By- Shelley Bluejay Pierce
8/20/2007
CROW AGENCY, Montana- Senator Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) who chairs the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, journeyed to the Crow reservation in Montana on Wednesday for a hearing which focused on the crisis of health care in Indian country.
An elite panel of experts joined lawmakers in the public meeting that offered the tribal communities a chance to voice their grievances prior to a renewed effort to reauthorize the Indian Health Improvement Act that has not been renewed since 1999.
The hearing prepares the way for the Senate Finance Committee, which is addressing the act.
The Indian Affairs Committee, which has primaryjurisdiction over the bill, has given approval to it. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), whose committee has partial jurisdiction over portions of the bill, stated that he would schedule a committee session to act on the bill September 12, 2007.
Indian Health Service, (IHS) is a program that provides health care tothe tribes. In Treaties with the United States, provisions for health services to the Tribes became a federal trust responsibility. Despite these agreements made more than a century ago, current health care conditions on the reservations are described as being at "third world levels."
Senator Dorgan has stated in earlier press that he "would not allow another Congress to come and go without acting to improve it. The Indian Affairs Committee approved similar legislation in the previous Congress, but the full Senate never considered it."
According to IHS estimates, Indian patients receive $2,158 per person a year in health care services compared to the average of $5,921 for the general population in the United States.
Senator Dorgan stated in testimony to Congress earlier this year, that even federal prisoners have more spent on them each year, at $3,900 per person.
For more than a decade, the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act has lain at lawmaker's feet but Congress has taken no action. The act expired in 2000 and attempts to reauthorize it have been met with opposition by many Republican members of Congress.
Panel member, Dr. Charles North, Chief Medical Officer (Acting), for Indian Health Service told the attendees that while the mortality rates for Native Americans have improved in recent decades, death and disease rates still exceed that of the general population. Rates of diabetes are 200 percent higher, alcoholism rates are 550 percent higher and suicide rates 57 percent higher than those found in non-Native populations.
Witnesses testified at the hearing of their account of poor health caregiven which included examples of cancer victims received diagnosis long after they might have survived had they received earlier treatment; year long or longer waiting lists for needed surgeries; and trauma victims turned back from tribal clinics not equipped to handle critical cases.
Crow Tribal Chairman Carl Venne voiced his thoughts during the hearing and encouraged IHS employees and tribal leaders to call for more funding. He revealed to the attendees that the Pryor Mountain wild horses receive more annual funding than the Crow-Northern Cheyenne Hospital.
Testimonies at the hearing included information regarding the 1.9 million patients dependent upon the federal Indian Health Service, onec omment was heard frequently. "Don't get sick after June 1."
This comment is referring to the fact that once the yearly funding is depleted, usually during the last quarter of the fiscal year, there is no available funding for health needs in the Native communities. Other testimonies included patients needing specialized care for arthritis, heart conditions, complications from diabetes and other more involved health issues remain on long waiting lists and are left untreated unless they are in danger of losing life or limb.
Basic care is available at local reservation clinics and extreme trauma patients often receive immediate attention as they are referred to emergency rooms or evacuated to larger hospitals.
However, those patients who need specialists necessary for their health care but are not considered life threatening go without treatment.
Jonathan Windy Boy, enrolled member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe, a state Representative in the Montana Legislature, and serving as Chairman on the Committee on Health Care for Montana/ Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council recounted the disparity in care for the more remote reservations.
Since his home reservation is in a remote area, he explained that members with health needs were made to travel hundreds of miles per week to receive treatment in larger cities equipped to deal with their health issues. In his testimony he restated the critical need for Congress to fund the health care at 100 percent and not at 40 to 60 percent that theyhave in the past. According to reports, funding levels in remote communities fair even worse when it comes to the needed levels offunding.
Rep. Windy Boy told the hearing attendees, "The medical inflationary rate over the past ten years has averaged 11 percent. The average increase for the Indian Health Service (IHS) health services accounts over this same period has been only 4 percent. This means that IHS/Tribal/Urban Indian (I/T/U) health programs are forced to absorb the mandatory costs of inflation, population growth, and pay cost increases by cutting health care services."
