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