Cherokees of Idaho

The Cherokees of Idaho – A Message to the United Nations

~ David Sugar

The "Cherokees of Idaho" are a community of Cherokee survivors that have been living for over 170 years in what is presently called the state of Idaho. They were present long before Idaho was "admitted" to the United States, and they continue to face many of the same deprivations and open discrimination so many other surviving indigenous peoples continue to face.

The United States government however refuses to recognize the Cherokees of Idaho, and further uses this refusal as a means to explicitly deny them even basic human rights and dignity as human beings and as promised by such documents like the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples. As a sovereign indigenous people, the Cherokees of Idaho found it necessary to contact the United Nations directly to address this continued injustice. What follows is a copy of this communication, exactly as sent to the Secretary General of the United Nations.

To:    Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General, United Nations
Cc:   Terje Roed Larsen, Coordinator, Occupied Territories (UNSCO)  
Prof. Richard Falk, U.N. Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur (UNHRC)

Honorable Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,

The United Nations charter was established to define the behavior and
relationship of nations of the world, both with each other, and to their
own people.  This charter, among other things, and born at a time of
worldwide decolonization, promised the right of self determination to

all peoples.

When speaking of the right to self determination per the United Nations
charter, and the circumstances of the American Indian, I am not simply
referring to self governance.  I am speaking of the right of sovereign
peoples to live, to associate, and to raise families, in the manner of
their choosing.  I am speaking of the right to protect sacred spaces and
burial sites.  I am speaking also of the promises of the universal
declaration of human rights long denied them, and the newer declaration
on the rights of indigenous peoples, which helps to both clarify and
fulfill the original charter as well.

I am however writing to you about the rights of self determination of a
specific group of American Indians, the Cherokees of Idaho, a people who
have long lived as a separate indigenous cultural group.  This
indigenous group presently seeks it's right to self determination as a
people, through the process of formal recognition as a tribal nation in
the United States of America.  This process is being pursued through
lawful means.

It has been generally documented that this group of Cherokees, an
indigenous population that once lived in vast parts of what is now the
eastern United States, have continually lived in their own indigenous
communities prior to the 1840's in what is now called Idaho, and
certainly already were present as an indigenous population and tribal
nation well before Idaho's formal admittance to the United States.

The origin of this people are documented as survivors and refugees who
fled west to Idaho the year before the forced marches in 1838 as part of
the trail of tears that happened as part of the "Indian Removal Acts" of
the United States which sought the mass and forced ethnic removal of
indigenous peoples from the eastern United States.  Oral traditions of
various families, and some less clear documents from the time of earlier
Spanish administration in what is now part of the Western United States,
also speak of migrations of Cherokee peoples into the area even much
earlier than this.  The Cherokee of Idaho also have the oldest working
Cherokee tribal council west of the Mississippi river, yes, even longer
than the Cherokee nation of Oklahoma where many were forcibly removed to
in 1838.

The Cherokee in Idaho presently holds formal tribal council meetings
bi-monthly.  They continue to practice their unique culture and
language.  The present population can also trace ancestry directly to
the Cherokees of those documented migrations, and some even earlier.  As
an indigenous population long and continually established in Idaho, it
only seems correct that the right to self determination of these people
are formally recognized.

The Cherokee of Idaho look forward to working lawfully with the existing
state government of Idaho, and to live peacefully in proper relation
with the government of the United States of America.  They do not seek
special compensation from the United States for past injustices or even
the present climate of intolerance, although they well deserve it, but
simply wish to enjoy their pre-existing rights formally recognized as a
sovereign indigenous people so that they may continue their culture and
traditions.  The Cherokees of Idaho also seek formal assistance from the
United Nations in this process.

The Cherokee of Idaho seek assistance from the United Nations as a
sovereign people that happen to be living in the present United States.
This sovereignty is demonstrated by the very fact that the United States
had itself found the need to seek and then ratify nation-to-nation
treaties with various indigenous peoples of North America, including the
Cherokees.  This sovereignty was also formally recognized previously to
that by then governments of France and by Spain.

The Cherokees, as a whole, do continue to face routine discrimination,
whether in housing, employment, or educational opportunities, simply for
living chosen and ancestral life ways.  At times even recent past
Cherokee lifeways and languages have been violently suppressed by the
United States government.  Those existing nation-to-nation treaties
continue to be openly violated to this day in clear contempt of the
United Nations charter itself, which speaks of the sanctity of treaties
as a foundation of international relations.  I state these things not to
embarrass the United States for it's past and present behavior, but
because we do need to find effective solutions to move forward.

One area we are particularly interested in is teaching and continuing
Cherokee culture.  We have looked at opportunities to apply distance
learning methods to this end.  We would be very happy to work with
UNESCO on such projects, as they would likely be useful to other
indigenous communities as well.

The Cherokees of Idaho look forward to the help from all appropriate
agencies in meeting our goals as a self-sovereign indigenous peoples.
We find it necessary to do so because while the United States government
claims to formally endorse the United Nations Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, the United States also illegitimately asserts the exclusive
right to determine who should be permitted to qualify and whom it can
continue to openly discriminate against and deny rights to.  We look
forward to your support in better securing the promise of universal
human rights and recognition of basic human dignity per the United
Nations declaration on rights of indigenous peoples.

The Cherokee of Idaho can be contacted at:

Chief TW Davis
Cherokees of Idaho, Inc.
Box 232
Saint Maries, Idaho 83861
tftwolf@netzero.com <mailto:tftwolf@netzero.com>

I look forward to your reply on behalf of the tribal council of the
Cherokee of Idaho,

David Sugar








Photo by Billie K. Fidlin   All Rights Reserved
Banner Graphic: www.firstpeople.us