Cherokees Pressured To Recognize Black Freedmen Descendants

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The Cherokee Nation is rolling out a public relations campaign in response to federal lawmakers who say the tribe should be denied benefits unless it recognizes descendants of its former black slaves.

The campaign includes two Web sites discussing a 2007 referendum in which Cherokees decided to remove about 2,800 freedmen descendants and other non-Indians from tribal rolls, said Mike Miller, spokesman for the nation.

The sites also address what’s at stake if the congressional lawmakers have their way: denial of $300 million in federal money to the country’s second-largest American Indian tribe. The money pays for health clinics, Head Start programs, elderly care and housing assistance.

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