Windy Boy further detailed the disparity in funding by explaining, "In Fiscal Year 1984, the IHS health services account received $777 million. In FY 1993, the budget totaled $1.5 billion. Still, thirteen years later, in FY 2006 the budget for health services was $2.7 billion, when, to keep pace with inflation and population growth, this figure should be more than $7.2 billion. This short fall has compounded year after year resulting in a chronically under-funded health system that cannot meet the needs of its people."
Another of the panel speakers, Stacy Bohlen, Executive Director of the National Indian Health Board, spoke of the critical need for orthopedic surgeons to address the critical needs of patients requiring such things as hip replacement surgeries. She stated that a patient from the general population in the U.S. will wait two to three months for an orthopedic procedure while Indians in Montana are waiting six years. During this time the patients are using large doses of narcotic painkillers that in the end may lead to substance abuse problems.
Bohlen further explained that many of the joint treatments, if performed earlier,would not need the drastic repairs required when the conditions areleft without proper and immediate care.
Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) held a telephone press conference immediately before the public hearing began at Crow Agency. His opening remarks highlighted that Senator Dorgan was coming in from Washington D.C. to chair the hearing and highlighted the need to address critically important health care issues in Indian country.
"Improving health care on reservations is critically important to improving all conditions in Indian country. It seems that every time Indian leaders submit a budget for what they truly need to provide basic services, the government says there is just not enough money. This issue is not about money, it's about priorities. If we can spend $3 billion each week in Iraq, then we can surely develop health care systems that live up to our trust responsibilities in Indian country,"stated Senator Tester.
"All the information we say and hear today will become part of theofficial record of the Indian Affairs Committee. This information won't just be stored away in a library in some basement. Sen. Dorgan and I will be taking this information back with us to the Indian Affairs Committee and we will continue to work to change policy toimprove Indian health care," concluded Senator Tester.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Rep. Diane Watson of California to Discuss Freedmen Issues With Public Meetings in Oklahoma
By Shelley Bluejay Pierce
8/16/2007
MUSKOGEE, Oklahoma- Rep. Diane Watson, the Freedmen Band of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma Legislative Black Caucus will hold public meetings in Tulsa and Muskogee, Oklahoma on Monday Aug. 20, 2007. The Town Hall meetings are being held to hear public debate on the Cherokee Nation's expulsion of the Freedmen.
The panel, which consists of US Rep. Diane Watson and members of the Oklahoma Legislative Black Caucus, and other guests will listen to statements and then respond to questions from the public.
In an August 14, 2007 press release, Rep. Diane Watson stated, "We invite the public to air their views, thoughts, perspectives and questions on this important issue of law. This issue affects not just Cherokees or Freedmen, but all people who recognize that our great nation is nothing without the rule of law."
In March 2007, the Cherokee Nation voted to remove Freedmen and all others who did not have documented Cherokee bloodline lineage from the nation. In May, the Cherokee court readmitted the Freedmen, but on a provisional basis. Freedmen then approached members of the Congressional Black Caucus requesting their assistance in restoring their citizenship in the Cherokee Nation. Rep. Watson introduced legislation (H.R. 2824) that calls for a severing of U.S. relations with the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
Included within the bill are recommendations that cut federal funding to the tribe until such time that the Cherokee Nation restores full tribal citizenship to a group of African Americans known as Freedmen. The bill currently has 21 cosponsors and has been endorsed by the NAACP and the National Congress of Black Women according to Rep Watson's official website.
Also from Rep. Watson's website, she states that, "The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma's push to disenfranchise Cherokee Freedmen represents a fundamental injustice that must not go unchecked. Nothing less than an affirmative and decisive Congressional response will suffice."H.R 2824 has drawn strong reaction from the general public, tribal leaders, and members of various Native nations as well as governmental leaders. Critics of the bill state that this piece of legislation undermines the tribal sovereignty of each Indian nation in the USA. Proponents state that the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has unfairly excluded members of Freedmen and others who qualify as citizens of the Cherokee Nation based on the 1866 Treaty made with the USA.Both meetings to be held on August 20, 2007 are free and open to the general public.
