Campbell: Congress destroying the Cherokee Nation
Friday, May 2, 2008
Filed Under:
Opinion
"The Cherokee Nation is involved in litigation with a group of individuals claiming to be descendants of slaves, known as Freedmen, who were held by 2 percent of Cherokees before 1863, when the Cherokees voluntarily emancipated them. The Cherokee people voted decisively in March 2007 to limit citizenship in the tribe to those who descend from Indians who were listed on a federal census taken in 1906. On its face, the fact that an Indian tribe would want to be comprised of descendants of Native Americans should not be surprising or controversial.
However, the Freedmen descendants, whose ancestors were listed under the non-Indian category of Freedmen on that same census, believe they should be citizens of the tribe under treaty obligations.
Members of the House introduced H.R. 2824, a bill to terminate the Cherokee Nation and eliminate nearly $300 million of funding, and related amendments to zero out federal funding to tribal citizens in all appropriations areas, such as healthcare (in the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, H.R. 1328) and housing (in the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act, H.R. 2786), to punish the Cherokee people for their vote.
I do not claim to know which party in this litigation is correct, and I do not take a side in this argument.
Neither should Congress. The case is being heard in tribal and federal courts. Those judges have all the facts and laws before them. Congress does not. Courts are the proper and fair venue for resolving these issues. Congress is not. Furthermore, congressional interference in an internal dispute would harm all Indian tribes and set a dangerous precedent."
Get the Story:
Former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell: A move to destroy the Cherokee Nation
(The Hill 4/28)
Cherokee-Related Legislation:
H.R.2786
|
H.R.2895
|
H.R.2824
|
H.R.3002
BIA Letters:
August
9, 2007 |
July
11, 2007 |
June
22, 2007 |
May 21, 2007 |
March 28, 2007 |
August 30, 2006
Sovereign Immunity Court Decision:
Vann v. Kempthorne (December 19,
2006)
Cherokee Nation Judicial Appeals Tribunal Decision in Freedmen
Case:
Allen
v. Cherokee Nation (March 7, 2006)
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