Act Now: The Cherokee Nation deserves a seat in Congress!

 

“Congress should honor Native American Heritage Month by finally seating the Cherokee Nation’s Delegate in the U.S. House!”
– Kim Teehee, Cherokee Nation Delegate-Designee

We couldn’t agree more. After waiting 188 years, the Cherokee Nation should get their promised seat.

In 1835, the U.S. government and the Cherokee Nation signed the Treaty of New Echota, the legal basis to force the Cherokee people to give up their ancestral homelands and move west. In return, the tribe was supposed to get a voice in Congress.

In the following years, thousands of people would die as a result of the forced displacement and ethnic cleansing that today is known as the “Trail of Tears.” And nearly two centuries later, Congress has yet to take the formal action necessary to establish the designated seat.

A Delegate can sit on committees, request meetings with Cabinet officials, and push for new policy proposals. This influence can be crucial, and the Cherokee Nation deserves a seat at the table. But for it to happen, a majority of the House needs to be on board. That’s where you come in — and a day like today, Human Rights Day, is a great moment to make it happen.

You can help generate enough political power to ensure there’s enough support to seat a Cherokee Nation Delegate. Sign now to tell the House: Seat a Cherokee Nation Delegate!

Winning without war means building a world where everyone can thrive without the fear of violence. The fights for Indigenous rights, security, and peace are the same.

Genocide, land theft, forced migration, criminalization, and cultural erasure are woven throughout our history. For too long, U.S. policy — foreign and domestic — has exploited Indigenous people and their lands. It happened when the United States waged an all-out war on Native peoples across the country. It happened when the government instigated coups that repressed Indigenous communities in Latin America.

That history continues today through the destruction of sacred land for oil pipelines and uranium mines, inadequate attention given to violence against Native women, and a centuries-old failure to honor agreements and promises of the past.

Just over a year ago, the House Rules Committee held a hearing on the Cherokee delegate question, but the issue remains unresolved. Today, the obligation to seat a Cherokee Nation delegate is as urgent now as it was in 1835. Tribal leaders continue to push Congress to make good on this promise — can you add your voice to join them?

The United States made a commitment to the Cherokee Nation nearly two centuries ago, and it’s time to make good on that promise. The House of Representatives has the authority to get it done — and they will, if enough people like us push them to do it.

Now, and always, our work must be about more than national security strategy; it has to include how we show up in community with one another. On December 10, Human Rights Day we celebrate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

That’s why today, I hope you’ll help you join us to push Congress to affirm Indigenous rights and correct past wrongs against Native communities by seating a Cherokee Nation delegate as quickly as possible.

Thank you for working for peace,
Shayna, Julien, Sara, and the Win Without War team

A U.S. foreign policy rooted in human rights and justice won’t happen overnight.

Win Without War 2021
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(202) 656-4999 | info@winwithoutwar.org