Cherokee Nation appoints Representative

[Fanatical Meat]

This could get interesting

For all the Warren haters it’s not her.

The Cherokee Nation announced Thursday that it intends to appoint a delegate to the US House of Representatives, asserting for the first time a right promised to the tribe in a nearly 200-year-old treaty with the federal government.
It was a historic step for the Oklahoma-based Cherokee Nation and its nearly 370,000 members, coming about a week after Chuck Hoskin Jr. was sworn in as principal chief of the tribe. The Cherokee Nation says it's the largest tribal nation in the US and one of three federally recognized Cherokee tribes.
The move raises questions about what that representation in Congress would look like and whether the US will honor an agreement it made almost two centuries ago.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/25/politics/cherokee-nation-congressional-delegate-treaty/index.html

 

[Greenman]

Can't find the actual document. I'd like to read it.
If a congressional representative was part of the deal, they should have one.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Can't find the actual document. I'd like to read it.
If a congressional representative was part of the deal, they should have one.

Per the story it was offered in a treaty around 200 years ago, other than that there is no description attached. Would it be a voting member or a member like PR?
Does this effect the other tribes since they do not have representation?
Would this Congress critter just be appointed by the tribe as in no vote or limited vote?

I predict it will simply be stonewalled and go nowhere but who knows especially if it’s the Houses job to decide what that Representative should be/what powers that Representative should have.

 

[Greenman]

Per the story it was offered in a treaty around 200 years ago, other than that there is no description attached. Would it be a voting member or a member like PR?
Does this effect the other tribes since they do not have representation?
Would this Congress critter just be appointed by the tribe as in no vote or limited vote?

I predict it will simply be stonewalled and go nowhere but who knows especially if it’s the Houses job to decide what that Representative should be/what powers that Representative should have.

If the document simply says they get a congressional Representative, then they get one elected in the same way as all the rest.

It's pretty strange that they waited two hundred years to invoke this right, but if it's their due then it's their due, end of story.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

If the document simply says they get a congressional Representative, then they get one elected in the same way as all the rest.

It's pretty strange that they waited two hundred years to invoke this right, but if it's their due then it's their due, end of story.

Appears *take this with a grain of salt* the Cherokee forgot about it.
In the article someone from the tribe stated they tried in the past but couldn’t make any headway so they gave up.
Not sure what the “past” is other than the past.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Another interesting thing is the Representative would represent something like 37,000 people which is far fewer than any other House member, plus it gives more votes to a State or area than what is normal.
Tons of interesting stuff regarding this position, plus a side of #bothsides!

 

[IronWing]

Another interesting thing is the Representative would represent something like 37,000 people which is far fewer than any other House member, plus it gives more votes to a State or area than what is normal.
Tons of interesting stuff regarding this position, plus a side of #bothsides!

370,000 people.

200 years ago Native Americans were not considered citizens and could not vote. A promise to allow the Cherokee to select a Congressional Representative may have since been fulfilled as they now have full voting rights. We need to see the original agreement.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Where is the BIA in all of this?

 

[IronWing]

Treaty of New Echota:

https://americanindian.si.edu/static/nationtonation/pdf/Treaty-of-New-Echota-1835.pdf

ARTICLE 7. The Cherokee nation having already made great progress in civilization and deeming it important that every proper and laudible inducement should be offered to their people to improve their condition as well as to guard and secure in the most effectual manner the rights guarantied to them in this treaty, and with a view to illustrate the liberal and enlarged policy of the Government of the United States towards the Indians in their removal beyond the territorial limits of the States, it is stipulated that they shall be entitled to a delegate in the House of Representatives of the United States whenever Congress shall make provision for the same.

 

[simpletron]

here is a link to the treaty of new echota 1835
https://americanindian.si.edu/static/nationtonation/pdf/Treaty-of-New-Echota-1835.pdf

ARTICLE 7. The Cherokee nation having already made great progress in civilization and deeming it important that every proper and laudable inducement should be offered to their people to improve their condition as well as to guard and secure in the most effectual manner the rights guarantied to them in this treaty, and with a view to illustrate the liberal and enlarged policy of the Government of the United States towards the Indians in their removal beyond the territorial limits of the States, it is stipulated that they shall be entitled to a delegate in the House of Representatives of the United States whenever Congress shall make provision for the same.