Location and Time of the Meetings-
Tulsa 12:00 – 2:30 pm
Rudisill Regional Library
1520 North Hartford
918-596-7280
Muskogee 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Muskogee Civic Center
425 Boston St
(918) 682-9131
8/16/2007
MUSKOGEE, Oklahoma- Rep. Diane Watson, the Freedmen Band of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma Legislative Black Caucus will hold public meetings in Tulsa and Muskogee, Oklahoma on Monday Aug. 20, 2007. The Town Hall meetings are being held to hear public debate on the Cherokee Nation's expulsion of the Freedmen.
The panel, which consists of US Rep. Diane Watson and members of the Oklahoma Legislative Black Caucus, and other guests will listen to statements and then respond to questions from the public.
In an August 14, 2007 press release, Rep. Diane Watson stated, "We invite the public to air their views, thoughts, perspectives and questions on this important issue of law. This issue affects not just Cherokees or Freedmen, but all people who recognize that our great nation is nothing without the rule of law."
In March 2007, the Cherokee Nation voted to remove Freedmen and all others who did not have documented Cherokee bloodline lineage from the nation. In May, the Cherokee court readmitted the Freedmen, but on a provisional basis. Freedmen then approached members of the Congressional Black Caucus requesting their assistance in restoring their citizenship in the Cherokee Nation. Rep. Watson introduced legislation (H.R. 2824) that calls for a severing of U.S. relations with the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
Included within the bill are recommendations that cut federal funding to the tribe until such time that the Cherokee Nation restores full tribal citizenship to a group of African Americans known as Freedmen. The bill currently has 21 cosponsors and has been endorsed by the NAACP and the National Congress of Black Women according to Rep Watson's official website.
Also from Rep. Watson's website, she states that, "The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma's push to disenfranchise Cherokee Freedmen represents a fundamental injustice that must not go unchecked. Nothing less than an affirmative and decisive Congressional response will suffice."H.R 2824 has drawn strong reaction from the general public, tribal leaders, and members of various Native nations as well as governmental leaders. Critics of the bill state that this piece of legislation undermines the tribal sovereignty of each Indian nation in the USA. Proponents state that the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has unfairly excluded members of Freedmen and others who qualify as citizens of the Cherokee Nation based on the 1866 Treaty made with the USA.Both meetings to be held on August 20, 2007 are free and open to the general public.
Location and Time of the Meetings-
Tulsa 12:00 – 2:30 pm
Rudisill Regional Library
1520 North Hartford
918-596-7280
Muskogee 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Muskogee Civic Center
425 Boston St
(918) 682-9131
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Rep. Diane Watson of California Attacks the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma With Introduction of H.R. 2824 Legislation
By Shelley Bluejay Pierce
8/12/2007
WASHINGTON D.C.- Questions about tribal sovereignty and who can be a registered citizen of an Indian tribe in the USA became the focus for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma this past month. California Congresswoman, Diane E. Watson, introduced legislation that calls for a severing of U.S. relations with the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. ( full text of H.R. 2824 located at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-2824 ) Included within the bill are recommendations that cut all federal funding to the tribe until such time that the Cherokee Nation restores full tribal citizenship to a group of African Americans known as Freedmen.
Congresswoman Watson's H.R.2824 essentially punishes the Cherokee Nation for requiring its citizens to have Indian ancestry. Approximately 500 other Indian tribes across the USA mandate that citizens be of verifiable Indian bloodline in order to be a citizen of that tribe. The Cherokee Nation is the second largest tribe in the United States, with about 280,000 members including more than 1,500 citizens who are descendants of Freedmen who have proven Indian ancestry.
Freedmen approached members of the Congressional Black Caucus requesting their assistance in restoring their citizenship in the Cherokee Nation. Rep. Diane Watson, joined by 11 other lawmakers, introduced the bill that threatens to cut millions of dollars in federal funding to the Cherokees.
