Congress tells Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma: No Funding

[CherokeeTsisqua]

I'm not Cherokee but it seems that what is happening to them is just wrong. I don't think the Freedmen really want to be Cherokee, they just want all the benefits.......

Then why do the freedmen Cherokees go to the stomp grounds, speak Cherokee, have hog frys and live just as much like Cherokees as anyone else? Because they do have Cherokee blood. They are of mixed ancestry. That's really the only difference between them and Cherokees mixed with white blood.

And you know most Indian people want their benefits like health care even if it is the worst in the country.

[John Cornsilk]

I'm not Cherokee but it seems that what is happening to them is just wrong. I don't think the Freedmen really want to be Cherokee, they just want all the benefits.......

Another post of total ignorance, As a Cherokee and an Elder I ask what benifits, we have people dyin on a waiting list for help, and elders denied contract health and die in misery!
Who in their right mind would only be after that???

The Cherokee Freedmen People only want is rightfully theirs by fact of law their citizenship, read the Ruling by CNO'S own court that explains it in very simple terms, a simpleton could just about understand it. CLICK HERE

And if you would like to get over this complete ignorance of Cherokee stuff you could go to Cornsilks and read, from there go to John's Place an listen and learn.

[CherokeeTsisqua]

I've noted a discrepancy in my own family's records when contrasted with what the Dawes rolls said and what other census documents recorded. It depended on who was looking at you how much indian they thought you were...

So, in today's reality, how do you rectify this? If a person's ancestors were mixed, Cherokee and black, and the Dawes commission just lumped them in with the Freedmen, without giving them a chance to own up to their full ancestry, how could they prove that they were truly Cherokee - or should the CNO just relent and accept all listed Freedmen as citizens? Hard to see a truly fair way to work through this situation.

NorthofAda,

If you noticed discrepancies in your family's records the what you said above about the freedmen also applies to you. There could be a possibility that you're not Cherokee or less than your ancestor on the roll was listed as.

[CherokeeTsisqua]

John, I hope these other people realize that Chad Smith's Cherokee Nation antics are putting every other tribe's sovereignty in danger. But the racists can't look ahead to the future, they just want to look back to the days of slavery and remain racist.

Maybe if they visit your site John's place they will learn the truth about how bogus Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is.

[handgame_native]

Currently, Oklahoma tribes, for the most part, do not have cultural requirements to register as a descendant of an original allottee. You don't have to live in your community, speak your language, or even participate or contribute to your ways. So, it's not even really part of the equation any longer.

And, why should we as Native people not uphold treaties and agreements with the Federal Gov? Let the white people's gov. continue to be the ones to go back on their word.

[DavidCornsilk]

You obviously need to do more research. While the Chickasaw Freedmen were never adopted and not citizens of the nation in which they lived, the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole Freedmen (with or without blood of the tribe) were CITIZENS of their respective nations. If you want to fully understand the legal status of the Freedmen, I suggest you read a couple of books. First read "The Cherokee Freedmen" by Dan Littlefield. And then read "A People Without A Country, The Chickasaw Freedmen," also by Dr. Littlefield. You might also read a couple of US Supreme Court cases, first read Alberty v. United States, where the Freedmen of the Cherokee Nation were determined to be Cherokee citizens. And then read Cherokee Nation v. United States in the U.S. Court of Claims where the Court ruled that the Cherokee Freedmen were in fact citizens of the Cherokee Nation, NOT forced on the tribe and were entitled to equal treatment with Cherokees by blood. If you are truly interested in learning the truth about the Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes, visit my dad's website John's Place, dicussion forum for Cherokee politics, and read some original documents.

[NorthofAda]

I found this link on Google...

THE UNITED CHEROKEE NATION

Is this a federally recognized tribe? Unless I'm misreading, it sounds like anyone who is willing to swear that they're Cherokee is taken for face value, and there is a charge for membership...

Maybe I misread...

[DavidCornsilk]

The Freedmen have been citizens of the Cherokee Nation since 1866. They have lived with, among and intermarried with Cherokees by blood for over 140 years. Even before slavery ended, the ancestors of many of the Freedmen lived as slaves with Cherokee Indians and crossed the Trail of Tears. The benefits you speak of are handouts from the white man designed to control tribal people. 90 percent of the Cherokee population is less than 1/4 Cherokee by blood. It could be easily said of them, mostly late-comers, that they are only seeking "benefits." The Freedmen started their struggle for rights in the Cherokee Nation when they were booted out by Ross Swimmer in 1983. They had lived unmolested in the Cherokee Nation prior to that heinous act. I entered their struggle in 1988 when I wrote a letter to Wilma Mankiller, the Principal Chief, asking her to investigate the plight of the Freedmen and restore their rights. I was threatened with being fired from the Cherokee Nation. The struggle for the rights of the Freedmen begain LONG before the development of Indian gaming. Even prior to being kicked out of the tribe in 1983, the Freedmen were not eligible for Indian Health Services or programs because they could not show they had Indian blood, a fact denied them by the racist Dawes Commission in 1902. So don't go spreading hateful lies about the Freedmen seeking benefits. Take a look at how proud the Seminole Freedmen were and continue to be as citizens of the Seminole Nation, even though their own government denies them ANY benefits because of their negro ancestry. If you are going to talk about an oppressed and innocent people, at least tell the truth.

