FREEDMEN DESCENDANT PANEL DISTORTS AND OMITS FACTS

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – At a panel on Cherokee citizenship issues concerning descendants of former slaves in Washington, D.C. today, audience members missed the opportunity to hear both sides of the debate and undisputed facts that would have corrected distortions, falsehoods, and omissions.

In March 2007, the Cherokee people voted by 77% to require every citizen in the tribe – whether African-, Caucasian-, Asian- or Hispanic-American – to have at least one Indian ancestor listed on the 1906 federal census known as the Dawes Rolls.

In response, congressional legislation was introduced to punish the Cherokee Nation for the desire to be what it was for centuries: a tribe of Indians – something that more than 500 other tribes in the United States require. This desire is at the heart of the tragic history of the oppression of Indian nations in the United States.

"If this event had included all viewpoints, the audience would have learned that this issue has nothing to do with race and everything to do with who is a Cherokee. They would have learned that the Cherokee Nation is one of the most racially diverse tribes in the United States, with thousands of members of African, Asian, and Hispanic descent, including Freedmen descendants," Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith said.

and ... (alas)

10. The legislation cutting $270 million in federal health, housing, education, community, and other funding areas would hurt thousands of Cherokee elderly, children, and needy citizens, including many of the 2,867 reinstated Freedmen descendants. It would also result in the loss of 6,500 jobs in Oklahoma.

http://www.cherokee.org/pressroom/2406/story.aspx

Seems they rather quickly reinstated the 2,867 Freedmen descendents. I guess when they learned what they had voted for and what the ramifications of it are, they had to back-off.

My worry now is that they have done much damage. This story further mentions "5. This dispute is currently being litigated in three courts.".

Nice mess now. What do the Cherokee do next I wonder to get themselves out of it?