Washington, D.C., appeals court rules for Cherokee freedmen

Velie said he would likely ask for a delay in the Oklahoma case and pursue the case in Washington, where it has been for several years, since the district court judge and the appeals court are familiar with the issues.

Though the only issue before the appeals court here was whether the lawsuit could go forward without the tribe as a party, the court on Friday seemed to indicate some sympathy with the freedmen position about their rights to membership.

In a statement about the background of the case, the court wrote that the 1866 treaty “guaranteed the former Cherokee slaves and their descendants — known as the Freedmen — ‘all the rights of native Cherokees' in perpetuity …' Those rights included the right to tribal membership and the right to vote in tribal elections.

“At some point, the Cherokee Nation decided that the Freedmen were no longer members of the tribe and could no longer vote in tribal elections.”

Tribal officials, the freedmen and Obama administration attorneys reached an agreement last fall that allowed about 2,800 freedmen to vote in an election for chief. There are an estimated 25,000 Cherokee freedmen in the United States, Velie said.

The Cherokee Nation did not respond to a request for comment.