CHEROKEE TRIBE REMOVES FREEDMEN FROM TRIBAL ROLLS

Honor Indians Institute calls on the Cherokee Nation to do the honorable thing, and rescind their March 2007, vote to remove approximately 2,800 black descendants of Freedmen slaves from their tribal rolls.  At issue is whether an 1866 treaty granted Cherokee citizenship to freed black slaves.  The Freedmen descendants have challenged the vote, and the courts are reviewing the action.  It should not be left to the courts to decide this issue.  The Cherokee Nation as a people, should take the honorable road, and rescind their vote.