"A member of congress didn't like a decision that a tribe made and then decided that the tribes' actions warranted congressional intervention and basically tried to serve a death sentence to the tribe. Congress is taking a step toward telling the tribes how to run their nations and going so far as to tell a tribe who is "Indian" and who is not," stated Mike Miller, Communications Officer for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
The Cherokee Nation voted on March 3, 2007 to amend their Constitution to clarify eligibility for Cherokee citizenship. 77% of the voting citizens approved this amendment with more than 8,700 citizens voting which the Cherokee website states, "was a higher turnout than the vote for the Cherokee Nation's constitution, four years ago." The vote followed a petition drive for a ballot measure to determine who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. (http://www.cherokee.org/home.aspx?section=services&service=CitizenStatusChanges&ID=beL7Iwv6q28= )
Cherokee Nation spokesman, Mike Miller, further explained, "We have more than 1500 Cherokee citizens who are Cherokee by blood but who also have Freedmen ancestors. We have thousands of other Cherokee citizens who are also African American. The point is if you have an Indian ancestor on our Dawes rolls, then you can be a Cherokee citizen. If you do not have the bloodline connection then you are not a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. This is a question of being INDIAN without discussing any other race involvement. Every other Indian tribe bases their membership this way so why are the Cherokee being treated differently?"
H.R 2824 has drawn strong reaction from the general public. In what seems a backward process, the Cherokee Nation has been given possible penalties by lawmakers prior to official investigations or discussions with proper agencies that deal with tribal affairs. H.R. 2824 details what the lawmakers are requesting in a final phase of judgment, even going so far as to suggest enormous penalties for non-compliance, before formal discussions or investigations have taken place between the leaderships.
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) voiced strong opposition to the bill in a press statement released on June 26, 2007. In the statement, Joe Garcia, the President of NCAI stated, "It is outrageous to propose to terminate the existence of an Indian Nation. This is an uncalled for response to a legal question of treaty interpretation. When Alabama or California takes an action inconsistent with Congressional views, there is no discussion of revoking their statehood. The attempt to revoke tribal nationhood is equally inappropriate. Not since the Termination Era of the 1950's, when the official policy of the federal government was complete destruction of indigenous peoples, have we seen such a piece of legislation. NCAI was founded to oppose termination of Indian tribes."
Additionally, the bill addresses actions directed at other tribes who have Freedmen connections stating, "Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue a public report to Congress on the status of freedmen in the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole Nations of Oklahoma."
Chief Chad Smith has stated in previous press coverage, "My roll as Principal Chief was to bring the issue of citizenship to a vote. Determination of citizenship is the decision of the people, not the Principal Chief, not the tribal council and not the court."
H.R 2824 suggests punishing tribes for decisions made within their own nations if this bill is approved in its current form. Tribal sovereignty refers to the inherent authority of indigenous tribes to govern themselves. Native tribes have fought a long battle to secure tribal sovereignty in regards to fair and equitable relationships between Washington leadership and the tribes.
A 1981 legal case, Montana v U.S., clarified that, 'tribal nations possess inherent power over their internal affairs, and civil authority over non-members within tribal lands to the extent necessary to protect health, welfare, economic interests or political integrity of the tribal nation.' Elected tribal governments have the legal ability to determine actions that impact their citizens as well as setting their own criteria for membership. The Indian Education and Self-Determination Act in the mid-1970s sought to re-establish sovereignty amongst the Indian nations. H.R. 2824, in its current form, is suggested to undermine all the progress that has been made in regards to the tribes maintaining self-determination.
"To say that the Freedmen have always been members of the Cherokee Nation regardless of blood quantum is not accurate. From 1975 to 2006, each citizen of the Cherokee Nation had to have provided a blood relation link to an Indian citizen on the rolls. Blood line had to be established or you were not accepted into the Cherokee Nation," stated Mike Miller.
The Cherokee official website explains that Freedmen and other non-Indians were granted tribal citizenship under a tribal court ruling just one year ago. Prior to that and following this vote, to be part of the Cherokee Nation at least one Indian ancestor listed on the base roll was required for Cherokee citizenship status to be granted.
