Election sought to decide status of black freedmen

By Anthony Thornton
Published: August 12, 2006

TAHLEQUAH - Organizers seeking an election on whether to remove black freedmen descendants from the Cherokee Nation rolls said they obtained more than 3,000 signatures for a petition they filed Friday.

Blood Cherokees
Cherokee Nation

That total represents 42 percent of the number of votes cast in the last election for principal chief, petition organizers said. Petition organizers said they think they need about 2,100 valid signatures to put the measure on the ballot.

They want a special election this fall for a constitutional amendment on whether Cherokee Nation members must have a Cherokee ancestor.

The petition drive follows a March ruling by the tribe's high court, which said the tribe unconstitutionally was requiring citizens to trace ancestry to a person with Cherokee, Shawnee or Delaware blood.

Freedmen were former slaves of Cherokees who were made Cherokee Nation citizens in 1866. More than 100 years later, Cherokees voted to exclude freedmen and their descendants.

After the court ruling, freedmen must prove only that they are descendants of a person on the Dawes Rolls.

"People will always disagree on who is culturally Cherokee and who possesses enough Cherokee blood to be 'racially' Indian," the ruling states. "It is not the role of this Court to engage in these political or social debates."

A representative of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes estimated the ruling would affect 13,000 Oklahomans.

As of Aug. 1, more than 1,000 descendants had filed papers seeking to become members of the country's second-largest American Indian tribe, spokesman Mike Miller said.

Verifying the signatures will be done by the tribe's court system, said Patsy Eads-Morton, a Cherokee Nation election commissioner. She said that process will be done in the next few weeks.

If enough signatures are verified, either Principal Chief Chad Smith or the tribal council can set an election.

Smith disagreed with the court ruling and has advocated an election.

"I think it's obvious the people want a special election on this," said Jodie Fishinghawk, a petition organizer.

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