on a bed of California stars

I will be out of town for the next couple weeks, so blogging will be light to nonexistent. But I will return bearing photographs and tales of adventure.

who is an Indian, pt. 2

A letter-to-the-editor in the LA Times makes a curious leap of logic on why the Freedmen should be excluded from the Cherokee Nation. Here is the full text of the letter:

Re “Who’s a Cherokee?” Opinion, July 10

Heather Williams writes that the Cherokee tribal constitution has been amended to require proof of a by-blood connection to be granted citizenship in the Cherokee Nation. Rep. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) believes that this is discrimination and that federal funds to the tribe should be cut off by reason of racism.

My family has long passed down stories of Cherokee blood in our ancestry, and I am convinced that I am part Cherokee, although I am not a citizen of the nation. The Dawes Roll census in 1906 was considered a slap in the face by many of the Cherokee people, who purposely did not sign it, not realizing what importance it would have on their descendants. My ancestors were part of this group. I am sure that I am not alone.

I am fed up with people who scream racism at the first sign of disagreement. Withholding federal funding from the Cherokee Nation until it bows to Watson’s demands is extortion. The tribe has every right to make whatever citizenship requirements it thinks are appropriate.

If the Cherokee Nation is forced to change its constitution to allow descendants of the non-Indian freedmen citizenship, it will further muddy the waters of the Cherokee people. Those of us who have Cherokee blood (but didn’t sign the Dawes Roll) will not be able to claim their Indian heritage, while hundreds of people without Indian blood will be given that privilege. This is not acceptable.

CHARLOTTE SALE

It threw me because, based on the second paragraph, Sale looked to be headed towards supporting the Freedmen. She correctly states that the Dawes Roll is not a reliable record of who is Cherokee by blood. But then she abruptly reverses herself. Is she saying that if she can’t be a Cherokee citizen, then others shouldn’t either?

Why not instead make the argument that the Cherokees need a new model for citizenship, one that tries to remedy the mistakes of the past, not perpetuate them.

I know the tribe can’t open up to anyone who feels like calling themself a Cherokee. But there are many different models for citizenship.

For example, to be a United States citizen one can either be born from parents who are U.S. citizens, or go through a process that involves learning about the country and demonstrating that you will be a productive, law-abiding citizen. U.S. immigration laws are clearly not perfect, and they create plenty of controversies of their own. But even that flawed model has much greater flexibility than that of the Cherokees.

The blood quantum model is clearly racist. I don’t mean that in a pejorative sense. It is by definition based on 19th Century ideas about race. Nothing should force the Cherokees, or any other tribe, to be contained by those outdated concepts.

Perhaps prospective citizenships would have to pass a test on the Cherokee language and history. Perhaps they would need to be sponsored by a current member or demonstrate in some other way a commitment and connection to the tribe.

That would have the side benefit of creating a real incentive for a new group of people to learn and participate in Cherokee culture. We often hear that many Native American languages are dying out because they are not spoken by younger generations. A better model of citizenship could inject new life into those struggling cultures.

Neither side of the debate so far has demonstrated any imagination on these issues. Supporters of the Freedmen accuse the tribe of discrimination, while supporters of the tribal government say it is a simple matter of the Cherokees’ right to choose their own members. Where are the voices saying that, though it may be their right, this is not the best way for the Cherokees to define citizenship?

My proposal above may not be a perfect fit for the Cherokees, but it is just one example of the many possibilities that are being missed. Ideas right now unfortunately seem to be constrained by very short-term political considerations. But if the goal is to ensure thriving, independent Indian cultures and peoples, we are thinking too small.

one step forward

The Associated Press reports:

A man convicted of killing a police officer won a reprieve a day before his scheduled execution, after his lawyers argued that several witnesses had recanted or changed their testimony.

The state Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday granted a stay of execution of up to 90 days to Troy Davis, 38, who was convicted of killing a Savannah police officer in 1989.

