Changes taking place at the UKB are astounding. The fervor with which the employees do their jobs reminds me of a hive of bees. Things in the power structure of Eastern Oklahoma are not as unfavorable to Indian people as they once were. With the County Commissioners taking a stand against the tyranny of the Smith Regime and now a judge offering continued protection to the UKB gaming operations, things are looking up.

Now, if the BIA would follow suit and provide the UKB with some trust land, the future interests of the full bloods will be secured. I believe we can expect a concerted effort on the part of the CNO drones to work some sinister plan against the UKB. We hope the UKB leadership will be as vigilant of underhanded deals as they have been these past few months in righting the affairs of the Band.

 
During the late 80's and early 90's, the Mankiller administration began a systematic attack on the federal funding of the UKB. Wilma Mankiller was able to get her congressional flunkie, Mike Synar, to attach a rider onto the federal budget restricting federal funds expended for services to Cherokees to be funneled solely to the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Mankiller made every effort to destroy the UKB's ability to function by cutting off all of their funds. Chad Smith continues this path today.

John Ross, former chief of the UKB during that era, had meetings with BIA officials in an effort to resolve the situation and save the tribe's meager separate funding. According to Ross, the BIA officials directed him to introduce legislation requiring all UKB members to relinquish their membership in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma in order to participate in UKB elections and recieve services.

The alleged purpose of the prohibition of dual enrollment was to prevent Cherokees from "double dipping" when they were members of both tribes and eligible for federal services offered by both tribes. However, the simple solution to the problem would have been to require both tribes to provide eligibility lists to each other so that no one could double dip. Mankiller, like her predecessor Ross Swimmer and successor Chad Smith, refused to work with the UKB leadership.

The real purpose behind the drive to stop dual enrollment was to weaken the UKB by preventing its members from voting in the CNO elections. Despite the prohibition of dual enrollment enforced by the UKB, its members continue to be eligible for membership and voting in the CNO and large numbers of UKB members remain dually enrolled and vote in CNO elections. The UKB recently published a list of members who may be dually enrolled. That list can be viewed in the most recent publication offered by the UKB known as "The Keetoowah News."

The BIA has stated on several occassions that they did not encourage Ross to prohibit dual enrollment and that such a prohibition is not necessary to recieve funding. In fact, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has no such prohibition and recieves ample funds from the federal government. The same is true for many tribes. Funding to the UKB is contingent upon various federal guidelines applied to tribes, but none of those guidelines mention dual enrollment prohibitions.

In fact, a prohibition of dual enrollment (dual citizenship) may be unconstitutional and a violation of federal law. Over the past ten years, the United States Courts have held that dual citizenship held by United States citizens is not a violation of the constitution and is a protected right. In other words, Congress cannot force American citizens with citizenship rights in other countries to renounce their foreign citizenship.

The UKB leadership must wake up and realize that the CNO is attempting to destroy them and they have used members of the Band to accomplish their tactics, sometimes knowingly, sometimes not. The dual enrollment prohibition is nothing more than a way to prevent the UKB members from rightfully exercising their vote as "citizens of the Cherokee Nation" and casting ballots for the popular selection of the principal officers of the Cherokee Nation as provided for in the 1970 Principal Chief's Act.

I encourage all UKB members to ignore the dual enrollment prohibition and go to the CNO Registration Office, apply for CNO membership, register to vote and cast your vote according to your conscience.

David Cornsilk