Cherokee freedmen to challenge special election

Members of the tribe will vote Feb. 10 on a measure that would make Indian ancestry a requirement for tribal membership.

Marilyn Vann, who has ancestry of Black, Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw cultures, is the president of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes. She said her grandparents and great-grandparents were original Dawes Tribal enrollees.

Vann is a registered Cherokee citizen and is registered to vote in the special election, as are many other freedmen. But Vann said her rights as a Cherokee citizen are trying to be stripped by her fellow Cherokees.

"I am outraged for several reasons... We have our rights by treaty. Most of the freedmen have blood rights," Vann said. "We're only asking for what we've been promised. We're not asking for apologies. We're not asking for money. We're asking to be treated the same as other tribal citizens."

Jon Velie, attorney for Vann and the Descendants group, said the attempts to remove freedmen from the tribal citizenship is "racist."

"Turning this against the Cherokee freedmen is a racist, ugly act," Velie said. "There's nothing positive that comes out of this. I believe that's the particular feeling of this particular chief and administration."

Velie, an immigration attorney out of Norman, said he just heard about the tribe's intentions on Monday, but plans to take action quickly.

"We'll certainly oppose this with the BIA as soon as we possibly can," Velie said. "I'm not surprised, since the chief's been trying to do this for a while."

"The Cherokees' unbending pursuit to alienate these Cherokee citizens from their rights can have an adverse effect on sovereignty for all Native Americans."

Velie said there will be a legal challenge but said he couldn't give specifics on the what he plans to do because it's too early in the process.