United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians
Encyclopedia
The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (ᎠᏂᎩᏚᏩᎩ ᎠᏂᏣᎳᎩ or Anigiduwagi Anitsalagi) is a federally recognized tribe of Cherokee
Indians
headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma
. The United Keetoowah are also referred to as the UKB. Its members are mostly descendants of "Old Settlers", Cherokee who migrated to Arkansas and Oklahoma about 1817, before the forced relocation of Cherokee from the Southeast in the 1830s under the Indian Removal Act
. Many of its members are traditionalists.
(Kituwa) is the name of an ancient Cherokee
"mother" town and earthwork mound
in the eastern homeland of the Cherokee. Kituwah also is considered to be the original name of the Cherokee people.
in the 1838 Trail of Tears
.
By the 1880s all Cherokee people faced increased assimilation efforts by the US government. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Cherokee and other Native American children were sent to Indian boarding schools away from home for their education: they were expected to speak only English, were generally prohibited from speaking their own languages, and were expected to adopt Christianity rather than practice native spirituality. The US federal government unilaterally closed and seized Cherokee and other Native American governmental and public institutions through the 1898 Curtis Act, the Dawes Act
and the 1906 Five Civilized Tribes Act, by which they broke up communal tribal holdings and allotted plots of land to individual households.
The Dawes Commission
was tasked to force assimilation and break up tribal governments by instilling the concept of land ownership with individual members of the Five Civilized Tribes
. The commission divided large sections of land into tribal allotments in an effort to eliminate the traditional governments of the Cherokee, which at that time were based on a communal form of government with the lands being controlled by the tribal government. The US government appointed Cherokee "chiefs" to administer tribal lands and holdings.
in Tahlequah. By forming this organization, the full bloods maintained a continuous line of government and representation for the Keetoowah Cherokee people.
When the Indian Reorganization Act
(1934) and Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act
(1936) were passed in the 1930s to help tribes reorganize their tribal governments, all of the Five Civilized Tribes but the Cherokee were deemed in good order to do so.
The other four tribes, Choctaw
, Chickasaw
, Muscogee Creek, and Seminole
, had certain exceptions that they had worked out with the Federal government. Many still met regularly and tried to continue their tribal government under the restrictions of the Curtis Act of 1898
.
The Cherokee Nation bore the full brunt of the Curtis Act, and was stripped of their judicial and legislative branches of government. The Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) agents held the view that the Cherokee Nation was abandoned, and the only remnant left was the office of the Principal Chief. He was selected by the President of the United States to sign off on property sales.
D'Arcy McNickle
, a BIA agent, wanted the UKB to become the group by which the Cherokee Nation could be reorganized. The UKB was approved in 1950 under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act. Early elected leaders of the UKB were Levi Gritts, followed by John Hitcher and the Reverend Jim Pickup, who served in the post-World War II
era.
After the CN received approval of their constitution in 1976, their relationship with the UKB soured. They evicted the UKB from the offices at the tribal complex in Tahlequah. The contemporary Cherokee Nation received federal recognition in 1977.
The CN has since sought to terminate the UKB from the list of federally recognized tribes. The Wilma Mankiller
and Chad Smith
administrations have had many conflicts with UKB leadership. Smith was a member of the UKB, but due to these issues, the tribe revoked his membership in 2005.
The tribe owns and operates Keetoowah Construction in Tahlequah, and the Keetoowah Treatment Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma
. They have an arts and crafts gallery, showcasing members' work. They run the Keetoowah Cherokee Casino, with over 500 gaming machines, in Tahlequah. The UKB issue their own tribal license plates. Their estimated annual economic impact is $219 million. They host an annual homecoming festival over the first weekend of October.
for members. The United Keetoowah Band requires all members to have verifiable Cherokee descent either from a person(s) on the Dawes Roll or the UKB Base Roll of 1949.
