We have been asked by numerous Congressmen, Congresswomen, and US Senators over the last couple of years not to openly attack the Cherokees. We have abided pretty much within those requests. I contend that we have never openly attacked the Cherokee, but we have only published documents, statutes, and codes taken from the National Registry.
Video from the Tri-Council Meeting
We consider the meeting which took place on June 23, 2022 in Tahlequah, OK as an overt act of hostilities and aggression directed at The Chickamauga Nation
Headline from the Cherokee Phoenix
Cherokee tribes gather for annual Tri-Council meeting
The Tri-Council produced three resolutions addressing the differentiation of Cherokees by identifying their tribes, supporting the Joe Biden administration’s nominee to lead the Indian Health Service, and opposing federal recognition of groups claiming to be tribal nations.
BY D. SEAN ROWLEY Senior Reporter Jun 27, 2022
TAHLEQUAH – Renewing their annual gathering, officials for the Cherokee Nation, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians met at The Venue in Tahlequah on June 23 for the 2022 Cherokee Tri-Council meeting, hosted by the UKB.
The Tri-Council produced three resolutions addressing the differentiation of Cherokees by identifying their tribes, supporting the Joe Biden administration’s nominee to lead the Indian Health Service, and opposing federal recognition of groups claiming to be tribal nations.
“It was a chance of the tribes to get together and talk about some things of importance to them, such as sovereignty issues and fake tribes trying to go to the federal government to get recognized as tribes,” said Mike Shambaugh, speaker of the CN Tribal Council.
Through its first resolution, the Tri-Council requested museums, media and other entities refer to living Cherokees by their tribal enrollment or affiliation.
“For example, an artist has something displayed at a museum – or anywhere – they often don’t state whether that artist is Cherokee Nation or United Keetoowah Band,” Shambaugh said.
In February, the CN Tribal Council also passed a resolution asking that tribal affiliations be specified for Cherokees.
The second resolution supported the nomination of Roselyn Tso as director of the federal Indian Health Service.
Tso, of the Navajo Nation, was nominated by Biden in February, and received a brief hearing before the U.S. Senate on May 25, but has not been confirmed. The IHS remains under the leadership of acting director Elizabeth A. Fowler. Tso is currently the director of the Navajo Area IHS and was nominated in March. The IHS delivers health care services to 2.6 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. The agency has about 15,000 employees throughout the U.S. and receives an annual budget of around $7.4 billion.
The third resolution opposed congressional recognition of groups claiming to be tribal nations. The resolution specified some groups by name claiming to be Cherokee, including the Lumbee, Chickamauga and Wolf Creek.
“It was good to get the tribes together,” Shambaugh said. “We had a good time and got some things done. The last resolution was brought up that morning. We had to work with our attorneys and the other councilors to be sure of the wording. We were able to put together a workable resolution, and I was very happy to see three tribes work together to deal with something so quickly.”
Shambaugh said there was an atmosphere and understanding that the Cherokee tribes are stronger when they work together.
“We need to keep each other aware of what is going on in our governments,” he said. “We need to work together to deal with issues such as attacks on our sovereignty.”
The annual Tri-Council meetings allow the Cherokee tribes to communicate, cooperate and learn from each tribe’s experience dealing with pressing issues, Shambaugh said.
“It’s can help to get a jumpstart on what needs to be done,” he said. “We hold these Tri-Councils and each party brings out its concerns, and those concerns are talked about. There have been times when we’ve talked about these things and nothing happened. But I think in these times thing will happen. Because of what is going on in our tribes, there will be good communication and cooperation to let each other know what we might need.”
Shambaugh said Cherokees could expect “follow through” on the approved resolutions.
“This whole event was about making things better for each individual tribe and protecting our sovereignty,” he said.
CN Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., UKB Chief Joe Bunch and EBCI Richard Sneed were also in attendance.
“It was a great day on the Cherokee Nation Reservation with all three federally recognized tribes meeting and finding common ground on important issues,” Hoskin said.
Portions of Tri-Council Cherokee Resolution #3
A resolution opposing federal or state recognition of groups that claim to be tribal nations and seek to avoid or circumvent the Department of Interior’s Office of Federal Acknowledgement Process.
Now, therefore be it resolved the tri-council of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes does hereby oppose the federal or state recognition of the Lumbee tribe, the Chickamauga tribe, Mawa Band of Choctaw, Wolf Creek Cherokee tribe and any other recognition effort from a group claiming cherokee identity, that seeks to avoid or circumvent the Department of Interior’s Office of Federal Acknowledgement Process.
As required by 7 Statute 18 in the Hopewell Treaty of 1785,
We report this act of hostilities and aggression against The Chickamauga Nation to the Congress of the United United States.
Congress, rein in these people now, because we refuse to be the victims of their genocide and ethnic cleansing ever again.
(C) This document was produced at the request of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on July 18, 2019, to document the History, Anthropology, Culture, Religion, and Archaeology of The Chickamauga Nation.