I would love to know the full story behind this:
One of the nation’s largest American Indian tribes has sent letters to about 2,800 descendants of slaves once owned by its members, revoking their citizenship and cutting their medical care, food stipends, low-income homeowners’ assistance and other services. The Cherokee Nation acted this week after its Supreme Court upheld the results of a 2007 special vote to amend the Cherokee constitution and remove the slaves’ descendants and other non-Indians from tribal rolls. The 300,000-member tribe is the biggest in Oklahoma, although many of its members live elsewhere.
The Strawfoot 
Hi Keith,
This is an interesting story and has been in-and-out of the news in Oklahoma for a few years now. The tribe claims this is an issue of sovereignty, not racism. And in Oklahoma, tribal sovereignty is a big deal. It is integrated into our culture on a daily basis.
After the Civil War, the federal government stripped the five civilized tribes of their sovereign rights as punishment for fighting with the Confederacy. In doing so, they made the tribes grant citizenship rights to their former slaves. The Cherokees feel and/or claim they are undoing what was forced on them by the U.S. government and that tribal citizenship can only be claimed by a blood relation that goes back to any ancestor on the Dawes Roll.
What I think is interesting is that Aradhna and I went to hear former Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller speak a few years ago and someone asked her about this issue. She said she couldn’t directly discuss the court case but that being Cherokee and preserving the tribe means to preserve the traditional customs and culture. The question is, was she referring to the traditional customs of a certain time period for the Cherokees, or did she mean the combined traditions throughout the entire history. Do you have to be blood related to a tribe to be part of their culture, especially if your family history and identity with the tribe goes back several generations?
I think this will continue to be an interesting story to keep an eye on. The only personal comment that I can make is that neither party in this case are winners. The damage to both sides has already been done in one way or another.
Susan, thank you for the informative comment. If you find out more as the story progresses, please keep me up to date.
Susan, I do remember that talk rather vividly and also that question that appeared unanswered. I remember we talked about it afterward. You are right – there are no winners.
Aradhna