The UKB, beginning in the 1970s, made some persons honorary associate members, to recognize their services to the nation. Such memberships did not entitle the persons to voting or any other tribal rights, and had nothing to do with claims of Cherokee ancestry. Associate memberships were given in honorary appreciation to several people, but the tribe ended this practice in 1994. While some such recipients were given a tribal enrollment card with a number, they were never considered official members of the tribe, and did not receive tribal benefits. They no longer appear on official tribal rolls. Former President Bill Clinton
is a notable associate member.
Ward Churchill
, a former Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado
, has long claimed to be of Indian descent. He was granted honorary associate membership in the UKB. His public statements that he was a member of the UKB created controversy, because Churchill failed to distinguish qualified enrollment from honorary membership. He has made a career in writing and speaking about issues related to Native Americans, and has contended that he has varying amounts of Indian ancestry. During an intense period of controversy, news organizations were unable to find any evidence of any Indian ancestry.
Churchill does not possess an issued CDIB (certificate of Indian blood); he is not eligible for any federal benefits reserved for Native Americans. The UKB stated in 2005 that he is not eligible for official membership in the tribe because he cannot satisfy the blood quantum requirement.
The Cherokee Nation requires its members to have an ancestor on the Dawes Commission Land Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes to verify descent, regardless of how far removed from Dawes Roll ancestry the person may be.
The State of Oklahoma sued the UKB in federal court for operating illegal gaming facilities off Bureau of Indian Affairs
-approved tribal trust lands. According to briefs submitted by the Cherokee Nation, the UKB own no tribal lands. The lawsuit is currently pending in the federal courts in Oklahoma and has been recently remanded to the National Indian Gaming Commission
for review.
During the State of Oklahoma lawsuit pertaining to the UKB's alleged illegal casino operations, an Indian casino that has been operating for approximately 19 yearshttp://www.unitedkeetoowahband.org/Documents/Newspapers/7-05.pdf, the UKB was accused of attempting to sue the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Nation said the UKB had sued to demand cession of tribal land allotments to them in order to build casinos. These lawsuits were also dismissed.
The UKB has sued the United States for a share of the proceeds under HR-3534, a bill that required the United States to compensate the Cherokee Nation and two other Oklahoma tribes with claims to the disclaimed drybed lands of the Arkansas River
. The legislation set aside ten percent of each tribe's share of the settlement for other claimant tribes; it afforded other claimant tribes an opportunity to file claims within 180 days of the legislation. The UKB filed suit against the United States. The Cherokee Nation moved to intervene and to dismiss the UKB suit. It contended that the Cherokee Nation is an indispensable party and that it cannot be joined in the litigation because of its sovereign immunity. The Court of Claims granted both of the Cherokee Nation's motions. On April 14, 2006, on appeal, the United States sided with the UKB against the Cherokee Nation's request for dismissal. The Court of Federal Claims heard the appeal on November 8, 2006.
In June 2004, the UKB requested that the BIA
take into trust land which it owned on a fee basis, a 76-acre Community Services Parcel. The case has been studied and the request was originally denied, but the UKB appealed. In May 2011, the BIA
finally announced its decision to take into trust for the UKB 76 acres of land in Tahlequah, which include several of its community centers and the sacred dance ground. The tribe will no longer be landless.
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Tahlequah is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, United States located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It was founded as a capital of the original Cherokee Nation in 1838 to welcome those Cherokee forced west on the Trail of Tears. The city's population was 15,753 at the 2010 census. It...
. The United Keetoowah are also referred to as the UKB. Its members are mostly descendants of "Old Settlers", Cherokee who migrated to Arkansas and Oklahoma about 1817, before the forced relocation of Cherokee from the Southeast in the 1830s under the Indian Removal Act
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830.The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, where states were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the Five Civilized Tribes. In particular, Georgia, the largest state at that time, was involved in...
. Many of its members are traditionalists.
Origins
The word KeetoowahKeetoowah
The Cherokee believe the ancient settlement of Kituwa or giduwa , on the Tuckasegee River is their original settlement and is one of the "seven mother towns" in the Southeast...
