I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2824 
To sever United States’ government relations with the Cherokee Nation of 
Oklahoma until such time as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma restores 
full tribal citizenship to the Cherokee Freedmen disenfranchised in the 
March 3, 2007, Cherokee Nation vote and fulfills all its treaty obligations 
with the Government of the United States, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 21, 2007 
Ms. WATSON (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, 
Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CLAY, Ms. LEE, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. 
AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. FATTAH, and Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Re-
sources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To sever United States’ government relations with the Cher-
okee Nation of Oklahoma until such time as the Cher-
okee Nation of Oklahoma restores full tribal citizenship 
to the Cherokee Freedmen disenfranchised in the March 
3, 2007, Cherokee Nation vote and fulfills all its treaty 
obligations with the Government of the United States, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) In the 1830s, members of the Cherokee Na-
tion were removed from their lands in the south-
eastern United States and forced to migrate to 
Oklahoma along a route known as the Trail of 
Tears. Among those persons forced to migrate were 
the Black slaves of Cherokees, free Blacks married 
to Cherokees, and the children of mixed-race fami-
lies, known now as the ‘‘Black Cherokees’’. 
(2) In 1861, the Cherokee Nation executed a 
treaty with the Confederate States of America, 
thereby severing its relations with the United States 
Government. Members of the Cherokee Nation held 
positions in the Congress and military of the Con-
federate States of America and waged war against 
the United States during the Civil War. 
(3) Following the Civil War, the United States 
reestablished relations with the Cherokee Nation 
through the Treaty of 1866. The Treaty of 1866 de-
clared that the Black Cherokees, also known as 
‘‘Cherokee Freedmen’’, were to be made citizens of 
the Cherokee Nation and to have all the rights of 
Cherokees. 
(4) The Treaty of 1866 further guarantees the 
following: 
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(A) Laws ‘‘shall be uniform throughout 
said nation’’ and that if ‘‘any law, either in its 
provisions or in the manner of its enforcement, 
in the opinion of the President of the United 
States, operate unjustly in [the Freedmen] dis-
trict, he is hereby authorized and empowered to 
correct such evil.’’. 
(B) The Cherokee Freedmen are given the 
right to elect officials and to representation 
‘‘according to numbers’’ on the national council. 
(5) Following the Treaty of 1866, the Cherokee 
National Council amended its constitution to guar-
antee the Cherokee Freedmen full rights as citizens 
of the Cherokee Nation. 
(6) Also following the Treaty of 1866, the 
Courts upheld the Cherokee Freedmen’s treaty 
rights, including— 
(A) in 1895, the Court of Claims held that 
the Cherokee Freedmen were entitled to share 
in the tribe’s land sale proceeds and the Cher-
okee Nation’s sovereignty could not be exercised 
in a manner that breached the nation’s treaty 
obligations to the United States (Whitmire, 
Trustee for the Cherokee Freedmen v. Cherokee 
Nation, 30 CT Cl. 138, 180 (CT Cl. 1895); and 
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(B) in 1906, the Supreme Court noted 
that the Cherokee Freedmen are citizens of the 
Cherokee Nation entitled to the same property 
rights as other members of the Cherokee Na-
tion under the Treaty of 1866 (Red Bird v. 
United States, 203 U.S. 76, 84). 
(7) In a December 19, 2006, ruling in Vann v. 
Kempthorne, the United States District Court for 
the District of Columbia found that in 1906, the 
Dawes Commission registered members of the Cher-
okee Nation under separate categories: the ‘‘Freed-
men Roll’’ for the Black Cherokees and the ‘‘Blood 
Roll’’ for other Cherokees. Individuals possessing Af-
rican blood were placed on the Freedmen Roll, where 
no levels of Indian blood were recorded. Those pos-
sessing no African blood were placed on the Blood 
Roll, where levels of Indian blood were recorded. The 
Dawes Commission declared that persons recorded 
on the Freedmen Roll were on equal footing with 
those on the Blood Roll. 
(8) In 1970, Congress passed the ‘‘Principal 
Chiefs Act’’ requiring the Chickasaw, Choctaw, 
Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee Nations to obtain 
approval for their voting laws for selection of the 
principal chief. The Department of the Interior 
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drafted a policy stating that it was not necessary 
that each of these groups have identical or similar 
regulations, but that three conditions are deemed 
fundamental to the democratic selection of a prin-
cipal tribal official. One of the three conditions stip-
ulated by the Department is that voter qualifications 
of the Cherokees must be broad enough to include 
the enrolled Cherokee Freedmen citizens. 
(9) In May 2003, the Cherokee Nation held an 
election for its officers and ratification of a new con-
stitution. The vote proposed to amend the 1999 con-
stitution of the Cherokee Nation by removing the re-
quirement that the United States Department of the 
Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs approve 
amendments to the Cherokee Nation Constitution. 
The Cherokee Freedmen were not permitted to vote 
or run for office. The election violated the Treaty of 
1866, the 13th Amendment to the United States 
Constitution, the Principal Chiefs Act of 1970, and 
the Department of the Interior’s guidance on the 
ratification of a new constitution. 
(10) In May 2003, the Cherokee Nation held an 
election for its officers and the ratification of a new 
constitution. The new constitution removed the re-
quirement that the United States Department of the 
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Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs approve 
amendments to the Cherokee Nation constitution. 
The Cherokee Freedmen were not permitted to vote 
in this election. The election violated the Treaty of 
1866, the 13th Amendment to the United States 
Constitution, and the Principal Chiefs Act of 1970. 
(11) The Department of the Interior has not 
recognized the May 2003 vote to amend the Cher-
okee Nation’s constitution. The Cherokee Nation has 
subsequently removed its request for approval from 
the Department of the Interior. 
(12) Currently, the Cherokee Nation operates 
under a Principal Chief elected in violation to the 
1970 Principal Chiefs Act and Treaty of 1866, a 
National Council constituted without Cherokee 
Freedmen representatives in violation of the Treaty 
of 1866, and a Constitution not approved by the 
United States pursuant to Article XV, Section 10 of 
the 1975 Cherokee Nation Constitution. 
(13) In May 2003, the Cherokee Nation re-
named its highest court, formerly named the Judi-
cial Appeals Tribunal and newly renamed the Su-
preme Court, after the Judicial Appeals Tribunal 
ruled in a 2–1 decision that the Cherokee Freedmen 
were entitled to citizenship pursuant to the 1975 
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