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 ...
There were the Dawes Rolls and the Guion-Miller Rolls, early 20th century indian censuses, really. I’ve got seven who were denied because they’d lived apart from the tribe for over a century. Surnames Hicks, Eaton and Sizemore. I’m 1/64 Cherokee.
That would just be another treaty broken with the indians and the government.
No more treaties. They are part of the US population. They become Americans and get of the dole. They have no separtate rights.
Just like federal employees. No more federal retirement. Everyone gets SS. Whether you are speaker of the house or a broompusher on the federal dime.
The issue is if slaves that were owned by the Cherokee should be considered Cherokee if there is no blood relation.
The old treaty says yes, the new president says no.
I saw if they want to end the treaty, great! Would be better for their people in the long run. Reservations were the most successful thing the US government every made to destroy a people.
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