(Kituwa) is the name of an ancient Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
"mother" town and earthwork mound
Mound
A mound is a general term for an artificial heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. The most common use is in reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. The term may also be applied to any rounded area of topographically...
in the eastern homeland of the Cherokee. Kituwah also is considered to be the original name of the Cherokee people.
Background
The United Keetowah Band is composed primarily of descendants of the "Old Settlers," Cherokee who settled in present-day Arkansas and Oklahoma around 1817, before the bulk of Cherokee were forcibly relocated to Indian TerritoryIndian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
in the 1838 Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears is a name given to the forced relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830...
.
By the 1880s all Cherokee people faced increased assimilation efforts by the US government. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Cherokee and other Native American children were sent to Indian boarding schools away from home for their education: they were expected to speak only English, were generally prohibited from speaking their own languages, and were expected to adopt Christianity rather than practice native spirituality. The US federal government unilaterally closed and seized Cherokee and other Native American governmental and public institutions through the 1898 Curtis Act, the Dawes Act
Dawes Act
The Dawes Act, adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide the land into allotments for individual Indians. The Act was named for its sponsor, Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts. The Dawes Act was amended in 1891 and again...
and the 1906 Five Civilized Tribes Act, by which they broke up communal tribal holdings and allotted plots of land to individual households.
The Dawes Commission
Dawes Commission
The American Dawes Commission, named for its first chairman Henry L. Dawes, was authorized under a rider to an Indian Office appropriation bill, March 3, 1893...
was tasked to force assimilation and break up tribal governments by instilling the concept of land ownership with individual members of the Five Civilized Tribes
Five Civilized Tribes
The Five Civilized Tribes were the five Native American nations—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole—that were considered civilized by Anglo-European settlers during the colonial and early federal period because they adopted many of the colonists' customs and had generally good...
. The commission divided large sections of land into tribal allotments in an effort to eliminate the traditional governments of the Cherokee, which at that time were based on a communal form of government with the lands being controlled by the tribal government. The US government appointed Cherokee "chiefs" to administer tribal lands and holdings.
Federal recognition
The United Keetoowah Band was created from the traditionalist organization, the Keetoowah Society, Inc. When the full bloods heard that allotment was imminent in 1905, they formed an organization and got a federally approved corporate Charter from what was then Indian TerritoryIndian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
in Tahlequah. By forming this organization, the full bloods maintained a continuous line of government and representation for the Keetoowah Cherokee people.
When the Indian Reorganization Act
Indian Reorganization Act
The Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934 the Indian New Deal, was U.S. federal legislation that secured certain rights to Native Americans, including Alaska Natives...
(1934) and Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act
Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act
The Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936, also known as the Thomas-Rogers Act, is a United States federal law that extended the US Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. It sought to return some form of tribal government to the many tribes in former Indian Territory...
(1936) were passed in the 1930s to help tribes reorganize their tribal governments, all of the Five Civilized Tribes but the Cherokee were deemed in good order to do so.
The other four tribes, Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
, Chickasaw
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
, Muscogee Creek, and Seminole
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
, had certain exceptions that they had worked out with the Federal government. Many still met regularly and tried to continue their tribal government under the restrictions of the Curtis Act of 1898
Curtis Act of 1898
The Curtis Act of 1898 was an amendment to the United States Dawes Act that brought about the allotment process of lands of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indian Territory: the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee, Cherokee, and Seminole...
.
The Cherokee Nation bore the full brunt of the Curtis Act, and was stripped of their judicial and legislative branches of government. The Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
(BIA) agents held the view that the Cherokee Nation was abandoned, and the only remnant left was the office of the Principal Chief. He was selected by the President of the United States to sign off on property sales.
D'Arcy McNickle
D'Arcy McNickle
D'Arcy McNickle was a writer, Native American activist and anthropologist.-Biography:D’Arcy McNickle, an enrolled Salish Kootenai on the Flathead Indian Reservation, became one of the most prominent twentieth-century American Indian activists...
