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133-613: It was founded by the Cherokee Nation in 2001 for the purpose of preserving the heavily endangered Cherokee language . Students must be members of a federally recognized tribe , and an application process is used as class size is limited. After finishing at the Cherokee Immersion School, students typically transfer to an affiliated school for grades 7 and 8. Attending the immersion school can help students enroll into Sequoyah High School (grades 9 through 12). Total enrollment

266-485: A 1978 congressional survey. The 1994 Federal Legislation AIRFA ( American Indian Religious Freedom Act ) defines an Indian as one who belongs to an Indian Tribe, which is a group that "is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians." The council is the legislative branch of government. One councilor is elected to represent each of

399-512: A State within which their reservation may be established, and the State gives them no protection." White settlers continued to flood into Indian country. As the population increased, the homesteaders could petition Congress for creation of a territory. This would initiate an Organic Act , which established a three-part territorial government. The governor and judiciary were appointed by the President of

532-483: A federal crime to commit murder, manslaughter, rape, assault with intent to kill, arson, burglary, or larceny within any Territory of the United States. The Supreme Court affirmed the action in 1886 in United States v. Kagama , which affirmed that the U.S. government has plenary power over Native American tribes within its borders using the rationalization that "The power of the general government over these remnants of

665-830: A formal government until after the American Civil War . After the Civil War, the Southern Treaty Commission re-wrote treaties with tribes that sided with the Confederacy , reducing the territory of the Five Civilized Tribes and providing land to resettle Plains Indians and tribes of the Midwestern United States . These re-written treaties included provisions for a territorial legislature with proportional representation from various tribes. In time,

798-465: A group of citizenship. At the same time, the Cherokee Supreme Court ordered a special run-off election to be held September 24, 2011 to settle the office of Principal Chief. Earlier voting in this year's election had been so close that the incumbent Chad Smith and challenger Bill John Baker , longtime Cherokee National Council member, had each twice been declared the winner. On September 11,

931-420: A list of ~2,100 remaining speakers at that time. The Cherokee language immersion school educates students from pre-school through eighth grade. The Department of Education of Oklahoma said that in 2012 state tests: 11% of the school's sixth-graders showed proficiency in math, and 25% showed proficiency in reading; 31% of the seventh-graders showed proficiency in math, and 87% showed proficiency in reading; 50% of

1064-578: A majority of enrolled Cherokee Nation citizens. These communities are a way for enrolled Cherokee citizens to connect with Cherokee heritage and culture, and to be more politically engaged. These communities are located in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Florida, and central Oklahoma. The Cherokee Nation has constructed health clinics throughout Oklahoma, contributed to community development programs, built roads and bridges, constructed learning facilities and universities for its citizens, instilled

1197-761: A member of the Cherokee nation, undertook fieldwork and academic study of Cherokee music and dance, publishing widely on the topics and, in Heth's case, teaching courses on comparative American Indian music . Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States government for the relocation of Native Americans who held original Indian title to their land as an independent nation-state. The concept of an Indian territory

1330-650: A new treaty made in 1866 with the United States. This was in the wake of the American Civil War , when the US emancipated slaves by passing a constitutional amendment granting freedmen citizenship in the United States. In reaching peace with the Cherokees, who had sided with the Confederates, the US government required that they end slavery and grant full citizenship to freedmen living within their nation. Those who left could become United States citizens. However, despite "the promises of

1463-581: A part of the physical Mount Tabor Indian Community in Rusk County, Texas . This was based on their ancestors not having been recorded on the Final Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes, as documented by the US government. The Mount Tabor Indian Community does not consider itself to be a Cherokee tribe and only recognizes the three federally recognized Cherokee groups as legitimate "Cherokee tribes". Although

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1596-506: A particular state sovereign." Basing citizenship off the Dawes Rolls and other rolls is what scholar Fay A. Yarbrough calls "dramatically different from older conceptions of Cherokee identity based on clan relationship’s, in which individuals could be fully Cherokee without possessing any Cherokee ancestry" and that by the tribe later "developing a quantifiable definition of Cherokee identity based on ancestry", this "would dramatically affect

1729-572: A path for statehood for much of the original Indian Country , Congress never passed an Organic Act for the Indian Territory. Indian Territory was never an organized territory of the United States . In general, tribes could not sell land to non-Indians ( Johnson v. McIntosh ). Treaties with the tribes restricted entry of non-Indians into tribal areas; Indian tribes were largely self-governing, were suzerain nations, with established tribal governments and well established cultures. The region never had

1862-710: A preliminary hearing to allow the Freedmen to vote, with voting to continue through October 5 if necessary. On August 30, 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the Freedmen descendants and the U.S. Department of the Interior, granting the Freedmen descendants full rights to citizenship in the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Nation has accepted this decision, effectively ending

1995-586: A race once powerful ... is necessary to their protection as well as to the safety of those among whom they dwell". While the federal government of the United States had previously recognized the Indian Tribes as semi-independent, "it has the right and authority, instead of controlling them by treaties, to govern them by acts of Congress, they being within the geographical limit of the United States ;... The Indians [Native Americans] owe no allegiance to

2128-452: A result, they did not receive land allotments and later were for a time excluded from tribal membership. In the 20th century, the Cherokee Nation passed a law to limit membership to descendants of those listed as "Cherokee by blood" on the Dawes Rolls , excluding numerous African Americans and Afro-Cherokees who had been members of the tribe. In a recognition of Cherokee sovereignty, in 1989

2261-611: A single state. This resulted in passage of the Oklahoma Enabling Act , which President Roosevelt signed June 16, 1906. empowered the people residing in Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory to elect delegates to a state constitutional convention and subsequently to be admitted to the union as a single state. Citizens then joined to seek admission of a single state to the Union. With Oklahoma statehood in November 1907, Indian Territory

2394-576: A state, labeling it a "European construct" and wishing tribes would turn their attention from "reforming the state to (re)building the ‘small, local, autonomous communities’ that flourished around the world prior to 1492." They believe that this "would allow actual indigenous sovereignty and self-determination" and that "history tells us that nations and peoples can be organized in multiple and overlapping ways. Territories have long been shared between peoples, and individuals have often identified themselves within networks of relationships rather than as subjects of

