By Cherokee One Feather Editorial Board
CHEROKEE, N.C. – Several members of the Cherokee One Feather staff visited an archaeological dig going on currently on Acquoni Road on the Qualla Boundary (Cherokee, N.C.) this past week. While there, we got to see, like we have at numerous other digs in western North Carolina and other places in the southeast, proof of existence of Cherokee people for thousands and thousands of years.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and other federally recognized tribes throughout Indian Country have opposed groups claiming to be Indian tribes for many years. One thing that none of these groups have is an archaeological record. They cannot point to artifacts and history because it doesn’t exist, or they try to claim the ones from actual tribes as their own.
Many of these groups claim Cherokee ancestry – a claim that has been discussed time and time again by the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes (EBCI, Cherokee Nation, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians).
At the opening of the Cherokee Speakers Place, a building established for Cherokee language learning, on the morning of Friday, Feb. 16, EBCI Principal Chief Michell Hicks spoke about the importance of tribal sovereignty.
“We’re in a great battle across this nation and it’s around identity, it’s around this federal recognition process – something that, over the past couple weeks, we’ve spent a lot of hours meeting with our Congressmen and Senators and Department of Interior. Some of the ears that we’re talking to are hearing us and some aren’t. But, it’s a battle. This thought of being a tribe versus being a group or a fake tribe is something that we can’t take lightly anymore. Just the thought of our language and making sure that we’re progressing with culture and traditions, knowing who we are and handing that down to these younger folks so that they can continue to educate and continue to make sure the traditions stay alive is extremely important. And, I think, more important today than it’s ever been.”
Chief Hicks added, “Our work is cut out for us. We have to be stronger than ever. We have to be united…we have to find ways to protect our identity…we have a long history, but going back, less than 200 years ago, our history was threatened. As a tribe, as a group of tribes, we have to continue to make sure that we’re heard.”
The EBCI is certainly not alone in its disdain for these groups.
The issue came to light at a recent conference of the National Conference of American Indians (NCAI) where many tribes came together to try to oust state groups from membership. Currently, 24 of these groups enjoy NCAI membership.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. wrote an opinion piece prior to the conference in which he called groups such as the United Cherokee AniYunWiYa Nation and the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee “frauds”.
He wrote, “Rather than earn federal recognition through a rigorous examination of history, fact, and the law, these phony organizations pose as tribes, seek and receive state recognition, and perpetuate a lie.”
Chief Hoskin further wrote, “It is the basis for our government-to-government relationship that establishes the unique rights and responsibilities of Indian tribes and tribal citizens. NCAI’s embrace of state-recognized tribes lends false legitimacy to groups that undermine our rights, histories, and cultures.”
At the NCAI conference, the EBCI and the Shawnee Tribe co-sponsored an amendment that would bar state-recognized tribes from membership. That amendment failed, and the fight continues.
For more than one hundred years, the EBCI has fought the recognition efforts of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. It is not about casino dollars as some have tried to argue over the years. It is about identity. It is about tribal sovereignty.
There is a process for a group to gain federal recognition through a petition process with the U.S. Department of the Interior. Most of these groups never even attempt this process as they know it will fail as they lack the culture and history to make a valid case.
There needs to be legislation in Congress making it illegal for states to recognize groups as “tribes”. That government-to-government relationship, which establishes tribal sovereignty, should lie solely with the U.S. federal government.
Enough is enough.
