Current Events > Cherokee Nation Faces Scrutiny For Expelling Blacks

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https://www.npr.org/2011/09/19/140594124/u-s-government-opposes-cherokee-nations-decision

Every September, the Cherokee Nation celebrates its national holiday. The holiday marks the signing of its first constitution after the Trail of Tears in 1839. The main event, a big parade, features traditional Cherokee music, colorful floats and people singing and dancing in traditional garb.

The holiday draws tens of thousands of people to Tahlequah, Okla., the heart of the Cherokee Nation. But this year it was marked by controversy and protests.

The Cherokee Nation recently decided to limit its membership to people who can prove they have Indian blood. This strips of their citizenship rights about 2,800 African-Americans who are descendants of slaves once owned by wealthy Cherokees. Those rights include access to health care clinics, food distribution for the poor, and assistance for low-income homeowners.

The move prompted protests among these African-Americans, who are known as Freedmen, because for long periods in the past, they enjoyed equal rights in the Cherokee tribe. But in more recent history, their citizenship rights have been repeatedly challenged.

The decision has also put the Cherokees at odds with the federal government.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has already suspended more than $37 million in funding to the Cherokee Nation. The Justice Department said last week that a key election for tribal chief later this month will not be recognized by the Department of the Interior, which has oversight over Indian affairs.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs declined an interview request, but in a letter sent to the Cherokee Nation earlier this month, it said the Freedmen's citizenship rights cannot be revoked. The Cherokee first agreed to grant the Freedmen equal rights in a treaty signed with the U.S. in 1866, following the end of the Civil War.
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Weird

This is obviously fake news, every woke progressive knows that Native Americans aren't white, and only whites can be racist. Also, only whites ever owned slaves.
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https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bnpb73/native-american-women-are-rape-targets-because-of-a-legislative-loophole-511
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Indians owned slaves?
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Seems bad, imo
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LyraTheUnicorn posted...

Indians owned slaves?

Sarcasm aside, yes, members of all ethnic groups back in those days owned slaves, including free blacks.
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DarkTransient posted...

LyraTheUnicorn posted...

Indians owned slaves?

Sarcasm aside, yes, members of all ethnic groups back in those days owned slaves, including free blacks.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Johnson_(colonist)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ellison

Yup.
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Well that's some shit
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LyraTheUnicorn posted...

Indians owned slaves?

The Cherokee saw what Americans were doing to other tribes and tried to anticipate it by "becoming American" to defend themselves. They began dressing in American clothes, business suits, etc, owned slaves, the whole 9 yards. Then when Andrew Jackson attempted to kick them out of their lands, they did the American thing and challenged it in court and appealed all the way to the Supreme Court who delivered a decisive victory for the Cherokee people.

Then Andrew Jackson was like "oh yeah? Well I'm going to do it anyway what the fuck you going to do about it? Huh? That's right. Nothing." And that's how the Trail of Tears happened*

(I exaggerated a little, but not much)
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Everybody vs Everybody

It's been long know that it's "every man for himself" here in the USA.

But people seem to want to deny or ignore the fact.
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