Last month, the Supreme Court of the Cherokee nation approved decision to oust thousands of descendants of black slaves who were brought to Oklahoma some 170 years ago by Native American owners from the Cherokee tribe.
But the federal government is now warning the Cherokee nation, the country’s second largest Indian tribe, to think twice about that decision.
To recap, the Cherokee court ruled that it was proper to kick the slave descendants, so-called “Freedmen,” out of tribe, as we reported here.
That decision could result in thousands of Freedmen losing their eligibility for free health care and other benefits such as education concessions, Reuters reports in this piece.
Cherokee Nation officials maintain that the tribe, as a sovereign nation, has the right to amend its membership requirements, according to Reuters.
But the assistant secretary for the Bureau of Indian Affairs today called on the tribe to restore the descendants’ membership, including voting rights and benefits such as medical care and food stipends, the Associated Press reports.
The bureau, according to AP, said that the tribe’s expulsion of the Freedmen is unconstitutional.
The Law Blog has sought comment from the Cherokee nation.
Federal Government Asks Cherokee Nation to Readmit Slave Descendants
Nathan Koppel
Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:01:22 GMT
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