http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/local/local_story_156235556.html

Published June 04, 2008 11:55 pm -

Cherokee Nation rolls out new Web sites

Associated Press

TULSA (AP) — The Cherokee Nation is rolling out a public relations campaign
this week in response to federal lawmakers who say the tribe should be
denied benefits unless it recognizes descendants of the tribe’s former
black slaves, known as freedmen.

But one freedmen rights activist accused the nation of resorting to
“propaganda” to make its case.

The campaign includes two Web sites designed to address misconceptions
about a 2007 special election where Cherokee voters decided to remove about
2,800 freedmen descendants and other non-Indians from tribal rolls, said
Mike Miller, spokesman for the nation.

They also discuss what’s at stake if some lawmakers have their way: denial
of $300 million in federal money that would go to the country’s
second-largest Indian tribe. The money pays for health clinics, Head Start
programs, elderly care and housing assistance.

Tribal leaders claim if funding is cut off, more than 6,000 nation
employees could lose their jobs, touching off a ripple effect that would
economically devastate northeastern Oklahoma.

U.S. Rep. Diane Watson, a California Democrat who claims Indian blood and
Oklahoma ties, introduced the legislation last year to cut ties with the
nation unless it recognized the freedmen descendants.

“People need a place where they can go for calm, rational facts on the
issue, without hyperbole and without a political slant,” Miller said
Wednesday. “What we’ve tried to put on here are some very straightforward
things we’ve proven time and time again as facts.”

While the debate over who is a Cherokee citizen continues in federal and
tribal court, the government’s proposal to punish the poorest of the tribe
before the courts make any ruling is not the solution, Miller said.

“Enron probably did some things that Congress didn’t like, did they ever
get a $300 million fine?” he said. “We’re talking about hurting people who
have very few resources.”

Marilyn Vann, president of the Oklahoma City-based Descendants of Freedmen
of the Five Civilized Tribes, criticized the campaign, calling it
“propaganda” and added that “anybody with money can put information out
there that’s not correct.”

“I am very disappointed they continue to waste the taxpayers’ money on
these things,” Vann said. “As long as they have that money, they will
continue to do it.”

For decades, descendants of freed Cherokee slaves fought to reclaim their
citizenship, even though they were adopted into the tribe in 1866 under a
treaty with the U.S. government.

A ruling in 2006 by the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court held that the
Cherokee constitution assured freedmen descendants of tribal citizenship.

That led to a petition drive for a ballot measure to determine who is a
citizen of the nation, which claims 280,000 members.

Last year, nearly 77 percent of Cherokee voters decided in a special
election to amend the nation’s constitution to remove the freedmen
descendants and other non-Indians from tribal rolls.