Cherokee chief wants to reverse landmark decision on freedmen

The Associated Press

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The head of the Cherokee Nation wants tribal councilors to reverse a recent landmark decision that expands tribal citizenship to descendants of freed slaves who joined the Cherokees in the 1800s. Chief Chad Smith's urging comes scarcely one week after the Judicial Appeals Tribunal ruled that freedmen descendants were to be recognized as citizens with privileges. During Smith's state of the nation address this week, Smith said the tribunal's decision could be addressed by calling for a tribal constitutional convention to amend the current document or through referendum petition.

He said the Cherokee people should decide questions on tribal citizenship instead of tribal courts. "Do we provide Cherokee citizens the authority to decide who their citizens are?" he said. "I would think citizenship is the right of the people to decide."

During his address Monday night, Smith offered his theory about freedmen citizenship. "These Cherokees believe the freedmen did not help during the last 100 years to rebuild the Cherokee Nation and should not at this late time reap any benefits that Cherokees have earned," he said. Sitting in the audience, Marilyn Vann, president of the Descendants of Freedmen Association, said she was disappointed by Smith's reasoning. "The judges have written a very detailed decision. I would like to think the council and voters realize that," she said. "I see the Cherokee Nation as a nation, not a race."

Vann said Smith's claim that black freedmen descendants were taking advantage of citizenship — while contributing nothing — lacks credence. "If the freedmen have not participated in building up the nation so far, it's because they haven't been allowed to," she said. "They haven't allowed us to use our talents to serve."

Supporters of freedmen citizenship said Smith's suggestions spoke to narrow beliefs in the tribe's administration. "If he (Smith) thinks there needs to be redress, he's racist," said David Cornsilk, lay advocate who represented the freedmen in their court case.