TAHLEQUAH, Okla.—Cherokee Nation Attorney General Diane Hammons today agreed to a temporary injunction in tribal court that allows descendants of Freedmen to keep their citizenship while their citizenship appeals work their way through the tribal court system.
“I agreed to the injunction because I believe that, although the Cherokee citizens who voted to change the citizenship requirements on March 3rd have a right to have their determination implemented, those individuals who lost their citizenship status as a result of that election also have the right to have our Cherokee Nation courts consider the legality of the Amendment,” said Hammons. “In the interest of fairness and as a legitimate exercise of a reasoned democratic government, I believe that an injunction staying the effect of the March 3rd election is proper from the Cherokee Nation court until that tribunal has the opportunity to fully review and decide the plaintiffs’ claims.”
“For decades our people understood that you have to be Indian to be in our Indian tribe,” said Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. “I think the will of the people is very clear. I understand, however, that the rights of citizenship should be taken very seriously, and we take our court’s orders very seriously. We will abide by the order and restore citizenship while the case is pending.”
In March 2006, the Cherokee Nation’s highest court reversed a previous decision and ruled that the Cherokee Nation’s Constitution allowed citizenship for non-Indian descendants who were listed on the Dawes Rolls of the Cherokee Nation. Until that time, citizenship had been restricted to those who had a Cherokee, Delaware or Shawnee ancestor on the Dawes Rolls. On March 3, 2007, Cherokee voters approved an amendment to the Cherokee Nation Constitution that mirrored the previous policy, requiring citizens be a descendant of either a Cherokee, Delaware or Shawnee Indian listed on the Dawes Rolls.
Since that vote, more than 250 descendants of Freedmen and other non-Indian citizens appealed their citizenship status in the Cherokee Nation court system. The Cherokee Nation is paying for the services of an appointed attorney for those wishing to appeal.
“We are really making every effort to be fair in this situation,” said Mike Miller, spokesperson for the Cherokee Nation. “We know this is a serious issue, and we wanted to make sure that their interests were adequately represented in tribal court.”
In the order, Cherokee Nation District Court Judge John Cripps wrote that the Cherokee Nation should “immediately reinstate to full citizenship within the Cherokee Nation the Plaintiffs and all similarly situated persons, commonly known as ‘Cherokee Freedmen.’”
Cripps’ order is to remain in effect until the Court reaches a decision on the merits of the citizenship appeals, or until a further order of the Court.
To see the court order, or read a full statement from the Cherokee Nation’s Attorney General, visit the Cherokee Nation’s Web site at www.cherokee.org
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Do you know...
Peter Blue Cloud (Aroniawenrate) , 1935-
Mohawk - author/poet
Blue Cloud was born to the Turtle Clan of the Mohawk tribe on the Caughnawaga Reserve in Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada. He is noted for combining Native American myths with contemporary issues. He has worked as ironworker, logger, carpenter and woodcutter and was previously associated with journal Akwesasne Notes and the journal Indian Magazine. Blue Cloud is especially noted for his use of the Coyote figure in his stories and poems.
Mohawk - author/poet
Blue Cloud was born to the Turtle Clan of the Mohawk tribe on the Caughnawaga Reserve in Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada. He is noted for combining Native American myths with contemporary issues. He has worked as ironworker, logger, carpenter and woodcutter and was previously associated with journal Akwesasne Notes and the journal Indian Magazine. Blue Cloud is especially noted for his use of the Coyote figure in his stories and poems.
Quotes
"Will you ever begin to understand the meaning of the very soil beneath your feet? From a grain of sand to a great mountain, all is sacred. Yesterday and tomorrow exist eternally upon this continent. We natives are guardians of this sacred place." -
Peter Blue Cloud, Mohawk
Peter Blue Cloud, Mohawk
Soldier from Navajo Nation dies in Iraq
Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona Published: 05.16.2007
PHOENIX - A soldier from the Navajo Nation has died serving in Iraq, his family said Tuesday.
