United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians

ethnic group
group=Cherokee


poptime=300,000+
popplace=Enrolled members:

Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma (f):
250,000+

United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, Oklahoma (f):
10,000

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, North Carolina (f):
10,000+

(f) = federally recognized

rels=Christianity (Southern Baptist), Traditional Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya
langs=English, Cherokee
related=TuscaroraThe United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma are a federally recognized Band of Indians headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The United Keetoowah are also referred to as the UKB.

Origins

The word Keetoowah is the name of an ancient Cherokee town in the (Eastern) Homeland of the Cherokee.

A group of Cherokee traditionalists calling themselves the Keetoowah Society (also called the Keetoowah Nighthawk Society) took advantage of the 1936 Oklahoma Indian General Welfare Act to organize a federally recognized Indian Band called the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. This, for the most part, is composed of "Old Settlers"—descendants of people who went west a little before the absolute necessity of the Trail of Tears.

Many Cherokee groups still refer to themselves as "Keetoowah "(ki-tu'-wa)" people." The main ancient name used to describe all of the Cherokee People was ah-ni-yv-wi-ya, which means "the main or principal people." [James Mooney, Myths of the Cherokees, 19th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington Government Printing Office, 1900, pg. 15]

History

By the 1880s most of the ancient culture had been lost. Then, Cherokee children were prohibited from speaking their own language in communal schools set up by the Federal government during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This resulted in even more of the Cherokee culture becoming lost. The remaining Cherokee continued to adopt and integrate cultural practices of other tribes who were being forcibly removed into Oklahoma Territory.

The Dawes Commission was tasked to force assimilation and breakup of tribal governments within Oklahoma by instilling the concept of land ownership with individual members of the Five Civilized Tribes. The commission divided large sections of land into tribal allotments in an effort to eliminate the traditional governments of the Cherokee, which at that time were based on a socialist form of government with the lands being controlled by the tribal government. As a consequence of the Dawes Commission programs and policies, the Cherokee culture and society was destabilized and strictly controlled, with presidentially appointed "Chiefs" of the tribe, who were reduced to tribal administrators and who imposed the will of the United States on individual Cherokee citizens in support of the Federal Government's attempts to force assimilation of the Cherokee.

Later a few Cherokee traditional people, in response to the cultural erosion that was occurring, formed a secret society, the Keetoowah Nighthawk Society, and practiced ceremonies and gatherings of the people in secret, in order to avoid censure or reprisal by the United States. This group preserved, re-invented, or revived a bit of the pre-removal culture, ceremonies, and beliefs of the Cherokee. These people and movements later influenced the formation of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in 1946. In modern times, the society and the UKB are no longer a single organization but have split; over time many UKB members have joined the Cherokee Nation, and the society has grown in modern times, with members who are affiliated with both the Cherokee Nation and the UKB.

The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma became the non-governmental remnant of the Cherokee Government that ended in 1906. There was still the substantial population base and various legal matters (financial and otherwise). The UKB only claimed a small percentage of the total Cherokee Society as members, since over time, the Cherokee intermarried with non-Indians in Oklahoma and were gradually assimilated.

During the formation of the Cherokee Nation, the United States Congress ceded all rights and title to the tribal lands, allotments, and right of succession to the Cherokee Nation. The UKB did not own any tribal lands, except for a limited number of original family held land allotments, despite the fact that the Cherokee Nation, in its current incarnation, was only recognized as recently as 1977 and was recognized through administrative action on the part of the federal government. The United Keetoowah Band, having organized under the OIWA, was recognized by an act of the US Congress in 1950. True cessation of rights and titles is still a matter of controversy despite the Cherokee Nation's claims of finality on the matter.

UKB membership controversies

The United Keetoowah Band maintains a one quarter blood requirement. The United Keetoowah Band requires all members to have verifiable Cherokee blood from either the Dawes rolls or the UKB Base Roll of 1949. The Cherokee Nation, on the other hand, requires an individual have an Indian ancestor on the Dawes Commission Land Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes verifying Indian descent, regardless of how far removed from Indian ancestry they may be. Despite the UKB membership restrictions, the UKB has given out memberships to individuals with no identifiable Cherokee Ancestry. Some of these memberships created significant public controversy.

