Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith into action. This week we are urging our representatives in the United States House of Representatives to fulfil a 187-year-old treaty obligation to seat a Cherokee Nation delegate.

The federal government made a promise to the Cherokee, and now it’s time to see it through.¹

A 1835 treaty between the Cherokee nation and the US government guaranteed that the Cherokee nation could send a delegate to Congress. But for almost 200 years the US failed to live up to its end of the promise. Now, the Cherokee nation is asking for a delegate² and many social justice groups are showing solidarity by echoing the call.

The US has a long track record of not honoring treaties with Indigenous tribes.³ And that’s in addition to the atrocities like the forced removal of indigenous people from their lands and the horrors of residential boarding schools.

We can’t change the past but we can forge a new future. Having a delegate representing the Cherokee nation in Congress will give Indigenous people a stronger voice in public policy at a time when it’s badly needed. Climate change, a mega-drought in the American southwest, and years of disinvestment from the US government will have major impacts on indigenous people,⁴ their ability to access water, and provide basic necessities for their families.

Already DC, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands have delegates in Congress. A Cherokee delegate would be no different, except for the fact that they were promised a seat at Congress almost 200 years ago and never got it.

A promise is a promise. It’s time for Congress to make this right.

Options to Take Action:

1. Sign on to the letters at the Action Table outside the church on Sunday morning.
2. Download a copy of the Action Letter that you can sign and mail.
3. Click on this link to the Demand Progress action

Sources:
1. NPR, “The Cherokee Nation is renewing its push for a nonvoting delegate in Congress,” September 24, 2022.
2. Ibid.
3. The History Channel, “Broken Treaties With Native American Tribes: Timeline,” November 10, 2020.
4. New York Times, “In Arizona, Drought Ignites Tensions and Threatens Traditions Among the Hopi,” November 5, 2015.

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If you ever need to look up your member of the U.S. House of Representatives or your U.S. Senators check here: www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.

To find contact information for your California State Senator or California State Assemblymember check here: www.senate.ca.gov and www.assembly.ca.gov.