Please Help the Cherokee Nation Seat a Congressional Delegate

As your constituent and one who respects the rights of all this nation’s people — including its original inhabitants — I ask that you act immediately to seat a congressional delegate from the Cherokee Tribe. The Cherokee Nation’s right to a delegate in the House of Representatives is affirmed by three separate treaties signed by the United States government: the 1785 Treaty of Hopewell, the 1835 Treaty of New Echota, and the Treaty of 1866. The 1835 Treaty of New Echota states the following: “The Cherokee nation … shall be entitled to a delegate in the House of Representatives of the United States whenever Congress shall make provision for the same.” The Treaty of 1866 expressly reaffirmed all previous treaties between the Cherokee Nation and the federal government, leaving the entitlement to a delegate undisturbed. It is time to recognize the validity of treaties signed with Native nations and make good on this promise from the U.S. government to the Cherokee Tribe. As the largest federally recognized Indian tribe in the United States — spanning almost 7,000 square miles across northeastern Oklahoma and with more than 385,000 citizens across the country — the Cherokee Nation is an important part of the fabric of this land. Congress has a legal and moral responsibility to uphold treaties between the United States and Native nations, and I ask you today to help the Cherokee secure representation, long-promised, in the halls of power.