AFTER THREE YEARS. Ruling to follow! HERE IT IS!
READ their history here
FROM JUDGE HOGEN"S RULING:
There appears to be no dispute that the Cherokee Freedmen are descendants of freedmen who were held as slaves by Cherokees and ultimately listed on the Dawes Freedmen Roll. MONEY: Article 9 of the
Treaty of 1866 entitles them to “all the rights of native Cherokees,” 14 Stat. at 801, which means they have a right to citizenship so long as native Cherokees have that right.
Nothing in the 1866 Treaty qualified that right by subjecting it to a condition antecedent that would terminate it, including the extinction of Indian Territory upon Oklahoma statehood. Although the Cherokee Nation Constitution defines citizenship, Article 9 of the 1866 Treaty guarantees that the Cherokee Freedmen shall have the
right to it for as long as native Cherokees have that right.
The history, negotiations, and practical construction of the 1866 Treaty suggest no other result. Consequently, the Cherokee Freedmen’s right
to citizenship in the Cherokee Nation is directly proportional to native Cherokees’ right to citizenship, and the Five Tribes Act has no effect on that right. The Five Tribes Act did not abrogate, amend or
otherwise alter Article 9’s promise that descendants of freedmen shall have all the rights of native Cherokees.
Yes! Good for them!
Thank you to the judge for ruling the right way. I hope the Cherokee Nation has the decency to do the right thing.
Will this allow for freedmen descendants who never had a chance to enroll to finally be able to enroll? If so is enrollment open now for descendants?
Post a Comment