2527-467: A survey that established the western border of Arkansas Territory 45 miles west of Ft. Smith. But this was part of the negotiated lands of Lovely's Purchase where the Cherokee , Choctaw, Creek and other tribes had been settling, and these indian nations objected strongly. In 1828 a new survey redefined the western Arkansas border just west of Ft. Smith. After these redefinitions, the "Indian zone" would cover

2660-534: A tribe, cannot be recognized by the BIA. Miller also states that even "so-called purely ‘descendancy’ tribes such as the Five Tribes with no blood quantum requirement jealously guard some proven, documentary link by blood to distant ancestors. More than any single BIA requirement, however, this criterion has proven troublesome for southeastern groups [seeking federal recognition] because of its reliance on non-Indian records and

2793-513: Is $ 1.06 billion on the state's economy, $ 401 million in salaries, and supports 13,527 Cherokee and non-Cherokee jobs. The Cherokee Nation council appropriates money for historic foundations concerned with the preservation of Cherokee culture, including the Cherokee Heritage Center . It operates living history exhibits including a reconstructed ancient Cherokee village, Adams Rural Village (a turn-of-the-century village), Nofire Farms, and

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2926-580: Is also composed of five independent agencies that exercise power autonomously from the control of the Principal Chief: The judicial branch of tribal government includes the District Court and Supreme Court, which is comparable to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court consists of five members who are appointed by the Principal Chief to ten-year, staggered terms and confirmed by the council. It

3059-677: Is an alliance of the Ojibwe , Odawa , and Potawatomi tribes. In the Second Treaty of Prairie du Chien in 1829, the tribes of the Council of Three Fires ceded to the United States their lands in Illinois , Michigan , and Wisconsin . The 1833 Treaty of Chicago forced the members of the Council of Three Fires to move first to present-day Iowa , then Kansas and Nebraska and ultimately to Oklahoma . The Illinois Potawatomi moved to present-day Nebraska and

3192-489: Is not a factor in Cherokee Nation tribal citizenship eligibility. Neither is race, though race came into play when creating the Dawes Roll, where legitimate "Cherokee citizens of mixed blood who could get away with it were enrolled as less Cherokee than they really were in order to be able to sell or lease their land sooner" and some "whites without a legitimate claim were falsely enrolled." Author Robert J. Conley has critiqued

3325-450: Is really serious about exercising its sovereignty and determining its membership," then it should not use the roll that "was put together by the U.S. government and then closed by the U.S. government," meaning that the nation is "not allowed to have [a current roll] by the U.S. Congress" and therefore is still subject to the settler definitions of its members. Scholars like Osage Nation member Tink Tinker , critique tribes for functioning like

3458-533: Is the head of the executive branch of the Cherokee National Government, responsible for overseeing an annual budget of over $ 600 million and more than 3,000 full-time employees. The current Principal Chief, elected June 1, 2019 , is Chuck Hoskin Jr. , who formerly held the office of Cherokee Nation Secretary of State . The deputy chief acts as the chief in his or her absence. The chief is assisted in managing

3591-526: Is the highest court of the Cherokee Nation and oversees internal legal disputes and appeals from the District Court. The District Court hears all cases brought before it under jurisdiction of the Cherokee Nation Judicial Code. The Court on the Judiciary is a seven-member body which oversees the judicial system. It consists of two members appointed by each of the three branches of government; one of

3724-490: The American Civil War , the United States promised the Cherokee Nation "a permanent homeland" in an 1866 treaty. In exchange, the Cherokee Nation (and the other four of the Five Civilized Tribes ) gave the United States parts of its western territory that were then organized into Oklahoma Territory . Unlike most reservations, the Cherokee Nation owned fee simple title to its lands, and they were not held in trust by

3857-506: The Cherokee , Choctaw , Chickasaw , Creek , Seminole , and other displaced Eastern American tribes. Indian reservations remain within the boundaries of U.S. states, but are largely exempt from state jurisdiction. The term " Indian country " is used to signify lands under the control of Native nations, including Indian reservations, trust lands on Oklahoma Tribal Statistical Area , or, more casually, to describe anywhere large numbers of Native Americans live. Indian Territory, also known as

3990-704: The Cherokee Freedmen . The tribe has members who also have some degree of African, Latino, Asian, European, and other ancestries. In the case of the Cherokee Freedmen, members may be predominantly or wholly African American. Members of the Natchez Nation joined the Cherokee Nation, as did other southeastern tribes in the 18th century. Unlike the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (UKB) and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), blood quantum

4123-637: The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma , is the largest of three federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Old Cherokee Nation who relocated, due to increasing pressure, from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who were forced to relocate on the Trail of Tears . The tribe also includes descendants of Cherokee Freedmen and Natchez Nation . As of 2024, over 466,000 people were enrolled in

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4256-469: The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians , including cultural exchange programs and joint Tribal Council meetings involving councilors from both Cherokee tribes that address issues affecting all Cherokee people. The United Keetoowah Band tribal council unanimously passed a resolution to approach the Cherokee Nation for a joint council meeting between the two nations, as a means of "offering the olive branch," in

4389-783: The Great Lakes region , organized following the American Revolutionary War to resist the expansion of the United States into the Northwest Territory . Members of the confederacy were ultimately removed to the present-day Oklahoma, including the Shawnee , Delaware , also called Lenape , Miami , and Kickapoo . The area of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma was used to resettle the Iowa tribe , Sac and Fox , Absentee Shawnee , Potawatomi , and Kickapoo tribes. The Council of Three Fires

4522-738: The Great Plains , subjected to extended periods of drought and high winds, and the Ozark Plateau is to the east in a humid subtropical climate zone. Tribes indigenous to the present day state of Oklahoma include both agrarian and hunter-gatherer tribes. The arrival of horses with the Spanish in the 16th century ushered in horse culture -era, when tribes could adopt a nomadic lifestyle and follow abundant bison herds. The Southern Plains villagers , an archaeological culture that flourished from 800 to 1500 AD, lived in semi-sedentary villages throughout

