Guest: Why a Cherokee Nation delegate to Congress cannot represent all tribes
The Delaware Nation is a federally recognized Native American tribe and is a successor in interest to the historical Delaware Nation. We signed the very first treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe, the Treaty of Fort Pitt, on Sept. 17, 1778. In the last article of the treaty, the United States recognizes Delaware Nation’s sovereignty and promised us a delegate in Congress. I am the elected president of the Delaware Nation, and we would like to exercise that treaty right.
The history of the Fort Pitt Treaty is central in understanding why our tribal leaders demanded a delegate to Congress and why the United States agreed to our demand. In the autumn of 1778, the United States dispatched a treaty commission to negotiate the first treaty with the leaders of Delaware Nation. The newly independent United States desperately needed Native American allies to help fight British troops and to safely move troops through Delaware Nation territory. At the time, the British controlled several key ports and forts across Delaware Nation territory. In addition to safe passage, the Delaware Nation gave the Continental Army corn, meat, horses and other support for the war effort. We also provided warriors to the United States to assist it in its struggle for independence.
The treaty documents this history and confirms that our aid was of great importance to the peace and security of the United States. Indeed, for a key period of the Revolutionary War, the Delaware Nation was a vital power and ally to the United States. Without our assistance, the war effort might have faltered, dramatically altering the course of history for the United States.
Yet, today Congress is planning to seat a delegate from another tribe, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. That tribe relies on a treaty promise from 1835, more than five decades after the United States promised the Delaware Nation a congressional delegate. Delaware Nation does not support seating the Cherokee Nation’s delegate, unless Congress seats our Delaware delegate first.
A recent House Rules Committee informational hearing held on the seating of the Cherokee Nation delegate failed to reach out to the Delaware Nation and denied our request to testify at the hearing. The hearing resulted in numerous media stories about the Cherokee Nation delegate. Virtually all the stories have ignored the fact that the Delaware Nation has a much older and stronger treaty promise of a congressional delegate.
These stories have skewed the narrative and promoted the mistaken idea that a Cherokee Nation delegate can somehow represent the interests of all Native American tribes. Today there are 574 federally recognized tribes. Each tribe has a unique history, treaties and needs. The idea that another tribal delegate can represent Delaware Nation falsely assumes that all tribes are the same. We are not. Delaware Nation does not want a delegate from another tribe making decisions about us. A Cherokee Nation delegate does not have intimate knowledge of our culture, history or needs. Tribes across the country feel the same.
The Cherokee Nation’s alleged right to a delegate has been described as “unique,” but nothing could be further from the truth. The Cherokee treaties apply to all three successor Cherokee tribes: the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. Other tribes, including ours, have congressional delegate treaty promises that are almost identical to the one relied on by the Cherokee Nation. To seat Cherokee Nation’s delegate before seating the other Cherokee tribes’ delegates violated the treaty promises made to all Cherokee people. Further, seating the Cherokee Nation delegate before our Delaware delegate would violate the promise made to us in the Treaty of Fort Pitt, 57 years before the treaty the Cherokee Nation relies on.
If the U.S. Congress wants to stand up for treaties, the first one would be a good place to start.
Deborah Dotson is the only woman to be elected twice as president of Delaware Nation. During Dotson’s terms, Delaware Nation has continued to move forward despite many challenges associated with COVID.
Deborah Dotson is the only woman to be elected twice as president of Delaware Nation. During Dotson’s terms, Delaware Nation has continued to move forward despite many challenges associated with COVID.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Delaware leader: Cherokee delegate cannot represent all tribes
