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Cherokee Nation Offers Extended Stay for Freedmen Citizenship and Benefits To Allow Tribal and Federal Courts To Decide Issues

TAHLEQUAH, OK - Rather than allowing the Tribal Court system to legally decide the 2,867 Freedmen descendants' citizenship status, a California Congresswoman would penalize the poorest of the Cherokee Nation through her legislation, Principal Chief Chad Smith said today. The legislation ignores the Cherokee Nation's offer to finance and assist all Freedmen descendants to become citizens by proving ancestry to the Cherokees consistent with the March constitutional amendment.

Congresswoman Diane Watson (D-CA) is in Oklahoma today defending her proposal to cut federal funding for the Cherokee Nation, which would force 6,500 people from their jobs and terminate vital services to thousands of Oklahomans. For weeks, Nation officials have contacted her office to schedule a meeting for her and Chief Smith and to invite her to be a guest of the Cherokee people in Tahlequah. To date, Congresswoman Watson's office has not responded.

"We are disappointed that Congresswoman Watson will not accept our invitation to visit Tahlequah or even meet," Chief Smith said.

If Congress passes the Watson bill and zero-funding amendments, the Cherokee Nation will lose $270 million in federal funding for FY 2008 along with 6,500 jobs -- both affecting elderly citizens, working families, and children. See attached fact sheet for full details of the impact of the cuts.

Additionally, Chief Smith said he will ask Cherokee Nation Attorney General Diane Hammons to request a stay in federal court in Washington, D.C. on the effects of the March 2007 amendment limiting citizenship to descendants of Cherokees listed on the federally recognized base roll of the Cherokee Nation people. With such a stay in place, the 2,867 Freedmen descendants will retain their citizenship and economic benefits until the Tribal Court and federal litigation have been fully litigated. The Nation views the Tribal Court as the proper court to clarify the rights of the Freedmen descendants.

"The stay on the amendment's effects in federal court would allow the objective arena of the judicial system to decide this issue, rather than Congresswoman Watson's approach, which would use politics to interfere with the judicial process," Chief Smith said.

"While the Cherokee people voted overwhelmingly to return to being an Indian tribe composed of Indians, they also recognize that it is fair and right that the 2,867 people who made an effort to become citizens in the last year should remain citizens with full benefits during the litigation. We are a people of laws, and we believe this issue is best handled by the courts and not Congress. We will abide by the decision of the courts," Chief Smith said.

“Given that no harm can come while this matter is in court, any Congressional movement toward termination would overrule legal precedent and circumvent the rule of law,” Smith said. “Termination would also hurt those citizens who the sponsors of the litigation say they are trying to help.”

In March of 2007, Cherokee Nation citizens passed a constitutional amendment to require Indian ancestry to be eligible for Indian citizenship. The amendment, which passed by a 77% vote, prompted Congresswoman Watson to take the draconian step of introducing legislation to terminate the Nation as a federally recognized tribe and to cut all its federal funding, including health, housing, human services, and child care benefits for thousands of needy Cherokee citizens. The funding cuts would also hurt the 2,867 citizens who were affected by the amendment and who remain citizens of the Cherokee Nation pending an appeal in Tribal Court.

"If Congresswoman Watson had taken the time to have a dialogue with us to hear about the facts and our history, she would have gained a better understanding of the Cherokee Nation and the potential consequences of her legislation," Chief Smith said. For example:

* We are a diverse tribe, including thousands of African-American citizens as well as more than 1,500 Freedmen descendants who also have Cherokee ancestry.
* This issue is not about race but instead who is eligible for citizenship based on documented Cherokee ancestry.
* The ability to define ourselves as a community and family of Indians is fundamental to our identity and a primary way in which we have rejuvenated ourselves since the 1950s, when it was Congressional policy to terminate tribes -- something that led to the near-destruction of Indian peoples, families, culture, and ways of life.

Chief Smith also said: "If she had taken the time to meet with us, she also could have learned that we have taken a number of steps to protect the rights of Freedmen descendants during the litigation and that we have made unilateral and voluntary commitments to try to address her concerns.” Those steps include:

* The Cherokee Nation supported reinstating 2,867 disenrolled individuals to citizenship with full benefits pending the Tribal Court's review of challenges to the March amendment.
* At the Cherokee Nation's request and expense, the Tribal Court appointed legal counsel to represent the plaintiffs in that court challenging the amendment.

Cherokee Nation representatives had been in talks with Freedmen descendant representatives to discuss resolving this matter consistent with the March amendment. The introduction of the Watson bill caused those talks to collapse.

In addition, Chief Smith said the Cherokee Nation will fund expert genealogical assistance for all Freedmen descendants who believe they have Cherokee ancestry listed on the federally recognized base roll of the Cherokee people.

"We are committed to helping all 2,867 reinstated Freedman descendants become permanent Cherokee citizens through tracing their ancestry consistent with our March amendment, regardless of how remote the connection is or how long it takes," Chief Smith said.

Read the Funding Fact Sheet in (PDF) format.