CA Indian Tribes: Termination, Disenrollment and Re-Classification and Apartheid from Mooretown Rancheria

We've written often about disenrollment and civil rights violations in CA and elsewhere, but reclassification has not been touched on often. Did Mooretown Rancheria think to put STARS on the clothing of its reclassified citizens?  It reeks of APARTHEID doesn't it?

 On March 10, 2005 Mooretown tribal council reclassified 40 adults and about 45 children. Giving us notice that we would no longer be classified as lineals who were eligible to receive per capita, full health services from tribal health, and also educational monies cut.

Services were limited to minimal and our medication as well limited. Tribal council stating we were not the direct decendants of Robert Jackson our grandmother's second husband,who she lived with from 1928 until her death in 1962 in the Feather Falls Area and on the Mooretown Rancheria the last 22 years of her life. She married Robert Jackson 1913. After her first husband was killed in a minning accident. She and Robert lived at Enterprise from 1913 to 1928 when they were listed as living in Feather Falls. 1940  they were living at Mooretown Rancheria. A wife of a lineal was their reason for reclassification.
Claiming Robert Jackson's step-children were not lineals though two were listed as minor's living with Ina and Robert on the 1928 application as membership in Mooretown Rancheria. Lois Edwards grandaughter of Ina and Robert Jackson. My grandmother was from Gensee Valley the daughter of a Northern Madiu Mary Yatkin and a white man John Davies.

Ina 1/2 Native American and my mother biological father Frank Martin full blood , my mother Cecilia Frankie Martin 3/4 blood. I am 1/2 blood. Our Chairman is only 3/16 blood.   I was told at one time you had to be 1/4 even to qualify for educational grant monies, or be a member of the tribal council whatever happen to that law?   BIA ignores it?

We'll have more on lineal descent.   Many Plains Indians would laugh at the blood quantum levels in CA tribes.

David Cornsilk Stands Up For History and Cherokee Freedmen

Blogger the Local Crank pointed me to David Cornsilk's takedown of a letter from Gayle Ross to the Oklahoma Eagle.

More info on the Freedmen are in my links and at John Cornsilk's Place take a look and learn.

Freedmen: Julian Bond and NAACP SUPPORTS Severance of US Government Relations with Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma

In a show of support for the Cherokee Freedmen, the NAACP supports legislation introduced by Dianne Watson of California. Let's hope the full force of the NAACP will help resolve their issue.


The Money Quote of their statement:

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NAACP strongly supports H.R. 2824, legislation introduced by Congresswoman Dianne Watson (CA) and 11 of her Congressional colleagues requiring that the United States government sever all ties with the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma until the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma reverse its decision and once again recognize the full rights of the Cherokee Freedmen, or Black Cherokees and give them full rights as members of the tribe.

Good for the national NAACP. As noted in a blog during California's election, the California NAACP sides with the Pechanga Band in their violations of civil rights of their people AND they take Pechanga money too. We hope the CA NAACP with stand with those who have had their civil rights violated in our state.

Congresswoman Watson, thank you for your work with the Freedmen, and we look forward to you expanding the investigations to the ICRA violations by tribes in OUR state too.

Rumsey, Pechanga, Redding, Picayune, San Pasqual Suffer from POVERTY OF SOUL

OP: This sad story of the POVERTY of SOUL told on the Rumsey Band in the Sacramento Bee can be told on reservations throughout California. My regular readers are well aware of what Pechanga has become, once the greed, bred by wealth infusion or "affluenza" as my nephew calls it. It's a disease brought on by welfare, this IS welfare to some, an incentive NOT to work. The Picayune Rancheria has many sad story beginning with the EXTERMINATION of their people, BY their people.

