by Chris Jewers
Cherokee Nation has removed a ‘blood clause’ in its Constitution that was an obstacle to the descendants of black people it enslaved before the Civil War attaining full citizenship of the tribe.
The change on Monday came after years of racial friction between members of the Cherokee Nation and thousands of descendants of black people, as well as a series of legal and political battles.
Descendants of black people once enslaved by the Cherokee Nation, known as Freedmen, have long been fighting to win equal status as members of the tribe.
This would include the right to run for tribal office and receive full benefits, such as access to health care and housing, according to the New York Times.
The Oklahoma tribe this week eliminated language in the Cherokee Constitution that based citizenship of the Cherokee Nation on being descended ‘by blood’ from tribal members listed on a 19th-century census.
By doing so, the tribe has taken a big step towards resolving the historic issue, as it effectively codifies a 2017 federal court ruling that stated that Cherokee Freedmen should have all the rights afforded to tribal citizens in the tribe’s Constitution.
The ruling was based on an 1866 treaty that laid out the terms of emancipation.
The decision drew varying reaction, with some members of the tribe’s legislature accusing of the court and the Principle Chief’s office of exceeding their authority by unilaterally changing the Constitution, according to Tulsa World.
Cherokee Nation has removed a ‘blood clause’ in its Constitution that was an obstacle to the descendants of black people it enslaved – known as Freedmen – before the Civil War to attaining full citizenship of the tribe. Pictured: Freedmen protest in Tulsa in 2007, file photo
The Cherokee nation has an estimated 8,500 enrolled citizens of Freedman descent.
Before the 2017 ruling, there have been around 2,900 enrolled Freedmen citizens, and another 5,600 since, Julie Hubbard, a spokeswoman for the Cherokee Nation, told the New York Times.
Cherokee Nation is one of the largest tribes in the country, with around 380,000 enrolled citizens, more than half of which live within the tribe’s northeastern Oklahoma reservation.
‘This is a big win because what this means is that the tribal government, including the tribal courts, are working to uphold the 1866 treaty obligation to the Freedmen,’ Marilyn Vann – a Cherokee citizen and president of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes Association – told The Times…
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