he Cherokee Nation was promised a delegate in the U.S. House as part of its forced 19th century removal from its ancestral lands. It's time America lived up to its word.
The House Rules Committee will hold a hearing at 9 a.m. Wednesday about the effort to seat a Cherokee Nation delegate.
For three years, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. has pushed the federal government to fulfill an ignored part of the 1835 Treaty of New Echota. The treaty contains condescending language and became the catalyst for the Trail of Tears genocide.
But the treaty makes clear its intent about a congressional delegate. This was a point negotiated in good faith between the Cherokee Nation and U.S. government but never acted upon.
"The Cherokee Nation having already made great progress in civilization and deeming it important that every proper and laudable inducement should be offered to their people to improve their condition as well as to guard and secure in the most effectual manner the rights guarantied to them in this treaty, and with a view to illustrate the liberal and enlarged policy of the Government of the United States toward the Indians in their removal beyond the territorial limits of the States, it is stipulated that they shall be entitled to a delegate in the House of Representatives of the United States whenever Congress shall make a provision of the same."
Hoskin nominated Kimberly Teehee, who serves as director of government relations for the Cherokee Nation. Her background includes working as a partner in a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group representing Indian tribes and organizations and serving as the nation's first senior policy advisor for Native American Affairs in the White House Domestic Policy Council. She grew up in Claremore and earned a bachelor's degree from Northeastern State University and a law degree from the University of Iowa.
The U.S. House has six nonvoting delegates representing U.S. territories. Teehee would be unique in that she would not be representing a geographic area. Her constituency would be Cherokee citizens, no matter where they live.
Nonvoting members can still wield power. They can introduce legislation, speak on the House floor, and serve and vote on committees; they just don't vote in final legislative consideration. This is a fight worth fighting for the Cherokee Nation.
Having a delegate puts representation among U.S. leaders located at the seat of power. Congress and other federal agencies constantly take up policy and funding issues directly affecting Indigenous people.
Oklahoma's congressional delegation, including Sen.-elect Markwayne Mullin, who is a Cherokee Nation citizen, and Rep. Tom Cole, who is a Chickasaw citizen, ought to pick up this mantle. The U.S. Congress ratified the treaty 187 years ago, and no information has shown it to be invalid.
The U.S. government has a history littered with broken treaties and assaults on Indigenous sovereignty and rights. Congress has an opportunity to right a wrong and ought to do just that.
[Editorial / Tulsa World]
