Enrolled vs Unenrolled Cherokee

There are a lot of unenrolled Cherokee. Former Principle Chief of the Cherokee Chad Smith wrote of us. Fortunately, one website still exists concerning part of this conversation. It is found here

https://www.ewebtribe.com/NACulture/articles/cherokeechief.htm

I am saving it here so that the entire conversation isn't lost forever.. It mentions Tony "Mack" McClure and formner Pchef Chad Smith. It also mentions Michael Johnson. Mikhel and I were good friends. We met up at Stomps in Vian, Sequoyah County, Ok and in one in the Houston area a few times. back in the late 1990s or early 2000s. What they recorded was McClure's response to something Smith said, and he mentions Michael Johnson my friend as well. Since McClure mentioned him, he responded. Johnson Knew Smith, and they were friends. Johnson could not be enrolled, and Chad was alright with that! This was the sasme era wherre the Chickasaw Nation wrote me a leiier saying the Chickasaw were alright that I couldn't be enrolled. Everyone back then, knew there were a lot of folks who couldn't be enrolled. Today some forlks are denying that fact.

Incidentally, I also met Tony Mack McClure, author of'Cherokee Proud,a Guide for Tracing and Honoring Your Cherokee Roots". I bought my copy of his book in October, 2000, and Tony signed it. It was published by Chunannee Books,Sumerville Tennessee. Now back to copying and pasting what is recorded in that website, listed above.

Cherokee Chief Publicly Acknowledges the Existence of Undocumented Cherokees.Is He Up to the Rest of the Challenge? by Tony Mack McClure, Ph. D.

In what is perhaps a first among recent leadership in the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes, Principal Chief Chad Smith of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the largest Cherokee tribe, has publicly acknowledged the existence of undocumented Cherokees, but in the same breath, denied their rights to recognition. In an official news release entitled " Undocumented Cherokees Contribute to Cherokee Nation" appearing on the Cherokee Nation's website, September 2000 Page, dated 22 September 2000, Chief Smith states, "There are people like the Johnsons ( referring to an undocumented Cherokee family cited in the news release) with undeniable Cherokee heritage who don't meet enrollment requirements. That doesn't mean they can't claim their ancestry."

Chief Smith further states, " Through anomalies caused by ethnicidal policies of the United States Government, the traditional Cherokee Nation has been fragmented. That's why there is an Eastern Band of Cherokees in North Carolina. We are all one people, separated by geography. The historical Cherokee Nation is currently headquartered in Tahlequah. But just as a person with grandparents who immigrated to the United States from Germany cannot claim German citizenship, people whose Cherokee ancestors emigrated from the Cherokee Nation before the Dawes Rolls were taken cannot claim Cherokee citizenship." Chief Smith thinks the Johnsons praised in the article are "handling their situation well by participating in Cherokee culture without aligning themselves with a group that is seeking recognition."

End of quote. Unfortunately, this quote from former Principle Chief Chad Smith is no longer online. I will try to see if someone t the Cherokee Nation will forward me a copy. Back to quoting from the website listed above, which was a quote from McClure's answer to that 22Sep00 article put out by the Cherokee Nation.

In this most recent CNO news release, the subject of the article, Michael Johnson, is quoted as saying, " There's a ton of husksters out there preying on people. They offer spirituality, promises of recognition, the possibility of wealth through casinos, whatever. I don't want to align myself with people for political or money motivated goals." His statement confirms that the propaganda and disavowment policies of the CNO and Eastern Band have worked to at least some degree. Mr. Johnson's statement seems to confirm that he believes all groups who are not federally recognized have only devious motivations. How sad! The fact that such people have the drive to organize and seek recognition of their blood that is denied elsewhere makes all people with "undeniable ( but non federally recognized ) Cherokee heritage" stereo typically motivated by only money or politics? How narrow! . . .

End of quote. I knew Michael personally. Tony didn't, I don't think. Mike saw his attempts to cultivate a reltionship with Chad Smith as a first step, only. But he died a couple of years afterwards, and that effort to reach out to unenrolled Cherokee by the Cherokee Nation ended with Micheal's passing.

In short, there was a perod of time when the Cherokee Nation came closer to admitting there were Cherokee who were never enrolled were in fact Cherokee.

I've been ill the last few days and I've made it my mission to get the truth out there before letting this cancer that is eating me, silence me forever. I am feeling better today so I am writing what I can, today.

