Current_Issue_Between_Native_American_Indians_and_the_Federal_Government

A Current Issue between the Native American Indians and the Federal Government Laurie Anne Brownell ETH/125 September 23, 2011 Tamara Hunter The article that I am going to write about is “The Cherokee Indians Say They Will Not Be Dictated to by The U.S.”. This is an issue that is about African American Slaves being ousted by the Cherokee Supreme Court. These African Americans are referred to as the Freedmen. This means that Freedmen are not going to be allowed to vote during the election for principal chief. There was a treaty between the Cherokee and the U.S. government that the slaves were tribal citizens whether or not they had a Cherokee blood relation. Then the Cherokee Supreme Court voted with the tribal members and the decision was that if the Freedmen didn’t have Cherokee blood relations then they were no longer citizens. I don’t see where that was fair if there was a treaty between the Cherokee and the U.S. government that says they were tribal members how it can be changed. This is where the U.S. government stepped in. The government told the Cherokee that the voting would basically not mean anything and it would not be noticed if they didn’t stick to the original treaty. Accept the Freedmen as part of their tribe and allow the Freedmen to vote. Not only is that pressure on the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to accept the treaty as law of the land. A disbursement in the sum of 33 million dollars is being withheld over the Freedmen controversy. This disbursement is being held by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. If this were me I would be settling for the original treaty. There should never been a disagreement about the Freedmen any ways as long as there was the treaty. The sooner they settle this the right way they will be entitled that sum of money. All elections will be noticed and legal.