, a BIA agent, wanted the UKB to become the group by which the Cherokee Nation could be reorganized. The UKB was approved in 1950 under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act. Early elected leaders of the UKB were Levi Gritts, followed by John Hitcher and the Reverend Jim Pickup, who served in the post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
era.
Conflict with the Cherokee Nation
Between 1906 and 1977, the Cherokee Nation (CN) was not a federally recognized by the US government; they were classified as a "service area". The UKB was the federally recognized organization by which all the Cherokee people received federal assistance and were dealt with on federal programs. The UKB was able to secure federal funds for the Cherokee Nation Complex, which today houses the Cherokee Nation government. The UKB also started the Cherokee National Holiday, in conjunction with the Principal Chief's office. The Cherokee Nation Housing Authority was begun using UKB's federal status.After the CN received approval of their constitution in 1976, their relationship with the UKB soured. They evicted the UKB from the offices at the tribal complex in Tahlequah. The contemporary Cherokee Nation received federal recognition in 1977.
The CN has since sought to terminate the UKB from the list of federally recognized tribes. The Wilma Mankiller
Wilma Mankiller
Wilma Pearl Mankiller was the first female Chief of the Cherokee Nation. She served as principal chief for ten years from 1985 to 1995.-Early life:...
and Chad Smith
Chad Smith
Chad Smith is an American musician, best known as the longtime and current drummer of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Smith is also the drummer of the hard rock supergroup Chickenfoot which includes Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, and Michael Anthony, former Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes' backing band and...
administrations have had many conflicts with UKB leadership. Smith was a member of the UKB, but due to these issues, the tribe revoked his membership in 2005.
Today
Today the UKB has over 14,300 members, with 13,300 living within the state of Oklahoma. Their elected Chief is George G. Wickliffe, serving a four-year term. Charles Locust is the Assistant Chief. Tim Goodvoice is their executive director of tribal operations.The tribe owns and operates Keetoowah Construction in Tahlequah, and the Keetoowah Treatment Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
. They have an arts and crafts gallery, showcasing members' work. They run the Keetoowah Cherokee Casino, with over 500 gaming machines, in Tahlequah. The UKB issue their own tribal license plates. Their estimated annual economic impact is $219 million. They host an annual homecoming festival over the first weekend of October.
UKB membership
The United Keetoowah Band maintains a one-quarter-blood requirementBlood quantum laws
Blood Quantum Laws or Indian Blood Laws is an umbrella term that describes legislation enacted in the United States to define membership in Native American tribes or nations...
for members. The United Keetoowah Band requires all members to have verifiable Cherokee descent either from a person(s) on the Dawes Roll or the UKB Base Roll of 1949.
The UKB, beginning in the 1970s, made some persons honorary associate members, to recognize their services to the nation. Such memberships did not entitle the persons to voting or any other tribal rights, and had nothing to do with claims of Cherokee ancestry. Associate memberships were given in honorary appreciation to several people, but the tribe ended this practice in 1994. While some such recipients were given a tribal enrollment card with a number, they were never considered official members of the tribe, and did not receive tribal benefits. They no longer appear on official tribal rolls. Former President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
is a notable associate member.
Ward Churchill
Ward Churchill
Ward LeRoy Churchill is an author and political activist. He was a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder from 1990 to 2007. The primary focus of his work is on the historical treatment of political dissenters and Native Americans by the United States government...
, a former Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
, has long claimed to be of Indian descent. He was granted honorary associate membership in the UKB. His public statements that he was a member of the UKB created controversy, because Churchill failed to distinguish qualified enrollment from honorary membership. He has made a career in writing and speaking about issues related to Native Americans, and has contended that he has varying amounts of Indian ancestry. During an intense period of controversy, news organizations were unable to find any evidence of any Indian ancestry.
Churchill does not possess an issued CDIB (certificate of Indian blood); he is not eligible for any federal benefits reserved for Native Americans. The UKB stated in 2005 that he is not eligible for official membership in the tribe because he cannot satisfy the blood quantum requirement.
