Stealing Sovereignty Conference

[educatedindian]

Incredible timing, and of great interest to many here. I might attend, not sure yet of my schedule.

----------------------

I'd like to organize a session  at the at the American Anthropological
Meetings Dec. 2 -6 2009 in Philadelphia PA.

On "Indian tribes" which are actually not-for-profit corporations
AND/OR are 'state recognized' tribes. My perspective is based on the
'Cherokee' groups in Missouri and Arkansas - here is a draft of my
abstract:

Stealing Sovereignty:  Fabricated tribes, Descendant Recruitment
groups, and Satellite Communities

There are a number of not for profit corporations (and other groups) in
Missouri and Arkansas which claim to be Cherokee Indian.  These groups
set up tribal governments and sell memberships to people who believe
that they may have Cherokee ancestry, and think (mistakenly) that
enrolling in one of these groups will give them legitimate 'Indian'
status.

I am particularly interested in the Alabama groups, because I don't know
anything about them except that there are a number (4?) of state
recognized Cherokee groups

But I'd like to generate a discussion from a number of different
perspectives

AND - I'd be interested in similar issues in other indigenous groups

Please get in touch with me if you're interested:
cmorrow@semo.edu

[bullhead]

is this { Session }  being organized by Non-Native people ? if so ,The white people are experts on stealing Sovereignty.


I am not trying to protect these people ,I Totally agree that something needs to be done. some of these people are frauds,they are ripping people off.

This post also talks about State recognized Tribes, some of you might want to look at the state CRITERIA,for example North Carolina has 8 [ I think you can find the NC 8 on line, North carolina indian comm ] I think Michigan is the same.
there is a Tribe in North Carolina that was not state recognized yet, they recieved a FEDERAL Language Preservation Grant i think it was $ 50 grand. they are state Recognized today,these people can prove they are aboriginal and they have the documents to prove it.they were placed on a rez back in the early 1700s,that was stolen from them about 40 years later,they can prove that is were they come from.there are a couple of treaties to.

what about the miami`s here in indiana they HAD Federal recognition but TODAY they don`t even have State recognition,I know some of these folks grew up with them went to school & worked with them,there is no question in my mind,they are aboriginal people.

the post that I am replying to refers to three states ,I think you have to look at the big picture.

Sovereignty =  1. the status,dominion,power,or authority of a sovereign. 2. supreme and independent power or authority in a state.

[frederica]

Here is somewhat of a reference which started in April last year or around there.  http://taskforce.cherokee.org/                                                          This the only one I know of at present. 

[educatedindian]

It is an anthro meeting, but organized by one whose done her best to listen to NDNs and value NDN input. See her univ homepage.
http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/cmorrow/

There's a couple presentations she's done that seem pretty useful to me.
http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/cmorrow/powerpoints/Missouri%20Cherokee%20Heritage_files/frame.htm
http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/cmorrow/powerpoints/Who%20is%20a%20real%20Cherokee.htm

Note who she's worked with, good people like Doug George Kanetiio.

My main point in posting this was as seeing it as a chance to work anthros and others who have an interest in the same issues we do.

[BlackWolf]

Educated Indian, have you or anyone else in this forum ever heard of this state recognized Cherokee tribe.  "The Cherokee Nation of Mexico" / "el nacion cherokee de Mexico".  They are actually recognized by the state of Coahuila in Mexico and their Chief's name is Charles Rogers. 

http://www.cherokeediscovery.com/index.html

[frederica]

There is a little on them, they are recognized in Mexico. http://newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=935.0

[educatedindian]

I think we had a discussion on them when NAFPD was still a yahoo group. If I recall right, the CN of Mx is really a Cherokee doctor And his family living on the Texas Mexico border who maintain a website, did a lot of research and got a letter of recognition given to them at a ceremony by a Mexican governor. There were some Cherokees who went to MX, but that doctor's family couldn't find any of them today. They likely intermarried into the local Mexican population and perhaps they're not readily distinguishable and aren't really culturally Cherokee anymore. (If you know Mexican history and culture that's not such a surprise. Mx's NDNs, once they get the slightest bit of non NDN ancestry, have been urged to think of themselves as "just Mexicans" for about 400 years or more.) I tried contacting the CN of Mx some years ago and got no response. I couldn't find any sign of Cherokees within Mx, just that family on the border. But someone with more time and effort might find different.

[bullhead]

I looked into the the Criteria for Alabama State Recognition,I found it by searching alabama indian affairs commission,for what it`s worth it`s as good as a couple of others that I have mentioned.
the way this original post was written,i am refering to the memo in the original post, was written very poorly it lacks of professionalism,but on the the other hand it has an abundance of arrogance,and i don`t care who this person has worked with .that doesn`t change what was written or the way it was written.

I understand the problem with the 501c3 groups ,I am just as sick as the rest of you with some of them and its not just people claiming to be cherokee ,there is alot of these metis groups to.

well i don`t want to beat a dead horse ,or pick fly shit out the pepper over this,or generate 12 pages of crap

there has been a lot talk on this forum in regards to Federal Recognition,and the mountian of paper work it would require to prove a tribes claim. but i have never heard what that would possibly cost $$

[BlackWolf]

If I remember right, there were around 400 Cherokees who migrated down to the Guadalajara, Laka Chapala region of Mexico in the early 1800's and stayed there.  And in James Mooney's book "History, Myths and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee", he mentions that they were still idenifying as Cherokees at the time he wrote his book ( around 1900 ) I don't think there has been a recent study on them.  It would be interesting though to find out if there is still a collective memory of Cherokee Identity there. 

[BlackWolf]

Educatedindian, I noticied you metioned "Satellite Communities" in your first post.  The Cherokee Naion does have legit Satellite Communities.  These groups are composed of (in majority) by enrolled members of the Cherokee Nation.  They are non profits so they accept non members as part of the organization.  ( As long as non tribal members remain in the minority).  Most are in California, but you also have them in New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida.  The Satellite Communities are a way for enrolled Cherokees to keep up some kind of relationship with the Cherokee Nation and with fellow tribal members. 

http://www.cherokee.org/Organizations/Communities/Default.aspx