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The Wright Perspective℠
Social Commentary from the C-Suite to Main Street℠
A Blog by Gary Wright II
Will the Cherokee Nations hear my cries for justice?
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
Many of you know that I have recently been pushing my "One Blood, One People, One Nation" campaign to re-open all of the Native American tribal membership rolls and allow DNA testing to be used as proof of ancestry.
There are a whole list of reasons why the government rolls taken a hundred years ago was unfair. An example: until recently, it was illegal to be an "Indian" in states (such as Alabama) and people lied about their ancestry to avoid deportation to a reservation, imprisonment, and in some cases death.
I thought the Cherokee Nation (in Oklahoma) of ALL people, would understand the unfairness of this process. The Cherokee people have a long history of accepting all types of people into our tribe. We had chiefs who were women, we welcomed missionaries, whites, blacks, you name it - they ALL used to all be welcome in the tribe as long as they wanted to belong and were contributing to society.
My request was sent to all members of the tribal council and I hoped that they will seriously consider adopting the new policy. I was very disappointed when I received a response today from Oklahoma. It simply said, "Our Constitution has set the standard for citizenship."
No duh! Thats why I wanted them to make changes so that the system would be fair. The DNA testing is the only method I can think of that would be fair and it is also remain completely objective. It is a solid science, not someones opinion. Science doesn't have "motives."
I have no control over what the tribe decides to do - I can only make suggestions. It appears that the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma and the Cherokee tribe in Georgia have adopted elitist views when it comes to their citizenship. I am deeply saddened by their attitudes. An analogy would be having thousands of illegitimate children and refusing to care for them.
I hope that all tribes of Native Americans will consider my proposal. Until they do, I will continue to shed my Cherokee tears....
Best regards,
-- Gary Wright II
For more information, visit Cherokee.CleverPeople.com by Gary Wright II at:
CleverThings.com/people/Cherokee