“moving off the ancestry and blood stuff” and educating themselves about the legacy of racism and settler colonialism.

“to remember or not remember” that actual Cherokee people once lived there.

poignant

gendered violence of settler colonialism, clarified the implications of using “Pocahontas” as a slur. “For Native people, especially Native women,” she explained, “the use of her name can be a dog whistle that calls to mind the myriad ways we are stereotyped, maligned, characterized as disposable, and silenced.”

Donald Trump, have mocked the senator’s claims by calling her “Pocahontas.”

“There’s not an appreciation for many of the ways Cherokees are asked, on a daily basis, to both defend their own status and take the onslaught of individuals who make claims that both appear like our family stories and yet are remarkably absent of the pain and challenges the community has shared collectively over time,” she noted.

Since the late 18th century, Cherokee enrollment offices have used censuses, pension records, court filings, and a wealth of other archival materials to make determinations of belonging. Given the sheer number of records, it would be highly unlikely for a person with legitimate Cherokee ties to go unnoticed in the region where Warren grew up.

lore

“While we organized this panel knowing that American Indians are always relevant to American politics, we did not necessarily anticipate this particular urgency,” she continued.

Reed, who recently joined the history department at Penn State, would always probe her students further: Were they connected to the Eastern Band, the United Keetoowah Band, or the Cherokee Nation? She generally received blank stares. It was clear to her that the students didn’t know the differences between the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes, or even that they existed at all. And not one of these students, she noted, had ever reached out to a tribal community to help verify their ancestry.

When analyzing the high propensity for crime on reservations, the answers to curbing those numbers have to do with jurisdiction and a return to traditional teachings and values. Even though some tribes may have criminal activity linked to gaming, this negative does not overshadow the successes and positive aspects of Indian gaming. Indian gaming has given tribes the chance to pull their communities out of poverty and revitalize their cultures. It has been a game changer for American Indian nations and American Indian people. Indian nations who participate in gaming have helped other tribal nations in need, created scholarships, given money to help victims of the bombing at the World Trade Center (Ambler ‚ƒƒ„), and given aid to countless non-Native charities and universities. Critics always are the Ìrst to point to the excesses and potential for crime and to give examples of criminal activity; however, every tribe must be free and empowered to be able to determine the course of their nation.

), Indigenous warrior scholar, explores the questions “Is there a spir-itual and cultural cost of doing business this way? What have the so-called ‘gaming tribes’ had to sacriÌce of their authentic selves in order to gain the political and economic power they now possess? Have they remained true to basic indigenous values and principles in their quest for freedom and power?” ese are the more important questions to ask, instead of whether crime increases because of gaming

Yes, in some cases Indian gaming has demonstrated that tribes can sup-port themselves, exercise sovereignty, and revitalize language, cultures, and economies

e impact gaming will have on the Navajo Nation and Navajo people is still uncertain. Gaming revenue has funded tribal projects and provided jobs for tribal members but has also negatively impacted some Navajo families who have gambling addictions. But like the examples provided, some of these social issues predate gaming. Gambling addiction may have been present before the Navajo casinos. Because of population size, the Navajo Nation will never see the type of gaming wealth that tribes in California, Minnesota, and New England have obtained

e Navajo are not antigambling. Many cultural gambling games are played for fun and entertainment, primarily in the wintertime. But these stories serve to warn the people about the excesses of gambling. In each tale, the Great Gambler entices the people to play games to excess. In my observation, the story of the Great Gambler has been a main factor behind the decision of the Navajo people to continuously vote against gaming

n ‚ƒƒ…, Firerock Casino opened near Gallup, New Mexico. As a Diné (Navajo), I had mixed feelings about the project but was hopeful at the prospect of employment opportunities for the Navajo people. e Diné have some of the highest unemployment rates in the country. In some areas on Navajo land, there is no running water or electricity. My family still hauls in water to their homes near Bisti Badlands. H

During this time, the news media ran a series of articles accusing other members of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians of a variety of crimes including drug possession, drug traÚcking, and having ties to the Mexican maÌa. e Mexican maÌa was also allegedly extorting money from some of the members of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. During this time the image of gaming in Southern California became very negative.