I remember when the money started coming in, some of the Pechanga members were excited about getting a TARGET charge card. Then, things got bad, the greedy ones wanted no more people to share in the good fortune and they instituted an illegal moratorium (against the Pechanga Constitution and Bylaws). They no longer contributed to the youth trust fund, members didn't want the youth to be taken care of if member parent died. One of the Masiel Crime Family stood up and said he didn't trust his daughter in law to handle "that type of money", before backing off that comment. POVERTY OF SOUL (SacBee link) Ten years after the casino cash started flowing, the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians' good fortune is on display across the peaceful Capay Valley. Thanks to their Cache Creek Casino Resort – which makes about $300 million a year and is scheduled to expand – each of the 26 adults in the 60-member nation gets about $1 million a year after taxes, more if they're on the tribal council or committees. They get a travel allowance to expand their horizons to Tahiti, Europe or anyplace they desire. OP: The Pechanga members, after eliminating 25% of their tribal members, now get $360,000 per year (corrected), while council members get over $95,000 per year. There are 750 adults now, so we believe that the tribe will look at terminating another family to boost per capita. Pechanga may say no, but then, they said no after extermination of the first family en masse in the history of the tribe. They own luxury cars, custom homes on the rancheria and second homes elsewhere. They send their children to a first-class private school that offers their Patwin language and native flute taught occasionally by Grammy winner Mary Youngblood. OP: This is good for California's economy and Pechanga eliminated this from 25% of the tribe, forcing short sales, loss of health care, children kicked out of the tribal school, and elimination of elder care for lifelong members. The state of California lost a lot of tax money from those terminated that lived OFF the reservation. But CEO and Chief Marshall McKay sees trouble behind the opulence. The demons of the past that have plagued his tribe since they lived in trailers and scrounged for work haunt them still: diabetes, substance abuse, fierce family feuds and chronic apathy. OP: There is plenty of evidence of that on many reservations, my archives are full of violent behaviors from Pechanga and it's Soboba cousins. "I call it wealth shock … the poverty of the soul," said McKay, who's fighting to save his nation by pushing cultural rebirth and education. "I stress to members we can do a lot of damage by providing too much." Only three tribal members have finished high school since the casino money started rolling in. They know they'll never have to work as long as they stay out of jail. OP: Not a simple task, when you have NOTHING TO WORK FOR. No goals, means nothing to strive for. The newest video game, car or toy is NOT a goal. This is a great article and one that should be read by all in California. Is this what we thought Self Reliance would be? A few Indians getting richer at the expense of their families and friends?

Descendants of Freedmen Association Meeting August 9

The Descendants of Freedmen Association will host its next meeting on Saturday August 9th beginning at 2pm.
The meeting will be held at the Martin Luther King Center, 627 N Third Street, Muskogee Okla.
Advocate Wayne Thompson and Descendants President Marilyn Vann will update attendants on the recent Appeals Court ruling on the Vann Federal lawsuit.

Genealogy "tips" will also be given by org Vice President Ron Graham. An official from the the Muskogee NAACP will also address meeting attendants.. The meeting is free and open to the general public. Meeting attendants are requested to bring a "covered dish" to share with others.

On, July 29th, the DC Court of Appeals ruled that the Cherokee freedmen plaintiffs in the case Vann versus Kempthorne may continue their case; the case was remanded back to the district Court of Judge Henry Kennedy

For more information on the organization, please visit: http://www.freedmen5tribes.com/

Another Crack in the Sovereignty Dam! VICTORY for Cherokee Freedmen

UPDATE to Include Press Release and a BIG Welcome to our Freedmen friends and the Cherokee People

Bad intentions by the Cherokee Nations Council including Chad Smith has now come back to bite them.

The descendants of former slaves owned by some Cherokees can sue Cherokee Nation officers for disenfranchising them from tribal elections, a federal appeals court here ruled today.

The ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was a victory for the so-called "freedmen,'' who filed suit after being prevented from voting in two tribal elections in 2003.
The tribe argued that it had sovereign immunity and couldn't be sued. The appeals court ruled today that the Cherokee Nation does have sovereign immunity in the case but that the tribal leaders do not.

"Faced with allegations of ongoing constitutional and treaty violations, and a prospective request for injunctive relief, officers of the Cherokee Nation cannot seek shelter in the tribe’s sovereign immunity,'' the court's opinion says.
The case will now go back to U.S. district court here, where it was filed.
The Cherokee Nation voted last year to amend its constitution to remove all freedmen descendants from the tribal rolls who do not have Cherokee blood. The change is being challenged in a Cherokee court.

Angered by the Cherokee Nation's action, many members of Congress are trying to strip the tribe of some of its federal funding, and the tribe has been fighting a public relations and lobbying battle here to prevent it.

