Cherokees React To Watson's Freedmen Bill

Tuesday, August 21st 2007, 3:13 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A California congresswoman and a Cherokee leader held dueling news conferences at the state Capitol on Tuesday on a bill to strip the Cherokee Nation of federal funding.

Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., said Cherokees broke an 1866 treaty when they voted March 3 to deny tribal citizenship to more than 2,000 descendants of black slaves, known as Cherokee freedmen.

She has introduced a bill to cut off federal funds to the tribe unless it rescinds the vote. She said her legislation would cost the tribe about $300 million that is distributed through the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

``It's a bill to eradicate the legal existence of the Cherokee Nation, to terminate all assistance and funding,'' Cherokee Principal Chief Chad Smith said.

Smith said the legislation would cost the tribe 6,500 jobs and many of its poorest citizens would lose health benefits.

The Cherokee Supreme Court has ruled freedmen can continue to receive benefits until the issue is determined in the federal court system.

Smith maintained Congress should let the court process play out.

``The Congress is not judge, jury and executioner,'' he said.

Watson, who said she has Indian blood in her family and is a descendant of Pocahontas, argued Cherokees forfeited their right to benefits by voting to disenfranchise the freedmen.

``You cannot break the law and then receive benefits. This bill is about the rule of law,'' she said.

``That is taxpayer money. I don't understand how that vote was taken,'' she said. She said Cherokees accepted the freedmen as ``a protected class'' in 1866.

Mike Miller, a spokesman for the tribe, later said tribal officials do not believe they have broken the law.

Miller said 1,500 descendants of black slaves who can document some degree of Indian blood on the Dawes Roll will continue to get benefits and were not denied tribal citizenship in the March vote.

In an earlier statement, Smith said while Cherokees voted overwhelmingly to ``return to being an Indian tribe composed of Indians, they also recognize that it is fair and right that the 2,867 people who made an effort to become citizens in the last year should remain citizens with full benefits during the litigation.''

In a town hall meeting in Tulsa on Monday, Watson characterized the tribal status of the freedmen as the ``most significant civil rights movement of this century.''

The freedmen were considered tribal members from 1866 until 1975, when a vote of the tribe denied them citizenship. The Cherokee Supreme Court decided in 2006 that vote was in error and restored the freedmen's rights.

The 2007 vote was the result of a petition drive to amend the Cherokee Constitution and once more remove freedmen who could not document that they had Indian blood.

Some freedmen have said they can document their tribal ancestry, but they were not on the original Dawes rolls.

In her remarks, Watson suggested the tribe could use revenue from Cherokee casinos to pick up the cost of social services that would not be paid for by the federal government under her legislation.

Miller, however, cited a section of her bill that would prohibit the tribe from engaging in gaming.

Watson, who represents a district in Los Angeles, said her bill defends all taxpayers in the country.

She said her interest in the issue was perked because of Indian ancestry and her ties to Oklahoma. She said her grandfather bought land in Oklahoma and her mother's siblings were born in the state. ``We have roots here,'' she said.

Related Stories:

3/21/2006 Creek Nation Tribal Court Issues Ruling On Freedmen

4/27/2006 Cherokee Nation Freedmen Fighting To Remain Part Of The Tribe

8/10/2006 Creek Freedmen Fight To Become Full Members

10/10/2006 Cherokee Freedmen To Challenge Special Election

11/16/2006 Cherokee Nation Tribal Court Slates Trial On Blood Requirement Issue

12/20/06 Federal Court Sides With Freedmen

12/29/2006 Cherokee Chief Delays Special Election To March 3

12/31/2006 Cherokees Set Vote On Freedmen Issue

2/22/2007 Judge Keeps Special Election On Track

3/2/2007 Cherokee Nation Special Election

3/4/2007 Cherokee Freedmen Ready For Court Battle

3/6/2007 Freedmen Challenge Special Election

3/13/2007 Black Congressional Leaders Question Legality Of Cherokee Vote

3/24/2007 Cherokee Freedmen Descendants Schedule Protest

3/27/2007 Freedmen Fight For Membership Far From Over

3/31/2007 Freedmen Vote Still Being Studied

4/17/2007 Cherokees Approve Money To Defend Freedmen Vote

4/19/2007 Black Lawmaker Eyes Cutting Cherokee Funding Over Ex-Slave Vote

5/11/2007 Freedmen Appealing Cherokee Nation Vote

5/14/2007 Judge Orders Tribe To Temporarily Restore Citizenship Of Freedmen

6/11/2007 Judge Hears Argument To Stop Cherokee Election

6/13/2007 Judge Tosses Motion To Stop Cherokee Nation's General Election

6/17/2007 Legislation Would Cut Funding, Gaming Operations For Cherokees

6/21/2007 Congresswoman Seeks To Sever U.S. Relations With Cherokees

6/22/2007 The Cherokee Nation Heads To The Polls

7/26/2007 Bill To Sever U.S. Relations With The Cherokee Nation Moves Forward

8/20/2007 California Congresswoman In Oklahoma To Help Freedmen In Their Fight

8/20/2007 Cherokees React To Proposed Funding Cut