Cherokees look to make 200-year-old treaty promising Congressional seat a reality

Cherokee Nation chief discusses hearing on congressional seat

Chief Chuck Hoskin of the Cherokee Nation joined FOX 5 to discuss an unkept promise between the tribe and Congress and a hearing on a congressional seat.

WASHINGTON - A 200-year-old treaty between the U.S. and the Cherokee Nation included a promise of a non-voting delegate seat in Congress. Now, two centuries later, tribal leaders are looking to make that a reality.

The Treaty of New Echota, which forced Cherokee ancestors from their homes as part of the eventual Indian Removal Act, included the provision that Congress would eventually seat a member of the nation. After taking over in 2019, Cherokee Nation Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. made it a priority to force the U.S. to make good on the promise.

"That treaty is a source of great pain for the Cherokee Nation, but within the treaty is the provision that says the Cherokee Nation shall have a delegate in the House of Representatives whenever Congress shall make provision for the same," Hoskin told Jim Lokay on FOX 5's "The Final 5."

The Cherokee Nation has 440,000 members across the country. Congress held the first committee hearing on the matter in November, with bipartisan support expressed for the measure. Hoskin has tapped Cherokee Nation official Kimberly Teehee to serve as delegate, but Congress has yet to pass a resolution seating her. The seat would work in the same manner as D.C.'s elected delegate, with the Cherokee delegate holding virtually the same power as a member of Congress, without the ability to cast votes on legislation.

However, some opponents have claimed that following through would open the door for other entities to demand representation. To that end, the Choctow and Delaware Nations say their treaties grant them similar rights, although Hoskin says their agreements don't explicitly offer the same as the Cherokee Nation was promised.

"We're fully supportive of all the treaty rights being effectuated. If you look at other tribal nations that have treaties with some reference to representation in Congress, those rights should be asserted. As you read them, they're not as clear as the Cherokee Nation treaty rights, and that's a consequence of how they were negotiated, how it was written."

With the change in partisan makeup of the House, Hoskin says the effort won't end when Republicans take over in January, though Hoskin says he felt that outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi had an opportunity to make it a reality.

"We've answered a lot of questions that people on both sides of the aisle have asked. We think this Congress could close out its work by making good on a promise."