THE UNITED CHEROKEE NATION
still lives as the United Cherokee Nation.
Dear Mr. EchoHawk :
I write to you in my official capacity as Principal Chief of the United
Cherokee Nation and in response to the extreme and complicated issues
surrounding your recent decision in United
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians v.
Director, Eastern Oklahoma Region, Bureau of Indian Affairs. Within your decision you stated that it is
your belief that “the Cherokee Nation had ceased to exist as a distinct
political entity.” Also
included was
your statement that “the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the Cherokee
Nation
are NOT the same thing,” meaning the CNO is a new tribe. The purpose of
this
epistle is to provide certain notice that you are absolutely correct
regarding
the difference in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the historical
Cherokee
Nation. However, we the United Cherokee
Nation find it incumbent upon ourselves to make certain the Department
of the Interior is informed of
the erroneous conclusion that the Cherokee Nation has ceased to exist.
First
and foremost we must emphasize that like all sovereign Nations our
authority to
govern is only that which has been granted by the People of the
Cherokee Nation
and handed down through thousands of generations. This
contiguous thread binds our people as
Citizens to a Nation. Only a government
democratically tied throughout the ages can properly assert that
inherent
sovereignty. For this reason
alone the
entity known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma wrongfully established
by then
presidentially appointed Chief Keeler has no Cherokee authority and
certainly
no critical link to the historical Cherokee Nation.
Next
we must declare that to extinguish or terminate a sovereign Nation
requires the
total annihilation or conquest
unless
the Nation democratically disbands themselves.
Although the effects of the removal to Indian Territory, the
Civil War,
the Dawes Act and the statehood of Oklahoma clearly place the Cherokee
Nation
in the category of a domestic, dominated by the United States of
America we the
Cherokee Nation have never disbanded or been extinguished.
It is true that the Curtis Act, the
Indian Reorganization Act, Oklahoma
Indian Welfare Act and the 1970 Principal Chiefs Act have placed the
true and
historical Cherokee Nation in a position that can best be described as
dormant. However, inactivity or slumber
is far from demise.
So,
how do we the Cherokee Nation from time immemorial get to the present
and
beyond into perpetuity? While pondering
the state of the Cherokee Nation in the late summer of 1999 a group of
good
Cherokee Citizens posed these questions to one another:
Is the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma the
Cherokee Nation? If not what can be done
about it? What would our ancestors that
walked the Trail of Tears and reunited by declaration on July 12th
1839 say we should do? These discussions
continued throughout the fall of 1999 and we began to find agreement
and good
answers to these and other pertinent questions.
We
realized that the Cherokee Citizens had the right and the
responsibility to
take the necessary actions to revitalize our Cherokee Nation government
under
the last valid Cherokee Constitution, the 1839 Constitution. We first organized and established the
Phoenix Project with the purpose and mission to find and follow the
proper
steps to revitalize our
government. After many meetings
throughout the Nation we found that the
reunification of the Eastern and Western Cherokees that took
place by
declaration in Tahlequah on July 12th 1839 was the perfect
model for
our revitalization of the Cherokee Nation.
Early in the spring of the year 2000,
good Cherokee Citizens, predominantly Elders, met in Tahlequah
the
National Capital. A declaration of the
intent
of the Cherokee Citizens to hold a convention and establish an interim
government in accordance with the Cherokee Constitution of 1839 was
signed. This event was recorded and
published in the Tahlequah Times Journal newspaper and the declaration
was
forwarded to the Department of the Interior for their record and
information.
On
April 14th and 15th a convention of Cherokee
Citizens was
held in Tahlequah at the Community Building where the Cherokee
Constitution of
1839 was reviewed and revised only to bring the verbal styling into
conformance
with the 1866 Amendments. Eliminating
all language that reflected racial and sexual bias was the extent of modifications. The
Constitutional Revision was approved by
vote of the delegation. The convention
delegates moved to establish the Board of Governors to serve as an
interim
government until such time as the Cherokee Nation of 1839 could
reasonably and
properly hold elections.
On
April 15th 2002, the United Cherokee Nation held elections
and
continues to function as the continuation of the historical Cherokee
Nation in
accordance with federal and tribal law.
Despite the limitations and obstacles provided by the Cherokee
Nation of
Oklahoma (CNO) the United Cherokee Nation has acted in accordance with
the Constitution
passing Acts and Resolutions. For
example the resolution recognizing the Freedmen as Cherokee Citizens
with full
rights was one of the initial actions.
The
United Cherokee Nation is respectful and obliged to conform to the
Cherokee way
and traditions as well as our Constitution and law.
Therefore, consideration unto the effect on
the seventh generation with a commitment to reaching consensus on
decisions is
the standard.
Mr.
EchoHawk, the United Cherokee Nation is not requesting the Department
of the
Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs issue formal recognition. After our revitalization in the year 2000 the
Department of the Interior responded to our notice with an application
for
federal recognition. Upon our review of
the application we found that the category which was appropriate for
our
recognition required no application. It
is our purpose here to make sure that you are aware that we consider
all
treaties, Acts of Congress and government-to-government relations with
the
United States of America and the Historical Cherokee Nation to be
congruent
with and honored by the United Cherokee Nation.
We insist that it is critical for you Mr. EchoHawk, as Assistant
Secretary to fairly consider the issues raised herein and the
implications of
the fact that the United Cherokee Nation is alive.
The
United Cherokee Nation is certainly desirous of establishing a
continuing
dialog and we are intent on bringing
real solutions for issues like the Freedmen case, The recognition of
the Delaware
Nation, The United Keetoowah Band's
right to exist, The Arkansas Riverbed
settlement, water rights and many more problems that could be solved if
the
right parties were at the table.
In
closing Mr. EchoHawk I would like to thank you for your time and
consideration
of these important matters. Also I would
like to congratulate you on your appointment and remark that I find it
refreshing to see that the new Assistant Secretary has such a great
respect for
the Law and especially how it applies to Indian People.
Respectfully
Submitted,
Robin Carter
Mayes, Principal Chief
The United
Cherokee Nation