A tribe should not be deemed to have ceased to exist without clear proof that the tribe has voluntarily sought and achieved assimilation into non-Indian culture or congressionally requested to have their termination codified
A resolution passed by the Cherokee National Council on May 6, 1817, created a “standing committee” to handle the affairs of the Cherokee Nation with the approval of Chiefs of the Council. This excludes from common property rights all who remove themselves from the Cherokee Nation. It also protects property of the maternal line [LCN 4-5]. This is vital in considering the removal of any and all persons associated with the Cherokee Nation to territory outside of the jurisdiction of the Cherokee Nation on the west side of the Mississippi River.
The legal definition of citizen: A person who, by either birth or naturalization, is a member of a political community owing allegiance to the community and being entitled to all its civil rights and protections.
The legal definition of citizenship: the status of being a citizen, the quality or a person’s conduct as a member or a community.
A resolution passed by the Cherokee National Council on Nov. 10, 1825, acknowledged the rights of the children of Cherokee men and white women as equal “to all the immunities and privileges enjoyed by the citizens descending from the Cherokee race by the mother’s side [LCN 57].
The US Department of the Interior believes that only officially “recognized” tribes have trust relationship with the United States. The evidence of that very trust relationship with the Chickamauga is established. In the book Cherokee of the Old South (Henry Thompson Malone, University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA, 1956, ISBN - 13:978-0-8203-3542-1, ch. 5, pg. 63, paragraph 2), it is well documented that Doublehead receives 300 bushels of corn from the US War Department, the forerunner of the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the details of this transaction was pleasing to President Jefferson. This is a trust relationship between the Lower Towns and the United States at Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The same Lower Towns on the Tennessee River that George Washington recognized as Chickamauga in his 4th Annual Address.
This is the same Chickamauga that Little Turkey wanted killed as recorded in The Territory South of the River Ohio, 1790-1796, Vol. IV of the Territorial Papers of the United States, Washington, 1936. The Little Turkey expressed shame for the actions of the Chickamauga and their allies and asked that vengeance be meted out to them.
This clearly documents the fact that a bill of attainder exists, a special legislative act prescribing punishment without a trial for a specific person or group which is prohibited by the US Constitution, Art 1 § 9. Do we ascertain that the due process clause has been violated?
An example of Chickamauga civil rights being ignored is the state of Georgia’s execution of George Tassel, (Chickamauga) on December 24, 1830.
Another example is the murder by Cherokee Nation of Major Ridge (a Chickamauga), in June, 1839 (as a citizen of Arkansas, execution without a trial). Why was Major Ridge not a Cherokee citizen? Because of a Cherokee National Resolution, passed November 17, 1825, that persons enrolling for emigration beyond the jurisdiction of the Nation forfeits all rights, title, claim and interest as citizens [LCN 113]. On October 13, 1829, the resolution was passed that all emigrants shall be treated as non-citizens [LCN 139-141]. These executions were carried out by John Ross and the Cherokee Nation until all of the Chickamauga Chiefs were killed without any repercussions from the US government.
Regarding the meaning of a trust relationship; a tribe cannot terminate a relationship. A Federal agency must faithfully execute its trust obligation, which includes hearing a request for self-termination. Similarly, states have no power to terminate a tribe’s trust relationship with the United States.
Congress has not documented any clear desire or actions to terminate its trust relationship with the Chickamauga. The Congress has and is acting only in silence in the contract and ignoring responsibility that was originally set forth in over 17 treaties with the Chickamauga. In November, 1905, the US Supreme Court held that terminated tribes have lost their trust status, privileges, and rights.
The Act of June 4, 1924, [43 Stat 376] § 253, the Eastern Band of North Carolina Cherokee’s own request to self-terminate was approved by the Secretary of the Interior; sec. 2 states no person born after shall be entitled to enrollment. The same request was granted to the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory, July 1, 1902 by the 67th Congress [32 Stat 716] §1375, sec. 26, also requires no further enrollment. The approved termination ended the trust status with both organizations. Chief William Charles Rogers, on November 9, 1904, relayed this information to the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma National Council. The request of the Cherokee Nation was granted during the Dawes enrollment and was accepted by their people because of the possibility of free land and money from the US government in the Curtis Act.
(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.