Historians and scholars of American history often balk at the word geno-cide. But most agree that genocide is an appropriate word to describe the atrocities committed against the California Indians. By „”ƒƒ, the pop-ulation of California Indians decreased from over ’ƒƒ,ƒƒƒ to less than „–,ƒƒƒ people (Castillo n.d.). Until the early twentieth century, bounties were placed on California Indians so that they were nearly obliterated. e remainder are the survivors of the mission system, gold rush, rape, murder, massacre, and slavery. is is why there is such a small population of California Indians, and there are tribes comprised of two hundred to as few as one person. e genocide in California was nearly successful. In addition, there are unratiÌed treaties. Many of their reservations were hilly with rocky terrain, and on some reservations they literally had to dynamite the hills to make an area Èat enough to accommodate housing and later casinos. Several factors have determined the economic wealth of the California casinos: small tribes, location, and proximity to wealth

American Indians have the highest rates of violence committed against them of any race or ethnic group. According to recent reports, American Indians are killed by police at a high rate, considering that the overall population of American Indians is —.§million, or ‚percent of the pop-ulation (U.S. Census Bureau ‚ƒ„ƒ; Woodard ‚ƒ„–). American Indians are also incarcerated at a higher rate than other racial and ethnic groups. ese facts are the result of a variety of factors related to colonization (Nielsen ‚ƒƒ”). e colonization of American Indian people occurred on multiple fronts. ey were physically removed from ancestral territories, murdered, assaulted, raped, and then put under federal Indian laws and policies that sought to continue the colonization. Scholars that research crime in Indian Country have asserted that these high rates are directly correlated to lack of jurisdiction and the tangled jurisdictional maze that is tribal criminal law (Deloria and Lytle „”…’)

It is complicated to answer the question posed earlier: Does Indian gaming increase crime on reservations and oÅ reservation? Generally, it does not increase crime. According to Taylor, Krepps, and Wang (‚ƒƒƒ, „§), the statistics they analyzed did not demonstrate any increase in crime when casinos were introduced. ere is no evidence that crime has increased in communities in which there is an Indian casino:

e Supreme Court upheld the right of tribes to conduct gaming operations. In a majority opinion, the Court argued that tribes fell under the federal government, not the states, because they are “domestic dependent” nations

e question remains, however: Does Indian gaming bring more crime to reservations and neighboring communities?

As these tribes have become more success-ful, they share their wealth with neighboring communities, help tribes

Indian gaming, now a multibillion dollar industry, has changed the face of Indian Country and the nation as a whole. Tribes previously struggled to survive, living in terrible poverty. Now the tables have turned. Tribes that were once invisible and voiceless are now the driving force in federal Indian policy nationwide (Akee, Spilde, and Taylor ‚ƒ„—).

I wish I could say I had cried when I found out about Victoria’s death, but I didn’t. I couldn’t summon up tears for this small woman who had given birth to me, allowed me to be handed off to the woman who raised me, and who wouldn’t see me again until 1993, when I was thirty- four years old. My dry eyes

An aunt approached me, shook my hand, and hugged me, pulling me close. She whispered in my ear, “You should be up in the front row with the rest of the kids.”

The rest of the siblings, who had inhabited the front row moments ago, moved to the row behind us. This active shifting of place and location made it apparent we did not share the same status of “family.” After a few awkward moments the three of us got up and returned to our seats back in the fifth row, next to Albert and Delphine, and watched the rest of the funeral from this sheltered vantage point

A bitter cold wind blows across the wide valley, the kind that tugs at clothing, flapping loose corners like sheets on the clothesline. This kind of wind sandblasts our skin with pebbly- hard snow pellets, forcing our eyes to become slits against its onslaught. I watch the man in the Pendleton vest read from a Bible, his words flying away on a fickle gust, and I move closer to my sister, seeking shelter, if only for a few moments. I glance around the brown- faced group and note that there are about eighty of us huddled together in this rural cemetery, which holds the remains of ancestors buried over hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Unlike other tribes, we weren’t moved here by the U.S. government; we ceded a large portion of our land and lived on the remaining 1,317,000 acres.

I don’t know if that’s how Vic really feels and she simply doesn’t care who hears her opinions and states them proudly, or perhaps, as her youngest son claims, she’s testing my reac-tion.

“You see Robin’s kids out there?” she asks, her voice suddenly tired. “I don’t know who’s going to take care of them kids when I’m gone.” A tear slides from beneath a closed lid.

This term holds both endear-ment and high respect.

Therefore, ten years vanished. And how badly I want to say how much I miss her, how much I will miss the chance to discover our differences or, more disconcerting perhaps, our similarities. I want her to know that I need her in my life to prove that I am “real,” a real daughter, a real sister, a real aunt, and a real niece. I’m not just a pencil marking on the genealogical tree that can be erased at whim when some family member determines I’m not real enough. I want to say these things, but don’t. These words hurt, physically, as they sit bunched in my throat and, emotionally, as they sit bunched in my consciousness

estranged

According to various U.S. Census and cdc demographics, we are 2 percent of the population, our poverty rate is 26 percent, 83 percent of roads on the reservations are in unacceptable condition, we die at significantly higher rates than other Americans, our youth have higher suicide rates than other American youth, and we have an average of a 50 percent high school– dropout rate