The Cherokee Nation requires its members to have an ancestor on the Dawes Commission Land Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes to verify descent, regardless of how far removed from Dawes Roll ancestry the person may be.
Legal issues
Some UKB leaders have been criticized by members for diversion of funds.The State of Oklahoma sued the UKB in federal court for operating illegal gaming facilities off Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
-approved tribal trust lands. According to briefs submitted by the Cherokee Nation, the UKB own no tribal lands. The lawsuit is currently pending in the federal courts in Oklahoma and has been recently remanded to the National Indian Gaming Commission
National Indian Gaming Commission
The National Indian Gaming Commission is an independent federal regulatory agency within the Department of the Interior. Congress established this agency through the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988. The agency has the duty to "promulgate such regulations and guidelines as it deems...
for review.
During the State of Oklahoma lawsuit pertaining to the UKB's alleged illegal casino operations, an Indian casino that has been operating for approximately 19 yearshttp://www.unitedkeetoowahband.org/Documents/Newspapers/7-05.pdf, the UKB was accused of attempting to sue the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Nation said the UKB had sued to demand cession of tribal land allotments to them in order to build casinos. These lawsuits were also dismissed.
The UKB has sued the United States for a share of the proceeds under HR-3534, a bill that required the United States to compensate the Cherokee Nation and two other Oklahoma tribes with claims to the disclaimed drybed lands of the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
. The legislation set aside ten percent of each tribe's share of the settlement for other claimant tribes; it afforded other claimant tribes an opportunity to file claims within 180 days of the legislation. The UKB filed suit against the United States. The Cherokee Nation moved to intervene and to dismiss the UKB suit. It contended that the Cherokee Nation is an indispensable party and that it cannot be joined in the litigation because of its sovereign immunity. The Court of Claims granted both of the Cherokee Nation's motions. On April 14, 2006, on appeal, the United States sided with the UKB against the Cherokee Nation's request for dismissal. The Court of Federal Claims heard the appeal on November 8, 2006.
In June 2004, the UKB requested that the BIA
BIA
- Acronym :* Bureau of Indian Affairs, a US government agency* Board of Immigration Appeals, a US government agency* The IATA airport code for Bastia - Poretta Airport, or, informally:** Baghdad International Airport...
take into trust land which it owned on a fee basis, a 76-acre Community Services Parcel. The case has been studied and the request was originally denied, but the UKB appealed. In May 2011, the BIA
BIA
- Acronym :* Bureau of Indian Affairs, a US government agency* Board of Immigration Appeals, a US government agency* The IATA airport code for Bastia - Poretta Airport, or, informally:** Baghdad International Airport...
finally announced its decision to take into trust for the UKB 76 acres of land in Tahlequah, which include several of its community centers and the sacred dance ground. The tribe will no longer be landless.
Spiritual leadership
Many of the UKB members follow the traditional ways and are spiritual leaders of the Cherokee people. Such elders are highly respected. Many Cherokee traditionalists in Oklahoma are members of both the UKB and the Cherokee Nation.Notable UKB members
- Robert J. ConleyRobert J. ConleyRobert J. Conley is a Cherokee author and enrolled member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, a federally recognized tribe of American Indians. In 2007, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas.Conley was born in Cushing, Oklahoma and...
(United Keetoowah Band-Cherokee Nation), historian and novelist, b. 1940 - David CornsilkDavid CornsilkDavid Cornsilk is the managing editor of the Cherokee Observer, an independent newspaper, and one of the founders of the Cherokee National Party...
(United Keetoowah Band-Cherokee Nation), legal activist and genealogist - Virginia StroudVirginia StroudVirginia Alice Stroud is a Cherokee-Muscogee Creek painter from Oklahoma. She is an enrolled member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.-Early life:...
(United Keetoowah Band-Muscogee Creek), artist and former Miss Indian America, b. 1951
External links
- United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, official website
- United Keetoowah Band, article on the Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
- Burning Phoenix by Allogan Slagle
- Corporate Charter of the United Keetoowah Band