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Recently the Cherokee Nation voted to revoke the membership of the Freedman. This move is of course being challenged. But the action by the Cherokee Nation brings into question what constitutes a “Cherokee”.
The Cherokees are known as a “Nation”, not a tribe, or a band. The fact that the Cherokees are designated a nation indicates that they are an amalgamation of many peoples which have banded together in tribal relationships to form a society, culture, and means of governing themselves. As a nation or amalgamation of people, there is no statement possible of who can or cannot be traced as Cherokee. Is the lure for federal funds, loans, housing, education, and medical care so irresistible that a people would begin to disown itself? Is a few wampum beads, firearms, and jug of alcohol enough to forget the pain and agony that was experienced by the Freedman as they suffered, bled and died on the forced march, The Trail of Tears? Now the courts will be sought to arbitrate history and whose version of suffering was legitimate. Well as the elders say, “It keeps you praying”. Written by Cherokee Cloud Posted March 10, 2007 |