He had faced a Tuesday execution date before the board’s decision, which came after less than an hour of deliberation. The stay means the execution will be on hold while the board weighs the evidence presented as part of Davis’ request for clemency. The board must rule by Oct. 14.

tough on crime

I don’t know if it is an intrinsic moral wrong for a government to take life. I don’t know if justice requires that murderers be killed. Those debates are endless and largely fruitless. But I do know that the death penalty will never work, because of this:

A Georgia man is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Tuesday for killing a police officer in 1989, even though the case against him has withered in recent years as most of the key witnesses at his trial have recanted and in some cases said they lied under pressure from police.

Anyone who thinks this is an isolated incident is kidding themselves. I’m sure there are people out there who continue to support execution, even after knowing that we have killed dozens of innocent men and women and that, as long as it exists, we will continue to do so. But to me that sentiment is monstrous.

from the Oklahoma Philippines

Via The Marmot’s Hole, this United States Map of the World gives a face to the astonishing extent of global inequality. With each state matched up with the country that has an equivalent GDP, it also puts a new perspective on familiar issues. For instance, immigration from Latin America, legal or otherwise, is not going away any time soon when Illinois has an economy the same size as all of Mexico. And think about the size of Russia’s decline since the collapse of the USSR. Its economy is the size of New Jersey’s. Iran, meanwhile, matched Alabama.

GDP is by no means the only measure of a country’s or a people’s well-being. France, for instance, would surely have a much larger economy (now equivalent to California), if they didn’t mandate so much vacation time for their workers. But the French are happy with the trade.

Nevertheless, the map is illuminating. Produced by the Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto, they’ve also helpfully subtitled it, “Why the ‘bastards’ matter.”

in other news from Indian Country

I’ve been getting a decent amount of Google traffic on the Cherokee Freedmen posts, but there’s a bit of a lull in Freedmen news lately. And I don’t want to make it sound like there’s only bad news out of Native America — a couple recent articles in Indian Country Today paint a rosier picture.

No. 1: “Seminoles announce plans to expand Hard Rock brand globally.” The internationally known Hard Rock Cafe chain was bought by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in March, and the tribe plans to double the number of restaurants “to about 250 and have about 90 hotels.”

No. 2: A report from Connecticut finds that the state’s “two Indian casinos together contribute more than $422 million annually to the state coffers – a bigger share of state revenue than corporate income tax.”

That’s not to say prosperity isn’t without cost, or that it will proceed without conflict. Again from ICT:

Elders of the Quechan tribe in southwestern Arizona and California sang songs and prayed to the Creator to forgive the tribe for trying to build a casino on land they believe is sacred.

[...]

While leadership within the tribe supports the casino and said the endeavor will boost the economy, some members of the tribe strongly oppose the idea. Five such members were arrested in June after they protested the casino by setting up a ceremonial sweat lodge.

Money threatens traditional traditional ways of life wherever it goes. Competition over wealth leads to new conflicts. It is certainly is an underlying factor in the Cherokee’s troubles.

But Native Americans as a whole remain one of the poorest groups in the U.S. They lag behind in average incomes and educational attainment. They suffer disproportionately from the social ills of poverty, including domestic abuse, alcoholism, and diabetes.

The riches are not shared among all tribes by any means. Those Indians who are prospering must take care to responsibly manage growth, guard against corruption, and protect the best parts of their traditional culture. But against a backdrop of real suffering, a little prosperity is a very good thing.

Photo obtained from Flickr user kuyman under a Creative Commons License.

a mighty wind

Watching a thunderstorm out my bedroom window when a gust of wind knocks a very large branch off the tree in my front yard. Needless to say, it was awesome.

And a side view with house for perspective.

piracy!

Matthew Yglesias links to a trailer on YouTube about what looks to be a fun new action movie from Japan. But when you try to watch the trailer, you find that “this video is no longer available due to a copyright claim.”

Unless I’m horribly mistaken, a trailer is an advertisement for a film. But the copyright holder couldn’t stand for it to be on YouTube, because heaven forbid the movie get some free publicity. Insane.

Hannah Allam on the good doctors

Nothing to see here at the moment. Read this instead.