4655-816: The Native American tribes . The proclamation limited the settlement of Europeans to lands east of the Appalachian Mountains . The territory remained active until the Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolutionary War , and the land was ceded to the United States. The Indian Reserve was slowly reduced in size via treaties with the American colonists, and after the British defeat in the Revolutionary War,

4788-569: The South were the most prominent tribes displaced by the policy, a relocation that came to be known as the Trail of Tears during the Choctaw removals starting in 1831. The trail ended in what is now Arkansas and Oklahoma, where there were already many Indians living in the territory, as well as whites and escaped slaves. Other tribes, such as the Delaware , Cheyenne , and Apache were also forced to relocate to

4921-525: The United Keetoowah Band . The Kituwah (Middle or Eastern) dialect, which is taught at New Kituwah Academy in North Carolina, was known by ~220 Eastern Band Cherokee in 2018. In June 2019, the Tri-Council of Cherokee tribes declared a state of emergency for the language due to the threat of it going extinct, calling for the enhancement of revitalization programs. A tally by the three tribes had garnered

5054-637: The Washita River and South Canadian River in Oklahoma. Member tribes of the Caddo Confederacy lived in the eastern part of Indian Territory and are ancestors of the Caddo Nation. The Caddo people speak a Caddoan language and is a confederation of several tribes who traditionally inhabited much of what is now East Texas , North Louisiana , and portions of southern Arkansas , and Oklahoma . The tribe

5187-427: The 15 districts of the Cherokee Nation in the 14 county tribal jurisdictional area. Two tribal council members represent the at-large citizenry – those who live outside the tribe's 14-county jurisdictional area in northeastern Oklahoma. The 17 councilors total are elected to staggered four-year terms. The deputy chief serves as president of the council, and casts tie-breaking votes when necessary. The principal chief

5320-573: The 1866 treaty, the freedmen were never fully accepted as citizens of the Cherokee Nation" during the 19th and 20th centuries. A sizable number of Freedmen "were ignorant of the treaty clause which provided for their right of incorporation into the tribe." In practice, enrollment in the Cherokee Nation rolls was often strongly influenced by race. During creation of the Dawes Rolls prior to allotment of tribal communal lands to households, many freedmen and Afro-Cherokees were listed separately from Cherokee by blood, regardless of their ancestry or culture. As

5453-494: The 18th century, prior to Indian Removal by the U.S. federal government, the Kiowa , Apache , and Comanche people entered into Indian Territory from the west, and the Quapaw and Osage entered from the east. During Indian Removal of the 19th century, additional tribes received their land either by treaty via land grant from the federal government of the United States or they purchased

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5586-730: The Cherokee Family Research Center for genealogy, which is open to the public. The Cherokee Nation hosts the Cherokee National Holiday on Labor Day weekend each year, attracting 80,000 to 90,000 Cherokees to Tahlequah for the festivities. Miss Cherokee is an annual competition taking place during the Cherokee National Holiday. The Cherokee Heritage Center is home to the Cherokee National Museum, which has numerous exhibitions also open to

5719-859: The Cherokee Nation Courthouse from its legal caretakers and occupants, the Cherokee Nation Marshals, the Judicial Appeals Tribunal, and its court clerks. They ousted the lawful occupants at gunpoint. Immediately the court demanded that the courthouse be returned to the judicial branch of the Cherokee Nation, but these requests were ignored by Byrd. The Federal authorities of the United States initially refused to intervene because of potential breach of tribal sovereignty . The State of Oklahoma recognized that Byrd's activities were breaches in state law. By August 1997, it sent in state troopers and specialist anti- terrorist teams. Byrd

5852-510: The Cherokee Nation Tribal Council voted to officially define marriage as a union between a woman and man, thereby excluding same-sex marriage . This decision came in response to an application by a lesbian couple submitted on May 13. The decision kept Cherokee law in line with Oklahoma state law, which in 2004 passed a referendum on a constitutional amendment excluding gay marriage as legal. On December 9, 2016, same-sex marriage

5985-648: The Cherokee Nation Tribal Courts reinstated the Cherokee Freedmen as citizens while appeals were pending in the Cherokee Nation Courts and Federal Court. On May 22, 2007, the Cherokee Nation received notice from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs that the BIA and Federal Government had denied the amendment to the 1975 Cherokee Nation Constitution because it required BIA approval, which had not been obtained. The BIA also noted that

6118-803: The Cherokee Nation and achieved independent federal recognition as the Shawnee Tribe . Similarly, a band of Lenape joined the Cherokee Nation in 1867. On July 28, 2009, they achieved independent federal recognition as the Delaware Tribe of Indians . Many groups have sought recognition by the federal government as Cherokee tribes, but today there are only three groups so recognized. Cherokee Nation spokesman Mike Miller has said that some groups, which he calls Cherokee Heritage Groups , are encouraged. Others have created controversy by their attempts to gain economically through their claims to be Cherokee. The three federally recognized groups say that only they have

6251-403: The Cherokee Nation constitution are still being challenged after the change, most recently by Robin Mayes who appealed for a new election. On September 13, 2021, Marilyn Vann became the first Cherokee Freedmen descendant to be confirmed to a Cherokee government commission when she was appointed to the Environmental Protection Commission by Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. On June 14, 2004,

6384-439: The Cherokee Nation had excluded the Cherokee Freedmen from voting on the amendment. On this issue, the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee Nation could take away the approval authority which it had previously granted the federal government. Pending the resolution of litigation, the Cherokee Freedman had all rights as full Cherokee Nation citizens, including voting rights and access to tribal services. In early 2011,

6517-483: The Cherokee Nation in 1919. The service time for each appointed chief was so brief that it became known as "Chief for a Day". Six men fell under this category, the first being A. B. Cunningham, who served from November 8 to November 25. In the 1930s, the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration worked to improve conditions by supporting the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which encouraged tribes to reconstitute their governments and write constitutions. On August 8, 1938,

6650-421: The Cherokee Nation reservation area. In 2023, the nation's enrollment reached 450,000. In 2024, the nation released updated demographics maps showing the nation's total population in the United States was approximately 466,118. To be considered a citizen in the Cherokee Nation, an individual needs a direct ancestor listed on the Dawes Rolls as a citizen of the Nation, whether as a Cherokee Indian or as one of