Stay tuned for updates and reaction. CONGRATULATIONS to the Freedmen

Press release July 29 2008 re Court of Appeals Decision letterhead doc - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Press release July 29 2008 re Court of Appeals Decision letterhead doc

Here is a link to the decision: http://www.scribd.com/doc/4259590/VAnn-versus-Kempthorne-075024

Prof. Stacy Leeds Gets Fletcher Fellowship for Cherokee Freedmen

CONGRATULATIONS to Professor Stacy Leeds who will produce a comprehensive history of the Cherokee Freedmen, the African-American slaves held by the Cherokee Nation until the 1860s, and their descendants entitled, “Ties That Bind: Freedmen Citizenship and the Cherokee Nation.”

The annual fellowship program established by financial executive Alphonse Fletcher, Jr. to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision, Brown v. Board of Education, has named four scholars as 2008 Alphonse Fletcher, Sr. Fellows, Fletcher announced Tuesday. Each fellow will receive a stipend of $50,000 for scholarly work that seeks to improve racial equality in American society and pursues the broad social goals set forth by Brown v. Board of Education.

Whites Only Group Supports Cherokee in Freedmen Dispute.

NICE Backers! Look who you have for supporters:
LINK MORE SUPPORT HERE: http://colorofcrime.blogspot.com/

To advance the interests of persons of traditional European ancestry in the United States.
To educate such persons about news and issues of importance and relevance.
To provide a social network that promotes social intercourse among members through a system of local chapters and special project groups and to encourage a friendly community spirit among members.
To support the preservation and advancement of the two-parent European American family.
In keeping with America's first immigration laws and the intent of the nation's founders, to limit United States citizenship to persons of wholly European descent who have irrevocably surrendered claim to citizenship in any foreign nation.

More: Black Congressmen Pushing Bill To Shakedown Cherokee Nation

A coalition of blacks, non-voting delegates, and some of the more screwball white Democrats, are sponsoring a bill to shake down the Cherokee Nation.
The bill would require the Cherokee Nation to accept blacks who allege their ancestors were once owned by Cherokee slaveholders. Calling themselves “The Cherokee Freedment”, blacks demanding membership in the tribe would also be entitled to governmnent benefits and casino profits. The Cherokee Nation voted last year not to accept blacks as tribe members.
The bill in congress would suspend entitlements to the Cherokee Nation and freeze casino operations until the so called “Cherokee Freedmen” get a piece of the action for themselves. The bill also contains vague language allowing the “Cherokee Freedmen” to sue for alleged damages, meaning that these opportunists are seeking a very large piece of the pie indeed.
The Treaty of 1866 came about during Reconstruction. The Federal government declared that the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Creek tribes had violated their treaties because of alliances with the Confederate Government. The government nullified all treaties with these tribes. Since the Cherokee owned significant numbers of Negro slaves, when the Federal government wrote the new treaty it declared the Negroes free and citizens in the Cherokee Nation. The negroes were listed as Cherokee citizens on all Indian cenuses.
In 2007, the Cherokee Nation voted by a 77% majority in favor of a referendum that denied freed slaves were ever Cherokee citizens, and any blacks who had falsely claimed Cherokee membership were expelled. The heart of the controversy is money and jealousy. Blacks had been joining because of lucrative Federal entitlements and casino profits.

CHEROKEE FREEDMEN: Housing Amendment at Last Stop

It would seem reasonable, for other tribes affected by the Cherokee's decision to strip some of its people of their citizens, which, would be similar to the US removing descendents of slaves from US citizenship, to place some pressure on the CHEROKEE. Why should Congress support a sovereign nation that violates its people so badly?

Cherokee housing amendment may be at last stop

by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today
WASHINGTON - For months, Rep. Diane Watson and the Congressional Black Caucus have gotten all the attention on the Cherokee freedmen issue. The California Democrat has introduced a bill, H.R. 2824 in the House of Representatives, that would sever federal relations with the Cherokee of Oklahoma for a referendum vote of the tribe to, in effect, exclude the freedmen from membership. With the backing of the caucus, amendments echoing the bill would penalize the Cherokee in the realms of health care and housing.

