[Lgcjqxlw]

After a long legal fight, the Cherokee nation ousted thousands of descendants of black slaves who had long been official members of the tribe.

The Cherokee Supreme Court (the tribe is a sovereign nation) ruled this week a 2007 constitutional amendment that required Cherokee blood in order to belong to the tribe could stand.

"This is racism and apartheid in the 21st century," Marilyn Vann, the lead plaintiff in the case and a freedman leader, told Reuters.

The controversy over the freedmen's status is at least in part about money. The Cherokee nation, the second-largest Native American tribe in the country, receives money from the federal government and earns money from its stake in the lucrative gambling industry, which totaled $26.4 billion for all tribes in 2009. In the run-up to the 2007 amendment vote, some proponents of expelling the freedmen suggested that more blacks might apply for membership to receive tribal money.

In the 1800s, the U.S. government passed a law forcing members of the Cherokee nation from their ancestral lands in the Deep South to make room for white settlers. The Cherokee -- as well as their black slaves -- were forcibly marched west of the Mississippi River to the Oklahoma territory during the "Trail of Tears," resulting in the deaths of thousands of Native Americans.

After the Civil War, the Cherokee formally admitted by treaty their slaves' descendants into the nation.

Before the 2007 passage of the amendment, some descendants of the freedmen said the vote on their status within the nation expressed a desire by many tribe members to paper over their slave-owning past. But the tribe’s leadership disagreed. "It's a basic, inherent right to determine our own citizenry," a Cherokee leader told the Washington Post. "We paid very dearly for those rights."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_936930.html

Thoughts?

[Abnorbprootly]

Well that is unfair, but the exiles shouldn't be too upset. That's one of those clubs you should be flattered to not be accepted in.

If they miss it they can go join Alcoholics Anonymous.

[Fertassa]

I guess they allow it because it's wrong to hit on the weaker.

[Plonnikas]

"Racism and apartheid in the 21th century."... not at all....only whites can be racist...lol!

---------- Post added 2011-08-28 at 11:29 ----------

Well that is unfair, but the exiles shouldn't be too upset. That's one of those clubs you should be flattered to not be accepted in.

If they miss it they can go join Alcoholics Anonymous.

Lol!!! larali you're so mean....

[IdomeoreTew]

If they miss it they can go join Alcoholics Anonymous.

LOL. That segment we share must include the gene for evil humor.

[SkatrySkith]

So are they kicking out their white members too?

[ssyyyrruho]

So are they kicking out their white members too?

Then they wouldn't have anyone left...

[nerrttrw]

Then they wouldn't have anyone left...

good one Amerinese

[hitaEtela]

It looks like many of the Cherokee still believe in the age old American racial hierarchy of Indians second and blacks last.

In reality though, I think that it had more to do with the black members wanting free health care, educational quotas and other entitlements, which costs money among other things. Black members of the Cherokee nation have been appealing to the federal government for the last few years to obtain these privileges. Members now have to be able to trace their lineage to a Cherokee ancestor listed on the Federal Dawes Rolls to retain citizenship and most of the blacks do not have one. I'm against many of these entitlements in the first place, so I would have voted to abolish free health care, educational quotas and probably many of the other entitlements if they go beyond private property rights.

http://www.atlnightspots.com/2011/ch...-black-members

[eliniaguilefp7m]

I wonder if AfroIndigenous members were also kicked out...

[iiilizium]

I don't necessarily think that the descendants of Cherokee slaves ought to be considered as Cherokee, but since that has been the case for about a century and a half, it is pretty shabby that this is being taken away now. It seems a bit late for the Cherokee to insist on racial purity.

[layevymed]

I wonder if AfroIndigenous members were also kicked out...

The only members who lost their citizenship were those who could not trace their lineage to a Cherokee ancestor who was listed on the Federal Dawes Rolls. The few blacks who could trace their lineage to a Cherokee ancestor who was listed on the Dawes Rolls retained their citizenship.

If these socialistic entitlements didn't exist and the black members never appealed to the federal government for them, they would have never lost their citizenship (theoretically speaking, of course).

My great grandmother was Cherokee. I wonder if I can trace my lineage to an ancestor on the Federal Dawes Rolls.

[VarenHokalos]

This is where results from 23andme would come in handy but if they're descended of the slaves the Cherokees had but with no Cherokee ancestry they should be accepted as they went through the same ordeal.

[reiruviartugs]

Then they speak of the Trail of Tears...

[SinyugiN]

It's about the money, the fed grants, the gambling stakes, they don't want to share it with more people-I don't think that the fact that they are black is that much of an issue (if they are racist towards them, then they always have been).

Anyway, I have about 0.1% North Asian on one of my Dodecad segments, I've always wanted to own a casino and drink like a Russian, I'm wondering if they'll accept me? (filling application now).

[blankostaroe]

wait, the Cherokee Indians had black slaves?? I've never heard of that before, wow...that's shocking.

[Heliosprime]

wait, the Cherokee Indians had black slaves?? I've never heard of that before, wow...that's shocking.

If I'm not mistaken, they were among the Native American tribes that were considered "civilized" by the Whites, in other words, open to adopting colonial institutions, attitudes and mores.

[bixlewlyimila]

wait, the Cherokee Indians had black slaves?? I've never heard of that before, wow...that's shocking.

Yes, Don Cheadle descends from the Freedmen that's why he thought he would have Native blood but he didn't and so was shocked when he did the DNA test.

[Rabbahpuptiopp]

Anyone seen Cherokee Y and MTdna?

[Saad Khan]

Yes, Don Cheadle descends from the Freedmen that's why he thought he would have Native blood but he didn't and so was shocked when he did the DNA test.

Right, his ancestors were owned by the natives it turned out