Posted by
Steve on Thursday, September 15, 2011 12:32:10 PM
The Cherokee Nation decided last week that they were no longer going to carry blacks on their books. So, they sent out a letter to all black members that they will be terminated from the Cherokee Nation rolls. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) heard of this action and sent a stern message to the Cherokee Nation telling them that their upcoming election will not be recognized by the BIA if they do not reinstate the black members. That is where things stand right now.
First a little history to give some perspective to this incident: The Cherokee Nation was located in North Carolina and Georgia originally. When the colonists came here, the Cherokee Nation originally tried to fight. Finding that fighting was not a good idea, the Cherokee Nation decided to adopt the ways of the white settlers. Many Cherokee Indians became wealthy landowners and had large plantations. With the large plantations came black slaves, just like the large plantations owned by whites in the area. Yes, Indians owned black slaves in pre-Civil War days. When the Civil War occurred, the Cherokee Nation aligned itself with the South. Since by that time most of the tribe was in Oklahoma, due to Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee soldiers that fought for the South usually fought in the west.
After the Civil War, the tribe was forced to sign an agreement to assimilate the freed blacks as members. According to the treaty, the freed blacks became citizens through the tribe. That is the way it has been since the treaty was signed in 1866. Right now there are only about 2800 of the “freed blacks” as members of the Cherokee Nation. Removing the blacks from the rolls of the Cherokee Nation will also make the 2800 blacks non-citizens. The Cherokee Nation is one of, if not the, largest Indian tribes in the country. This fight is over an extremely small portion of the tribal population.
The tribe is supposed to be a “sovereign nation” within the United States. As a sovereign nation, it should be able to make the rules it wishes to live under. The reality of the situation is that this sovereign nation business is just window dressing. The tribe is really just a ward of the federal government. The BIA is really the ruling entity in tribal affairs. If the BIA agrees with the activities of the tribe, the tribe can do what it wants. If the BIA objects, the tribe is expected to bow down and make the changes necessary to keep the BIA happy. At least that is how it appeared when I worked with the Apache and Gila tribes here in Arizona.
What I expect to happen is for the tribe to bow down to the power of the BIA and readmit the blacks into full membership with the tribe. They might make some special provision so that the freed blacks are not equal to the actual Cherokee members, but that remains to be seen. As things stand, the blacks are not citizens of the country as they are not members of the tribe. The citizenship of the blacks will need to be resolved before the situation can end. Either the federal government will have to pass legislation to make the blacks citizens or the tribe will have to have them on the rolls as members. These blacks were born in the country and many have even served in the military. They deserve citizenship one way or the other. You cannot leave the situation as it currently stands, where they are in limbo.
Not being close to the situation, I am not sure the motivation behind the Cherokee’s move. Something must have started this situation, because it would not have happened out of the blue. Not knowing that bit of information puts me at a loss to determine how the situation will eventually play out. The federal government wants them on the rolls of the tribe as they have been since 1866. The tribe wants them off for some reason. I suspect that the reason has to do with money from the casinos. My guess is that the power of the federal government will be too much for the tribe to resist. The tribe will bow to political pressure and readmit the blacks. At least that is my guess without having all the facts.