I am Cherokee/Choctaw and am just now learning more of my heritage. I live just outside Hot Springs National Park and was duped by one of the biggest con men I have ever known. Randy Lee" Standing Bear" Moore is good at drawing in people like myself who want to learn about their heritage and are trying to learn about their ancestors and getting their money and provide them with a bunch of hooey. I learned afterwards that he has been a promoter of concerts and other events in the past and for a while was a Fund Raiser for non profit groups. He had been hired by a group my parents helped form by his slick talking of what he would get for them and never delivered. They have sworn statements from people who donated money about how much they gave yet he never produced records showing these people donating a single cent. When we discovered that he was the same person, he and his wife were asked about this yet neither one of them could remember him even doing this kind of work. The one good thing that came from being involved with this group was meeting one who is now my brother, Raised by his grandfather on a Seneca Rez, he has been helping me to learn more of the ways even if they are not traditional Cherokee ways. My mate is a Genealogist and has been doing a lot of research into my family to help us discover who we are and were our people came from.
I know I will never be able to join the rolls due to the fact I had no relatives anywhere near where they were enrolling at the turn of the 20th century and from what I heard growing up, they would not have enrolled if they were there. My families that my bloodlines came from were in Southern Arkansas and East Texas during this time frame. My purpose in researching is not to be on any rolls but to learn more about my family history. Moore even claimed to have been at the site of a camp that the first of my grandfathers to come to Ark. had been at. He came to Ark in 1819 after signing the Turkey Town Treaty of 1817. Yeah he was one of the ones that Jackson got drunk. Moore claimed that this was the first time he had heard this was one of my gfathers even though I had told him about him a week earlier. This was when my eyes began to open to him.
If anyone wants to contact me privately, I will answer any questions that I can about him.

When you been authorized by that nation to be a artesian or entertainer representing that nation
I would think you would protect that nation as well
there goes no one is ever representing the B.I.A. in anything, why do they still exist
who is protecting them

I found this article online by David Cornsilk.  He really explains things well.




"The core of Cherokee lineal ancestry resided in the Southeastern United States. Their names appear in the records created in their homeland by missionaries, government official and the Cherokees themselves beginning as early as 1711.

It is an interesting phenomenon that EVERY authentic Cherokee descendant, whether eligible for citizenship or not, can trace his/her direct lineal ancestry to someone named in those records.

An equally interesting phenomenon is the the fact that EVERY wannabe, regardless of how authentic their story may sound, cannot trace his/her direct or collateral ancestry to anyone named in those records.

The logical question one must ask is: How is it possible that the Cherokees enrolled in the CNO, UKB and EBC have ancestors appearing upon every roll, in the letters and diaries of the missionaries and among the government papers from the beginning of our recorded history and the wannabe has no documented connection?

The answer is so simple as to often vex the thinking of the most logical thinker. They, simply put, are not Cherokees or Cherokee descendants, never were, never will be. No one likes to have veracity of their statements questioned. It is particularly disturbing to have someone question the claims of one's ancestors. Many of the wannabes living today have long-standing claims of Indian/Cherokee heritage dating back to the first payments made to the Cherokees in the 1820s. Therein lies the truth behind the claims of those seeking to have themselves identified as Cherokees.

Nothing against our white brethren, because its culture, not race, but they tend to have a view of aquisition and accumulation of wealth at the expense of others. Now I would never say some Cherokees don't hold those same views, Chad Smith is a good example. However, a careful study of the history of the Cherokees, particularly at the time of payments to the tribe for loss of lands, large numbers of whites came forward attempting to lay claim to the funds by saying their ancestors were Cherokees. Every payroll and citizenship roll of the Cherokees was bogged down by those claimants. Even today, the claimants to Cherokee heritage create a burden for the CNO and EBC enrollment offices.

The Dawes Commission filed annual reports to Congress regarding its work among the Five Civilized Tribes. Congress asked every year why the work among the Cherokees was taking so long. The Dawes Commission answered every year that the process of enrolling the Cherokees was bogged down, slowed to a snails pace, by the thousands of FRAUDULANT claimants to Cherokee heritage and citizenship.

In 1909, the Cherokees (not the nations, but the individual Cherokees including descendants) was awarded a several millions of dollars judgment to equalize the payments for the Trail of Tears. There were about 44,000 applications made for this fund from every corner of the U.S. and some foreign countries! Yet, the actual number of eligible Cherokees was around 20,000. A review of the thousands of denied applications shows some of the most rediculous family histories claiming to be Cherokees. There is no doubt that of the thousands who claimed Cherokee heritage for this payment, but were denied, have descendants living today who are convinced they have Cherokee blood ancestry, even though it has been proven time and again they don't.

One of the most interesting facts taken from the 1909 Payment is the number of Cherokee descendants who actually can prove they have Cherokee blood ancestry, but who were not eligible for enrollment in the EBC or the CN because they or their ancestors had abandoned the tribe. These bonefide descendants were paid a share of the funds because they could PROVE their ancestors had crossed the Trail of Tears or they or their ancestors were named on the Henderson Roll of 1835, Chapman Roll of 1851 or Drennen Roll of 1851. Applicants did not have to be a CN citizens to get the payment. The only qualifier is proof of descent.