Army Sgt. Christopher Neil Gonzalez, 25, was killed Monday, though the Department of Defense has not confirmed or released details of his death.
Leonard Chee, a delegate to the Navajo Nation Council, said in a statement the entire Navajo community was in shock.
"This war has really hit home. Say a prayer for all our Navajo Native American soldiers who are in Iraq fighting," Chee said.
According to Chee, Gonzalez was carrying out his second tour of duty in Iraq and left behind a wife and child.
Details on funeral services were not known.
Survivors include his mother, Judy Nez of Birdsprings, Ariz.
On Tuesday, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley issued a proclamation in honor and in recognition of Sgt. Gonzalez.
Shirley also ordered flags on the Navajo Nation flown at half-staff from May 16 to May 20 in honor of Gonzalez.
Tucson, Arizona Published: 05.16.2007
PHOENIX - A soldier from the Navajo Nation has died serving in Iraq, his family said Tuesday.
Army Sgt. Christopher Neil Gonzalez, 25, was killed Monday, though the Department of Defense has not confirmed or released details of his death.
Leonard Chee, a delegate to the Navajo Nation Council, said in a statement the entire Navajo community was in shock.
"This war has really hit home. Say a prayer for all our Navajo Native American soldiers who are in Iraq fighting," Chee said.
According to Chee, Gonzalez was carrying out his second tour of duty in Iraq and left behind a wife and child.
Details on funeral services were not known.
Survivors include his mother, Judy Nez of Birdsprings, Ariz.
On Tuesday, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley issued a proclamation in honor and in recognition of Sgt. Gonzalez.
Shirley also ordered flags on the Navajo Nation flown at half-staff from May 16 to May 20 in honor of Gonzalez.
Cherokee contemplates Wal-Mart’s impact
By Quintin Ellison
Some residents on the Cherokee Indian Reservation are calling for a referendum vote on whether Wal-Mart Stores should be allowed to build there.
The push for public participation comes as tribal leaders continue a series of negotiations with the retail giant, which currently has one super center in neighboring Sylva and is building another in Waynesville. If tribal leaders and Wal-Mart can iron out details, the Wal- Mart would most likely build on a tribally owned tract of land near the Cherokee Indian Hospital.
Tens of thousands of additional dollars are at stake for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians: Wal-Mart, like other commercial outlets on the reservation, would be subject to a 7-percent tribal sales tax on all goods sold.
The additional revenue doesn’t settle the issue for all of the tribe’s 13,500 members, however. Some say money is simply not enough reason to risk damaging the reservation’s small-town feel, and, possibly, putting some small business owners out of business.
Principal Chief Michell Hicks said that tribal leaders anticipate releasing a statement about Wal-Mart “within weeks.”
http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/05_07/05_16_07/fr_cherokee_mart.html
Click link to read full article.
Some residents on the Cherokee Indian Reservation are calling for a referendum vote on whether Wal-Mart Stores should be allowed to build there.
The push for public participation comes as tribal leaders continue a series of negotiations with the retail giant, which currently has one super center in neighboring Sylva and is building another in Waynesville. If tribal leaders and Wal-Mart can iron out details, the Wal- Mart would most likely build on a tribally owned tract of land near the Cherokee Indian Hospital.
Tens of thousands of additional dollars are at stake for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians: Wal-Mart, like other commercial outlets on the reservation, would be subject to a 7-percent tribal sales tax on all goods sold.
The additional revenue doesn’t settle the issue for all of the tribe’s 13,500 members, however. Some say money is simply not enough reason to risk damaging the reservation’s small-town feel, and, possibly, putting some small business owners out of business.
Principal Chief Michell Hicks said that tribal leaders anticipate releasing a statement about Wal-Mart “within weeks.”
http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/05_07/05_16_07/fr_cherokee_mart.html
Click link to read full article.
