Group seeks federal tribal recognition

By Mandy Carter

“We’re a strong tribe, and we’re going to go forward,” announced Shelia Duff to a standing-room-only crowd in late September.

Upwards of 140 people met in the Whiteacre Room of the McAlester Public Library, more than twice the expected attendance at a meeting of the Western Cherokee Nation of Arkansas and Missouri held Sept. 25 at lunchtime.

Intended as an informational update on the status of the tribe’s determined attempt to regain federal re-instatement, the meeting served not only as a sounding board for frustrated tribe members, but proved to be a stepping stone in the quest for unification the tribe needs to accomplish its goal.

Descendants of the original “Old Settlers” who lived in Arkansas Territory, now Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri, have been fighting a long and difficult battle to regain the recognition status their tribe lost nearly 200 years ago when government intervention caused a split in the original tribe.

Efforts to regain recognition through the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs have been slowly rolling through time for the past 10 years. While tribal members have continued to register through the Western Cherokee Nation of Arkansas and Missouri offices in Arkansas, and records have continued to be maintained, the tribe has been scattered and confused.

Tribal council members and committee members have been quietly pushing to build unity and focus, and they’re getting results.

The tribe has been successful in gaining status as a non-profit organization actively pursuing re-instatement in the eyes of the U.S. government.

“We sent the petition to the government in 2006,” Aldridge announced to the crowd. “We recently received our second technical assistance review.” In response to that, the board of directors began the process of seeking legal representation.

The first steps have already been taken. The non-profit group has initiated talks to retain the Washington legal firm Patton Boggs as representation and has forwarded the petition to them.

The next step is to raise the funds to pay for the hours it will take the attorneys to wade through the paperwork.

“We’ve been waiting too long already. We need $10,000 just to get the lawyers started,” Aldridge added.

More meetings have been held since the McAlester September meeting, which added $1,200 to the more than $2,000 already in the attorney fees account.

“We had another meeting in Wewoka last night,” Shelia Duff said Friday morning. “It went really good considering the weather conditions.”

Duff said another $630 was raised at the Wewoka meeting. “When we get the first $5,000, we’ll send it to the attorneys,” she said. “And they can start reading the petition.”

In the meantime, more meetings are being planned in Checotah, Ada and Mena, Ark. with one goal in mind — regain recognition.

It would seem this goal could be a monumental task, considering the fact that the chief of the Western Cherokee Nation of Arkansas and Missouri has passed away. This is a possibly debilitating event on several counts.

“The chief was also the genealogist, so now no new family groups can be accepted until we get a new genealogist,” Aldridge said. “And we are not a tribe until the federal government recognizes us, so we have to wait to settle the chief situation once we’re recognized.”

As it stands now, all new filings for tribal cards are on hold, and the focus is on boosting the legal fund. Time is becoming a critical issue, in light of the fact that the review letter’s response deadline is Jan. 27, 2010, and the fund is still dangerously low.

For more information regarding the Western Cherokee Nation of Arkansas and Missouri, its history and re-instatement status, log on to www.legalrecognition.com, or call 918-470-4545 or 423-4545.

Contact Mandy Carter at mcarter@mcalesternews.com

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