6783-591: The Cherokee Nation since 1866, and their ancestors were recorded on the Dawes Commission Land Rolls (although generally in the category of Cherokee Freedmen, even if they qualified as "Cherokee by blood", as many did.) The ruling "did not limit membership to people possessing Cherokee blood," as some freedmen and their descendants had never intermarried with Cherokees. Well-known genealogist, historian, and Freedmen advocate David Cornsilk notes that other historical citizenship bases are still excluded to this day (such as an ancestor tied to an older roll). On May 15, 2007,

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6916-465: The Cherokee Nation, in accordance with the 1835 treaty, though Congress has not yet seated her. As of 2014 , the Cherokee Seed Project of the Natural Resources Department offers "two breeds of corn, two kinds of beans (including Trail of Tears beans), two gourds and medicinal tobacco" to Cherokee Nation members. Eleven satellite communities have been organized by the tribe in areas of high Cherokee Nation populations. These communities are composed of

7049-444: The Cherokee Nation. Headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma , the Cherokee Nation has a reservation spanning 14 counties in the northeastern corner of Oklahoma. These are Adair , Cherokee , Craig , Delaware , Mayes , McIntosh , Muskogee , Nowata , Ottawa , Rogers , Sequoyah , Tulsa , Wagoner , and Washington counties. After Cherokee removal on the Trail of Tears , the Cherokee Nation existed in Indian Territory . After

7182-472: The Confederacy, reducing the territory of the Five Civilized Tribes and providing land to resettle Plains Native Americans and tribes of the mid-west. General components of replacement treaties signed in 1866 include: One component of assimilation would be the distribution of property held in-common by the tribe to individual members of the tribe. The Medicine Lodge Treaty is the overall name given to three treaties signed in Medicine Lodge, Kansas between

7315-454: The Five Civilized Tribes, and others who had relocated to the Oklahoma section of Indian Territory, fought primarily on the side of the Confederacy during the American Civil War in Indian territory . Brigadier General Stand Watie , a Confederate commander of the Cherokee Nation , became the last Confederate general to surrender in the American Civil War, near the community of Doaksville on June 23, 1865. The Reconstruction Treaties signed at

7448-420: The Indian Western Confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, and imposed the Treaty of Greenville , which ceded most of what is now Ohio, part of present-day Indiana , and the lands that include present-day Chicago and Detroit , to the United States federal government . The period after the American Revolutionary War was one of rapid western expansion. The areas occupied by Native Americans in

7581-404: The Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land in the United States reserved for the forced resettlement of Native Americans . As such, it was not a traditional territory for the tribes settled upon it. The general borders were set by the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834. The territory was located in the Central United States . While Congress passed several Organic Acts that provided

7714-402: The Indian Territory was reduced to what is now Oklahoma . The Organic Act of 1890 reduced Indian Territory to the lands occupied by the Five Civilized Tribes and the Tribes of the Quapaw Indian Agency (at the borders of Kansas and Missouri). The remaining western portion of the former Indian Territory became the Oklahoma Territory . The Oklahoma Organic Act applied the laws of Nebraska to

7847-416: The Indian territory. The Five Civilized Tribes established tribal capitals in the following towns: These tribes founded towns such as Tulsa , Ardmore , Muskogee , which became some of the larger towns in the state. They also brought their African slaves to Oklahoma, which added to the African American population in the state. The Western Lakes Confederacy was a loose confederacy of tribes around

7980-450: The Indiana Potawatomi moved to present-day Osawatomie, Kansas , an event known as the Potawatomi Trail of Death . The group settling in Nebraska adapted to the Plains Indian culture but the group settling in Kansas remained steadfast to their woodlands culture . In 1867, part of the Kansas group negotiated the "Treaty of Washington with the Potawatomi" in which the Kansas Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation split and part of their land in Kansas

8113-490: The Nation sent letters to Freedmen, notifying them of their loss of citizenship and voting rights. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development froze $ 33 million in funds to the Cherokee Nation while studying the case, pursuant to a stipulation in the 2008 congressional renewal of Self-Determination Act. On September 13, 2011, the Department of the Interior strongly urged the Cherokee Nation to restore voting rights and benefits to descendants of Cherokee Freedmen, including

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8246-477: The Principal Chief. Elected in 1995, Byrd became locked in a battle of strength with the judicial branch of the Cherokee tribe. The crisis came to a head on March 22, 1997, when Byrd said in a press conference that he would decide which orders of the Cherokee Nation's Supreme Court were lawful and which were not. A simmering crisis continued over Byrd's creation of a private, armed paramilitary force. On June 20, 1997, his private militia illegally seized custody of

8379-462: The Reserve was ignored by European American settlers who slowly expanded westward . At the time of the American Revolutionary War, many Native American tribes had long-standing relationships with the British, and were loyal to Great Britain , but they had a less-developed relationship with the American colonists. After the defeat of the British in the war, the Americans twice invaded the Ohio Country and were twice defeated. They finally defeated

8512-423: The Southeast section of the US through a series of treaties. The southern part of Indian Country (what eventually became the State of Oklahoma) served as the destination for the policy of Indian removal, a policy pursued intermittently by American presidents early in the 19th century, but aggressively pursued by President Andrew Jackson after the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Five Civilized Tribes in

8645-400: The Supreme Court of the United States has now affirmed" and "This proposed legislation will cement our reservation boundaries and the broad tribal jurisdiction the Supreme Court recognized in the McGirt decision. We will continue to work with the state of Oklahoma and our federal partners to ensure the safety of the public." The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians claims it has rights to

8778-475: The U.S. and established framework of a legal system between the Caddo and the U.S. Tribal headquarters are in Binger, Oklahoma . The Wichita and Caddo both spoke Caddoan languages , as did the Kichai people , who were also indigenous to what is now Oklahoma and ultimately became part of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes . The Wichita (and other tribes) signed a treaty of friendship with the U.S. in 1835. The tribe's headquarters are in Anadarko, Oklahoma . In

