OKLAHOMA Is Ground Zero for Freedmen Citizenship and JUSTICE

Excellent article on the quest for Justice for Freedmen of the remaining Five Civilized Tribes after Cherokee Nation has done the right thing.

And excerpt here but the full article at  NONDOC

n 2016, LeEtta Osborne-Sampson, a council representative of the Seminole Nation who is Black, approached some colleagues about a disturbing picture hung on the wall of the Mekusukey Mission, which is used as the Seminole Nation council house and courthouse.

“It was a Black man sitting under a tree,” Osborne-Sampson said. “This Black man had a cloak over his head, a noose around his neck and his hands bound and his feet bound.”

Osborne-Sampson went to the Seminole Nation chief at the time, Leonard Harjo, and asked for the painting to be removed.

“You can’t get that removed,” she says Harjo told her. “It’s history.”

Cherokee Man Wants to DENY Marilyn Vann, a HERO, From Running for Elective Office

 

Robin Mayes

Cherokee Robin Mayes tries to make himself relevant in trying to exclude Marilyn Vann from running for office.  She's a FUCKING hero, a warrior women in a time when most sit on the sidelines. Remember when Mayes WANTED the Freedmen to vote?

Marilyn Vann

The Cherokee Nation’s principal chief said he would usually stay out of an election dispute between two candidates for the Tribal Council, but Chuck Hoskin Jr. made an exception Wednesday to describe a recent complaint as “just offensive.”

The case involves a descendant of Cherokee freedmen, or former Cherokee-owned slaves in the 19th century, who filed paperwork Monday to run for an at-large seat on the tribal council this summer. On Tuesday, another candidate asked the tribe’s Election Commission to disqualify Marilyn Vann on the grounds that “she is not Cherokee by blood.”

The tribe has had long political fights and court battles over the status of freedmen descendants, but Hoskin pointed to a federal court decision from 2017, and to a Cherokee Nation Supreme Court decision the same year, that recognized descendants of freedmen as “full Cherokee citizens under the law.”

“Our tribe is a better nation for having embraced full and equal citizenship of freedmen descendants, including the right to seek public office,” Hoskin said in a statement to the Tulsa World.

“The anti-Freedmen proponents of this lawsuit, if successful, would force Cherokee citizens of Freedmen descent to essentially start over in their effort to secure civil rights in the Cherokee Nation. Those efforts, which are completely contrary to settled Cherokee law, must not succeed.”

Vann, president of an advocacy group called the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes, vowed to fight the complaint in court if necessary.

“We will fight for the law,” she told the World. “We will fight for the right of the people to choose their representatives.”

Read the TULSA WORLD ARTICLE

Rep. Deb Haaland Secretary of Interior Bid Lacking support by Freedmen of the Five Tribes

We wrote last week about Joe Biden balking at choosing Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexico for Secretary of the Interior.  It's never easy, but any job with the responsibility for Native America absolutely shouldn't be  Our Freedmen of the Five Tribe friends has some issues with Rep. Deb Haaland and a petition is up here    There are 7,750 signatures already.  Read please.

 
We call on Representative Deb Haaland to publicly pledge her support for citizenship and equal rights for Freedmen of the Five Tribes in Indian Territory before being seriously considered for the position of Secretary of the Interior and to outline and commit to a plan for Freedmen integration and inclusion in Indian Territory. 

We demand accountability from Representative Debra “Deb” Haaland of New Mexico’s first Congressional district for her exclusion of legislative protections for Freedmen of the Five Slaveholding Tribes of Oklahoma while serving as New Mexico’s First Congressional District’s Representative.

Genízaros: NATIVE AMERICAN SLAVES, Which Were Captured and Sold...by Native Americans

Forgotten history of a shameful period in Native American history.  Native American SLAVES own by the Spanish settlers in New Mexico.  SOLD to them by Native Americans.  We've oft told the story of the Cherokee slaves, who evolved into the Freedmen of the five civilized tribes.  In fact just recently we wrote about how those descendants are often ignored in the commemorations of the Trail of Tears.

REMEMBER THE REMOVAL: Cherokee Youth take part in annual Trail of Tears ride MISSING the SLAVE's Ancestors That Were Dragged on the Trail

Riders from Remember the Removal

This event commemorates the 180th anniversary of this horrible event. Here's the description from Cherokee Chief Bill John Baker. Full Story and pictures at INDIANZ.com  NOTICE WHAT'S MISSING? see below

Congressional Black Caucus host Freedmen Panel

Attorney Velie is also attorney to some disenrolled Pechanga People. Could stories of Pechanga corruption be included?


Congressional Black Caucus to host Freedmen panel Wednesday, September 26, 2007

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation is hosting a panel on the Cherokee Freedmen in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Rep. Diane Watson (D-California) and Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) are convening the panel.

Watson is sponsoring a bill that would cut federal funds to the Cherokee Nation until the Freedmen are restored to citizenship. The bill has been referred to Conyers, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee. "This is a rare opportunity for advocates of the Freedmen and Freedmen descendants to gather and discuss issues of profound importance concerning the Freedmen’s rightful status as full citizens of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma," said Watson.

The panel takes place during the CBC's annual legislative conference at the Washington, D.C., Convention Center. It will be held from 11am to 1pm in Room 209-C. The following are slated to speak: Jon Velie, Attorney for Freedmen Eli Grayson, Freedmen Advocate Marilyn Vann, Descendants of the Freedmen of the 5 Civilized Tribes Angela Walton Raji, Historian & Genealogist Chief Joe Byrd, former Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma Hilary Shelton, NAACP, Washington Bureau Rusty Brown, Attorney, Member of Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma