Tribe slave descendants face uncertainty

[KG]

By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer
Sun Mar 4, 4:13 PM ET


OKLAHOMA CITY - The Cherokee Nation vote this weekend to revoke the citizenship of the descendants of people the Cherokee once owned as slaves was a blow to people who have relied on tribal benefits.

Charlene White, a descendant of freed Cherokee slaves who were adopted into the tribe in 1866 under a treaty with the U.S. government, wondered Sunday where she would now go for the glaucoma treatment she has received at a tribal hospital in Stilwell.

"I've got to go back to the doctor, but I don't know if I can go back to the clinic or if they're going to oust me right now," said White, 56, a disabled Tahlequah resident who lives on a fixed income.

In Saturday's special election, more than 76 percent of voters decided to amend the Cherokee Nation's constitution to remove the estimated 2,800 freedmen descendants from the tribal rolls, according to results posted Sunday on the tribe's Web site.

Marilyn Vann, president of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes, said the election results undoubtedly will be challenged.

MORE>>>> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070304/ap_on_re_us/cherokees_freedmen_vote

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. I guess she could go to the Eastern Cherokee

I don't believe that vote is binding here.

[Redstone]

2. Which does indeed confirm that American Indians are not some idealized Noble Savages, but

just people like everyone else...and therefore capable of making truly rotten bureaucratic decisions.

Redstone

[pennylane100]

3. That is just so dispicable.

How could a group of people who have known discrimination first hand then turn around and discriminate against another group. I hope this can be appealed at the federal level.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. The tribe IS the federal level

[hfojvt]

5. the article says the Seminoles did the same thing though,

and the US Federal Government punished them for it, and the Seminoles later reversed it.

[BuhByeChimp]

7. The tribe is a sovereign nation

The courts deciding the coming issue will be Cherokee courts.

Don't look for it to be overturned.

[BuhByeChimp]

6. I just don't understand this.

I'm Cherokee and I may actually leave the tribe over this decision. Not because I'm a freedmen but because of this vote.

I keep hearing the same thing, "I want my ethnic group to consist of people with Cherokee blood."

I'm pretty pissed off about this.

If you can't understand the gravity of this situation it is tantamount to George Bush asking for a vote to remove black slave descendants as U.S. Citizens and then the vote passing with 76% in favor.

I'm ashamed of my own people and I hate that feeling that comes with a situation like this.