Usually, it's harmless. But sometimes people take illegal or unethical steps to form "tribes" and sell membership. Some claim treaty rights and seek state and federal recognition, while others take federal money intended for legitimate Indian nations.
A group of Cherokee Nation employees and officials recently formed a task force to deal with these "wannabe" Cherokees.
8 comments:
I guess that's a sign of the times. You would think that perpetrators of scams like that would have a crisis of conscience at some point. I believe in karma and those people with dishonest hearts will be haunted by their fraud. Very sad read.
Writerfella here --
Which says nothing about the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma's attempt to disenfranchise their Black Freedmen and the other non-Native 'Cherokees' on their tribal rolls. The Cherokees created these people, partially to enlarge their tribal presence to increase Federal appropriations. The current tribal 'chief' or 'chairman' was quoted in the news as stating 'one would think that to be a member of an Indian tribe, one would have to possess Indian blood.' At this point, regional Federal courts have overturned the results of a recent tribal election that approved the proviso. The Chickasaws certainly would entertain no such action as it would leave the tribe with a population about the size of your average McDonald's crew.
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
I agree with writer fella to a certain degree, as in Indians actually possessing Indian blood. By that I mean blood quantum, I'm all for it. And yes, I've heard all the arguments on it, as in "we will all be assimilated" or "we won't be able to fall in love with whom we choose and have children." I think the people who propagate this fallacy are playing a cruel hoax on an unwitting populace. We're still here and growing.
When the goverment initiated the Dawes Act I don't think the Cherokees ever imagined that they would open a can of worms of this proportion. My heart goes out them and I applaud their efforts to rid Indian Country of these frauds.
Anonymouse
The escaped slaves may not have had Indian blood, but after intermarrying with the Cherokees, their descendants probably do. And once again, tribal membership is a political matter, not a racial one. There's nothing that says an Indian has to have any Indian blood. That's how white captives and black runaways became full-fledged tribal members in the first place.
Rob, are you speaking about the Cherokees when you said "There's nothing that says an Indian has to have any Indian blood" or all Indians in general?
anonymouse
Writerfella here --
No, as Rob has stated here many times, he means any and all 'Indians' who have achieved Federal and/or state recognition as 'Indians', whether or not they be of any Native blood whatsoever. In such manner, EuroMan becomes the final arbiter in his own version of The Golden Rule: 'He who has the gold makes the rules...'
writerfella half is considering hiring Kevin Dillon, Val Kilmer, and Tahmoh Pennekot to masquerade as 'Chinequa' natives that he invented in 1969 for his "Tomorrow, You Shall Not Be Less..." teleplay for NBC's THE NAME OF THE GAME. With writerfella as their representative, they could become the core basis for Chinequa tribal recognition from the State of California and the US Government, and thence be in the casino biz in northern California within three years. And Rob would be among the first to lift their banner high and dance at their next weddings...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
The answer to your question is "all Indians," anonymouse.
Membership in a tribe is a political decision, not a racial decision. That was established in Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez (1978), which said only a tribe could determine its own membership.
What that means in reality is that a tribe can expel full-blooded members for whatever reason and deny these people the benefits of tribal citizenship. It also means that a tribe can enroll whoever it wants and grant them the benefits of citizenship. That's what the Black Freedman are asking the Cherokee Nation to do.
Clearly, a tribe has no economic incentive these days to increase its membership by adding whites and other non-Indians. So it's possible in a technical sense only. The issue facing tribes these days is disenrollment, or the elimination of tribal members with as much "blood" as anyone.
But adding non-Indians happened in colonial times and the adopted members (whites, blacks, or Hispanics) became full-fledged tribal members. In other words, they became Indians in a political sense even if they weren't Indians in a racial sense. At present, this political sense is the primary way we identify Indians (although many Indians aren't tribal members).
Russ seems to be ignorant of the federal recognition process and what it entails. For starters, only tribes with a continuous history since America's dawn are eligible, since continuity of history is a prime criterion. So you can dismiss his comments about the "Chinequa" or whoever as irrelevant. (This is also why his Saturday Night Live skit on tribal recognition missed the mark.)
Writerfella here --
But writerfella was paid for his unperformed Saturday Night Live skit, and they still hold the rights to the skit as written. At some time in the near future, the playlet still could be performed. And if it is, he will have yet another fifteen minutes of fame...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
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