Identity and Status of the Cherokee Nation

The Cherokee Nation is the Indian nation and republic of the Cherokee Indians recognized through twenty-two treaties since 1721 by the United States and foreign governments. Although there are two other federally created Cherokee organizations, the Cherokee Nation is the only Cherokee federally recognized Indian nation with a historic treaty government-to-government relationship. The Cherokee Nation serves as a tribal government, social service provider, business entrepreneur, cultural entity and leadership forum.

The capitol of the Cherokee Nation is located in Tahlequah, Indian Territory, Oklahoma. Its tribal jurisdictional area established by the infamous Treaty of New Echota of 1835 and confirmed by fee patents exchanged with the United States in 1839 and 1846 is all or part of the 14 northeastern counties of Oklahoma. With over 230,000 members, the Cherokee Nation is one of the two largest American Indian tribes or nations. Its tribal jurisdictional area, which under modern Indian law is often called an "Indian Reservation," marks the Cherokee Nation’s boundaries for services, jurisdiction, voting districts, and other purposes. The Cherokee Nation land base remaining under federal trust relationship is comprised of over 90,000 acres, about half of which is tribal land, and about half is trust or allotment land of individual tribal members.

Brief History

In 1721, the Cherokee Nation entered into its first treaty with Great Britain. That treaty acknowledged that the Cherokee Nation was a sovereign government and that its members were citizens of a government. The Cherokee Nation entered into twenty-two (22) treaties with Great Britain and the United States. The Treaties of 1828, 1833, and 1835 transferred to the Cherokee Nation all of what is now northeastern Oklahoma. The last treaty was in 1866. In 1906, the federal government specifically continued recognition of the Cherokee Nation government in spite of allotment of Cherokee lands and the creation of the State of Oklahoma. The federal government reaffirmed in 1970 the right of Cherokees to elect their own Principal Chief.

After some voluntary migration and the forced removal in 1838 called the "Trail of Tears," different political groups of the Cherokees, then located in Indian Territory (now called Oklahoma), became one with the adoption of the Act of Union of 1839, and the Constitution of the Cherokee Nation of 1839. The Cherokee Nation flourished when left alone from 1846 to 1906 building 150 day schools, two junior colleges, a Supreme Court building, a Capitol building, an insane asylum and an orphanage. In 1881, U.S. Senator Dawes observed that there was not a pauper in the Cherokee Nation, that every family had a home of its own and the Cherokee Nation owed not a dollar.

The Cherokee Nation republic changed with the coerced sale of the Cherokee Outlet in 1893, the allotment of Cherokee lands, the federal government's failed attempt to dissolve the Cherokee Nation and the creation of the State of Oklahoma in 1907.

In spite of a federal law called the Fives Tribes Act of 1906, which provided that the Cherokee Nation "... shall continued in full force and effect ..." the Cherokee Nation government began a 65 year period of dormancy caused by what one federal judge in 1975 called "bureaucratic imperialism" by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The Cherokee Nation was revitalized in 1971. In that year, with passage of a federal law, the Cherokee Nation elected its first Principal Chief since Oklahoma statehood. In 1975, Cherokee Nation adopted a superceding Constitution in 1975, which received the approval of the federal government. Article XVI of the Constitution of 1975 provides that this Constitution supersedes the Cherokee Nation Constitution of 1839.

Court Recognition

In cases decided by the United States Supreme Court, the Cherokee Nation has been recognized as the unchallenged, continuously existing tribal governmental entity with territorial jurisdiction over the historical lands or reservation of the Cherokees in Oklahoma Choctaw Nation vs. Oklahoma, 397 U.S. 620 (1970). In that case and a subsequent related case, Cherokee Nation vs. Oklahoma, 461F. 2d 674 (10th Cir. 1972) the Supreme Court and the Tenth Circuit, respectively, affirmed the fee patent title of 1839 and 1846 and ownership of the Arkansas Riverbed by the Cherokee Nation, and no other Cherokee entity.

This recognition of the Cherokee Nation sovereign and tribal jurisdiction over northeastern Oklahoma has been affirmed in several federal court decisions on issues raised by he United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (UKB). In 1991, the 10th Circuit United States Court of Appeals rejected the UKB's arguments that it was the rightful successor of property of the Cherokee Nation after Oklahoma statehood that the Cherokee Nation had been terminated, and the Cherokee Nation Constitution of 1975 created a different entity. The federal Court of Appeals held that the Cherokee Nation was the "eminent tribal sovereign in northeastern Oklahoma" and that the present Cherokee Nation was the same federally recognized legal entity since 1721. The UKB litigation ended the rumors and myths that there was an old Cherokee Nation and a new Cherokee Nation. The federal courts have clearly held there is only one Cherokee Nation since the beginning of its treaty government-to-government relationship in 1721 and the Cherokee Nation has all the rights of an Indian nation not specifically taken away by treaty or federal statute.

Sequence of Leadership

The Cherokee Nation elected John Ross as Principal Chief in 1832. He served until his death in 1866. From 1867 until 1906, the Cherokee Nation elected a series of Principal Chiefs. However, from 1907 until 1971, the President of the United States appointed the Principal Chief. In 1971, the Cherokee Nation elected W.W. Keeler, CEO of Phillips Petroleum, as Principal Chief. He was followed by Ross Swimmer, Wilma Mankiller, Joe Byrd and Chad Smith. Each of these administrations has been recognized by the United States as the lawful executives of the Cherokee Nation.