"We have heard all the hoopla about the Cherokee Nation rejecting the Freedmen. Now, it seems if you aren’t dark enough, your aren’t one of them, either.

Why are some Cherokees who are in positions of power and secrecy – knocking down $100,000-plus a year, and getting rich off the millions the casinos rake in, plus the millions in government funds – supposedly for all in the tribe, while if you are too dark, or not dark enough, or don’t have the right last name, or are not related to one of those names, you don’t rate squat?

Federal assistance to the Cherokee Nation is part of treaties to aid and help all Cherokees equally, not some more than others. I knew when I saw them trying to reject the Freedmen that the too-white-looking ones were next, unless they have the right connections, last name, or relations. Tribal government has become a cross between a soap opera of who is doing what to whom, and micro-replica of our federal government, as to who is doing something similar to the rest of their own people.

If tribal politicians, who seem just like all other politicians to me, can violate their treaty with the U.S. as to the fair distribution of federal funding, and can play favorites, it is time for all federal funds to stop going to the fat cats, who keep most of it for themselves and dole out meager portions.

Help those among you in need, instead of stuffing more millions into the fat cats’ pockets. And only the Cherokees have the power to do this: Get political, attend political and tribal meetings, call for votes and referendums and special elections, and call those fat cats out on the carpet and make them answerable to you, the people of the Cherokee Nation! And if the answers aren’t honest and fair to all, vote them out on their ears."

Get the Story:
Joe Brownell: CN benefits questioned (The Tahlequah Daily Press 7/16)

Related Stories:
Letter: Freedmen were residents, not citizens (7/14)
Cherokee professor to develop Freedmen history (7/11)
Cherokee Freedmen to host meeting in Oklahoma (7/1)
Obama meets Congressional Black Caucus (6/20)
Artman wrote Freedmen letter before resigning (6/13)
Letter: Rep. Watson wrong on Cherokee Freedmen (6/13)
Rep. Watson: Speech at Freedmen conference (6/11)
Cherokee Nation starts two more Freedmen websites (6/5)
Letter: Cherokee Nation chief's 'grandstanding' (6/5)
Letter: Stop 'bullying' of Cherokee Nation (6/4)
Senate approves NAHASDA reauthorization (05/23)
Opinion: Freedmen were never Cherokee citizens (5/21)
Mike Graham: The Cherokee Nation's Wounded Knee (5/20)
Opinion: Unethical removal of Cherokee Freedmen (5/16)
Rep. Watson: Obama wrong on Cherokee Freedmen (5/14)
Cherokee chief praises Obama as 'good president' (5/12)
Opinion: Freedmen victimized by Cherokee Nation (5/12)
Obama wants courts to resolve Freedmen dispute (5/9)
Letter: A solution to Cherokee Freedmen issue (5/8)
Appeals court hears Cherokee Freedmen dispute (5/7)
Appeals court to hear Cherokee Freedmen case (5/6)
Campbell: Congress destroying the Cherokee Nation (5/2)
Artman's tenure marked by Freedmen dispute (4/30)
Artman resigns after a year as head of BIA (4/29)
Opinion: Cherokee Nation's boat of federal funds (4/25)
Cherokee Freedmen dispute a threat to NAHASDA (4/24)
Opinion: The history of the Cherokee Freedmen (4/23)
Rep. Frank backs Freedmen in Cherokee funding fight (4/22)
Freedmen issue weighs heavy on Capitol Hill (4/14)
Tim Giago: CBC goes after Cherokee Nation (4/14)
Cherokee tribes denounce Freedmen legislation (4/10)
Cherokee chief to address Freedmen at conference (4/7)
Black lawmakers press Senate on Freedmen (4/4)
Cherokee Freedmen dispute up for hearing (3/27)
Opinion: Being Cherokee more than the blood (3/26)
Lawmakers press Artman on Freedmen issues (3/19)
Freedmen protest outside of Rep. Boren's office (3/3)
Black lawmakers to meet with Artman over Freedmen (1/23)