8911-428: The U.S. government and southern Plains Indian tribes who would ultimately reside in the western part of Indian Territory (ultimately Oklahoma Territory). The first treaty was signed October 21, 1867, with the Kiowa and Comanche tribes. The second, with the Plains Apache , was signed the same day. The third treaty was signed with the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho on October 28. Another component of assimilation

9044-444: The United Keetoowah Band's argument is legally incorrect and only the Cherokee Nation has jurisdiction to the 14 county reservation and that the United Keetoowah Band only has jurisdiction over their 76-acres of trust land . The COVID-19 pandemic struck the Cherokee Nation hard in 2020. Hundreds of Cherokees lost their lives under the pandemic. On March 18, 2021, the Cherokee Nation held a memorial to remember those Cherokees lost to

9177-409: The United States were called Indian country. They were distinguished from " unorganized territory " because the areas were established by treaty. In 1803, the United States agreed to purchase France 's claim to French Louisiana for a total of $ 15 million (less than 3 cents per acre). President Thomas Jefferson doubted the legality of the purchase. Robert R. Livingston , the chief negotiator of

9310-415: The United States . The 1906 Oklahoma Enabling Act created the single state of Oklahoma by combining Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory, annexing and ending the existence of an unorganized independent Indian Territory as such, and formally incorporating the tribes and residents into the United States. Before Oklahoma statehood, Indian Territory from 1890 onward comprised the territorial holdings of

9443-403: The United States, while the legislature was elected by citizens residing in the territory. One elected representative was allowed a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives . The federal government took responsibility for territorial affairs. Later, the inhabitants of the territory could apply for admission as a full state. No such action was taken for the so-called Indian Territory, so that area

9576-504: The United States, with the intent of combining the Oklahoma and Indian territories into a single State of Oklahoma. The citizens of Indian Territory tried, in 1905, to gain admission to the union as the State of Sequoyah , but were rebuffed by Congress and an Administration which did not want two new Western states, Sequoyah and Oklahoma. Theodore Roosevelt then proposed a compromise that would join Indian Territory with Oklahoma Territory to form

9709-625: The United States. While the General Allotment Act had exceptions for the Five Tribes, later acts forced the Cherokee Nation to allot its reservation to members. In 1906, Congress enacted the Five Tribes Act which contemplated the dissolution of tribes, but also included a clause stating "the tribal existence and present tribal governments of [the Five Tribes] are hereby continued in full force and effect for all purposes authorized by law.” In

9842-533: The United States; and in the meantime they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the religion which they profess. This committed the U.S. government to "the ultimate, but not to the immediate, admission" of the territory as multiple states, and "postponed its incorporation into the Union to the pleasure of Congress". After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson and his successors viewed much of

9975-412: The age of 18. The Nation's current system of government was established by the constitution of 1999, which was adopted by tribal citizens in 2003, and implemented in 2006. Every 20 years, the constitution requires a vote among tribal members, to decide whether a new constitutional convention should be held. The Congress of the United States , the federal courts, and state courts have repeatedly upheld

10108-506: The boundaries of the present-day U.S. state of Oklahoma , and the primary residents of the territory were members of the Five Civilized Tribes or Plains tribes that had been relocated to the western part of the territory on land leased from the Five Civilized Tribes. In 1861, the U.S. abandoned Fort Washita , leaving the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations defenseless against the Plains tribes. Later

10241-575: The confused (and confusing) nature of surviving documents." The Cherokee Nation has legislative, executive and judicial branches with executive power vested in the Principal Chief , legislative power in the Tribal Council , and judicial power in the Tribal Supreme Court. The Principal Chief, Deputy Chief, and Tribal Council are elected to four-year terms by the registered tribal voters over

10374-498: The dispute. In 2021, Shawna Baker , a justice on the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court, published the written opinion, Effect of Cherokee Nation v. Nash & Vann v. Zinke , CNSC-2017-07. The Supreme Court then ruled to remove the words "by blood" from its constitution and other legal doctrines because "[t]he words, added to the constitution in 2007, have been used to exclude Black people whose ancestors were enslaved by

10507-459: The early 20th century, courts interpreted the legislation as having dissolved tribal governments, but by the late 1970s courts shifted their interpretations to finding tribal government had never been disestablished. After the near dissolution of the tribal government of the Cherokee Nation in the 1900s and the death of William Charles Rogers in 1917, the Federal government began to appoint chiefs to

10640-416: The eighth-graders showed proficiency in math, and 78% showed proficiency in reading. The Oklahoma Department of Education listed the charter school as a Targeted Intervention school, meaning the school was identified as a low-performing school but has not so that it was a Priority School. Ultimately, the school made a C, or a 2.33 grade point average on the state's A-F report card system. The report card shows

10773-516: The end of the Civil War fundamentally changed the relationship between the tribes and the U.S. government. The Reconstruction era played out differently in Indian Territory and for Native Americans than for the rest of the country. In 1862, Congress passed a law that allowed the president, by proclamation, to cancel treaties with Indian Nations siding with the Confederacy (25 USC 72). The United States House Committee on Territories (created in 1825)

10906-614: The executive branch by the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Marshal, the Treasurer, and several group leaders. The government's functions are divided into several Groups, each headed by a Group Leader. These groups are further divided into several Service Areas which provide governmental services to the Cherokee people. As of July 2011, there are fifteen groups: The executive branch

11039-548: The federal court in the Freedmen case of Nero v. Cherokee Nation held that the Cherokee Nation could legally determine its own citizenship requirements, even if that meant excluding descendants of freedmen who had formerly been considered citizens. But on March 7, 2006, the Cherokee Nation Judicial Appeal Tribunal ruled that the Cherokee Freedmen were eligible for Cherokee citizenship. The Cherokee Freedman had historically been recorded as "citizens" of

11172-495: The founding families were Cherokee by blood from 1850 and into contemporary periods the community has evolved into a distinct multitribal band with large percentages of Yowani Choctaw , Chickasaw and Muscogee Creek Indians. The Mount Tabor Indian Community was recognized as a tribe by the State of Texas in 2017. Cherokee descendants of the Mount Tabor Indian Community must trace lineal descent from one or more of

