The
Eastern Band of Cherokee
Indians is seeing strong support for a bill to restore some of its ancestral lands in Tennessee.
H.R.146,
the Eastern Band Cherokee Historic Lands Reacquisition Act, places about 96 acres in trust for the tribe, based in neighboring North Carolina. The lands are located at the
Tellico
Reservoir, a federally-managed site, and include significant sites such as the
Sequoyah Birthplace Museum
and the grave of
Oconostota, the
First Beloved Man of the Cherokee people from 1775 to 1781.
Local officials and members of Congress are among the many backers of H.R.146, The Cherokee One Feather reported. Some are pushing
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) to introduce a companion version in the
Senate, the paper said.
The
House
Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs took testimony on October 4, 2017, when the bill was received favorably. The full
House Committee on Natural Resources has not yet held a markup on it.
Since the start of the 115th Congress in January 2017, a handful of tribal land-into-trust bills have advanced in the
House and in the Senate. One of them,
H.R.1306,
the Western Oregon Tribal Fairness Act, was
signed into law by President Donald Trump on Monday.
Read More on the Story:
Tribe’s land-into-trust bill has movement, support
(The Cherokee One Feather January 9, 2018)
House Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs Notice:
Legislative
Hearing on 3 Tribal Bills (October 4, 2017)
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