PART II
HISTORICAL STATEMENT:
"We, The members of the Constitutional Cherokee, do hereby authorize the National Council of Chiefs to designate a committee to substantiate and expand the statements of our historical Statement with documentation and the gathering of oral and written histories of our membership."-- resolution of the membership of the Constitutional Cherokee, passed 2009.
We further authorize the National Council of Chiefs to designate a committee to summarize the official archived historical statement as created by the committee specified previously, in order that this summary may appear in the HANDBOOK. (passed 2009)
Despite what people think, the Cherokee nation NEVER gave up the land in the southeast.
The leadership did NOT sign the treaty and were jailed by USA for that. The ones who did sign it were NOT leaders of Cherokee, and they did so against the Cherokee law and when they did, they were executed by the Cherokees for Treason. The Cherokee engaged in passive resistance-- they did not pack or prepare for a journey they had not agreed to take. Passive resistance failing in many instances, when they were forcibly removed to Indian Territory-- now known as Oklahoma-- those that had been relocated quickly reorganized the council and voted approving a statement that said they do not give up their rights and claims to land owned in the Southeast.
But Passive resistance did not completely fail. Cherokee people and their descendants successfully remained in the southeastern portion of the United States.
Therefore, the land in the Southeast is still legally held by the Cherokee, and Illegally held by non Cherokees.
The genocidal policies of the United States Government have fragmented the Historical Cherokee Nation. Documented, federally recognized Cherokees include only 3 groups today: The UKB (United Keetoowah Band), the CNO (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma) and the EBCI (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians).
CNO STATEMENT ON DISENFRANCHISED CHEROKEE DESCENDANTS:
Principal Chief Chad Smith of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the largest Cherokee tribe, once publicly acknowledged the existence of undocumented Cherokees.
In an official news release entitled " Undocumented Cherokees Contribute to Cherokee Nation" appearing on the Cherokee Nation's website dated 22 September 2000, Chief Smith stated, "There are people like the Johnsons ( referring to an undocumented Cherokee family cited in the news release) with undeniable Cherokee heritage who don't meet enrollment requirements. That doesn't mean they can't claim their ancestry."
Chief Smith further stated, " Through anomalies caused by ethnicidal policies of the United States Government, the traditional Cherokee Nation has been fragmented. That's why there is an Eastern Band of Cherokees in North Carolina. We are all one people, separated by geography. The historical Cherokee Nation is currently headquartered in Tahlequah. But just as a person with grandparents who immigrated to the United States from Germany cannot claim German citizenship, people whose Cherokee ancestors emigrated from the Cherokee Nation before the Dawes Rolls were taken cannot claim Cherokee citizenship."
This statement while recognizing some Cherokee descendants also disenfranchises many others all the while ignoring that to emigrate means to leave one's country.
Emigration is the act of leaving one's native country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state, is termed migration.
Even though definitions may be vague and vary somewhat, emigration/immigration should not be confused with the phenomenon of involuntary migration, nor with such as instances of population transfer or ethnic cleansing.
The Trail of Tears tells the story of the emigration of many Cherokees who emigrated out of the historic homeland into the west where the Dawes Roll was taken that was due to involuntary population transfer as a result of ethnic cleansing.
The CNO of which Chad Smith was chief actually represents the very people who EMIGRATED FROM our historic Cherokee homeland. Those who did NOT move into the area to which they emigrated, (i.e. Oklahoma) are the actual Cherokee who remained within the nation.
EBCI STATEMENT ON DISENFRANCHISED CHEROKEE DESCENDANTS: Former Eastern Band Chief Jones said "There are non-recognized Indian tribes in the United States that absolutely should have been previously recognized and through unfortunate historical twists of fate have not been." We heartily agree with this sentiment by EBCI Chief Jones.
The Constitutional Cherokee affirm that the Trail of Tears was a forced and coerced emigration, and therefore any rolls or documents that further fragment the nation since that time should not be used to determine who is a legitimate Cherokee to the exclusion and disenfranchisement of many who are descended from any Cherokee who was not included on the Dawes roll but may only be used to designate those Cherokee people who had been forcibly removed to the west.
