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"Cherokee Nation Courthouse" A federal appeals court has rejected the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians’ claims of treaty rights and jurisdiction within the Cherokee Nation. The appeals court reaffirmed its earlier decision that "the Cherokee Nation is the only tribal entity with jurisdictional authority over Indian Country within the Cherokee Nation." The court went on to rule that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's rules that require the UKBCIO to have jurisdiction to receive funding from the agency are faulty and must be rewritten, and that it may be possible for UKBCIO to receive HUD funding in the future even though they have no treaty rights or jurisdiction. The ruling is another in a long line of decisions denying the UKBCIO's claims to jurisdiction within the Cherokee Nation. "UKBCIO has no land base, no treaty rights and no court jurisdiction, and the court ruled that the formula HUD used to exclude UKBCIO from receiving need-based funding was faulty," said Diane Hammons, Attorney General for the Cherokee Nation. "HUD will have to develop new guidelines, and the Cherokee Nation will have the opportunity to comment on those guidelines, as will other tribes. Most importantly, the court once again made clear the UKBCIO's lack of treaty rights despite their repeated claims to the contrary."

Related Cherokee Nation contact information:

Mike Miller, Cherokee Nation Director of Communications Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2210) Fax: 918-458-5580 E-mail: Communications@cherokee.org Larry Daugherty, Advertising Manager Cherokee Nation - Public Affairs Phone 918-456-0671 (Ex.2324) E-mail: ldaugherty@cherokee.org

Steven Swogger, Agriculture Liaison Natural Resources Department Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2546) FAX: 918-458-7673 E-mail: sswogger@cherokee.org Bradley D. Peak, Cherokee Nation Natural Resources Specialist Phone: 918-456-0671 (ex.2843) E-mail: bpeak@cherokee.org