I wonder what the phase "whenever Congress shall make provision for the same." will be interpret to mean because that is a key aspect of this paragraph.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Appears *take this with a grain of salt* the Cherokee forgot about it.
In the article someone from the tribe stated they tried in the past but couldn’t make any headway so they gave up.
Not sure what the “past” is other than the past.

It was a useless thing or seen that way, and likely not to be allowed then and maybe not now. The SCOTUS voided treaty time and again once the government got its way.

There's no right to vote so they will just sit in a corner and talk to people who have no interest in them because there aren't enough Cherokees to be worth helping. Dems have Blacks, Reps have Trump have racists and those will be the ones catered to as always.

 

[quikah]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_New_Echota

The majority of Cherokee rejected this treaty and were forcibly moved resulting in the Trail of Tears, not sure how that plays into it.

 

[IronWing]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_New_Echota

The majority of Cherokee rejected this treaty and were forcibly moved resulting in the Trail of Tears, not sure how that plays into it.

Congress ignored the Cherokees and made the treaty law anyway. The U.S. also unilaterally modified the treaty after the fact (triggering the Trail of Tears removal) but kept the Congressional representative intact.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I believe that they should be granted representation just like any other sovereign territory, aka state.

 

[fskimospy]

Seems problematic from a Constitutional perspective, at least as far as a voting member goes as they are not considered a state.

 

[IronWing]

Seems problematic from a Constitutional perspective, at least as far as a voting member goes as they are not considered a state.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 would be the likely basis for challenging implementation of the treaty provision. Prior to this act, Native American voting rights (and therefore Congressional representation) were a state by state mess. The Oklahoma Enabling Act of 1906 made most Cherokee living in Oklahoma citizens so this might also serve as a point to challenge the treaty.

 

[fskimospy]

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 would be the likely basis for challenging implementation of the treaty provision. Prior to this act, Native American voting rights (and therefore Congressional representation) were a state by state mess.

I mean more that article 1 seems pretty explicit that only states get representatives. It doesn’t seem to matter if they can’t vote but if this were a ‘real’ rep I suspect it would.

 

[IronWing]

I mean more that article 1 seems pretty explicit that only states get representatives. It doesn’t seem to matter if they can’t vote but if this were a ‘real’ rep I suspect it would.

There is nothing in the treaty to suggest that the Cherokee representative would be a non-voting member. I think that any legal challenge to seating a Cherokee representative would be based on a theory that the treaty law was superseded rather than that the treaty was un-Constitutional. Having the treaty declared un-Constitutional would probably be a significant win for the Cherokee though.

 

[Jaskalas]

The tribe should belong to which ever state they are in. And not be considered independent.

We've enough issues with respecting State's rights, let alone anyone else's beyond that.

 

[fskimospy]

There is nothing in the treaty to suggest that the Cherokee representative would be a non-voting member. I think that any legal challenge to seating a Cherokee representative would be based on a theory that the treaty law was superseded rather than that the treaty was un-Constitutional. Having the treaty declared un-Constitutional would probably be a significant win for the Cherokee though.

I agree there’s nothing in the treaty to suggest that but in the end you can’t supersede the constitution with a treaty.

 

[RY62]

It was a useless thing or seen that way, and likely not to be allowed then and maybe not now. The SCOTUS voided treaty time and again once the government got its way.

There's no right to vote so they will just sit in a corner and talk to people who have no interest in them because there aren't enough Cherokees to be worth helping. Dems have Blacks, Reps have Trump have racists and those will be the ones catered to as always.

Need to clarify... Reps have "White" racists all other racists are on the D team.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Need to clarify... Reps have "White" racists all other racists are on the D team.

You didn`t need to clarify anything...you just added your own 2 cents into the equation!

 

[whm1974]

Need to clarify... Reps have "White" racists all other racists are on the D team.

Yeah right just how did you arrive at this conclusion? Or you only pulled it from your ass.

 

[brycejones]

Need to clarify... Reps have "White" racists all other racists are on the D team.

Do you have a blog we can read?

 

[ewdotson]

So far as I can tell, the goal is a non-voting member right now. This article has Hoskin [the new principal chief of the tribe] saying, "I think we have to look at the roadmaps that are laid out as a suggested path to seating our delegate, and certainly the delegates afforded the territories give us an idea of what is workable in the Congress". The "territories" being those like Guam and the USVI that have non-voting delegates.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/25/politics/cherokee-nation-congressional-delegate-treaty