Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama

Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama
Founded at United States United States (Alabama Alabama)
Official language
English
Website echotacherokeetribe.homestead.com

The Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama is a state-recognized Native American heritage group based in northern Alabama.[1] It was among the first seven organizations to be granted state recognition under the laws of the state of Alabama in 1984.[1] Recognition by an American state government is not the same as recognition on the federal level, or recognition by continually existing Indian tribes.[2]

The Cherokee Nation and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians include the Echota on their list of "fraudulent groups."[3][4][5]

Heritage groups

Numerous organizations in the US identify as having Cherokee heritage, but have no documented ancestry or connection to the Cherokee people. Some of these groups apply to US state governments for the governmental recognition that has been denied to them by Indian Nations. However,

“ The Supreme Court made plain the exclusion of states from tribal matters in the earliest and most important cases that make up the foundation of Indian Law. In Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515 (1832) the Court stated: 'The treaties and laws of the United States contemplate...that all intercourse with [Indians] shall be carried on exclusively by the government of the union.' Real tribes are governments similar to States and Nations.[2] ”

History

In 1980 a group of people ineligible to enroll in any federally recognized Native American tribe set up a nonprofit heritage club known as "The Echota Cherokee." In 1984, when the Alabama Indian Affairs Commission was established, the group attained state recognition.[1] The group is headquartered in Falkville, Alabama.[6]

The Echota organization consists of people who do not meet the enrollment requirements of any of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes. They state they are the descendants of Cherokee remnant peoples who remained in northern Alabama at the time of Indian Removal. However, after the passage of the Indian Removal Act in the late 1830s, most of the Cherokee People were driven out of the Southeast; they were forcibly marched under military guard to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. Many Cherokee died during this brutal event, which came to be known as The Trail of Tears. Those that remained in the Southeast became the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

In 1997 the Echota Cherokee organization was said to have 22,000 members.[7] However, there is no documentation to support this claim. They have elected a council that hopes to offer "instruction in the Cherokee language through the Alabama public school system."[7]

Despite being considered a fraudulent group by the Cherokee Nation and Eastern of Band Cherokee Indians, the Echota Cherokee have a representative on the Alabama Indian Commission.[1] and the Inter-Tribal Council of Alabama's WIA Program, to assist workforce improvement.[8]

The Echota are not federally recognized as an Indian tribe, nor are they recognized as a tribe by the Cherokee people.[3][4][5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 'State-recognized Tribes', Alabama Indian Commission
  2. 1 2 Government Relations, Cherokee Nation (2009). "Support the Federal Recognition Process to Protect all Tribal Citizens" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-10-09. "The Supreme Court made plain the exclusion of states from tribal matters in the earliest and most important cases that make up the foundation of Indian Law. In Worcester v. Georgia, Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515 (1832) the Court stated: 'The treaties and laws of the United States contemplate...that all intercourse with [Indians] shall be carried on exclusively by the government of the union.' Real tribes are governments similar to States and Nations."
  3. 1 2 Cherokee Nation Task Force (3/26/2011) "Fraudulent Group List," What is a real Indian Nation? What is a fake tribe? Accessed 20 Oct, 2014
  4. 1 2 McKie, Scott (14 Oct 2011) "Tribe establishes Cherokee Identity Protection Committee" in The One Feather. Accessed 20 Oct 2014
  5. 1 2 "Fraudulent Tribes List (cached)". Cherokee One Feather. October 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2015. $45.00 - Annual Membership
  6. ↑ "The Echota Cherokee Tribe", hosted by Alabama Indian Affairs Commission, accessed 20 October 2014
  7. 1 2 Stacye Hathorn, 'The Echota Cherokee Language: Current Use and Opinions about Revival', in Teaching Indigenous Language, 1997
  8. ↑ 'Intertribal Council of Alabama'

External links

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