Michael wrote a response to McClure and it can be found here.

https://www.ewebtribe.com/NACulture/articles/johnsonemail.htm

I eventually sought out membership in state recognized organization. My good friend Michael might not have apporved of me dioing that. We would have understood why I did it, however.

But he had the Principle Chief's recognition that he possessed Cherokee blood. I had a "maybe" status at the time. Since I knew my family was not on Dawes, and my ancestor named "John Brown" couldn't be verified as ONE of the SIX men mentioned in Cherokee records of the Cherokee by that name at that time. AND my John Brown lived in 1820 on the southern band of the Tennessee River on lands ceded by the Cherokee in 1816 -- a man who was a next door neighbor named "David Melton" was one of the Old Settler signers of the "Act of Union" -- I chose to join a state recognized organization. I was torn between my friendship with Michael and my desire to be as recognized as I could possibly be.

I found the entire article on my computer, that had been on the Cherokee Nation website in September, 2000. Here it is . . .

Undocumented Cherokees Contribute to Cherokee Nation

TAHLEQUAH -- Michael Johnson is an engineer, a history buff, and an undocumented Cherokee. Though he can trace his roots to a Cherokee family, he doesn’t meet the requirements for enrollment in any of the three federally recognized tribes of Cherokees. And he doesn’t care.

"I don’t have resentment because I am not in a tribe," said Johnson. "I don’t get caught up with people who say ‘they won’t let us do this, they won’t let us do that’. I’ve found that if you want to re-associate with Cherokee people, you just have to work at it."

Johnson’s worked at it through his love of history. He’s collected important historical documents relating to Cherokee history, ranging from original Congressional register documents relating to Cherokees that traveled the Trail of Tears to a U.S. Indian Service report card from a young Cherokee dated 1916, and donated them to the Cherokee Historical Society.

"When we see something of Cherokee interest on eBay, we try and figure a way to get it," Johnson said. "How could people sell stuff that belongs in a museum? Since I’ve acquired these items, it’s always been the plan to donate them and make them available to other Cherokees. The Cherokee Nation was a good, logical place for this sort of information. These are things that need to be here so people will be able to research."

Johnson and his family find ways to participate in traditional Cherokee activities, including stomp dances at the Shaky Hollow Stomp Grounds in Conroe, Texas, near his Houston home. They also make occasional trips to Tahlequah, including a recent visit to donate historical documents.

"It’s a nice trip. We get to see lakes and hills and trees. There are a lot of nice people here," Johnson said. "We’re going to get another set of stickball sticks, while we’re here, too. If you want to get to know your Cherokee family you have to treat them like family. Being with people is so important. Eventually, they’ll accept you and overlook other things like, like not having a (CDIB) card. I don’t think raising controversy is a good idea."

That’s why Johnson and his family steer clear of groups that claim to be tribes but aren’t federally recognized. "I’ve always felt it was easier to make friends than enemies," he said. "There’s a ton of hucksters out there preying on people. They offer spirituality, promises of recognition, the possibility of wealth through casinos, whatever. I don’t want to align myself with people with political or money motivated goals."

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith thinks the Johnsons are handling the reality of their situation well by participating in Cherokee culture without aligning themselves with a group that is seeking recognition. Photo of former Principle Chief of the Cherokee nation, Chad Smith is below.

"There are people like the Johnsons with undeniable Cherokee heritage who don’t meet enrollment requirements," Smith said. "That doesn’t mean they can’t claim their ancestry."

"Through anomalies caused by ethnicidal policies of the United States government, the traditional Cherokee Nation has been fragmented. That’s why there is an Eastern Band of Cherokees in North Carolina. We are all one people, separated by geography. The historical Cherokee Nation is currently headquartered here in Tahlequah. But just as a person with grandparents who immigrated to the United States from Germany cannot claim German citizenship, people whose Cherokee ancestors emigrated from the Cherokee Nation before the Dawes Rolls were taken cannot claim Cherokee citizenship."

"We encourage these people to follow the example of the Johnson family and many others," Smith said. "Take the time to learn about real Cherokee culture. Learn about it from traditional Cherokees."

Johnson concurs. "Just digging in to the culture is plenty work for me," he said. "Finding and preserving Cherokee historical documents eats up a lot of my luxury time as it is."