In addition, in September of 2010, after the TN commission of Indian Affairs (TCIA) gave state recognition to 6 groups who only 2 months later lost that status because the TCIA was found to be in violation of the sunshine or open meetings laws, Mark Green, a member of the CNO and a resident of Nashville, TN said,
"We believe these groups don't meet the requirements of being a tribe, but we don't deny that they are Indian," Greene said Wednesday. Green was employed as a lobbyist by the Cherokee Nation to ensure than none of those individuals be recognized as tribes.
The historical statements of Chief John Ross and the actions of the council upon arrival in Indian Territory make it clear that those who were removed west were removed as PRISONERS of WAR and that the government had every intention of one day returning to our historic homeland.
The Treatment of the Prisoners of War through the actions toward them during their tenure there including the enforcement of the Dawes Roll attempt at genocide appears to have caused many of these descendants to have fallen victims of a syndrome that in modern times is described as the Stockholm Syndrome.
According to a statement by BIA head Larry Echohawk the Cherokee Nation is not the historical Cherokee tribe but instead a "successor in interest."
In a letter, BIA head Larry EchoHawk said the tribe was not the historical Cherokee tribe, which he said no longer exists as a distinct political entity.
That decision essentially put the Cherokee Nation and the smaller United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees, also based in Tahlequah, on equal footing concerning authority over the jurisdictional area of the historical Cherokee tribe.
The letter called both tribes “successors in interest” and said they were descended from the historical Cherokee Nation, but that neither was the original tribe.
We disagree with the implied intention to distance the Cherokee people from the benefit of treaties while at the same time burdening the Cherokee people with all the detrimental aspects of those same treaties.
We maintain that the uniting of all Cherokee people would silence such malicious statements.
UKB STATEMENT ON DISENFRANCHISED CHEROKEE DESCENDANTS:
A GOVERNMENT OF PASSIVE RESISTANCE:
John Ross was the last officially recognized national principal chief to serve within the historic homeland.
He directed the people to remain in the homeland and engaged in a policy of refusing to discuss or meet with the US Government and actively engaged in passive resistance. {one of many....sources...SOURCE: page 28, A history of Rome and Floyd County, state of Georgia, USA By George Magruder Battey}
John Ross's directive to remain in the homeland as passive resistance appears to have succeeded in at least one way: Many Cherokees did stay behind in the homeland.
In the census for the year 2000, there were 729,533 people who self identified as Cherokee and only about 250,000 people who were enrolled at the time in one of the three Federally Recognized Cherokee Tribes (UKB, CNO and EBCI). Most of the Federally recognized tribal members did not participate in the census, leaving many to speculate that as many as 500,000 actual genuine Cherokee descendants exist who were not members of any of those 3 tribes. Many people with genuine Cherokee heritage will never meet the restrictive blood quantum or specific roll of registration qualifications to become citizens in the federally recognized tribes of the UKB, the CNO or the EBCI. We are the group for those "missing" Cherokee descendants.
Local Cherokee Government:
The UKB do not even seem to recognize the CNO as a legitimate group.
Writings and essays published on the UKB website seem to declare they are the only legitimate political organization of the Cherokee.
This shows how deeply the post removal years and policies have divided our nation.
{insert UKB QUOTATION HERE}
“After Redbird's death in 1919, there were 22 separate Keetoowah organizations functioning independently in the Cherokee Nation. Each organization carried out its own political agenda and continued to practice the old ceremonies." {FOOTSTEPS-HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: HISTORY OF THE KEETOOWAH CHEROKEES by David A. Cornsilk Managing Editor in 1997 }
This is just one example of the many rifts in the nation. Local chiefs in local communities, even just heads of households, ended up being the only Cherokee “government” for decades in many areas of the homeland.
The Doctrine of Passive Resistance:
In following the policy of passive resistance, some families remained in the historic homeland. These families were essentially cut off from contact with the at that time recognized government and yet many of them continued to celebrate festivals, to pray, and to conduct themselves as Cherokee. Some passed down language, in whole or in fragments, while others merely retained the stories. We recognize that these families did what they had to in order for their children and descendants to survive. This does not mean they were no longer Cherokee.
