Much publicized in 2011, the Cherokee Freedmen–descendants of the slaves owned by members of the Cherokee Nation–remain in uncertain legal circumstances, with no media attention even though their story features the intersection of three U.S. preoccupations: race, rights, and money.
In August 2011, the Cherokee Supreme Court ruled that the tribe’s 2,800 Freedmen were no longer part of the nation, because they could not prove they had Indian blood. Although the ruling was not unexpected–being based on a 2007 amendment to the Cherokee constitution, one approved by more than 75 percent of voters–it garnered criticism from the Obama administration and much unfavorable publicity among corporate media that are normally silent on Indian affairs.
The ruling dashed the hopes of another 3,500 Freedmen whose tribal membership applications were pending. The decision cut off all the Freedmen’s tribal benefits, including medical care, homeowners’ assistance and food stipends; more importantly, it denied them a share of the increasingly lucrative tribal gambling industry, a $26 billion enterprise for all tribes in 2009. That an estimated 25,000 more Freedmen might be eligible to join the nation was another Cherokee concern.
Freedmen responded to the ruling by asking the federal government for an injunction against its enforcement. The Obama administration subsequently brokered an agreement that no Freedmen would be removed from the tribe until Freedmen “issues” were settled. That is unlikely to happen soon, since the dispute has roiled for decades. But in the meantime, the tribe’s racial tensions remain, the gambling money keeps rolling in, and the corporate media have reverted to their normal coverage of Indian affairs–that is to say, none.
Sources:
Constitution of the Cherokee Nation, accessed December 14, 2013, http://www.cherokee.org/Portals/0/Documents/2011/4/308011999-2003-CN-CONSTITUTION.pdf.
“Cherokee Nation Expels Descendants of Tribe’s Black Slaves,” The Huffington Post, October 25, 2011, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/25/cherokee-nations-expels-d_n_936930.html.
Julianne Jennings, “Cherokee Freedmen: One Year Later,” Indian Country Today, January 31, 2012, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/01/31/cherokee-freedmen-one-year-later.
Alex Kellogg, “Cherokee Nation Faces Scrutiny for Expelling Blacks,” NPR, September 19, 2011, http://www.npr.org/2011/09/19/140594124/u-s-government-opposes-cherokee-nations-decision.
Carolyn Johnston, Cherokee Women in Crisis (Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 2003).
Alex Kellogg, “Cherokee Nation Faces Scrutiny for Expelling Blacks,” NPR, September 19, 2011, http://www.npr.org/2011/09/19/140594124/u-s-government-opposes-cherokee-nations-decision.
Steve Olafson, “Second-largest U.S. Indian Tribe Expels Slave Descendants,” Reuters, August 23, 2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/24/us-oklahoma-cherokee-idUSTRE77N08F20110824.
Ashley Portero, “Cherokee Nation Expels Slave Descendants, U.S. Government Threatens To Revoke Funding,” International Business Times, September 15, 2011, http://www.ibtimes.com/cherokee-nation-expels-slave-descendants-us-government-threatens-revoke-funding-314104.
“Search the Dawes Final Rolls,” Oklahoma Historical Society, accessed December 14, 2013, http://www.okhistory.org/research/dawes.
Student Researcher: Tavarsha Timmons (Frostburg State University)
Faculty Evaluator: Andy Duncan (Frostburg State University)