Cherokee tribal citizenship: Traditional ideas and new realities

Abstract

Who is a Cherokee Indian? What elements make up the Cherokee Tribe? Who should decide what criteria determines citizenship within the Tribe? These are but a few of the many difficult, probing and yet inter-related questions that Cherokees in Northeastern Oklahoma are wrestling with today. They are however, fundamental questions since they lay the foundations for the modern Cherokee tribe in terms of its tribal policies and external relations. On the surface, it might seem that determining the answers to such questions would be relatively simple. However, issues of race, the distribution of resources, ethnic identity, and conflicting views regarding history tend to make even the simplest of issues complex.