Today, many clamor for some recognition from the CNO, EBC or UKB to verify their claim of Cherokee blood ancestry. Yet, these claimants offer nothing but family oral history (often made up), genealogy papers to individuals who show no connection whatsoever to the Cherokee people or nothing, just asking that we take their word for it. There is far too much documentation of authentic Cherokees for us to give any credence or succor to those who are whites or blacks trying to steal our identity.

The Cherokee people do nothing for the descendants who CAN PROVE, so whatever would make a wannabe think we would do anything for them. And interestingly enough, the true Cherokee descendants who cannot get citizenship have NEVER organized, never sought recognition from a state and never demanded any rights from the Cherokee Nation. They respect our right to self-governance and their own ancestors choice to abandone the tribe."

This link explains the issue of DNA testing here.
http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1375.0


This doesn’t hold much weight.  If one alleged Tribal member is basing his enrollment on oral history or a family bible that says he’s Cherokee, then this would be meaningless in establishing Cherokee heritage for someone else that can connect themselves to them.  

Winfield Scott began rounding up the Cherokee and there were eight forts in Tennessee constructed for this.  Ten internment camps were later constructed in Tennessee. By July of 1838, aside from the Oconaluftee citizen Indians, or the fugitive hiding in the mountains who would later be the ancestors of EB members, virtually all Cherokee were rounded up.  The scattered families that stayed behind would have been listed on the Chapman or Silers roll or another census.  If there really were cases of Cherokees who weren’t documented, nor had parents or grandparents that were documented, then they were extremely rare cases and would not by any stretch of the imagination account for the hordes of people in Tennessee who claim Cherokee heritage.
The majority of the Cherokees that avoided removal later joined up with the Eastern Band.  Actually many Eastern Band members today are descended from these people and can document it.  There is a myth that the Eastern Band is only composed of those who stayed in the NC area after removal when in fact after removal, they were joined up by Cherokee families from other areas such as Tennessee.  For the few that did avoid removal (who would have descendents that can prove it), they were in all likelihood scattered across a large geographical area.  These Cherokees after removal would not have had any significant contact with the other handfuls that avoided removal to form any cohesive group.  The only exception would be for the ones that jointed up with the Cherokees that would later be called the Eastern Band.  I know of some isolated cases of people who actually can trace to some of the other rolls and census of Cherokees that were still in the East.  I wouldn’t have a problem with these people forming a heritage group as Cherokee descendents, and I don’t have a problem with these people celebrating their heritage. But all the evidence shows that these are not the people we are talking about.
   
The problem is that the hordes of people in Tennessee who claim Cherokee heritage don’t have a drop of Cherokee blood in them, but on the contrary, are in fact the descendents of the MOBS OF WHITE INTRUDERS who invaded and colonized the Cherokee homeland in the South East. First the land and resources were taken, now these people’s very descendents are stealing one of the last things that theCherokee people have left, and that is Cherokee identity

I see that they had their website redone to make themselves appear more authentic.
http://www.cherokeeoflawrencecountytn.org/


These people are full of baloney.  There was a Treaty made with the Cherokee in 1806 by the Federal Government.  
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/vol2/treaties/che0090.htm

One of many Treaties that was broken, when another one was made.  This was made with the Cherokee Nation, not with individuals.  After land sessions were made one after the other, eventually almost all Cherokees moved out of the ceded territory.   Cherokees were and still are very ethnocentric people.  Those that didn't want to move would have been forced out.



No one escaped.  The Cherokees were for the most part in charge of their own removal.  There were maybe handfuls that didn’t remove.  They wouldn’t have been given sanctuary by Cherokees though, because virtually all Cherokees were rounded up and removed.  No Cherokees escaped.  The Eastern Band Cherokee’s ancestors are the only Cherokees that stayed on as a cohesive people.  There was a census just before the Trail of Tears.  If someone really does have Cherokee ancestry in Tennessee, then they should at least trace to one of the Rolls or census there. Judging by looking at these groups and their enrollment procedures and fabricated history, I’d say the overwhelming majority of these people are basing their Cherokee heritage on Oral History passed on through their family.  

A number of Cherokee were also able to make their way back immediately after the removals and there are some documented cases of this.  There were extensive Census and Rolls taken even of the ones that stayed behind on the Chapman and Siler Rolls.  
Most reputable genealogist these days will tell you that in most instances these oral stories of Cherokee ancestry were made up stories for a variety of reasons.

I don't think the BIA should be involved CDIBs.  I think that it treads a thin line of violating sovereignty rights.

CDIB stands for Certificate of Degree of Indian or Alaskan Native Blood.  You can get the application and instructions here - http://www.bia.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/text/idc002653.pdf


Yep you're right.  Some Nations require that you submit examples of your artwork before they will consider you for an artisans card.


You're welcome

We have our  CDIB card but they come from our tribal nation not the BIA

It sure is, earthw7. Thanks for sharing your opinion.

I guess that's it. What do the letters CDIB stand for?


I would suppose that would differ from nation to nation and from artisan to artisan.


Thank you for sharing with me your opinion on this, sky.