Tulsa World: Obama takes on freedmen issue

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Obama takes on freedmen issue

TRIBAL SUPPORT
Barack Obama: “Our nation has learned withtragic results that federal intervention ininternal matters of Indian tribes is rarelyproductive . . . This is not a legacy we want tocontinue,” the Illinois senator said.

By JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau
Published: 5/11/2008 2:04 AM
Last Modified: 5/19/2008 3:33 PM

The senator believes the courts, not Congress, should resolve the controversy.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. and Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama has come out against any congressional interference "at this point" in the ongoing controversy over Cherokee Nation citizenship for descendants of former slaves.

"Tribal sovereignty must mean that the place to resolve intertribal disputes is the tribe itself," the Illinois lawmaker said in a statement provided Saturday by his Senate office.

"Our nation has learned with tragic results that federal intervention in internal matters of Indian tribes is rarely productive . . . This is not a legacy we want to continue."

However, speaking directly to the Cherokee Nation issue, Obama also expressed opposition to unwarranted tribal disenrollment and described discrimination anywhere as intolerable.

"But the Cherokee(s) are dealing with this issue in both tribal and federal courts," he said.

"As it stands, the rights of the Cherokee Freedmen are not being abrogated because there is an injunction in place that ensures the freedmans' rights to programs during the pendency of the litigation. I do not support efforts to undermine these legal processes and impose a congressional solution."

Obama press spokesman Michael Ortiz said the statement was prepared several weeks ago, but Ortiz did not say why it was prepared.

His comments, which were reported earlier on a blog, put Obama at odds with a number of other members of the Congressional Black Caucus and possibly even the position of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Last year, the House voted to withhold housing funds from the Cherokee Nation until it drops efforts to deny citizenship to freedmen descendants who cannot trace their lineage back to the Indian category of the Dawes Rolls.

Even tougher legislation is awaiting action.

Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., won approval of a provision that would delay such punitive action until after the court case.

Boren said Obama's position "is in line with most who have observed this issue. I agree that the freedmen issue should be litigated in the courts before congressional action."

The Senate has yet to act on the housing bill.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith welcomed Obama's statement.

"The Cherokee Nation knows Sen. Obama understands Native American issues and will be a good president for Indian Country," Smith said.

"We agree with Sen. Obama's overall position that the courts should decide these issues and wish other CBC members would agree. The Congress should not subvert the courts and judge the Cherokee Nation without considering the facts or the law, which is exactly what some members have done."

Again, he warned funding cuts would harm thousands of young, poor and infirm Cherokees.

Smith disagrees with claims that an 1866 treaty guaranteed tribal citizenship to descendants of former slaves and believes his stance is supported by previous actions by Congress.

Jim Myers (202) 484-1424
jim.myers@tulsaworld.com

By JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau

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