So I sit on the bed next to her, and both of us pretend ten years haven’t gone by since I’ve seen her. We pretend her drinking hasn’t caused the chasm in the family that is still an open wound, and we pretend that her kidneys aren’t failing to the point that requires her to go to dialysis three times a week, as she wastes away before everyone’s eyes. That’s okay though— I’m really good at pretending; I’ve had a lot of practice. I’ve pretended for nearly four decades that I truly feel comfortable living in a country filled with people who often despise people like her and me, Indians. We are enemies of the state because we fought for our homeland, and we are constantly reminded how little we matter.

his is her statement of unconventionality, the inability to color within the lines, which also explains my removal. Her unconventionality caused her and Ronny Smith, my father, to have me, a six- month- old, ride the rails with them to Minnesota. Her unconventionality led her to disappear for weeks, sometimes months at a time, leaving her children with various family members until she resurfaced, with no explanation of where she’d been or why she disappeared. Her unconventionality led her to shoot heroin in front of her five- year- old son, Vern

I glance at my watch; it’s two in the afternoon.

monosyllabic

acrid

visceral

hese captured moments commemorating achievements, events, and crazy- quilt pieces of everyday life sit in stark contrast to the heavy oppression within the room, this house, this development.

The walls are filmed by cigarette smoke

linoleum

xeriscaping

Her home is like all the other tribally administered hud homes in this development, a small one- storied structure cloaked in heavily weathered gray siding and surrounded by a fenceless lot, devoid of vegetation, save the hardy, slow- growing grass that erupts in the midst of the connected lawns. This grass could be mistaken for xeriscaping, but it’s the result of people being too poor, or too disinterested, to plant, water, and maintain the lush lawns seen elsewhere in the United States.

arroyos

I dreaded this day,” she finally says through soft sobs caught in her throat, strangling her words to bare whispers. “I thought you’d come up here and be mean. I thought you’d call me all kinds of bad names. I thought you’d be really angry and talk harsh.” My own throat closes, and I can’t speak

the quiet rush of the creek, and the call of the crows to be picked up by my ears. A sense of expectation hung in the air, as low and confining as the ceiling of clouds. I scanned the group, my heart beating frantically against my ribcage, and butterflies took flight in my stomach. Once more I was a small child, fearful of strangers, fearful of her. But my curiosity mixed with fear and caused me to wonder what each of us inherited and what have we passed on. As always, I looked for familiarities.

The stranger who sat on a chair at the edge of the clearing was Clara Victoria, my birth mother. She was surrounded by tall pines, whose tops swayed gently in the cool breeze, a breeze that never brushed the forest floor. The chair’s fabric wove its own simple pattern, crafted against a natural world. Beneath her feet lay a carpet of short pine needles, long fallen and red, leftovers from countless seasons

We have not asked you to give up your religions and beliefs for ours.We have not asked you to give up your language for ours.We have not asked you to give up your ways of life for ours.We have not asked you to give up your government for ours.We have not asked that you give up your territories to us

Onen

Show us you are sincere and remember the Creator loves all life and peoples and favors none above the other

Put your house in order with respect to our people, so that we may continue to coexist in peace and friendship as our grandfathers and their grandfathers tried so hard to do.

Do not prosecute the Indians for the methods used to gain your attention, for the fault actually lies with the Government of the United States for ignoring Indians for so long

They are hostile, and eager to exercise the sanctions of the United States to subjugate the Indian people.

The solution is simple: be honest, be fair, honor the commitments made by the founding fathers of your country. We are an honorable people—can you say the same? You are concerned for the destruction of property at the BIA building and at Wounded Knee. Where is your concern for the destruc-tion of our people, for human lives? Thousands of Pequots, Narragansetts, Mohicans, thousands of Cherokees on the Trail of Tears, Black Hawk’s peo-ple, Chief Joseph’s people, Captain Jack’s people, the Navajos, the Apaches, Sand Creek Massacre (huddled under an American flag seeking the pro-tection of a promise), Big Foot’s people at Wounded Knee. When will you cease your violence against our people? Where is your concern for us?What about the destruction of our properties? The thousands of acres of land, inundated by dams built on our properties, the raping of the Hopi and Navajo territories by the Peabody strip mining operations, timber cut-ting, power companies, water pollution, and on and on. Where is your concern for these properties?

inundated

In 1976, you are going to have a birthday party proclaim-ing 200 years of democracy, a hypocritical action. The people of the world would find this laughable.

steeped

resort to such extremes to gain some recognition of our desperate situation

of the United States should be concerned. The President of the United States should be concerned, and further, he should make a statement to that effect. Native Americans should be the top priority of this nation. We number less than 1 per cent of this country’s population: now why is it so hard to take care of the obligations to our people that have been promised and promised and promised.

