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Freedmen dispute could affect aid bill

 
By The Associated Press | Published: April 5, 2008    Comment on this article Leave a comment

TULSA — Some federal lawmakers are urging the U.S. Senate to include a clause in an American Indian housing assistance bill denying benefits to the Cherokee Nation unless it recognizes descendants of the tribe's former black slaves, known as freedmen.

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But a spokesman for the Tahlequah-based tribe says some lawmakers are "coercing Cherokees” to give rights to non-Indians that Congress took away more than 100 years ago.

The letter, sent last month to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid by members of the Congressional Black Caucus, says the group will "actively oppose” passage of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2007 unless the bill contains a limitation.

In September, the House passed the bill, H.R. 2786, with a 333-75 vote.

"The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma's push to disenfranchise Cherokee freedmen represents a fundamental injustice that must not go unchecked,” said U.

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Related Topics: Politics, Social Issues, U.S. Politics, World Politics, Elections and Voting, Native American Issues, African-American Issues, Indigenous Issues, Government and Politics, U.S. Congressional Politics



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