Indian Voters Send Obama And Black Caucus Message: Get Off Our Back!

Native Americans across the country are getting fed up with the double talk coming from presidential candidate Barack Obama saying he supports the sovereign status of tribal governments while supporting the Congressional Black Caucus on several bills that include terminating federal recognition of the Oklahoma Cherokee Nation.

The CBC Caucus members are beating their chest on capitol hill demanding that Congress and Senate members back them in denying federal health care, school and housing funds for citizens of the Cherokee Nation. The CBC Caucus is upset over Cherokee citizens voting to reinstate its' Cherokee blood quantum heritage as a requirement to be a citizen of their Indian Nation. Cherokees are stating: "the federal government broke all treaties made with their nation, no federal treaty can dictate who can or cannot be a citizen of any Indian Nation!"

Cherokees are claiming the Freedmen group and CBC members are falsely framing the Cherokee issue as racist toward an Oklahoma Freedmen group. Fact is, African Americans with proven Cherokee heritage are citizens of the nation. The only so called Freedmen that have not to date proven their Cherokee blood heritage to the nation were affected by the Cherokee Nation's citizenship vote last year.

The CBC is creating a racial divide between Native Americans and African Americans over it's Federal action against an Indian Nation. Native Americans walked side by side with African Americans in the sixties for both groups civil rights movement. The CBC now sees fit to take a different road over unity between the two groups.

Native Americans are pointing out the lack of support and non-action from the CBC on Indian community issues before Congress over the past several years. The CBC stands firm on getting it's fair share of federal funding for inner-urban city support programs covering health, education, housing and poverty; while it's forty three caucus members block the Native American Housing and Self Determination Act now before the U.S. Senate. The CBC is blocking funding that would greatly help millions of First American Indian men, women and children to include care for the elderly.

The Native American Housing and Self Determination Act provide's Federal assistance for Native American tribes while also recognizing their right to tribal self-governance. Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. This is where political double talk gets it's meaning. While campaigning, Obama tells Native Americans he supports their full sovereignty tribal nation rights while supporting the CBC blocking funding and calling for the termination of an Indian Nation.

Obama and the CBC caucus are fully aware that the federal government today is still fighting in federal court not to honor promises made to disenrolled Utah Uinta Band of Indians, in fact federal officials have pushed to have their case dismissed. Congresswoman Watson, member of the CBC and calling for the termination of the Cherokee Nation has seen fit to turn her back on the disenrolled Uinta Band Indians to include disenrolled Indians in her own state of California that clearly have tribal documented blood quantum to their tribal nation.

The Cherokee Nation citizenship issue is before Tribal courts and Federal courts at this time. There should be no action from Federal elected representatives trying to block funds going to any Tribal Nation over their internal government policies voted on by their tribal citizens.

Our country is in an election year. Americans across the board are having a hard time making it out here. Native Americans find it inhuman, insulting and hard to believe that any Federal caucus would see fit to block funding that would help Americas poorest in our nation. Native Americans are watching this issue closely all across America. We expect our elected representatives to fully support our tribal nations self-determination and sovereignty rights.

Political Historical Note:

The word "Caucus" is derived from the Algonquin Indian language and means, "A group of people united to promote an agreed upon cause."

List of CBC caucus Cherokee funding bills being blocked:

H.R.2786 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.02786:

H.R.2895 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.02895:

H.R.2824 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.02824:

H.R.3002 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.03002:

S.1200 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.01200:

Mike Graham, Citizen Oklahoma Cherokee Nation

Founder United Native America www.UnitedNativeAmerica.com