The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, its lobbyists and allies have mounted a campaign against Watson's bill, arguing in part that it would penalize a tribe for determining its own citizenship, a cornerstone of sovereignty.
But upon the recent passage of a Senate bill reauthorizing the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Assistance Act, the freedmen-specific spotlight turns from Watson and the CBC to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. After full debate and a pause in the legislative process for mediation efforts, the House version of the bill, H.R. 2786, emerged from the Financial Services Committee and passed the House with a provision that forbids housing funds to the Cherokee of Oklahoma under its provisions.
The Senate version is silent on the Cherokee. A conference committee of House and Senate members must now convene to iron out differences between the two bills. But as chairman of a committee of original jurisdiction, Frank retains a key say in the bill's disposition. According to several accounts on Capitol Hill, he remains firm that the amendment against Cherokee funding will not iron out in conference, and indeed that the bill will not emerge from conference without it.
''That's what I heard, and I guess it's true,'' said Christopher Boesen of Tiber Creek Associates in Washington, a veteran advocate of Indian housing. ''It's Frank's office did not respond to a request for comment. Pending court decisions, the freedmen remain tribal citizens as descendants of slaves and free blacks who lived among the Cherokee, most of them belonging to individual tribal members, before and during the Civil War.

OP: South Africa was a sovereign nation and we pulled our investments from there. Similarly, we shouldn't support a nation that treats its people badly, such as California Nations: Pechanga, Picayune, and Enterprise. Rep. Watson and CBC, there are other citizens who have been treated badly too, and hey, we have African-Americans in the Hunter family, terminated unconstitutionally from Pechanga.

Shannon Prince: Cherokee Imitating The Enemy and Info on Freedmen Meeting

The tribe violated their OWN laws. We should not be supporting them in their efforts to disenfranchise their own people. Stand up for the Freedmen, and stand up for civil rights in Indian Country.

Prince: We're imitating the enemy

Posted: May 16, 2008
by: Shannon Prince

Many intelligent American Indian thinkers have already pointed out why the freedmen have a legal right to remain in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

Cherokee judge Steve Russell has noted in his Indian Country Today column that the freedmen have the right, according to Article 9 of the treaty between the United States and the Cherokee Nation of 1866, to be citizens of the Cherokee Nation.
He has also reiterated the well-documented fact that many (and one might say nearly all) freedmen have Cherokee Indian blood that the racists who created the Dawes Rolls didn't note simply because of the pseudo-scientific belief that ''one drop'' of black blood negated all others - a fact that shows the nonsense of the claim that the removal of the freedmen from the Cherokee Nation is based on the desire to allow only those with Indian blood to be Indians.
snip

While these scholars have brilliantly argued that the removal of the freedmen from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is illegal by the nation's own laws, I argue that beyond being illegal, the removal of the freedmen is also unethical. Those who support freedmen removal are irresponsible heirs of Cherokee history and have internalized colonial expressions of sovereignty.

READ MORE HERE

CHEROKEE FREEDMEN MEETING: 5/17/08

This is the chance for you to learn about what is happening with the Freedmen's case. Additionally, if Cherokee Nation tries to disrupt the proceedings, you can see it for yourself. Show your support! And, please ask Diane Watson to look into what the tribes in her own state are doing, such as: Pechanga, Picayune Rancheria, Enterprise, Redding.

The next Descendants of Freedmen Association meeting will be held Saturday May 17th at the Rudisill library in Tulsa Oklahoma, 1520 N. Hartford, beginning at 1pm.
The Freedmen Band of Cherokee nation will meet following the Descendants meeting. Both meetings are free and open to the general public. Attorney Jon Velie will attend and update meeting attendants on recent Washington DC events.
Please prepare to attend the Descendants of Freedmen Association conference Saturday June 7th 2008 conference between 10am and 4pm at the Oklahoma City Langston Campus, 4205 N Lincoln Blvd.
Confirmed speakers include Congresswoman Diane Watson, Professor Gary Zeller, Kentucky State Representative Reginald Meeks, Tribal Activist Brenda Golden, and Attorney Jon Velie.

More details are given at the Conference Website: http://www.freedmenconference.com/index.htmOur conference Chair MS Grayson can be reached at dof5ctac@yahoo.com