I was completely frustrated and a little disgusted by our trip to the United Keetoowah Band. I was looking forward to hearing another opinion after Chad Smith and Julia Coates both said that the UKB has no future. The CN/UKB problem is contentious and relevant, and I feel particularly lucky to be able to learn about the tensions from inside the Cherokee Nation. That being said, I got almost no constructive information and mainly felt attacked during the sessions with UKB Chief George Wickliffe and Assistant Chief Charles Locust.

The UKB has a blood quantum requirement of ¼. Assistant Chief Locust told us that the UKB are “higher blood people.” A sovereign nation has the right to choose its membership, but this kind of overt elitism creates hierarchies that are threatening and divisive. The Chief justified the blood quantum requirement by saying that it was “not because we’re racist, it’s because of who we come from.” He asserted multiple times that the UKB are “not racists like Adolf Hitler.” However, almost everything else Chief Wickliffe said was aggressive statements of the UKB’s cultural authenticity and dominance. Assistant Chief Locust even said that “real Indians will have the value of being respectful.” Interesting…

Despite my frustration with how the chiefs spoke to us, I do think that their defensiveness and aggression stems from being the underdog, which is never easy. Attacks come from both side, and until this trend ends, no hospitable solution to UKB/CN problems will evolve. Neither side wants the other to exist, which is an unrealistic goal and rather insensitive. Yet the UKB is obviously disadvantaged in every way – economically and educationally, in terms of size and leadership experience. The Cherokee Nation cannot write off these disadvantages as reasons that the UKB should not exist. Instead, both sides need to compromise in order to reach a mutually-beneficial solution.

In the meeting with the Freedmen, I felt appreciated and respected, and altogether I got much more out of the panel. Instead of militantly defending their position, the Freemen were able to show us just how important their heritage is to them and how denying them rights in the Cherokee Nation is basically an unjust political strategy. I would benefit substantially another UKB panel where instead of telling me that “you don’t know what I’m telling you,” I am instead told the truth and shown historic documentation. The UKB issue in Cherokee Nation is one that requires a great deal of attention. For the sake of their cause, I hope Chief Wickliffe and Assistant Chief Locust learn that they will receive much more support and sympathy if they treat people outside the UKB with respect instead of as ignoramuses.