Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Call for tribe recognition fails to clear House panel
An effort to have the state study establishing a relationship between the U.S. government and a coalition of American Indian groups known as the Cherokee Nation West failed to advance from an Arkansas House committee on Monday.
Proponents of House Resolution 1011 by state Rep. Marcus Richmond, R-Gravelly, say the Cherokee Nation West emerged out of divisions among indigenous groups that resulted mainly from government separations, and is independent from the Cherokee Nation, which says the coalition isn’t a real tribe and is trying to take advantage of the benefits of having that status.
“They really want a complete monopoly on Cherokee franchise and I really personally don’t feel like they have the right to that franchise,” Tim Jones, an anthropologist who has studied the Cherokee Nation West for more than two decades, said of the Cherokee Nation.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said the group has no lineage to Cherokee people and is one of many groups “popping up” across the country and claiming that heritage.
“It’s an organization asserting itself to essentially stand in the shoes of the Cherokee Nation with that government-to-government relationship,” Hoskin told the committee.
There are three federally recognized Cherokee tribes: the Cherokee Nation, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
In Arkansas, there are approximately 25 tribes that are considered unrecognized by the federal government, according to Stacy Hurst, secretary of the Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism.
The Cherokee Nation is headquartered in Oklahoma and has more than 380,000 tribal citizens worldwide. There are about 13,000 Cherokee citizens living in Arkansas, Hoskin said.
Jones said there are about 15,000 members of Cherokee Nation West.
The resolution cites treaties from the early 1800s that establish the Cherokee Nation West as an independent nation and outline its land holdings as land west of the Mississippi River along the Arkansas River and White River.
Richmond said the goal of the resolution was “not to acquire any land, it is not to seek monetary restitution, and it’s not to do any casinos anywhere.”
Jones said the tribe would not be able to acquire any state land or private property, but transfers of federal land would be possible.
Richmond said later Monday that he did not intend to run the resolution again because there were too many “special interests” involved.
Similar efforts to recognize the group have taken place in past legislative sessions, and all have failed.