Learn Your History!

A wonderful, in-depth article from the Cherokee Phoenix by Dr. Dan Littlefield, Director of the Sequoyah Research Center, on the history of the Freedmen. Dr. Littlefield, who is obviously infinitely more qualified in this area than me, makes several of the points I have stressed in this blog, concerning the history of the Freedmen within the Cherokee Nation and the inherent racism of the Dawes Commission. He also argues that the historical Cherokee Nation was "a multi-racial, multi-cultural constitutional nation, whose citizenship was based not on blood or culture but on either birth or adoption," a perspective I had never really fully considered. It's a great piece and I urge everyone interested in this issue to read it. The editors of the Phoenix should also be commended for objectively presenting all points of view on a highly controversial matter; it shows Indian journalism at its finest.