11305-491: The land receiving fee simple recorded title . Many of the tribes forcibly relocated to Indian Territory were from Southeastern United States , including the so-called Five Civilized Tribes or Cherokee , Chickasaw , Choctaw , Muscogee Creeks , and Seminole , but also the Natchez , Yuchi , Alabama , Koasati , and Caddo people . Between 1814 and 1840, the Five Civilized Tribes had gradually ceded most of their lands in

11438-605: The land west of the Mississippi River as a place to resettle the Native Americans, so that white settlers would be free to live in the lands east of the river. Indian removal became the official policy of the United States government with the passage of the 1830 Indian Removal Act , formulated by President Andrew Jackson . When Louisiana became a state in 1812, the remaining territory was renamed Missouri Territory to avoid confusion. Arkansaw Territory , which included

11571-592: The legal right to present themselves as Cherokee Indian Tribes. Prior to 1975, the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands- Mount Tabor Indian Community (TCAB-MTIC) were considered a part of the Cherokee Nation, as reflected in briefs filed before the Indian Claims Commission . While W.W. Keeler served as Chief of the Cherokee Nation, he also was Chairman of the TCAB Executive Committee. The TCAB

11704-622: The name Oklahoma, which derives from the Choctaw phrase okla , 'people', and humma , translated as 'red'. He envisioned an all–American Indian state controlled by the tribes and overseen by the United States Superintendent of Indian Affairs . Oklahoma later became the de facto name for Oklahoma Territory , and it was officially approved in 1890, two years after that area was opened to white settlers. The Oklahoma Organic Act of 1890 created an organized Oklahoma Territory of

11837-706: The nation. As of 2018, 360,589 people were enrolled in the Cherokee Nation as citizens. Citizens live in every state, with 2018 populations of 240,417 in Oklahoma, 22,124 in California, 18,406 in Texas, 12,734 in Arkansas, 11,014 in Kansas, and less than 10,000 in each other state. By 2021, enrollment reached 400,000, making the Cherokee Nation the second most populous tribe, closely behind the Navajo Nation . About 140,000 citizens live in

11970-624: The organized Oklahoma Territory, and the laws of Arkansas to the still unorganized Indian Territory, since for years the federal U.S. District Court on the eastern borderline in Ft. Smith, Arkansas had criminal and civil jurisdiction over the territory. The concept of an Indian territory is the successor to the British Indian Reserve , a British American territory established by the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that set aside land for use by

12103-615: The practice of Gadugi and self-reliance, revitalized language immersion programs for its children and youth, and is a powerful and positive economic and political force in Eastern Oklahoma. In the early 21st century, the tribe assumed control of W. W. Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah, previously operated by the US Indian Health Service . The Cherokee Nation has gotten positive feedback on their COVID-19 response in comparison to

12236-409: The present State of Arkansas plus much of the state of Oklahoma, was created out of the southern part of Missouri Territory in 1819. During negotiations with the Choctaw in 1820 for the Treaty of Doak's Stand , Andrew Jackson ceded more of Arkansas Territory to the Choctaw than he realized, from what is now Oklahoma into Arkansas, east of Ft. Smith, Arkansas . The General Survey Act of 1824 allowed

12369-599: The present states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and part of Iowa. Before the 1871 Indian Appropriations Act , much of what was called Indian Territory was a large area in the central part of the United States whose boundaries were set by treaties between the US Government and various indigenous tribes. After 1871, the Federal Government dealt with Indian Tribes through statute; the 1871 Indian Appropriations Act also stated that "hereafter no Indian nation or tribe within

12502-516: The process of enrollment late in the nineteenth century and the modern procedure of obtaining membership in the Cherokee Nation, both of which require tracing and individuals’ lineage to a ‘Cherokee by blood.’" Thus, the Dawes Roll itself still upholds "by blood" language and theory. Mark Edwin Miller acknowledges in his work that many of descent people left the tribes and "assimilated into existing, non-tribal (if also nonwhite) communities," and thus, without

12635-717: The public. The CHC is the repository for the Cherokee Nation as its National Archives. The CHC operates under the Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc., and is governed by a board of trustees with an executive committee. The nation also supports the Cherokee Nation Film Festivals in Tahlequah and participates in the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah . Ethno-musicologists such as Gertrude Prokosch Kurath and Charlotte Heth ,

12768-553: The purchase, however, believed that the 3rd article of the treaty of the Louisiana Purchase would be acceptable to Congress . The 3rd article stated, in part: the inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incorporated in the Union of the United States, and admitted as soon as possible, according to the principles of the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of

12901-467: The reservation as well as a "successor of interest" because they allege the original Cherokee Nation was "sunset" after "the last of its original members who signed the Dawes Roll died in 2012 at age 107." Therefore, the current Cherokee Nation is no longer the same Cherokee Nation that made the agreements with the federal government, it is only a "successor" like the UKB are. However, the Cherokee Nation has argued

13034-506: The rest of the US. Since 1992, the Nation has served on Inter-Tribal Environmental Council . The mission of ITEC is to protect the health of Native Americans, their natural resources and their environment as it relates to air, land and water. To accomplish this mission, ITEC provides technical support, training, and environmental services in a variety of environmental disciplines. The Cherokee Nation participates in numerous joint programs with

13167-576: The right to vote in the special election for principal chief, at the risk of violating its constitution and the US Constitution. On September 14, the Cherokee AG recommended reinstatement of the Freedmen, pending a hearing for oral arguments. On September 20, Judge Henry Kennedy of the US District Court announced the Cherokee Nation, Freedmen plaintiffs and US government had come to an agreement in

13300-526: The rights of Indians to continue their separate tribal governments, and vocally championed opening the area to white settlement while campaigning for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Some historians argued Seward's words steered many tribes, notably the Cherokee and the Choctaw into an alliance with the Confederate States. At the beginning of the Civil War , Indian Territory had been essentially reduced to

