Legislative Act 16-02

AN ACT AMENDING THE CHEROKEE NATION MEMBERSHIP ACT TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS AND TO ESTABLISH RULES AND PROCEDURES APPLICABLE TO THE RE-ENROLLMENT OF PERSONS
WHO RELINQUISH THEIR TRIBAL CITIZENSHIP, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY

BE IT ENACTED BY THE CHEROKEE NATION:
Section 1.    Title.

This Act shall be known as the Tribal Citizenship Relinquishment and Technical Amendments Act of 2002.

Section 2.    Purpose.

The purpose of this Act is to make certain technical and substantive amendments to the Cherokee Nation Membership Act, L.A. 6-92, as amended by L.A. 2-93 (11 CNCA §§ 1, et sec.), including amendments establishing rules and procedures applicable to the re-enrollment of certain persons who have relinquished their Tribal citizenship; and to declare an emergency.

Section 3.    Findings.

The Tribal Council of the Cherokee Nation makes the following findings:

        A. Prior to the adoption of this Act, Cherokee Nation Tribal citizens have been permitted to relinquish their Tribal citizenship and then re-enroll at any time. As a consequence, some persons have engaged in the abusive practice of relinquishing their Tribal citizenship in order to gamer the benefits of services or programs offered by another Indian tribe, and then re-enrolling as citizens of Cherokee Nation in order to obtain the benefits of services or programs offered by the Nation.

         B. A system of laws that allows the practice of frequent "switching" of citizenship between or among two or more Indian tribes, simply in order to obtain multiple financial and other benefits, leads to an inequitable distribution of services among citizens of the Cherokee Nation and other Indian people, creates the possibility of duplicative Tribal and federal services, imposes undue burdens and administrative costs on the Nation and the office of the Registrar, and undermines the traditional cultural and political values of all Cherokees.

          C. It is in the best interest of the Nation to adopt provisions of law that discourage the practice of repeatedly "switching" tribal affiliation in order to obtain multiple and potentially duplicative benefits from Tribal and federal programs.

Section 4.    Amendments to Cherokee Nation Membership Act.

      A. Section 1 of the Cherokee Nation Membership Act (11 CNCA §§le; seq.) is hereby amended to read in full as follows:
 
          This  enactment  shall  be known as  the  "Cherokee Nation
       (Member STRUCK)Citizenship Act."

       B skip...

       C. "Base Roll" means a specific list of individuals used for determining tribal membership. One must prove back directly to an individual who is listed by blood on a base roll. The base roll as used herein means those final rolls otherwise known as the Dawes Commission Rolls or the Final Rolls. The Final Rolls were closed in 1907. Those Final Rolls by blood used for
membership purposes are (1) Cherokees by Blood, (2) Cherokee Minors by Blood, and (3) Delaware Cherokees. and (4) Shawnee Cherokees.

      D. "Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood" is means the official document issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) stating a person's degree of Indian blood. The CDIB is an acceptable document used to meet the necessary  evidence   requirements.     The  CDIB   is  not  an enrollment/(Member STRUCK)citizenship document.

All the rest has to do with relinquishment and re-enrolling etc.

 Enacted  by the Council of the Cherokee Nation on the 13th day May, 2002.

Signed
Hastings Shade
Council President

Chad Smith
Principal Chief

Stephanie Wickliffe
Council Secretary

Jay Hannah
Sec. Treasure