This is in response to the article published on Oct. 6 entitled “Deputy Chief Warner visits NMAI for unveil of display of Treaty of 1828. “ (www.easterntimesregister.com)
The Treaty of 1828 did mark what is now the Cherokee Reservation, a treaty signed between the Western Cherokee and the US, relocating the Western Cherokees from Arkansas to Indian Territory, the US government guaranteed to them forever, solemnly pledging seven million acres of land.
The Treaty of 1819 was the instrument that relocated the Western Cherokees from the East to Arkansas Territory. In this treaty it addresses that “a greater part of the Cherokee nation have expressed an earnest desire to remain on this side of the Mississippi…, “Eventually this group of Cherokees was forcibly moved from the East to Indian Territory in the Treaty of 1835, arriving in 1838-1839, placed on the same land base as the Western Cherokees/Old Settlers.
Former Chief Bill John Baker writes in the Smithsonian Magazine that the Treaty of 1835 “was negotiated by a minority party of Cherokees,” and challenged by the majority and their elected government. This does not give the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) any rights to the Treaty of 1828. Deputy Chief Warner speaking at the Smithsonian was to legitimize their revised history, claiming a treaty they were not party to.
The treaty of 1846 was to unify the two groups, and the lands occupied by Cherokee Nation to be secured to whole people, and a patent to be issued.
After the Civil War, the Treaty of 1866 was signed between the US government and the Cherokee Nation, which resulted in a nation of mixed bloods, non-Cherokees and non-Indians.
After statehood, the Cherokee Nation government was abolished. When Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) in 1934 and the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act (OIWA) in 1936, it paved the way for the Oklahoma tribes to restore their governments.
Descendants of the Western Cherokees/Old Settlers, Keetoowah Society sect, and Eastern Emigrants proved their legitimacy, were able to achieve federal recognition in 1946 as the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians of Oklahoma (UKB). The UKB ratified its constitution and federal corporate charter in 1950. CNO continues to deny this truth.
The 1866 Treaty Cherokees Tribe did not meet the OIWA requirements, and the tribe remained dormant until 1976 when they were federally recognized by Administrative Rule and reorganized as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (CNO), an Oklahoma Corporation.
UKB is entitled to the Cherokee Reservation, even more so than the entity that has achieved their status due to unlimited money, lawyers, aid from some state representatives, and government officials.
I say more so because a mixed blood and non-Cherokee nation cannot be more entitled to the Cherokee Reservation than an OIWA tribe with one quarter up to full blood of Cherokee blood.
Each time I refute their truth, it’s akin to throwing a pebble against a great whale, but it’s important that UKB youth and children, our future, know the truth.
By Anile Locust
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians Elder
