthday, proven by the (family) Bible, is 22 August, 1938. But my driver's license says November 23, 1949. That's when they handed us papers on the reservation."

"When you deal with Native Americans, a lot of times there are no actual written records," Loreen said.

Hawk has no school records, no birth certificate and now there's the conflict with his age.

"The Tennessee driver's license that he has says he was born the 23rd of November, 1949. The problem with that is, it's incorrect. It was the date of issuance that he was given when they came out on the reservation," Loreen explained.

Loreen now drives the family car since Hawk's license has expired. The couple has tried to acquire a delayed birth certificate from the state, but their efforts have failed.

The office of vital records wrote a few months ago that research shows from 1937 through 1939, there's no record of Aldea Silverhawk's birth.

Hawk was recently sent a family Bible that shows proof of his birth. "Right here is the date of birth, August 22, 1938."

He said the Bible is from his mother's side of the family. There's reference to her birth, his older sister's birth and his birth.

Hawk hopes references from the Bible will be enough evidence for him to eventually acquire a delayed birth.

"I just want to get a birth certificate so I can bring my driver's license up to legal standards, as anyone else," Hawk said.

To obtain a delayed birth certificate, you fill out an application form at your county health department. The processing fee is $15. Then there's a search.

If no certificate is found, you can try to locate old school documents or a parent's birth certificate that shows date and place of birth. A marriage certificate can also be used to secure a delayed birth certificate.

Since Hawk can't produce any of these documents, as a last resort he's been asked to contact a special Social Security office in Maryland where his original application for a Social Security card is located.

That information, plus the record in his Bible, may be enough for him to get his delayed birth certificate.

Ah, Nana, the guys is a Cherokee...what the heck...our government knows how to deal with the likes of him...send him on a trail of tears, 1000 miles on foot in the winter out of here.

Border jumping Mexicans have more rights than the Indian ever had. An illegal alien gets instant citizenship if he serves in the military...but that didn’t work for this Indian did it??

BTW...a new poll.

http://cis.org/Minority-Views-Immigration.

Minority Advocates, Constituents Differ on Immigration

Zogby Poll Finds Wide Support for Enforcement, Lower Numbers

WASHINGTON (February 25, 2010) – While it is sometimes assumed that minorities, particularly Hispanics, favor increased immigration and legalization for illegal immigrants, a new Zogby survey finds that minority voters’ views are more complex. The poll of Hispanic, Asian-American, and African-American likely voters finds some support for legalization. But overall each of these groups prefers enforcement and for illegal immigrants to return home. Moreover, significant majorities of all three groups think that the current level of immigration is too high. These views are in sharp contrast to the leaders of most ethnic advocacy organizations, who argue for increased immigration and legalization of illegal immigrants. The survey used neutral language, avoiding such terms as “amnesty,” “illegal alien,” or “undocumented.”

The findings:

In contrast to the leadership of many ethnic advocacy groups, most members of minority groups think immigration is too high.

* Hispanics: 56 percent said it is too high; 7 percent said too low; 14 percent just right.
* Asian-Americans: 57 percent said immigration is too high; 5 percent said too low; 18 percent just right.
* African-Americans: 68 percent said it is too high; 4 percent said too low; 14 percent just right.

Most members of minority groups do not feel that illegal immigration is caused by limits on legal immigration as many ethnic advocacy groups argue; instead, members feel it’s due to a lack of enforcement.

* Hispanics: Just 20 percent said illegal immigration was caused by not letting in enough legal immigrants; 61 percent said inadequate enforcement.
* Asian-Americans: 19 percent said not enough legal immigration; 69 percent said inadequate enforcement.
* African-Americans: 16 percent said not enough legal immigration; 70 percent said inadequate enforcement.

Most members of minority groups feel that there are plenty of Americans available to fill unskilled jobs.

* Hispanics: 15 percent said legal immigration should be increased to fill unskilled jobs; 65 percent said there are plenty of Americans available to do unskilled jobs, employers just need to pay more.
* Asian-Americans: 19 percent said increase immigration; 65 percent said plenty of Americans are available.
* African-Americans: 6 percent said increase immigration; 81 percent said plenty of Americans are available.

When asked to choose between enforcement that would cause illegal immigrants in the country to go home or offering them a pathway to citizenship with conditions, most members of minority groups choose enforcement.

* Hispanics: 52 percent support enforcement to encourage illegals to go home; 34 percent support conditional legalization.
* Asian-Americans: 57 percent support enforcement; 29 percent support conditional legalization.
* African-Americans: 50 percent support enforcement; 30 percent support conditional legalization.

Discussion
This survey of minority voters shows that when it comes to the issue of legalizing illegal immigrants, these voters disagree with the leadership of many ethnic advocacy groups. Most voters want the law enforced and illegal immigrants to return to their home countries. Overall they also feel that the current level of immigration is too high. The poll specifically asks voters to put aside the issue of legal status and focus only on the numbers. Even so, most think the level of immigration is too high and very few think it is too low. Not surprisingly, when it comes to allowing more unskilled workers into the country, most Hispanic, Asian-American, and African-American voters feel there are plenty of Americans here to do such work; employers just need to pay more.

The overall findings of this poll show a significant divide between the perception that minority voters want legalization and increased legal immigration and the reality, which is that they want enforcement and less immigration. Like most Americans, minority voters are not anti-immigrant or anti-immigration per se. Moreover there is not unanimity on the immigration issue among or between groups. What the poll does show is that, like most Americans, Hispanic, Asian, and black voters want the law enforced and illegal immigrants to go home. Moreover, they think the overall level of immigration is too high. When some leaders of minority groups speak on immigration and argue for legalization, they are merely offering their own personal opinions, not necessarily those of voters in these communities.

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