Twila Barnes: Andrea Smith's Attack on Tribal Sovereignty

My friend Twila Barnes, who writes the estimable Thoughts from Polly's Granddaughter blog on Cherokee issues, enters the fray on UC Riverside Professor Andrea Smith's identity theft of Cherokee citizenship.

MONEY:  By rejecting the idea that enrollment or citizenship in an Indian Nation is a factor in who is or is not Indian, Andrea Smith is taking an anti-Indian position. That is a direct attack on tribal sovereignty. No matter what Smith says, she is not acting in our best interest. She is not our friend and she is not seeking justice for us. Instead, she's forced us to a national stage where we must defend our tribal sovereignty, and once again, battle to protect one of the only things we Cherokees have left - our identity.

I take some issue with this, however, as one who has been beaten by a tribe wielding sovereignty as a club, to destroy my ancestor's legacy.    I am fighting corruption in my own tribe, who have ignored the evidence of our own tribal history, to eliminate anyone who opposes their power.

PLEASE, go to the link above and read Twila's take.  We also recently published David Cornsilk's view of the matter....