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| In a lost edition of "School House Rock," n animated piece of paper explains Cherokee Blood Law | . |
At the last council meeting, they went all School House Rock and showed us how a bill becomes a law. Importantly, the council decided that, since APCSJC went to federal court and made a deal that was against Cherokee Nation law, the council needed be a little more involved in these sorts of decisions from now on.
So they passed a law that puts the council in the middle of any decision in which the Cherokee Nation lets another tribe put land into trust within our jurisdiction-- which, as we pointed out, is a big deal right now because the UKB is trying to put their illegal casino into trust status and the tribal council wasn’t informed.
Attorney General Diane Hammons told the Cherokee Phoenix that she was planning on filing a protest to the application.
As speaker of the council Meredith Frailey pointed out, “This is pretty serious stuff when another tribe comes within our jurisdiction and tries to put land in trust.”
Deputy Speaker Cara Cowan-Watts took it upon herself to send the BIA a letter herself, just to make sure they knew that we are “adamantly opposed to any other tribe putting land into trust within the legal and sovereign boundaries of the Cherokee Nation.”
While Baker hasn’t commented on how tough he will be on his buddy George Wickliffe who is trying to carve out a piece of Cherokee Nation for himself and the UKB, Baker's Choctaw aide Kayln Free told the Cherokee Phoenix, “Chief Baker will always protect and defend the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation and will aggressively defend the Nation’s boundaries and any encroachment within those boundaries.”
If so, the council’s vote might be unnecessary. But it’s not guaranteed, and it’s not a bad idea to make sure that all branches of the Cherokee Nation government involved and someone can’t singlehandedly decide to give our land away.
As some council members pointed out in committee meetings, that kind of thing used to get people killed. In this day and age, the least our elected officials should do is to follow the lead of Cowan-Watts and send an angry letter.