Some vocal critics of the Cherokee Amendment suggest that they have been denied membership based on greed. In earlier mainstream press reports, references to the large sums of money earned by various casinos are targeted as a possible reason for the Cherokee Nation limiting its membership. In discussing this with Native American Times, spokesman, Mike Miller, explained the many inaccuracies in this suggestion.
Cherokee casino earnings are invested back into the nation and are not paid out to individual citizens. (http://www.cherokee.org/docs/WTMGWeb.pdf) The casino earnings are used to help fund and expand important government services including health care and education. Though many other tribes across the USA pay out a per-capita check that each citizen of the tribe receives from casino earnings, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma does not follow this method.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs acknowledged in a letter dated August 9, 2007, that the federal government no longer has the authority to approve amendments to the Cherokee Nation Constitution. Carl Artman, BIA's top official, cited a June 23, 2007 vote of the Cherokee people and agreed that federal approval of amendments to the Cherokee Nation Constitution would no longer be necessary.The letter ends an eight-year struggle by the Cherokee Nation to remove the BIA from its Constitutional process.
When U.S. lawmakers return from their Summer break, committee meetings and investigations will continue into the issue of Cherokee citizen requirements and take aim at the very foundations of tribal sovereignty. While the process moves forward to resolution, the business operations of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma are expected to move forward unhindered.
In a letter to Chief Chad Smith, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs Deputy Director, Jerry Gidner, stated that the Department intended to continue providing Federal funding to the Cherokee Nation, unless otherwise directed by a Federal court or Federal legislation.
8/12/2007
WASHINGTON D.C.- Questions about tribal sovereignty and who can be a registered citizen of an Indian tribe in the USA became the focus for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma this past month. California Congresswoman, Diane E. Watson, introduced legislation that calls for a severing of U.S. relations with the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. ( full text of H.R. 2824 located at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-2824 ) Included within the bill are recommendations that cut all federal funding to the tribe until such time that the Cherokee Nation restores full tribal citizenship to a group of African Americans known as Freedmen.
Congresswoman Watson's H.R.2824 essentially punishes the Cherokee Nation for requiring its citizens to have Indian ancestry. Approximately 500 other Indian tribes across the USA mandate that citizens be of verifiable Indian bloodline in order to be a citizen of that tribe. The Cherokee Nation is the second largest tribe in the United States, with about 280,000 members including more than 1,500 citizens who are descendants of Freedmen who have proven Indian ancestry.
Freedmen approached members of the Congressional Black Caucus requesting their assistance in restoring their citizenship in the Cherokee Nation. Rep. Diane Watson, joined by 11 other lawmakers, introduced the bill that threatens to cut millions of dollars in federal funding to the Cherokees.
"A member of congress didn't like a decision that a tribe made and then decided that the tribes' actions warranted congressional intervention and basically tried to serve a death sentence to the tribe. Congress is taking a step toward telling the tribes how to run their nations and going so far as to tell a tribe who is "Indian" and who is not," stated Mike Miller, Communications Officer for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
The Cherokee Nation voted on March 3, 2007 to amend their Constitution to clarify eligibility for Cherokee citizenship. 77% of the voting citizens approved this amendment with more than 8,700 citizens voting which the Cherokee website states, "was a higher turnout than the vote for the Cherokee Nation's constitution, four years ago." The vote followed a petition drive for a ballot measure to determine who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. (http://www.cherokee.org/home.aspx?section=services&service=CitizenStatusChanges&ID=beL7Iwv6q28= )
Cherokee Nation spokesman, Mike Miller, further explained, "We have more than 1500 Cherokee citizens who are Cherokee by blood but who also have Freedmen ancestors. We have thousands of other Cherokee citizens who are also African American. The point is if you have an Indian ancestor on our Dawes rolls, then you can be a Cherokee citizen. If you do not have the bloodline connection then you are not a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. This is a question of being INDIAN without discussing any other race involvement. Every other Indian tribe bases their membership this way so why are the Cherokee being treated differently?"
H.R 2824 has drawn strong reaction from the general public. In what seems a backward process, the Cherokee Nation has been given possible penalties by lawmakers prior to official investigations or discussions with proper agencies that deal with tribal affairs. H.R. 2824 details what the lawmakers are requesting in a final phase of judgment, even going so far as to suggest enormous penalties for non-compliance, before formal discussions or investigations have taken place between the leaderships.