13433-589: The same year, the Confederate States of America signed a Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws . Ultimately, the Five Civilized Tribes and other tribes that had been relocated to the area, signed treaties of friendship with the Confederacy. During the Civil War, Congress gave the U.S. president the authority to, if a tribe was "in a state of actual hostility to the government of the United States... and, by proclamation, to declare all treaties with such tribe to be abrogated by such tribe"(25 USC Sec. 72). Members of

13566-465: The school getting an F in mathematics achievement and mathematics growth, a C in social studies achievement, a D in reading achievement, and an A in reading growth and student attendance. "The C we made is tremendous," said school principal Holly Davis, "[t]here is no English instruction in our school's younger grades, and we gave them this test in English." She said she had anticipated the low grade because it

13699-645: The six progenitor families. All Cherokees are documented through ancestral enrollment on either the Old Settler Payment Roll or the Guion Miller Roll. The Cherokee Nation controls Cherokee Nation Businesses , a holding company which owns companies in gaming , construction, aerospace and defense, manufacturing, technology, real estate, and healthcare industries. The Nation also operates its own housing authority and issues Tribal vehicle and boat tags. The Cherokee Nation's estimated annual economic impact

13832-460: The sovereignty of Native Tribes, defining their relationship in political rather than racial terms, and have stated it is a compelling interest of the United States. This principle of self-government and tribal sovereignty is controversial. According to the Boston College sociologist and Cherokee, Eva Marie Garroutte, up to 32 separate definitions of "Indian" are used in federal legislation, as of

13965-584: The structure of the tribal council, and removed the need to ask the Bureau of Indian Affairs' permission to amend the constitution. The tribe and Bureau of Indian Affairs negotiated changes to the new constitution, and it was ratified in 2003. Confusion resulted when the US Secretary of the Interior would not approve it. To overcome the impasse, the Cherokee Nation voted by referendum to amend its 1975/1976 Constitution "to remove Presidential approval authority," allowing

14098-470: The territories were: Kansas became a state in 1861, and Nebraska became a state in 1867. In 1890 the Oklahoma Organic Act created Oklahoma Territory out of the western part of Indian Territory, in anticipation of admitting both Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory as a future single State of Oklahoma. Some in federal leadership, such as Secretary of State William H. Seward did not believe in

14231-411: The territory of the United States shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States may contract by treaty: Provided, further, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to invalidate or impair the obligation of any treaty heretofore lawfully made and ratified with any such Indian nation or tribe". The Indian Appropriations Act also made it

14364-506: The tribal district court ruled that the special election in 2007 on the constitutional amendment was unconstitutional, as it excluded Freedmen from voting. The Nation appealed. On August 22, 2011, the Cherokee Supreme Court upheld the results of the 2007 special election. Chuck Trimble, a former executive director of the National Congress of American Indians , characterized the decision as the "Cherokee Dred Scott Decision", for depriving

14497-491: The tribe convened a general convention in Fairfield, Oklahoma to elect a Chief. They chose J. B. Milam as principal chief. President Franklin D. Roosevelt confirmed the election in 1941. W. W. Keeler was appointed chief in 1949. After the U.S. government under President Richard Nixon had adopted a self-determination policy, the nation was able to rebuild its government. The people elected W. W. Keeler as chief. Keeler, who

14630-511: The tribe from obtaining full Cherokee Nation citizenship rights." However, all citizenship is still based on finding an ancestor tied to the Dawes Rolls, which is not without its own controversy apart from blood quantum. Some people of descent are still excluded, like the author Shonda Buchanan who states in her memoir Black Indian that she has ancestors on Cherokee Rolls that were not the Dawes, so would thus still not be recognized. The changes to

14763-513: The tribe to independently ratify and amend its own constitution. As of August 9, 2007, the BIA gave the Cherokee Nation consent to amend its Constitution without approval from the Department of the Interior. The Cherokee freedmen , descendants of African American slaves owned by citizens of the Cherokee Nation during the Antebellum Period , were first guaranteed Cherokee citizenship under

14896-570: The tribe's jurisdiction. On July 9, 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a 5–4 decision that the original treaties, and promise of a reservation, with the Five Civilized Tribes (specifically the Muscogee in McGirt v. Oklahoma ) were never withdrawn. This decision allowed for the restoration of the reservation status of the Cherokee Nation in a later decision. The majority opinion

15029-431: The two must be a lawyer and the other must not be. A seventh member is chosen jointly by the three branches of government. Current members of the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court are: The Cherokee Nation also has the right to appoint a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives , per the 1835 Treaty of New Echota . In 2019, Kimberly Teehee was appointed the first ever delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from

15162-435: The use of the Dawes Roll to determine membership, stating that at one point he was only a registered voter in the Nation but did not actually hold a CDIB card as required by the nation, leading him to leave the tribe for the UKB, which required less "documentation" at the time, but still required blood quantum. Conley condemns the Dawes Rolls for "being inefficient, faulty, even fraudulent" and stating that if "the Cherokee Nation

15295-733: The virus. The memorial honored 107 Cherokees including more than 50 Cherokee first-language speaking elders. On August 3, 2021, the Cherokee Nation Health Services suspended elective surgeries after experiencing an 80% increase in COVID-19 cases. It also activated its "surge plan" for W.W. Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah, Oklahoma . The "surge plan" increases the in-patient capacity of the hospital by 50% by reallocating non- Intensive Care Unit space to emergency room space. The COVID-19 delta variant accounted for 80% of new cases in

15428-587: The western part of Indian Territory, where they farmed maize and hunted buffalo. They are likely ancestors of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes . The ancestors of the Wichita have lived in the eastern Great Plains from the Red River north to Nebraska for at least 2,000 years. The early Wichita people were hunters and gatherers who gradually adopted agriculture. By about 900 AD, farming villages began to appear on terraces above

15561-508: The words of the UKB Council. While a date was set for the meeting between council members of the Cherokee Nation and UKB, Chief Chad Smith vetoed the meeting. The "Loyal Shawnee," Shawnee people who sided with the Union Army during the American Civil War , were forcibly removed from Kansas, and 722 Loyal Shawnee joined the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory in 1869. In 2000, they left

