Supreme Court Affirms Referendum on Citizenship; Chief Calls Special Election

TAHLEQUAH, Okla.- Based on an order from the Cherokee Nation's highest court, Principal Chief Chad Smith has called a special election for February 10, 2007, on a Constitutional amendment that would require Cherokee citizens to have an Indian ancestor.

Smith called the election a day after the Supreme Court of the Cherokee Nation determined a citizens' petition calling for a Constitutional amendment has enough signatures to go to a vote of the people. If the proposed amendment is passed in the special election, the Cherokee Nation's Constitution will be amended to require Cherokee citizens to be Indian by blood.

The unanimous court order "affirms and sustains the (Cherokee Nation) Election Commission's certification of numerical sufficiency of signatures on the Initiative petition." The 2,217 signatures approved by the Election Commission are the most on a Cherokee petition in recent history, and are enough signatures to put the proposed Constitutional amendment on the ballot.

In March 2006, the Cherokee Nation's highest court reversed a previous decision and ruled that the Cherokee Nation's Constitution allowed citizenship for non-Indian descendants who were listed on the Dawes Rolls of the Cherokee Nation. Until that time, membership had been restricted to those who had a Cherokee, Delaware or Shawnee ancestor on the Dawes Rolls, and the proposed amendment mirrors that policy. In the court ruling allowing non-Indian citizenship, the court noted that "the Cherokee citizenry has the ultimate authority to define tribal citizenship," and suggested that, "the Constitution could be amended to require all tribal members to possess Cherokee blood."

"The people have spoken clearly, demanding the right to decide this Constitutional issue for themselves," Smith said. "Some of them believe that you should have to be an Indian to be in an Indian tribe. Others think we should have a policy that allows descendants of non-Indians who were affiliated with our tribe in the past to have citizenship. Regardless, this is obviously an issue that demands the attention of Cherokee voters."