January 13, 2008

Cherokee blood isn't necessary

More on Cherokee debateArguing against the freedmen for cultural preservation concerns me most, because this implies that those citizens who have one drop of blood (or a fraction thereof) are instilled with Cherokee culture, while the freedmen are not. If one understands the social dynamic of the modern Cherokee Nation, one will see this is not the case. Our nation is diverse, with most of the citizenry being culturally Anglo. The nation has approximately 280,000 citizens; 60 percent live outside of the jurisdictional boundaries, in other states and 90 percent of tribal citizens have a blood quantum under one-quarter with the lowest blood quantum at 1/9,064ths. Enrollment has grown exponentially since the 1980s through the tribe's many citizen recruitment fairs where the enrollment department travels around the country and signs up new Cherokee citizens. The nation then teaches culture and language classes, which is the depth of many citizens' cultural experience. During the first eight years of the current administration, full-blooded whites whose descendants bought their way onto the "by blood" roll were allowed to enroll, yet there were no cries of "cultural preservation" until the freedmen won their case in Cherokee court.

The Cherokee ancient religion is still practiced by a minority of citizens in Oklahoma within the Kituwvh (Keetoowah) nighthawk societies throughout northeastern Oklahoma. It is these societies, which operate outside of the political machinations of the nation, that most people would recognize as "traditional culture." The societies are intermixed with Cherokees from the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band, with many other full-bloods also practicing Christianity.

8 comments:

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
And why not? One of Rob's fave 'tribes,' the Chickasaws, get along just fine without any Chickasaw blood to complicate matters. They even baffle CSI...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

I don't have any favorite tribes except maybe the Hopi and other Pueblo tribes.

The Local Crank said...

Sean Nordwall is a great guy. I met him when he ran for CN Tribal Council, unsuccesfully, which is the tribe's loss.

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
Oh, my! John Herrington just took you off his Xmas card list! Good thing writerfella didn't mention the Pequots or the Kickapoos, or Rob's mailbox might have been all but empty come the first of February!
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Anonymous said...

"Writerfella" is pretty annoying. Is he your site's own personal troll Mr Schmidt?

Rob said...

Yes, you could say that. But don't worry. I've highlighted some of Russ's most egregious comments in my late-January and early-February postings. Keep reading.

Anonymous said...

would you mind posting a source about what you said about the Cherokee citizenship drives?
What you said I found rather baffling because I have never heard of that, also from what I have always understood is that the Cherokee takes in anyone with any certified Cherokee Blood Quantum regardless of how small it is and that is why the nation is so big.

Rob said...

Are you talking about the "citizen recruitment fairs" mentioned in the article? I don't know anything about them. You'd have to ask Sean Nordwall, the author of the piece I quoted, for more information.