[Kakeeya]

I feel bad for the Cherokee's because anyone and everyone already claims to be Cherokee. Now they're being punished for standing up for themselves and saying who can be a part of their Nation and who can't? Just shameful.

[kiowakat]

I found this link on Google...

THE UNITED CHEROKEE NATION

Is this a federally recognized tribe? Unless I'm misreading, it sounds like anyone who is willing to swear that they're Cherokee is taken for face value, and there is a charge for membership...

Maybe I misread...

good luck with any legit Cherokee tribe helping us with these bogus groups, the more they ignore this problem the more it grows.....

[handgame_native]

I feel bad for the Cherokee's because anyone and everyone already claims to be Cherokee. Now they're being punished for standing up for themselves and saying who can be a part of their Nation and who can't? Just shameful.

Yeah, there are many, many people who claim to be Cherokee.

The folks who are being segregated today, as their ancestors were by the Dawes Commission are descendants of Cherokee Citizens (allottees).

Many of the Freemen descendants are Cherokee by Blood. If you are going to deny registration and subsequent voting rights, amongst other aspects of citizenship, then call it what it is ~ kicking out your own people, own up to it.

[John Cornsilk]

I found this link on Google...

THE UNITED CHEROKEE NATION

Is this a federally recognized tribe? Unless I'm misreading, it sounds like anyone who is willing to swear that they're Cherokee is taken for face value, and there is a charge for membership...

Maybe I misread...

Fony as the other 240 or so wannabee groups, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma made noises like they might do something about it, but they backed off, they sent THIS LETTER to the State of Tenneesee about their policy of recognizing these fony groups, (scroll down to page 14 to see the list of fonies) but because they are just as BOGUS, they don't dare chance the fact Tenneesee might challenge their right to even be babbling about wannabees when they are no better.
You can GO HERE to see the website of the REAL United Cherokee Nation Then go to Cornsilks to learn how and why the cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is BOGUS!

[John Cornsilk]

John, I hope these other people realize that Chad Smith's Cherokee Nation antics are putting every other tribe's sovereignty in danger. But the racists can't look ahead to the future, they just want to look back to the days of slavery and remain racist.

Maybe if they visit your site John's place they will learn the truth about how bogus Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is.

Well they are welcome to come to JOHN'S PLACE and read, and you can get to cornsilk's from there to realy learn about CNO, we have simillar registering process as here to post, but anyone can read.

[CHEROSAGE]

Northofada: as far as I know this group of United Cherokees is not Fed. Rec.. I would be in favor of a United Cherokee Confederation. But there isn't any such thing, at least not yet.

I would like to say that I personally know John Cornsilk. He is a good man and honorable. I just wanted to say this incase someone thinks he may be a kook or something. Thanks, John for your words. I have many friends who I have talked with BUT would not mention their names unless they wish. I know that sometimes things happen to people if they don't agree with the Tribal Govnt.

[Nede Wade]

Just read the bill

If people would just read the Watson bill, they would understand that there is a LOT more involved than just the Freedmen.
The bill refers to 'illegally elected chief' and 'operating under an illegal constitution.'

The BIA refuses to approve the 03/99 constitution, yet Smith has implemented all the new provisions of the constitution. Everything is operated under something that is not illegal. And then, to get around it, he promotes and campaigns for a vote to oust federal oversight. And the voters fell for it.
Shows you what people don't know about history.

The Cherokee Agreement of 1902 with the Federal Government stated that the President must approve future resolutions, laws, etc., because the Cherokee Nation was dissolved March 4, 1906. It only continues to operate 'under the BIA' to manage the remaining assets of the former tribe' and to function for the original enrollees, of which there are only a few. Thanks to Swimmer, they continue to operate to provide federal government services to mixed blood descendants. So, of COURSE the federal government should have oversight! Especially when the majority of their funding is from federal money, while they stash away millions and millions from their casinos, which are operated by a separate corporation, and not the tribe.

If you feel sorry for anyone, feel sorry for all the Keetoowah Cherokees who are 1/4 to fullblood, with the majority of their money being self-generated and 80% speaking their own language. Everytime a Keetoowah attempts to utilize some of the federal money Cherokee Nation has which is supposed to be for ANY federally recognized Indian in the 14 counties, they are literally told "you will be put at the bottom of the list because you are a member of the UKB."