As an educator, it is my responsibility to lead students to a lesson, confront the student with the facts of the lesson, and then it is the responsibility of the student to take the lesson, apply their knowledge base to lesson and either accept the lesson or reject the lesson.
In dealing with the Congress of the United States however; the education of the elected official is intentionally short circuited by their staff and political party affiliation for the purpose of keeping the elected official ignorant of the facts of the lesson so that campaign contributions will continue to flow to the elected officials and their power is retained making the old Schoolhouse Rock Song "I'm Just a Bill" nothing but a lie
Take for example the federally terminated tribes in Oklahoma which have no rights or privileges under treaty since previously signed treaties by those tribes are abrogated in accordance with specific Acts of Congress during the 20th Century. For instance: the Cherokee of Oklahoma requested self-termination by an Act of Congress in 1902, which was passed and became law and their Council further approved and accepted the Law. Further, the Cherokee of Oklahoma were again terminated by the Curtis Act of 1906 making the Cherokee in Oklahoma a two-time terminated tribe. The Cherokee in North Carolina followed suit in 1919 by requesting termination which was enacted in 1924 making the North Carolina Cherokee a terminated tribe as well. The Congress acted to Terminate these two tribes, but Congress has never acted to re-recognize these two tribes.
Let’s look at the 1934 Wheeler-Howard Act. Using the Canons of Construction as is required in the interpretation of law, the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 - Chapter 576 of the 73rd Congress, Approved June 18, 1934, 48 Stat. 984, 25 U.S.C. 461 et seq - As Amended Through P.L. 109–221, Enacted May 12, 2006 does not allow for specifically named Tribes in Oklahoma to be Reorganized under the Act. Those Tribes include: Cheyenne, Arapaho, Apache, Comanche, Kiowa, Caddo, Delaware, Wichita, Osage, Kaw, Otoe, Tonkawa, Pawnee, Ponca, Shawnee, Ottawa, Quapaw, Seneca, Wyandotte, Iowa, Sac and Fox, Kickapoo, Pottawatomi, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole.
There is little left to the imagination of a student when the student is confronted by the facts of the lesson as to whether the government of Cherokee in Oklahoma or its citizens consist of a Congressionally Terminated tribe which neither have ANY rights or privileges under Treaty. Therefore; since the Congress has Acted to Terminate the Treaty Rights and Privileges of the government of the Cherokee in Oklahoma and its citizens, neither have any privileges or immunities provided to Treaty Tribes and their citizens. Even the BIA provides documentation showing the Cherokee in Oklahoma have no Federal Charter nor have they ever applied for Federal Recognition.
Therefore: How are Congressionally Terminated Tribes on the List of Federally Recognized Tribes who have been determined to be eligible for benefits and services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs?
How can Congressionally Terminated Tribes be allowed to have Indian Gaming Licenses since they do not have any Rights, Privileges, or immunities as a Treaty Tribe?
How are Congressionally Terminated Tribes be allowed to do business with the United States Departments and Agencies as a Federally Recognized Tribe without that being FRAUD against the American Taxpayer?
(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.