DD Support Board and Research Team

[Koog]

From the official Cherokee web site in 2000:

http://www.cherokee.org/News/Stories/22692

So-called Southern Cherokees Claims False

TAHLEQUAH, Okla.-Let the buyer beware. A group calling themselves the Southern Cherokee Nation claims to be a sovereign nation and has announced plans to open up casino gambling on boats on the Arkansas River. This group is not a federally recognized tribe, but rather one of more than 200 groups across the United States that claim to be Cherokee. The federal government recognizes just three Cherokee groups as tribes: the Cherokee Nation, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the United Keetowah Band of Cherokees.

Of the remaining groups, many are just clubs whose members may or may not belong to a Cherokee tribe, but enjoy learning about the history, language and traditions of the Cherokees.

However, some groups, such as the Southern Cherokees, are not as innocuous. They are claiming land, treaty rights, and sovereign status. Information on the group's own web site states that they are a "Branch of the United Deist Association, who afforded the group…. tax exempt status in both North and South Carolina."

"It's hard to claim to be a sovereign nation with land in Oklahoma and have your only recognition be on the East Coast," said Richard Allen, the senior research analyst for the Cherokee Nation. "I don't know who these guys are. Their phone numbers are in Missouri. People know how to find the true Cherokee Nation. We've been in Tahlequah for about 160 years."

In the past, government agencies have exposed fraudulent organizations purporting to be Cherokee. One group conned investors with a scheme to create it's own nation on an island in the Rio Grande. Other scammers have claimed to be a Cherokee tribe and solicited donations, or issued coins claiming to be the official currency of the Cherokee Nation.

"These people have no legitimate claims," said Allen. "This area is the jurisdiction of the Cherokee Nation and no other sovereign tribal entity. We see these get rich quick schemes all the time. The problem is that these people may be taking the goodwill and reputation that Cherokees have established over centuries and using it to mislead governments and individual citizens," said Allen.

When seeking authentic information about tribal culture, history, traditions, genealogy and government, the public should carefully look into claims made by groups that are not recognized by the federal government, especially those that claim to represent a tribe or the Cherokee Nation. For further information with regard to dispelling myths and exposing frauds, call the Cherokee Nation or the Bureau of Indian Affairs for a list of legitimate nations, tribes and bands.