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) voiced strong opposition to the bill in a press statement released on June 26, 2007. In the statement, Joe Garcia, the President of NCAI stated, "It is outrageous to propose to terminate the existence of an Indian Nation. This is an uncalled for response to a legal question of treaty interpretation. When Alabama or California takes an action inconsistent with Congressional views, there is no discussion of revoking their statehood. The attempt to revoke tribal nationhood is equally inappropriate. Not since the Termination Era of the 1950's, when the official policy of the federal government was complete destruction of indigenous peoples, have we seen such a piece of legislation. NCAI was founded to oppose termination of Indian tribes."
Additionally, the bill addresses actions directed at other tribes who have Freedmen connections stating, "Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue a public report to Congress on the status of freedmen in the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole Nations of Oklahoma."
Chief Chad Smith has stated in previous press coverage, "My roll as Principal Chief was to bring the issue of citizenship to a vote. Determination of citizenship is the decision of the people, not the Principal Chief, not the tribal council and not the court."
H.R 2824 suggests punishing tribes for decisions made within their own nations if this bill is approved in its current form. Tribal sovereignty refers to the inherent authority of indigenous tribes to govern themselves. Native tribes have fought a long battle to secure tribal sovereignty in regards to fair and equitable relationships between Washington leadership and the tribes.
A 1981 legal case, Montana v U.S., clarified that, 'tribal nations possess inherent power over their internal affairs, and civil authority over non-members within tribal lands to the extent necessary to protect health, welfare, economic interests or political integrity of the tribal nation.' Elected tribal governments have the legal ability to determine actions that impact their citizens as well as setting their own criteria for membership. The Indian Education and Self-Determination Act in the mid-1970s sought to re-establish sovereignty amongst the Indian nations. H.R. 2824, in its current form, is suggested to undermine all the progress that has been made in regards to the tribes maintaining self-determination.
"To say that the Freedmen have always been members of the Cherokee Nation regardless of blood quantum is not accurate. From 1975 to 2006, each citizen of the Cherokee Nation had to have provided a blood relation link to an Indian citizen on the rolls. Blood line had to be established or you were not accepted into the Cherokee Nation," stated Mike Miller.
The Cherokee official website explains that Freedmen and other non-Indians were granted tribal citizenship under a tribal court ruling just one year ago. Prior to that and following this vote, to be part of the Cherokee Nation at least one Indian ancestor listed on the base roll was required for Cherokee citizenship status to be granted.
Some vocal critics of the Cherokee Amendment suggest that they have been denied membership based on greed. In earlier mainstream press reports, references to the large sums of money earned by various casinos are targeted as a possible reason for the Cherokee Nation limiting its membership. In discussing this with Native American Times, spokesman, Mike Miller, explained the many inaccuracies in this suggestion.
Cherokee casino earnings are invested back into the nation and are not paid out to individual citizens. (http://www.cherokee.org/docs/WTMGWeb.pdf) The casino earnings are used to help fund and expand important government services including health care and education. Though many other tribes across the USA pay out a per-capita check that each citizen of the tribe receives from casino earnings, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma does not follow this method.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs acknowledged in a letter dated August 9, 2007, that the federal government no longer has the authority to approve amendments to the Cherokee Nation Constitution. Carl Artman, BIA's top official, cited a June 23, 2007 vote of the Cherokee people and agreed that federal approval of amendments to the Cherokee Nation Constitution would no longer be necessary.The letter ends an eight-year struggle by the Cherokee Nation to remove the BIA from its Constitutional process.
When U.S. lawmakers return from their Summer break, committee meetings and investigations will continue into the issue of Cherokee citizen requirements and take aim at the very foundations of tribal sovereignty. While the process moves forward to resolution, the business operations of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma are expected to move forward unhindered.
In a letter to Chief Chad Smith, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs Deputy Director, Jerry Gidner, stated that the Department intended to continue providing Federal funding to the Cherokee Nation, unless otherwise directed by a Federal court or Federal legislation.
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