The Federally Recognized Chickamauga Nation

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Dec 12, 2025 5:00 AM

Today, The Chickamauga Nation comprises various Bands, known as Treaty Regions, of Chickamauga descendants who have joined together in a common identity and purpose.  The Chickamauga people are descendants of Mesoamerican cultures and religions (circa 2,500 - 2,000 BC (BCE)) that established the Mound Building Culture and the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex of the Mississippian, Muskogean, and Mobillian eras in North America circa 600 – 1,500 AD (CE).

While the “Chickamauga” or “Tiscamogie” were well established in the River Basins of the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, Holston, Savanah, and other streams and tributaries during the Mississippian, Muskogean, and Mobillian eras, it is not until the British Colony of South Carolina first established a written Treaty with the “Lower Town Cherokee” in 1684 that they become a political entity.

Historically, “The Chickamauga Nation” has been known by a variety of names given to it by the colonizers of North America.  East of the Mississippi River, in the Southeast, the Chickamauga people are known as the Tiscamogie, Mountain Cherokee, Lower Town Cherokee, Lower Cherokee, Red-Stick Cherokee, and the Cherokee Nation.  West of the Mississippi River, the Chickamauga were known as the Lower Town Cherokee, Arkansas Cherokee, Western Cherokee, Red-Stick Cherokee, Old Settler Cherokee, Texas Cherokee, and the Cherokee Nation.

During the Treaty Writing Era of the United States, 1776 – 1886 AD (CE), the Chickamauga signed more than 22 Treaties with the United States. It is well established in 1785 in 7 Stat 18 that there are scores of Cherokee Nations as validated in Article 3: “The said Indians for themselves and their respective tribes and towns do acknowledge all the Cherokees to be under the protection of the United States of America, and of no other sovereign whosoever.”  These “respective tribes and towns” constitute the legal establishment of the various 155 or so different Cherokee Nations.

The 1785, 7 Stat. 18 Article 3, phrase, “do acknowledge all the Cherokees to be under the protection of the United States of America, and of no other sovereign whosoever,” establishes the Federal Recognition of The Chickamauga Nation.  In the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, Section 19 states, “The term 'Indian’ as used in this Act shall include all persons of Indian descent who are members of any recognized Indian tribe now under Federal jurisdiction.”  The 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act in Subchapter 1 §1301. Definitions “(1) "Indian tribe" means any tribe, band, or other group of Indians subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and recognized as possessing powers of self-government.”  The 2009 Carcieri v Salazar Supreme Court ruling clearly states, “We agree with petitioners and hold that, for purposes of §479, the phrase 'now under Federal jurisdiction' refers to a tribe that was under federal jurisdiction at the time of the statute’s enactment.”

Tribe’s Governing Documents delegate various sovereign powers to the Council, including, but not limited to, police powers, corporal punishment, and taxation. Specifically, the Governing Documents provide that the Council has the power to enact civil and criminal laws, to manage Tribal lands and assets, and to generate revenue for Tribal purposes through taxation over every area of unrelinquished jurisdictional rights.  In doing so, the Council carries out a wide range of governmental functions of the Tribe.

In January of 2023, the Council created and established the Commerce and Finance Department of The Chickamauga Nation, which is independent of the Council.  The Tribe’s Governing Document provides for a Commerce and Finance Department of The Chickamauga Nation, which consists of a Chief, seven (7) Vice-Presidents, and twenty (20) Department Directors.  The Commerce and Finance Department of The Chickamauga Nation has the power to transact business and otherwise speak and act for the Tribe in all matters that the Tribe is empowered to act. The Governing Document established the Commerce and Finance Department of The Chickamauga Nation as a public body corporate and politic, a subordinate economic enterprise, and a political subdivision of the Tribe.

In violation of Federal Statutes and Codes, as well as Supreme Court rulings, the Department of the Interior does not officially recognize the Federally Recognized Tribe and Council of The Chickamauga Nation as the governing body of the Tribe under the Tribe’s Governing Documents.

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