The emperors have no clothes
Arriving on our shores on May 3, Queen Elizabeth II met with the kind of pomp and circumstance to which she is accustomed. The monarch enjoyed much fanfare as special guest at the 400th anniversary commemoration of Jamestown, the first permanent English colony. She was greeted by admiring well-wishers, including many Virginia tribal representatives. She celebrated the 104 Englishmen, boys and investors who landed on the shores of what we now call Virginia in 1607. She attended the Kentucky Derby and was the guest of honor at a lavish white-tie state dinner at the White House.
It was a lovely visit. That is, if one does not require that official denial be checked at customs. The queen expressed sympathy for those affected by the April 16 killings at Virginia Tech. But she issued a royal punt when acknowledging her kingdom's role in importing African slavery and conducting state-sponsored genocide of Native peoples following the establishment of the permanent Jamestown colony. ''Human progress rarely comes without costs,'' she offered. It was a dismissal of the most regal sort, and it helped set the tone for the weeklong commemoration of the arrival of Europeans to the Virginia coast.
Queen Elizabeth II wasn't the only one who was affected by historical blindness. President Bush welcomed her to the White House on May 7 with choice words of his own. ''The settlers at Jamestown planted the seeds of freedom and democracy on American soil,'' said the president, ''and from those seeds sprung a nation ... '' This ill-advised remark, although no doubt true in his mind, evokes an agricultural metaphor that is not just historically false but disingenuous, too.
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415005
Click link to get more insight.
It was a lovely visit. That is, if one does not require that official denial be checked at customs. The queen expressed sympathy for those affected by the April 16 killings at Virginia Tech. But she issued a royal punt when acknowledging her kingdom's role in importing African slavery and conducting state-sponsored genocide of Native peoples following the establishment of the permanent Jamestown colony. ''Human progress rarely comes without costs,'' she offered. It was a dismissal of the most regal sort, and it helped set the tone for the weeklong commemoration of the arrival of Europeans to the Virginia coast.
Queen Elizabeth II wasn't the only one who was affected by historical blindness. President Bush welcomed her to the White House on May 7 with choice words of his own. ''The settlers at Jamestown planted the seeds of freedom and democracy on American soil,'' said the president, ''and from those seeds sprung a nation ... '' This ill-advised remark, although no doubt true in his mind, evokes an agricultural metaphor that is not just historically false but disingenuous, too.
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415005
Click link to get more insight.
Native American remains reburied in Black Hills
CUSTER, S.D. (AP) -- The bones of at least four Native Americans that have been in the hands of museums and collectors for decades were buried Monday in the Black Hills National Forest.
The remains were re-interred under provisions of the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act at a spot chosen years ago by Lakota holy man Frank Fools Crow.
"We think they should no longer be moved around the country and exploited," said Donovin Sprague, of First Nations Heritage Association.
The mission of First Nations Heritage is to promote educational and cultural events that promote American Indian interests. This is the first repatriation of Indian remains to the sacred Black Hills that his nonprofit organization has handled, but Sprague said there are grave sites throughout the area.
The bones, which Sprague originally believed belonged to one person, came into his possession a year ago. He worked with the South Dakota Archaeological Research Center and the U.S. Forest Service to get them scientifically identified and re-interred.
http://www.nativebiz.com/community/News,op=visit,nid=15447.html
Click link to read more.
The remains were re-interred under provisions of the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act at a spot chosen years ago by Lakota holy man Frank Fools Crow.
"We think they should no longer be moved around the country and exploited," said Donovin Sprague, of First Nations Heritage Association.
The mission of First Nations Heritage is to promote educational and cultural events that promote American Indian interests. This is the first repatriation of Indian remains to the sacred Black Hills that his nonprofit organization has handled, but Sprague said there are grave sites throughout the area.
The bones, which Sprague originally believed belonged to one person, came into his possession a year ago. He worked with the South Dakota Archaeological Research Center and the U.S. Forest Service to get them scientifically identified and re-interred.
http://www.nativebiz.com/community/News,op=visit,nid=15447.html
Click link to read more.
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