Cherokee Nation

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Peak Honoring Confederate Reverts to Cherokee Name

Kuwohi is the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

(Newser) - The highest peak in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is officially reverting to its Cherokee name more than 150 years after a surveyor named it for a Confederate general. The US Board of Geographic Names voted on Wednesday in favor of a request from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians...

Iconic Spot in National Park May Revert to Tribal Name

Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountains park could return to Cherokee 'Kuwahi'

(Newser) - The highest point in Great Smoky National Park is now on track to revert to its Cherokee name. The Native American tribe's eastern council last week backed a plan to request that Clingsman Dome be renamed Kuwahi, reports WBIR . The request will now be forwarded to federal officials, specifically...

Jeep Draws Cherokee Chief's Disapproval

Company 'does not honor us by having our name plastered on the side of a car'

(Newser) - For the first time since Jeep began using the name "Cherokee" for some of its vehicles in the 1970s, the Cherokee Nation is asking the car company to stop. "I’m sure this comes from a place that is well-intended, but it does not honor us by having...

Cherokee Nation: 'This Is History in the Making'

US tribe is first to deposit heirloom seeds in global vault

(Newser) - "There will always be a part of the Cherokee Nation in the world," declares the Native American tribe, which will be the first to store its heirloom seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, better known as the "doomsday vault." In a statement , Senior Director of...

Cherokee Nation Wants US to Make Good on 1835 Promise

Tribe is seeking to seat a nonvoting member for the first time

(Newser) - The Cherokee people have lived on the land now known as the United States of America for millennia . And yet the Cherokee Nation has never sent a delegate to Congress, something the Nation is now seeking to change. When the Treaty of New Echota was signed in 1835, it booted...

Elizabeth Warren: I'm Sorry
Elizabeth Warren: I'm Sorry
Feb 1, 2019 3:50 PM CST

Elizabeth Warren: I'm Sorry

The presidential hopeful says she's sorry about that DNA test

(Newser) - Sen. Elizabeth Warren has apologized about the whole Native American ancestry thing—in private at least, the Intercept reports. Warren "reached out to us and has apologized to the tribe," says Julie Hubbard, the Cherokee Nation's executive director of communications. "We are encouraged by this dialogue...

Cherokee Nation: Warren's DNA Test 'Inappropriate, Wrong'

'A DNA test is useless to determine tribal citizenship'

(Newser) - Sen. Elizabeth Warren has released a DNA test that shows "strong evidence" of at least some Native American ancestry—but the Cherokee Nation is not impressed. Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskins Jr. said in a statement Monday that a DNA test is "not evidence for tribal...

Cherokee Nation Recognizes MLK Day for the First Time

The tribe is seeking to make amends for its past with slavery

(Newser) - Cherokee Nation leaders are marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day by acknowledging the tribe needs to come to terms with its treatment of former slaves, known as Freedmen. The tribe—one of the country's largest—recognized the King holiday for the first time Monday with participation in a parade...

Cherokees Sue: CVS, Walmart 'Flooded' Them With Opioids

Cherokee Nation files complaint against 6 companies in tribal court over Okla. 'epidemic'

(Newser) - Native American communities experience some of the highest substance-abuse rates in the US: Babies are born addicted to prescription drugs due to exposure in utero, while Native American high school students take OxyContin at much higher rates than other teens, per NPR . Now the Cherokee Nation is fighting back in...

Study: Cherokee's Struggles Visible in Their Skulls

Researchers review changes in skulls' measurements during stressful times

(Newser) - It turns out the Trail of Tears didn't just affect the Cherokee people's spirits. A new study by North Carolina State University and University of Tennessee researchers has found that their struggles actually reshaped their skulls. The research was reliant on research done long before the present day,...

Biological Dad Gives Up on 'Baby Veronica'

He says she shouldn't be in the center of a court fight

(Newser) - After nearly four years of legal battles that went all the way to the Supreme Court —and then kept going—the "Baby Veronica" saga came to an end today, as the girl's biological father announced that he was ending all litigation in the case. "I cannot...

Supreme Court Rules for Indian Girl's Adopted Parents

Lower court had returned Veronica to Cherokee dad

(Newser) - The Supreme Court sided with a South Carolina couple today in a contentious adoption battle. Matt and Melanie Capobianco cared for baby Veronica since birth, until a family court ordered her returned to her biological father, Dusten Brown, at the end of 2011 when she had just turned 2; the...

Native American Mag Rips 'Ugly' Brown 'War Whoops' Rally

'Mocking' dig against Warren heritage sparks uproar

(Newser) - A native American news magazine has slammed the "ugly side" and "racist imagery" of the Scott Brown Senate campaign after staffers were caught on video yelling out " war whoops " and making "tomahawk chops" with their hands. Their target was the Cherokee heritage of Senate candidate...

US to Cherokee: You Can't Kick Blacks Out of Tribe

Oh yes we can, say tribal leaders

(Newser) - The leaders of the Cherokee Nation are scoffing at a notice from the Bureau of Indian Affairs telling it that it cannot kick 2,800 black people out of the tribe. “The Cherokee Nation will not be governed by the BIA,” Acting Chief Joe Crittenden said in a...

Cherokees: Oops, the Other Guy Won Election

Councilman Bill John Baker's victory was just too unlikely...

(Newser) - Lo and behold, Cherokee Nation officials have reversed unofficial election results, saying the tribe's longtime leader was re-elected in Saturday's voting. Unofficial results had shown longtime councilman Bill John Baker defeating Principal Chief Chad Smith by 11 votes yesterday. But Smith actually did win his fourth term as...

Cherokees Elect New Chief —By 11 Votes

Race to lead Oklahoma tribe was contentious

(Newser) - In a close election that ran overnight, the Cherokee Nation elected a new principal chief today, with final results posted on the tribe's website showing longtime councilman Bill John Baker defeating three-term incumbent Chad Smith by 11 votes. More than 15,000 votes were cast, and the margin between...

Cherokee Chief, Activist Wilma Mankiller Dies

First female chief was 64, had battled cancer

(Newser) - Former Cherokee Nation Chief Wilma Mankiller, one of the nation's most visible American Indian leaders and one of few women to lead a major tribe, died yesterday after suffering from cancer and other health problems. She was 64. Mankiller, whose first taste of federal policy toward Indians came when her...

17 Stories