I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2761 
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 8, 2009 
Ms. WATSON (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, 
Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CLAY, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. 
TOWNS, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, and Mr. FATTAH) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, 
and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned 
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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(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 
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Nation, 30 CT Cl. 138, 180 (CT Cl. 1895)); 
and 
(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 
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approval for their voting laws for selection of the 
principal chief. The Department of the Interior 
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 
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constitution. The new constitution removed the re-
quirement that the United States Department of the 
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 
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ruled in a 2–1 decision that the Cherokee Freedmen 
were entitled to citizenship pursuant to the 1975 
Cherokee Nation constitution. Pursuant to the new 
May 2003 constitution, which still has not been ap-
proved by the Department of the Interior, the ille-
gally elected Principal Chief appointed two addi-
tional judges to the Supreme Court. The panel of 
five Supreme Court judges ruled in a 3–2 decision 
that the Cherokee Nation could hold a vote on the 
tribal status of the Cherokee Freedmen. 
(14) Operating under the unapproved Constitu-
tion, the Cherokee Nation held an election in March 
2007, to remove the Cherokee Freedmen from the 
Cherokee Nation. In a vote of less than 4 percent of 
the total Cherokee Nation population, the voters 
elected to remove Cherokee Freedmen not on the 
Dawes blood rolls from the Nation. 
(15) In May 2007, the Cherokee Nation leader-
ship determined that it would allow registered 
Freedmen to vote in the June 23, 2007, election for 
tribal officers. Despite the Cherokee Nation’s deci-
sion to allow Freedmen to vote, Freedmen’s rights 
as members of the Cherokee Nation are severely re-
stricted: Freedmen are not allowed to run for office 
in the June 2007 election in violation of the Treaty 
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of 1866; the registration of Freedmen entitled to 
Cherokee citizenship under the 1906 Dawes Rolls 
has been halted; and the election is to be held under 
provisions of an unapproved constitution and in vio-
lation of the 1970 Principal Chiefs Act that requires 
the Cherokee leadership to submit its voting require-
ments for the election to the Secretary of the Inte-
rior for his approval. Further, the actions of the 
Cherokee Nation in halting citizenship application 
processing and voter registration of Freedmen have 
disproportionately reduced the number of Freedmen 
voters that can participate in the election. 
(16) The manner in which the Cherokee Nation 
is conducting the relationship between the United 
States and the tribal entity is not in the best inter-
est of the United States Government, citizens of the 
Cherokee Nation, and violates existing treaties and 
laws governing the relationship between the United 
States Government and the Cherokee Nation. 
(17) Current efforts of the Cherokee Nation to 
expel members of the Cherokee Freedmen from the 
tribal rolls and abolish Department of the Interior 
oversight are being pursued in violation of the treaty 
rights extended to the Cherokee Freedmen in a trea-
ty agreement between the United States and Cher-
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