The US government has taken the first swing at the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma this month.
In a move that's being called "a death sentence to the tribe," Congresswoman Diane E. Watson has introduced a move which would cut millions of dollars in federal funding to the Cherokee people.
"California Congresswoman, Diane E. Watson, introduced legislation that calls for a severing of U.S. relations with the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma...Included within the bill are recommendations that cut all federal funding to the tribe until such time that the Cherokee Nation restores full tribal citizenship to a group of African Americans known as Freedmen...essentially punish[ing] the Cherokee Nation for requiring its citizens to have Indian ancestry. Approximately 500 other Indian tribes across the USA mandate that citizens be of verifiable Indian bloodline in order to be a citizen of that tribe. The Cherokee Nation is the second largest tribe in the United States, with about 280,000 members including more than 1,500 citizens who are descendants of Freedmen who have proven Indian ancestry."
Read the article .
As a Chickasaw descendant who is not a registered member of the tribe (well-documented descent so blame it on a fear of Big Brother) we would have had to prove with our grandmother's tribal registration papers that we were Chickasaw by blood. We are also Cherokee but we can't prove that so guess who's not on the list? That's right, because you have to be able to prove that you are actually of the tribe. Makes sense doesn't it? It's about being Cherokee, nothing else.
Today's article on this latest aggression against Native America can be read here.
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