We recognize that family leadership in any form, whether in a community or merely among a basic family unit or through the association of individuals of common heritage therefore constituted government of our people during the time of resistance and prior to the formation of the Constitutional Cherokee Today. We acknowledge a debt of gratitude to these families and leaders for passing along the traditions and knowledge of our people, and we declare that they are officially recognized as governing bodies of our people operating legitimately within our historic homeland.
We, the Constitutional Cherokee have been identified as an American Indian entity on a substantially continuous basis since 1900. Any evidence that our group's character as an Indian entity has from time to time been denied does not mean that we did not consider ourselves to be Cherokee.
Our name has transitioned throughout the decades and we accept any historical designation for our people but the political entity shall be known as the Constitutional Cherokee but may also be referred to as the Constitutional Cherokee Nation.
Did you know our ancestors gathered in what is now GA and wrote a Constitution in 1827?
Did you know that it was declared "Null and void" by our enemies? Wouldn't that revert us to the prior status of owning our lands instead of the smaller area we defined?
Did you know it CLEARLY defined the boundaries of the tribe.
This defining of our lands was a kind of a "line in the sand" stance, because so little was left by that time. But it does not show the historical boundaries that were eroded by worthless treaties in the prior years. We see this shrinking boundary as being coerced and we do not recognize its limitations upon our boundaries.
Our Constitution was NOT coerced. It was drafted by our people in an effort to preserve our nation. However, the shrinking of our boundaries was coerced; the exclusion of Cherokee descendants was coerced. We are reversing that damage to our national identity and to generations of injured descendants.
However, some of the tenets held in it were in reaction to the persecution of our people. Certain statements would never have been issued but for the hostile climate in which our people found themselves.
The shrinking of the boundaries was NOT by choice but was through coercion and duress; it was through coercion to shrink our holdings and to ultimately abandon our possessions and identity invalidates any legal agreement obtained through such coercion and duress.
Coercion is is the practice of compelling a person or group or manipulating them to behave in an involuntary way (whether through action or inaction) by use of threats, intimidation, trickery, or some other form of pressure or force. These are used as leverage, to force the victims to act in the desired way. Coercion may involve -- and in our history it did involve-- the actual infliction of physical pain/injury or psychological harm in order to enhance the credibility of a threat. The threat of further harm may then lead to the cooperation or obedience of the person being coerced.
Coercion is the reason so many went west. The irony of history is that resistors to this coercion were declared to be "NO LONGER CHEROKEE".
Coercion was used when the Cherokee Nation's own boundary lines were MOVED and yet the people who did NOT move were said to NOT be Cherokee because they "no longer" lived within the newly established boundaries!!
That would be like declaring the USA to be Iraq, saying the USA is in ASIA, and then saying everyone living in North America was no longer American because they had now moved outside of America!
Coercion is the reason for the shrinking of our numbers. Those who hid their heritage and actual identity were also coerced into doing so. Because they resisted an illegal operation of removal, they were declared to be "NO LONGER CHEROKEE".
We are standing up today to say that just because our enemies declared us NON Cherokees, that did not make us so.
We are STILL Cherokee!
Source: http://www.smokymountainnews.com/index.php/component/k2/item/1957-taking-ownership-exhibit-explores-the-exploitation-of-native-american-stereotypes accessed 10/14/2010
In her artist statement, Ms. Goshorn, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, said, “History has proven that a way to successfully eliminate a people is to deny them their culture.”
We believe that we, as Cherokee descendants, have the right to our culture and that denying us our right is genocide, whether we are denied by the US government, or other cherokees and we are resisting by continuing to participate in our culture.
Duress or coercion (as a term of jurisprudence) is a legal defense, one of four of the most important justification defenses, by which defendants argue that they should not be held liable because the actions that broke the law were only performed out of an immediate fear of injury. We are claiming this for all descendants of Cherokees who failed to remove to the west, and who were not included in the later rolls because they hid or registered their descendants elsewhere as white because of they feared repercussions.
Our Constitution was NOT coerced, but the circumstances our ancestors found themselves in compelled them to create such a document.
The shrinking of our lands and the ultimate removal of our people to the west of the Mississippi WAS coerced.
The necessity of our ancestors to hide their identity WAS coerced.
We claim the right to restore our right to our own constitution.
We claim the right to restore our lands.