15694-660: Was added in November 2021, when the school purchased Greasy School in Greasy, Oklahoma , located in southern Adair County ten miles south of Stilwell . Situated in largest area of Cherokee speakers in the world, the opportunity for that campus is for students to spend the day in an immersion school and then return to a Cherokee-speaking home. 35°50′45″N 95°00′15″W  /  35.84570°N 95.00428°W  / 35.84570; -95.00428 Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( Cherokee : ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ Tsalagihi Ayeli or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ Tsalagiyehli ), formerly known as

15827-527: Was also the president of Phillips Petroleum , was succeeded by Ross Swimmer . In 1975, the tribe drafted a constitution, under the name Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, which was ratified on June 26, 1976. In 1985 Wilma Mankiller was elected as the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Nation was seriously destabilized in May 1997 in what was variously described as either a nationalist "uprising" or an "anti-constitutional coup" instigated by Joe Byrd ,

15960-715: Was an outcome of the U.S. federal government's 18th- and 19th-century policy of Indian removal . After the American Civil War (1861–1865), the policy of the U.S. government was one of assimilation . Indian Territory later came to refer to an unorganized territory whose general borders were initially set by the Nonintercourse Act of 1834, and was the successor to the remainder of the Missouri Territory after Missouri received statehood. The borders of Indian Territory were reduced in size as various Organic Acts were passed by Congress to create organized territories of

16093-582: Was effectively extinguished. However, in 2020, the United States Supreme Court prompted a review of tribal lands through its decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma . Subsequently, almost the entire eastern half of Oklahoma was found to have remained Indian country . Indian Territory marks the confluence of the Southern Plains and Southeastern Woodlands cultural regions . Its western region is part of

16226-504: Was examining the effectiveness of the policy of Indian removal, which was after the war considered to be of limited effectiveness. It was decided that a new policy of Assimilation would be implemented. To implement the new policy, the Southern Treaty Commission was created by Congress to write new treaties with the Tribes siding with the Confederacy. After the Civil War the Southern Treaty Commission re-wrote treaties with tribes that sided with

16359-557: Was formed as a political organization in 1871 by William Penn Adair and Clement Neely Vann, for descendants of the Texas Cherokees and the Mount Tabor Community . They wanted to gain redress from treaty violations, stemming from the Treaty of Bowles Village of 1836. Following the Cherokee Nation's 1976 ratification of their 1975 constitution, it excluded from tribal citizenship those Mount Tabor descendants whose ancestors had remained

16492-491: Was held by justices Sonia Sotomayor , Ruth Bader Ginsburg , Elena Kagan , Stephen Breyer , and Neil Gorsuch . Hogner v. Oklahoma was decided on March 11, 2021 in Oklahoma Courts and found that the Cherokee Nation "reservation was established and had never been disestablished." Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. said: "We have long held that Cherokee Nation has a reservation, rooted in our treaties, as

16625-428: Was homesteading. The Homestead Act of 1862 was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln . The Act gave an applicant freehold title to an area called a "homestead" – typically 160 acres (65 hectares or one-fourth section ) of undeveloped federal land . Within Indian Territory, as lands were removed from communal tribal ownership, a land patent (or first-title deed) was given to tribal members. The remaining land

16758-467: Was legalized through an opinion by Todd Hembree, the Cherokee Nation's attorney general. In the opinion, Hembree stated that the 2004 law violated the Cherokee Constitution, which requires equal treatment of tribal citizens. He issued the opinion because the director of the tribe's tax commission sought a decision as to whether the tribe could issue a vehicle tag to a same-sex couple married outside

16891-586: Was not treated as a legal territory. The reduction of the land area of Indian Territory (or Indian Country, as defined in the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834), the successor of Missouri Territory began almost immediately after its creation with: Indian Country was reduced to the approximate boundaries of the current state of Oklahoma by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854, which created Kansas Territory and Nebraska Territory . The key boundaries of

17024-576: Was once part of the Caddoan Mississippian culture and thought to be an extension of woodland period peoples who started inhabiting the area around 200 BC. In an 1835 Treaty made at the agency-house in the Caddo Nation and state of Louisiana , the Caddo Nation sold their tribal lands to the U.S. In 1846, the Caddo, along with several other tribes, signed a treaty that made the Caddo a protectorate of

17157-471: Was reported to be 141 in August 2018. There were 1,520 Cherokee speakers out of 376,000 Cherokee in 2018 according to Ethnologue , which classified the language as " moribund ", meaning children are not learning and speaking the language. Only a handful of people under 40 years of age are fluent, and about 8 speakers die each month. In 2018, 1,200 speakers were present in the Cherokee Nation and 101 were present in

17290-572: Was required to attend a meeting in Washington, DC with the Bureau of Indian Affairs , at which he was compelled to reopen the courts. He served the remainder of his elected term. In 1999, Byrd lost the election for Principal Chief to Chad Smith but was elected to the Tribal Council in 2013. A new constitution was drafted in 1999 that included mechanisms for voters to remove officials from offices, changed

17423-537: Was sold on a first-come basis, typically by land run , with settlers also receiving a land patent type deed. For these now former Indian lands, the United States General Land Office distributed the sales funds to the various tribal entities, according to previously negotiated terms. It was in 1866 during treaty negotiations with the federal government on the use of the land, that Choctaw Nation Chief Kiliahote suggested that Indian Territory be given

17556-495: Was sold, purchasing land near present-day Shawnee, Oklahoma , they became the Citizen Potawatomi Nation . The Odawa tribe first purchased lands near Ottawa, Kansas , residing there until 1867 when they sold their lands in Kansas and purchased land in an area administered by the Quapaw Indian Agency in Ottawa County, Oklahoma , becoming the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma . The Peoria tribe , native to Southern Illinois , moved south to Missouri then and Kansas , where they joined

17689-488: Was the school's first year as a state-funded charter school , and many students had difficulty with English. Eighth graders who graduate from the Tahlequah immersion school are fluent speakers of the language, and they usually go on to attend Sequoyah High School where classes are taught in both English and Cherokee. In 2022 it was scheduled to occupy the future Durbin Feeling Language Center. The groundbreaking ceremony for that building occurred in May 2021. A second campus

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