Cherokee Freemen File For Injunction

On Feb. 1, attorneys for Cherokee Freedmen plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by Marilyn Vann and others with the Freedmen organization filed a preliminary injunction in federal court to halt a special election called by Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith, which is designed to remove the freedmen tribal members from the voting ranks of the Cherokee nation through amendment of the tribal constitution.

The freedmen tribal members are descendants of former Cherokee slaves and free mixed African Cherokee Indians who were guaranteed tribal membership by a treaty in 1866 signed by Cherokee officials and the U.S. government, Vann said.

The State Of . . . history is every changing. I (rich) had never heard of the Cherokee Freedmen. These slaves made the same trail of tears journey as did the Cherokee from the South. The irony is pretty blatant in this one. The Cherokee Freedmen helped their Cherokee masters through some of the toughest years of their existence. Now that things are better, and with casino money flowing in, the Cherokee nation want to kick the descendants of their former slaves out.