Go to Link: Citizenship Status of Non-Indians
The Cherokee Nation affirms that they "embrace their mixed-raced heritage." However, even when they signed the new treaty of 1866, they never really wanted to embrace the Freedman's into their tribe. Why sign the treaty if you wanted to keep your nation made up of only Indians? From the very beginning, the Indian Nations agreed to give citizenship to Freedman's and their descendants, and now, because the Cherokee Nation feels they have the right, they feel the need to shut out the descendants of Freedman's. Why? Its not going to change the historical past that bonds the Freedman's to the Cherokee people. These Freedmen are apart of the Cherokee Nation, whether they like it or not. Freedman's should be acknowledged, not cast out.
We all know that Freedman's are African-American slaves, and in the Cherokee Nation there are Freedmen citizens. Not giving citizenship to the descendants of Freedman's is not going to take away from the tribes roots, as a Indian Tribe, made up of Indians. But, the Cherokee Nation is also made up of Freedman's(African-American slave of Cherokee Indians) and all the other "citizens who share African-American, Latino, Asian, Caucasian and other ancestry."
"This Constitutional vote of the Cherokee people now faces scrutiny from non-Indians who may disagree with the way the Cherokee people decide the citizenship of their Nation." Of course, the Cherokee Nation is going to face scrutiny, and yes, we know they might be "non-Indian," but they(Freedmen desendants) still have the right to become citizens. The Cherokee Nation should not be allowed to take their rights away, all of a sudden, because they feel like it. Cherokee Nation: "Oh, we just want to return to a Indian tribe made up of only Indians; lets not let any more descendant of Freedman's become a citizen of our Nation." You can not do that, its just not right!
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2 comments:
If you are going to write article like this, you need to do much more research. To educate you in a blog comment is simply not possible, but I would like to make a coule of points.
The non-Indian Freedmen were given land rights in the Treaty of 1866, not citizenship rights. They were given citizenship status a couple of years ago by a Cherokee Nation judge when she decided she wanted to run for chief and thought if she made them citizens it would give her the votes she needed. As a sovereign nation, the Cherokee people led a legal petition drive and by a vote of the people reversed the judges decision.
If you think taking non-Indians into the tribe does not affect the tribe, you are wrong. Should all Indian tribes simply take all non-Indians in because they wannabe an Indian. No. Those who have Indian ancestry already have citizenship regardless of what other ancestry they have. That's the way it should remain.
First of all, I am researching! However, I am not researching on court rulings. My research is on "Historical Facts" pertaining to the 1866 treaties,which by the way, demanded the Five Civilized Tribes to "provide tribal citizenship" to their Freedmen. And yes, the treaties did not grant citizenship,the tribes had to actually grant their Freedmen citizenship. The Cherokees, Creeks, and Seminoles all adopted some of their Freedmen,which gave them citizenship and rights tribal land and other benefits.
Non-Indians have been in the Cherokee tribe as well as other tribes for over a century.
Please go to your local library and do you own research!
None of my information comes from blogs or site other than The Cherokee Nation site and the library.
Thank you for your comments!
God bless!
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