We claim the right to restore the heritage of all descendants of all historically known Eastern Cherokee people.
Our lands encompassed nearly all or parts of what is today known as KY, VA, NC, SC, GA, AL, TN, WV, MS, and even OH and IN.
All of our original nation was east of the Mississippi.Our ancestors remained here in the east, but VERY FEW remained in NC. Those who did were also Cherokee, and the Eastern Band was to preserve that. (See prior blogs for explanations of how they did not continue to recognize all of us).
BUT-- not all Cherokees were part of the Eastern Band group. Thousands were excluded from that tribe, even tho they were Cherokees, because they didn't live within the Qualla Boundary!
Several of our members have sought long in prayer to determine the name for us. Our people have been known by many names, and the name Tsalagi itself was not our name for ourselves, but was given to us by others.
Because of our history, we elect to accept all historical titles for our people that are respectful to us. We have considered various names. We look back to the time when our people said, "This will be our land forever" and signed into being our own national Constitution. This took a great deal of courage.
Therefore the name that seems to be the most in favor for our name is "Constitutional Cherokee Nation" for the historic document that describes the boundaries of our homeland east of the Mississippi, and this is the name that was settled upon as the "official" title of our people. We may also be referred to and regarded as Constitutional Cherokees.
Second up in their consideration was to also call our group the Eastern Cherokee Nation, in honor of the people who stayed on this side of the Mississippi, hidden in communities across the southeast in MS, KY, TN, AL, GA, WVA, VA, NC & SC and other states.
A third suggestion was to call ourselves the Carolina Cherokees to recognize our historical roots and ties with the EBCI, but this was ultimately rejected as being too restrictive. Our people filled a vast land area and we were always present in more places than just the Carolinas.
As we become more formally united as an organization recognized by others, we may wish to consider which bests describes us.
This does not mean that our family groups scattered across the Eastern region of the US have been inactive all this time. No. We have ALWAYS been here. It just means that outsiders don't tend to realize who we really are even when we explain to them. This is a result of the mind washing done by the persecuting forces that have sought to destroy us from the beginning of the invasion of our homeland.
We are working actively to change the perception of our presumed and well advertised demise.
Just because we have been silent behind the scenes does NOT mean we have not continually remained here. For years this oppressive occupation did not allow us a voice in the public. We kept our voice, whispered privately in homes and communities across our homeland. We are finding our voice in today's public forum and we are speaking up.
Therefore, for the time being, we are known as various names: Children of the EBCI, Eastern Cherokee, Constitutional Cherokee, Carolina Cherokees and others. All in all we are still the Aniyvwiya, the people of Giduwa aka Keetoowah.
A simplified sketch of our government would look like this:
Local: A community chief and a community council composed of 1 clan chief and 1 clan representative from each known clan and the groundskeeper or peace chief of the gatiyo and any beloved woman in keeping with their proper appointment under the direction of the Constitution. There will also be elected within each clan a council for that clan. There will also be selected from that community, delegates to represent the local government at the state level.
Local communities meet regularly as needed but at least 1 (one) time per month for ceremony and at least 1 time per quarter for business meetings. Local communities are also to hold an annual business meeting at least 30 days prior to the first day of the state convention or assembly.
State (also referred to as region or regional)
a state chief who will also be known as a national vice chief and an assistant, and a council elected from among the delegates that were duly elected by the local communities to server on the state level as delegates from the local communities. The state chief or vice chief, is selected by ballot at the state convention.
State chapters may hold council meetings of the leadership as deemed necessary but shall hold an annual (yearly) assembly or convention for the purpose of conducting business. In the year of the national assembly, this meeting is to occur at least 90 days before the national assembly.
National
The National assembly or convention meets 1 (one) time every seven (7) years.
The national council as selected by the national assembly shall meet as often as deemed necessary by council for the purpose of conducting business but shall meet at least 1 time every 6 months. The National assembly shall select 7 Principal chiefs from among the membership of the nation and the national assembly as convened to serve on a national council. The national assembly convenes every 7th year and is comprised of delegates selected by the state to represent that state as well as the state chiefs and state councils. The national assembly may elect officers to serve to assist the Principal chiefs in the convening of the national assembly as well as for serving the national council in between the assemblies.
