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Feds give Cherokee Nation $39 million in funds that were frozen over freedmen election issue |
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Written by Administrator
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Sunday, 30 October 2011 |
Feds give Cherokee Nation $39 million in funds that were frozen over freedmen election issue
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Posted: October 28, 2011
TULSA, Okla. — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is releasing $39 million it had been withholding from the Cherokee Nation, after the tribe made good on its promise to allow the descendants of slaves once owned by its members to vote in its recent election for chief.
Newly-elected Principal Chief Bill John Baker announced the release of the funds on Friday. HUD froze the money after the tribe's Supreme Court issued a ruling in August upholding the tribe's decision to expel about 2,800 of the slaves' descendants, who are known as freedmen.
The 300,000-member tribe eventually brokered a deal with the freedmen in federal court that cleared them to vote in the special election for chief.
"We are pleased that in the second week of our term, we've managed to work with the federal government to have this money released," Baker said. "It's important we have that money so we can better take care of our people."
Baker defeated incumbent Chad Smith by nearly 1,600 votes in balloting that ended Oct. 8. A ceremonial inauguration is planned for Nov. 6 in Tahlequah.
Balloting for chief was initially conducted in June, but the results of that election were reversed several times on recounts — with Smith and Baker each being declared the winner twice. After the fifth count again turned up different numbers, the tribal Supreme Court ordered a new election.
Baker and Smith had dueled for months on the campaign trail, trading barbs over how many jobs the nation was creating for the Cherokee people, spending on health care and even Smith's use of a twin-engine airplane the tribe has owned for years.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/9a92facaa3014d7ab52de4dec6487a90/OK--Cherokee-Freedmen/ |
