Cherokee Nation Delegate to be Considered

 


Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. /Delegate Nominee Kimberly Teehee

The Treaty of New Echota was signed in 1835 between the United States government and the Cherokee Nation. The government paid $5 million for all Cherokee lands east of the Mississippi and forcibly removed the Cherokee people. This was the beginning of the infamous Trail of Tears where one-fourth of the Cherokee Nation perished. The treaty also gave the Cherokee the right to send a delegate to Congress, “whenever Congress shall make provision for same.”

The Cherokee are now, almost 200 years later, asking Congress for that nonvoting seat in the House of Representatives. There are currently six other nonvoting seats which include Washington, D.C. and the territories of American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. is asking the government to make good on its promise. Upon his election in 2019, Chief Hoskin chose Kimberly Teehee as the delegate. Teehee was an Obama adviser on tribal issues and has worked with Congress and the executive branch for over twenty years. Teehee wants to be a voice for millions of natives across all 50 states.

The role would allow the delegate to sit on legislative committees, sponsor legislation, meet with Cabinet officials, advocate for policy positions, and collect funding earmarks. Since the Senate passed the treaty, a resolution must now be passed by the House of Representatives to finalize this term of the treaty.

The House Rules Committee plans to debate the delegate question in the lame duck session after the November 8 election. One of the leaders of this committee, Tom Cole (R-OK), is an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation.

On the other side of the coin, Cole points out that there will be questions from the House. One is that members of the House have always been elected, whereas Chief Hoskin and the tribal legislature have ratified their choice of Teehee. Another objection is that in the divided environment of the House, this question could be seen as a partisan issue as Teehee is a Democrat. Cole also pointed out the question of dual representation. The council selects a delegate and then the people are also represented by the elected Congressman of their district. A legal question to be considered is that once Oklahoma was Indian Territory and now it is a state.

Although the Cherokee tribe would like a vote before the end of the year, the many legal and administrative questions may prevent that from happening.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/06/cherokee-delegate-seat-congress/

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/03/us/cherokees-congress-delegate-treaty.html

Cherokees Ask US Govt.pdf

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/27/us/cherokee-nation-push-for-congress-delegate-cec

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/05/cherokee-nation-representative-house/

 

 

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