JUDICIAL-- shall exist on each of the 3 levels of government: Local communities, state (or region) and National.
Appeals may be heard from the lower level to the highest which is the national level.
HISTORICAL STATEMENT ON CHIEFS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
“Kituhwa was the mother town or original settlement of the Cherokees. The town served as a spiritual center and capitol for the Cherokee people until the development of a new capitol at Chota.
“The town of Kituhwa has long since faded into the annals of Cherokee history and even its true location is a mystery. Some scholars believe the town is located in western North Carolina near the present reservation of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
“The Cherokee Nation, from the earliest records, was divided into several bands separate from each other by geographic features and language dialects. Each band functioned politically separate from all others and within each band, the towns functioned as separate political entities. In times of warfare, each band and town made a choice to join together for defense, remain neutral or even fight against each other. The situation was much like the city-state politics of early Greece and medieval Italy. The Cherokees did not unify under a single government until the English, weary from dealing with so many "heads of state", withheld vital trade goods until the Cherokees selected an "Emperor", through whom the British could deal.
“Clearly, the novel concept of a single, all-powerful monarch was foreign to the democratic Cherokees and sub chiefs continued to play a vital role in the development of the tribe and its foreign policy.”
“Many sub chiefs, dissatisfied with the Nation's politics and their own diminishing power, chose to separate from the Cherokee Nation and become a separate political entity.”
“Even the title "Principal Chief", speaks to the factionalism common to our Nation. Many sub chiefs continued to wield great power in the Nation. Principal Chief was used to distinguish Ross from the numerous sub chiefs.” [SOURCE: David A Cornsilk ]
Our members are documented descendants. We also maintain a record of prospective members who have had confirming DNA results, however we do not use DNA to test our members because the technology is not where it would need to be yet. DNA can sometimes confirm a connection but is not to the point where a negative result should ever be used to exclude anyone.
"It is important to be proud of our mixed ancestry, to understand that a “full-blood” is a U.S. legal definition not existing in human genetics and must be weighed against a history of several thousand years of biological admixture from Native Americans from other tribes. For the Cherokee, these newcomers were so numerous that there was even a clan designated for them for their acceptance and training in Cherokee ways. Whole villages of refugee Natchez were accepted in Cherokee towns. All of which will probably soon be clarified by improvements in DNA testing. All of this must be taken into consideration, but should never be a substitute for living our life in the manner of Ah-yuhn-wee-yah, a principal person, a Cherokee." ~Charles Jahtlohi Rogers, Chief of Cherokee of Mexico.
HISTORIES OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND HEADS OF HOUSEHOLDS WHO FUNCTIONED AS SUB CHIEFS DURING THE DISPERSAL ERA:
NOTE: EACH STATE CHAPTER IS TO COMPILE THEIR OWN STATE HISTORY BASED ON THE HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS FOR THEIR STATE AND SUBMIT THESE TO THE NATION COUNCIL OF CHIEFS FOR VERIFICATION. ONCE VERIFIED, THE HISTORIES ARE TO BE PRESERVED INTO THE NATIONAL HISTORICAL RECORD WITH A SUMMARY THAT HAS BEEN APPROVED BY BOTH THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHIEFS AND THE STATE CHAPTER ITSELF TO BE PROVIDED WITHIN THE HANDBOOK WHILE THE FULL HISTORY IS KEPT ON RECORD WITH BOTH THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND THE STATE CHAPTERS ARCHIVES.
EACH COMMUNITY CHAPTER IS TO COMPILE THEIR OWN COMMUNITY’S HISTORY BASED ON THE HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS FOR THEIR COMMUNITY AND PRESENT THESE TO THE STATE CHAPTER FOR VERIFICATION. ONCE VERIFIED, THE HISTORIES ARE TO BE PRESERVED INTO THE STATE CHAPTERS HISTORICAL RECORD.
A NOTE about The Day of INFAMY-- April 9:
We Commemorate April 9 each year with MOURNING and FASTING and will do so until the RED CLAY RESOLUTION is repealed AND until the day we are recognized as TRUE Cherokee people.
This is not a "holiday" -- it is a National Day of Prayer
(We are referring to the Joint Resolution at Red Clay, April 9, 2008)
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