Wampum

Usually I don't include entire articles due to copyright infringement, but this time, the article in its entirety is necessary to prove the point.

Donna Hales, of the Muskogee Phoenix, on the Chad Smith/Freedmen negotiations:

Negotiation over freedmen faces deadline
By Donna Hales
Phoenix Staff Writer

Legislation will be filed to sever relations between the federal government and the Cherokee Nation if an agreement is not reached by 2 p.m. today to restore rights to Cherokee freedmen.

Freedmen, black descendants of Cherokees, were voted out of the tribe on March 3 and temporarily restored to citizenship in May 2007.

U.S. Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., will file a bill today that proposes cutting off tribal funding from several federal agencies and suspending the Cherokee’s gaming authority until the Cherokees restore full rights to the freedmen and fulfill all Cherokee Nation treaty obligations.

"She will drop (introduce) it today," Watson's spokesman, Bert Hammons, told the Phoenix.

Negotiators for the Cherokee Nation are representatives of Principal Chief Chad Smith, said Wayne Thompson, a former lobbyist who works as a consultant and as an advocate. He is a negotiator for the freedmen.

Dr. Ron Daniels, national civil rights leader associated with the freedmen, said negotiators continue to work toward an acceptable agreement to all parties.

Thompson denied rumors on various Web sites that negotiations had included talk of the freedmen receiving land within the Cherokee Nation, receiving part of the Cherokee's Arkansas riverbed settlement, help in getting a casino and a promise not to protest the freedmen receiving federal recognition on their own.

Smith emphatically denied all such offers.

"We would never support creating a federal band," Smith said.

The proposed legislation calls not only for suspension of the right to conduct gaming operations but includes not being able to administer any funds from such gaming until the Cherokee Nation is in compliance with all treaty and other obligations with the United States.

The proposed legislation, if passed, could affect other tribes. No later than six months after the date of enactment, a public report to Congress on the status of freedmen in the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole nations of Oklahoma would have to be given from the secretary of the Interior.

So here is my critique.

A central part of the "rumors on web sites" was that Ms. Watson agreed to a seven-day delay, reversing her earlier position, as expressed to me by her legislative aide on June 7th, 2003, that she wanted to get the legislation on the floor of the House well in advance of the June 23rd election, so it could have maximum effect on convincing Cherokee voters that Congress was serious in flexing its plenary powers. During my first conversation yesterday with the same aide (the one also mentioned by Hale in the article), he informed me of the seven day delay, and how it would "run out tomorrow" (now being today.) He later emailed me, asking me to call him. Clearly, Ms. Watson's office was getting some blowback, as he informed me that the bill would definitely be dropped Thursday. There is no mention in the article of Ms. Watson's agreement to delay submitting the bill until, at the earliest, two days before the election. In fact, there's no mention of the June 23rd election in the article. Clearly, this all happened in a vaccuum.

Ms. Hale succeeded in getting all parties involved in "negotiations" to emphatically deny what they weren't negotiating over, such as land, separate federal recognition and gaming, but never pinned down just exactly was then on the table. If it was permenant reinstatement of Freedmen citizenship in the Nation, was Smith asserting he could unilaterally, or even with the Council's rubber stamp, overturn the March 3rd election?

Overall, pretty poor reporting. I understand it was probably rushed, but still.

Update: I've sent these questions to Ms. Hale. Hopefully she'll clarify.