Some tribal memberships were given in honorary appreciation to several people but were ended in 1994. While some such recipients were given an enrollment card with a number, federal law did not allow these recipients to receive tribal benefits, and they do not appear on official tribal rolls today.

Ward Churchill, a Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado, was one grantee of honorary "associate" membership in the UKB; Churchill's public statements that he was a member of the UKB created some controversy, in part because Churchill often failed to distinguish qualified enrollment from honorary membership. Ward Churchill did not possess an issued CDIB during his membership in the UKB and hence was not eligible for any federal benefits reserved for Native Americans. The UKB issued a press release in 2005 clarifying the former honorary membership of Churchill but indicating that those memberships are no longer in force.

Wes Studi, an actor and a Cherokee Nation citizen, was allegedly placed on the UKB Tribal Rolls by the tribe without his consent in 2005. Wes Studi was quoted in the "Cherokee Phoenix" as stating he had never given the UKB permission to place him onto their rolls, and he publicly demanded they remove him. The UKB has stated there are no council minutes admitting Wes Studi to the UKB and deny these allegations as fabricated.

Legal

UKB leaders have been accused of diversion of funds by its own members. The State of Oklahoma sued the UKB in federal court for operating illegal gaming facilities off of Bureau of Indian Affairs approved tribal lands, since they do not own tribal lands in accorance with briefs submitted to the court by the Cherokee Nation. The lawsuit is currently pending in the federal courts in Oklahoma and has been recently remanded to the Indian Gaming Commission for review. [ [http://www.unitedkeetoowahband.org Official Site of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians - Federally Recognized ] ]

The UKB has sued the United States for a share of the proceeds under HR-3534, a bill that required the United States to compensate the Cherokee Nation and two other Oklahoma tribes with claims to the disclaimed drybed lands of the Arkansas River.The legislation set aside ten percent of each tribes' share of their settlement for other claimant tribes and afforded other claimant tribes an opportunity to file claims within 180 days of the legislation. The UKB filed suit against the United States. The Cherokee Nation moved to intervene and moved to dismiss on the grounds that the Cherokee Nation is an indispensable party that cannot be joined in the litigation because of its sovereign immunity. The Court of Claims granted both of the Cherokee Nation's motions. On April 14, 2006, on appeal, the United States sided with the UKB, against the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma's request for dismissal. The Court of Federal Claims heard the appeal on November 8, 2006. [http://www.unitedkeetoowahband.org/Documents/Newspapers/5-06.pdf]

During the State of Oklahoma lawsuit pertaining to the UKB's alleged illegal casino operations, an Indian casino that has been in operation for approximately 19 years, [http://www.unitedkeetoowahband.org/Documents/Newspapers/7-05.pdf] the UKB again was accused of attempting to sue the Cherokee Nation (although specific citation of the suit indicating that the UKB directly sued the Cherokee Nation under these circumstances does not exist) demanding cession of tribal land allotments to the UKB to build casinos. These lawsuits were also dismissed, and it was ruled the UKB is not the successor of right to the assets of the Cherokee people.

Spiritual leadership

The UKB administration is supportive of the tribal members, as many follow the traditional ways, many of the UKB members are spiritual leaders of the Cherokee People and are highly respected. Many highly respected and revered Cherokee traditionalists within Oklahoma are members of both the UKB and the Cherokee Nation "(See Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni)".

See also

*Original Keetoowah Society

Notes

References

* Cherokee Nation Cultural Resource Center, Tahlequah, Okalhoma.
* "Cherokee", ISBN 1-55868-603-7, Graphic Arts Center Publishing
*"13 Moons On the Turtles Back. A Native American Year of Moons", ISBN 0-698-11584-8, Putnam and Grossnet Group, 1997

External links

* [http://www.unitedkeetoowahband.org United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians]