Will Congress Seat a Cherokee Delegate?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, INTERNATIONAL HOST: Now, In the United States, the Cherokee nation is fighting for a centuries- old promise to finally be upheld. The same treaty that forced them to give up their land in 1835 also promised them the right to have representation in Congress. Kimberly Teehee, has been designated the first Cherokee nation delegate, but she is still waiting to be seated in the House of Representatives. And she’s joining Michel Martin to explain the significance of the treaty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHEL MARTIN, JOURNALIST: Thanks, Christiane. Delegate Teehee, thank you so much for joining us.

TEEHEE: Thank you for having me.

MARTIN: You’ve had a distinguished career as an advocate, as an activist. But before we get into that, can I just ask you, if you don’t mind, like when you were growing up, what were you told about your heritage, do you remember?

TEEHEE: You know, I was born in Chicago. You know, and let me tell you why, because this has bearing on your question. Because my parents participated in a federal Indian relocation program. It was a program designed to acculturate and assimilate the Indian behind this notion of kill the Indians, save the man. So, assimilate them into mainstream society, culture — you know, culture and — was so connected to us. But my parent were relocated to Chicago, where I was born. And that policy underestimated the attachments that Cherokees have to their communities, that native Americans have to their communities. So, the failure of that policy is when you look back, you know, to where you came from. So, we moved back to Oklahoma when I was a young girl. And I didn’t know any different. My — both of my parents, I’m still blessed to have them, spoke Cherokee before they spoke English. They’re fluent (INAUDIBLE) with Cherokee speakers. And they were raised on their Cherokee land allotments. They both went to Cherokee boarding school. I grew up in a household that spoke Cherokee. Grandparents only spoke Cherokee. Churches with a sermon was just in Cherokee. You know, we participated in our dances. We use our Cherokee traditional spiritual leaders for medicine but also the spiritual aspect of it. We also went to church. And so, I’ve lived in this duality all my life and I don’t know any different. And so, it’s — you know, and even when I went through school, my parent, you know, often sent me to Cherokee nation for internships, for all kinds of youth programs so that I would stay immersed in my culture and my heritage, because those things would otherwise not be provided to me in the public school system.

MARTIN: You’ve been designated by the Cherokee nation as the congressional delegate designee. And the treaty that led to the removal of the Cherokee people from their traditional lands to what is now the Cherokee nation also included the provision that there’d be a delegate, a nonvoting delegate to the United States Congress. What do you know about how that came about?

TEEHEE: Well, in the 19th century, it’s important to know that the United States relationship with the Cherokee nation was pretty rocky with western expansion, with cotton, gold, there was great pressure put upon the United States to use its treaty making authority to remove the Indians who were in the way of those expansion efforts and goals of the United States. And so, there was this small faction of Cherokee who illegally signed this treaty with the United States. The treaty which was ultimately ratified by the Senate and sign by the president of the United States at the time Andrew Jackson. And so, to the United States, it was a very valid treaty. It’s one that’s considered the law today, and the United States took the first steps in implementation of that treaty when they forcibly removed our people, you know, in the Trail of Tears, where a quarter of our population perished, mostly elderly and children. That’s the quickest way I can give you context. But included in that removal treaty was Article 7, this delegate right that you described earlier.

MARTIN: And that delegate right has never actually been observed. It’s never been respected. So, the removal was respected but seating of the delegate was not. Which brings us to the current moment. The nation designated you as this person to fill the seat. Why aren’t you there?

TEEHEE: Well, I think a part of the history and the story that we talked about earlier was the continuation of the Cherokee nation in rebuilding mode. It took a really long time to rebuild the nation. And Congress had a role to play here because after removal, Congress kept passing law after law dismantling the Cherokee nation, requiring allotment of our lands, taking away our ability to be governed by our own laws, even electing our own chief. It took an act of Congress to give us back that authority to elect our own principal chief for the Cherokee nations in the ’70s. That’s in my lifetime, and your lifetime. And so, if you took — look back at all that happened to dismantle us and then to rebuild us and to put us in place where we could actually start focusing on other things, and so, you know, in the ’70s, Congress started passing laws called self-determination laws to help tribes with the resources they need to rebuild a nation, to bring back their home lands, to provide for their citizens. So, it look like with all of that history — but you also realize, it wasn’t until the 2000s that our chief even had the legal authority to appoint a delegate. And so, I think that’s a nod to all the rebuilding that we had done to get to a place where we could finally focus on this treaty right, which is, as you mentioned, a valid right today.

MARTIN: So, what would it take for you to be seated, as a nonvoting delegate? And by that, I mean, I think for people — people in certain parts of country are familiar with this. Residents of the District of Columbia, of Guam, of Puerto Rico, for example, the Virgin Islands, they have nonvoting delegates but they don’t have floor voting rights but they have the right to speak on the floor generally. But the most important thing is that they have the right to be seated in committee and to vote in committee. What is the importance of that, in your view, to the Cherokee nation, and frankly, to native people more broadly?

TEEHEE: Well, I think, first of all, let’s look at the fact that the treaty is a supreme law of the land. It is the federal law today. And because the Senate ratified the treaty and because the president signed it into law, seating Cherokee nations delegate only requires house action. The house can seat the delegate by resolution. Yes, Congress can pass a law to seat the delegate too, but we don’t need the Senate to act again because it did that nearly 200 years ago. And so, we’re seeking similar authorities of the delegates that you just described, the U.S. territories, which, you know, most of the delegates that we’ve talked to have expressed support for seating the Cherokee nation delegate. But we’re seating — we’re seeking that particular authority because we do know that even though there are limitations on voting on the house floor and final passage, there is still a great deal that delegates can do through the deliberative process of the Congress and making sure that, you know, we have a seat at the table and getting laws passed that impact our communities.

MARTIN: And also, I want to remind people that you have — you know, you’ve already been in Washington. I mean, you were — you had an important position in the Obama White House. In fact, you were the first person to fulfill this position as kind of a representative of native nations, you know, more broadly in the White House. Why does that seat in committee, why does that matter so much in your opinion?

TEEHEE: Well, I think a couple reasons. One is representation matters. You know, we’re at our best whenever these decision-making bodies actually reflect the people that they’re serving. Number two is that the deliberative process of a bill becoming law is really the behind-the-scenes action of where things get done. Committee work is so important. You know, being able to introduce legislation, being able to vote in committee, being able and sit in a committee, and as those bills get deliberate rated on voted on. You know, and the reason that there’s a legal distinction between a delegate and a representative of the house is that final vote on final passage. Because that final vote means that it can change whatever happened in committee or they can concur with it and move it on. And so, I think it’s a very important process. One that I had the privilege of working on the Hill for so many years and working at myself, and I can appreciate what all happens in order to get a bill to the floor of house to finally get voted on.

MARTIN: Can you give us a sense of what your top priorities are? If you were to be seated, in the current session, for example, what would some of your top priorities be?

TEEHEE: The top priority is funding appropriations. Look, the United States has a legal responsibility to Indiana tribes, and a lot of that responsibility hinges upon federal dollars that they appropriate to tribes. We live in a constant state of uncertainty because Congress, you know, is often talking about government shutdowns, which are so disruptive to tribes. When you think about the fact that federal dollars that flow to Indiana tribes, you know, over 90, probably 95 percent of those dollars are considered discretionary dollars. It is imperative that we put a mechanism in place that allows for either forward funding to tribes or in some instances, mandatory funding to tribes so that tribes are not victimized by this process of uncertainty, you know, we’re looking at that now when Congress goes back into session in September as a possible government shutdown. I mean, those impact us severely. But in addition to that, you know, like other governments, we look at our infrastructure needs, water needs, healthcare needs, education needs, farm bill needs. And of course, what we remember uniquely about as being Cherokee nation is preserving things like our language, you know, and getting the resources that are necessary in order to protect and preserve our language.

MARTIN: So, to this question of representation, what do you say those who argue that, in effect, this would give members of the Cherokee nation kind of double representation? I mean, the residents of the District of Columbia don’t — that’s it. They don’t have anybody else to represent their interest, except their elected delegate. Whereas, at least, members of — you know, people who live on Cherokee nations lands have the elected representative who already sits in the United States Senate, for example, and a member of Congress.

TEEHEE: Well, I think that, you know, what we say is there’s no dual representation violation, because we’re seeking to have a delegate seated in the Congress, not a representative. You’re right, we have Cherokee citizens. We have over 460,000 Cherokee citizens in this country. And we are in every state. And they will still go to their member of Congress for their constituent needs in their Congressional district. It’s important that we understand that this treaty right is Cherokee nation, the government’s treaty right. And so, the elected leaders of the Cherokee nation are who nominated me and confirmed my appointment and my representation of them is to represent the governmental interest of the nation in the United States Congress. In a lot of ways, it’s akin to a U.S. ambassador who represents the interest of the nation before other — and other nation. So, that’s the legal distinction and that’s the distinction that I make between Cherokee nations delegate and its role and its representation of government itself.

MARTIN: And what do you say — it’s my understanding that there are other bands who claim this delegate right as well. That your band of the Cherokee nation isn’t the only one, that there are other bands who believe that they should have the right to appoint this delegate. How does that get sorted out?

TEEHEE: You know, you can just look to the treaties themselves. The treaties are between the United States and the Cherokee nation. And we are the Cherokee nation. We have, throughout time, continuously been considered Cherokee nation, the courts and Congress that have interpreted our treaties of past that legislated on matters related specifically to Cherokee nation have constantly and consistently always acknowledged that we are the Cherokee nation that the United States treated with so many years ago and continues to work with today. And so, for those other tribes that claim to have our treaty right, all I can say is the treaty is with the Cherokee nation. Those two tribes didn’t exist at the time this treaty was signed as their own political entity. And so, they’re entitled to their opinion. But we have a duty to correct any false interpretation of history and law.

MARTIN: I recognize your point is that this treaty specifically designates this seat for members of the Cherokee nation. I mean, that — what? More than 500 recognized you know, tribes, you know, in the United States. And I think we can all, you know, recognize that the process by which certain tribes are recognized and certain were not is arguably racist and flawed. But even having said that, is there an argument that other tribal nations have about representation? I mean, would you be their representative as well or not? And is there — is that — could that be part of the hold-up that people who belong to other nations feel that perhaps that they are disadvantaged in a way and that they equally deserve this kind of recognition? Do you understand what I’m saying?

TEEHEE: Yes. Well, certainly, you know, Cherokee nations treaty right is just that, right? We have a treaty that is the law of the land, right? We also know that there are a couple of other treaties out there that apply to other tribes, one with the Delaware and another tribe the other with Chickasaw and Chocktaws. So, that there’s not going to be a flood gate of tribe seeking to have their treaty right acknowledged. You know, one of the things that I took away from the hearing in the House Rules Committee last November was when, you know, one of the members on the Dias (ph) said and observed, you know, consideration of other tribes that may have similar rights, you know, show — and the examination of those rights should not in any way delay Cherokee nation’s right. Ours is the most clear language. Why not start with Cherokee nation, the most clear language in the treaty and shatter that glass ceiling and get seated?

MARTIN: I think people forget, perhaps, just how politically diverse native Americans, in general, and Cherokee — the members of the Cherokee nation in particular are. There are very some conservative Republicans among your members and some very conservative members of Congress, you know, among your members, among your enrolled members. And so — and also, who represent you in other ways. So, what do you think it’s going to take to make this happen?

TEEHEE: Well, I think education. You know, we focused our previous efforts on leadership, on committees, on committee staff. We’ve had conversations with the majority caucus, this particular House of Representatives. And they’ve asked for help to educate members. You know, we — there’s a lot of messaging that has to take place over and over and over again. And we don’t mind telling our story over and over again until it’s absorbed, until it’s appreciated and acted upon. I was able to be mentored by the former chief of the Cherokee nation, Wilma Mankiller. She’s a yellow dog Democrat through and through. The most progressive person that I had ever met in my life at the time. One of her dearest friends is also former chief of the Cherokee nation, who she served as deputy chief too, Ross Swimmer. He was appointed by Ronald Reagan to be the assistant secretary for Indian affairs. They had this friendship. He was conservative, staunched Republican and she was this yellow dog Democrat, but they’ve learned how to work together. They learned how to work in a bipartisan way, and that’s what was taught to me. You know, you might choose a political side, but you have to work on these issues with both sides of the aisle. I’m in a red state, you know, as you mentioned, and we have Cherokees who are Republicans, we have Cherokees whose are Democrats and independents. We have a governor that’s a Republican and we have Cherokee citizen who is a U.S. senator right now. And so — and we work so well with our congressional delegations especially. And so, my job will be to continue to work with them and do message to them in a way they can appreciate our issues and to continue to prove that we work in a bipartisan fashion.

MARTIN: Before we let you go, you said that native people are patient, the members of the Cherokee nation are patient. I guess you’d have to be. But do you think that you will see a delegate from the Cherokee nation seated in your lifetime? Do you think it will be you?

TEEHEE: I think I will see a Cherokee nation delegate seated in my lifetime. And it doesn’t have to be me. But I — because I will continue to fight for this. This — the delegate of the Cherokee nation isn’t about me, it’s about the United States keeping its word and honoring a treaty right and giving some measure of justice to those who lost their lives so long ago. And that’s much bigger than I could ever possibly be. And so, if I’m not seated, then I will continue to fight until my last breath to get the Cherokee nation delegate seated, because I think that’s something that the United States owes to us, the Cherokee nation, but also owes to, you know, other tribes across the country, because it says, most importantly, that the United States keeps its word.

MARTIN: Kim Teehee, thank you so much for talking with us.

TEEHEE: Thank you, Michel.