Lawrenceburg Now

Monday, August 16, 2010

Proposed Finding Issued In Regards To Recognition Of Local Native American Group

   The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs for the State of Tennessee, Larry Echo Hawk, issued a statement August 6, outlining a proposed finding in regards to the recent recognition gained by a local Native American group.

   Lawrence County’s Central Band of Cherokee was notified by the Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs on June 19th that they were among six tribes that had gained official state legal recognition. The designation granted each tribe legal minority status, allowing the groups to apply for grant funds, insurance and health coverage.

   The announcement was immediately followed by controversy when a group of ten former TCIA commissioners raised opposition to the decision and requested that it be reviewed.

   The former commissioners issued a statement, denouncing the recognition; alleging that it was “illegitimate.” The group alleged that the current TCIA commissioners have an “egregious conflict of interest” since four of them are members of the tribes recognized; two serving as Chiefs. They asserted that the action was a “gross violation of state policy.”

   As a result of the controversy a review was undertaken regarding the tribal recognitions. In a press release issued on the 6th, Hawk issued a proposed finding “not to acknowledge the petitioner known as the Central Band of Cherokee (CBC) as an Indian tribe.”

   Hawk asserts that, “The evidence shows that (CBC) is a voluntary association formed in 2000, of individuals who claim but have not documented Indian ancestry. There is no evidence that (CBC) existed under any name prior to its emergence in 2000 as the ‘Cherokees of Lawrence County, TN, Sugar Creek Band of the Southeastern Cherokee Confederacy, Inc.’ Under the regulations, the Department may not acknowledge associations, organizations, corporations, or groups of any character formed in recent times.”

   Hawk points out that the CBC “claims its members are descendents of Cherokee Indians who had not given up their rights to 1806 treaty lands in Tennessee, or are descendants of Indians living in Tennessee who evaded removal or escaped when the Cherokee were removed from North Carolina in the late 1830s,” but asserts that “None of the evidence demonstrates the validity of either claim.”

   Hawk continues, “To meet criterion…the petitioner must demonstrate descent from a historical Indian tribe or tribes that combined and functioned as a single entity. The petitioner’s self-generated family histories and descent reports that attribute Cherokee ancestry to some of its ancestors are not supported by the evidence. The recent decision of the TCIA to grant state recognition to the CBC does not provide evidence of Indian descent…

   ‘The readily available public records clearly showed the petitioner’s members do not descend from any Cherokee group or any other Indian tribe. The evidence clearly shows the group’s ancestors were consistently identified as non-Indians, primarily “White” settlers coming to Tennessee in the early and mid-1800s from disparate locations. At no time were they identified as Indians or living in an Indian community.”

   Hawk explains that CBC will have the opportunity to provide “sufficient evidence” to support criterion for recognition. That evidence must then be taken under review by TCIA. Hawk pointed out, “The Department will publish notice of the proposed finding in the Federal Register…the petitioner or any party will have 180 days after publication…to submit comments to rebut or support the proposed finding…”

   “Following the response period” Hawk writes, “The Department will begin work on a final determination.”

 

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