We find it deplorable that the Native Americans have to risk their very lives to focus attention on the terrible conditions of our peo-ple in this country. We cite the poor health conditions, education, welfare, illegal drafting of our people, and the utter disregard for the treaties that we have paid for with our lives as examples of these conditions.

deplorable

ham-let of Wounded Knee

the Iro-quois Confederacy

“We Are an Honorable People—Can You Say the Same?” (

Pine Ridge Reservation

Lost in the clamor was the Twenty Points, a document that encapsulated the Red Power movement’s objectives, including the reinstitution of treaty making, the return of 100 million acres of tribal lands, restoration for terminated tribes, the repeal of state jurisdiction, religious freedom, attention to crises in health, housing, and education, and the creation of an office of Federal Indian Relations

clamor

spearheaded

but Justice will be ours.

sinew

America has a moral obli-gation before the eyes of all the world to undo the many wrongs inflicted upon our Indian peoples; upon Indians of All Tribes

Our fathers’ names are recorded in blood all across America. From sea to shining sea lie the graveyards of military massacres against our people. The surface of America is etched forever with the scars of countless Trails of Tears. The thousands who gave their lives to defend their sacred lands are as numerous as the stars and can never be counted. Their spirits live within our hearts and their deaths must not be forgotten

Democracy has never been granted to our people. Genocide yesterday and genocide by sophisticated means today has been and is still the policy of the United States Government. Termination, relocation and assimila-tion are the current forms of genocide. To break all of our cultural ties with earth and tribe is the means now being used to destroy our people. Divide and conquer is the unwritten law; divide and conquer by any means is the Bureau of Indian Affairs indoctrination and brain-washing-Uncle-Toma-hawkification-technique, as directed by the heads of government

Reservation and urban needs, the return of our treaty-guaranteed lands, and other lands illegally taken from us, a new educational process for our children; these are but a few of our goals.

Youth will not compromise in this struggle for unity. All Indian prob-lems, whether of an individual or tribe, must be shared by all.

New concepts based upon old ideas demand that new leaders emerge. Let yesterday’s leaders be a source of wisdom and moral strength, but let youth be the fire of positive action in this new and lasting demand for self-determination. Let us also be sure that this fire is a steady, warming hearth, and never one of destruction.

intricacies

inanities

To think within the cage-like confines of a room too often produces box-like results, neatly packaged and labeled in inanities.

United Indians of All Tribes call upon our brothers and sisters all across these Americas to hear this, our call and pledge to Indian unity. Hear us, as we open our hearts and minds, and raise our voices! The time has come for all Indians to unite into one brotherhood and to demonstrate, by this unity, the immediate needs of all our people

“Our Children Will Know Freedom and Justice” (1969)8Indians of All Tribes

advent

Red Power movement

detrimental

Poor People’s Campaign

we are asking that you use your influence to eliminate this discrimination, not only in Juneau or Douglas, but in the whole Territory.

When a Norwegian, Swedish, or an Irishman makes a fool of himself in any of these business establishments, he is asked to leave and that is not held against all of the Norwegians, Swedes, or what have you. We ask that we be accorded the same considerations. If our people misbehave, send the parties concerned out, but let those that conduct themselves respect-fully be free to come and go

Indians

Instead he shows his appreciation by having a “No Natives Allowed” [sign] on his door

proprietor

patronize

We pay the required taxes, taxes in some instances that we feel are unjust, such as the School tax. Our Native people pay the School tax each year to educate the White children, yet they try to exclude our children from these schools

“No Natives Allowed.”

Elizabeth Peratro-vich (1911–58) and Roy Peratrovich (1908–89), a Tlingit couple with leader-ship roles in the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood, advocated for citizenship rights and fought against segregation.29 With support from Governor Earnest Gruening, a grassroots movement ulti-mately led the territorial legislature to adopt an Anti-Discrimination Act in February 1945. Though a long battle for sovereignty lay ahead, Alaska Natives had found their Martin Luther King Jr. Consider how the couple deployed concepts of patriotism, democracy, and citizenship in this letter protesting the discrimination they and others experienced after the attack on Pearl Harbor.3

***

Under the act of June 28, 1898, authority was given to the chief or to any member of the tribe to bring suits against any person holding wrongful possession of lands in the Cherokee country, yet no action was brought against any of your petitioners. Under the act of 1902 the Secretary was to cause allottees to be placed in possession, but the Secretary did not remove the freedmen claimants. This shows how they were regarded before the final rolls were made up and before they were wrongfully left off of the final rolls, which will deprive them of their interest in the tribal property, and they will be driven from the homes they have occupied for years, and others will be deprived from making their rightful selections.

The direction was plain and simple, yet it was not obeyed

We therefore pray Congress to give us a chance to present our cases to a committee of Congress, to any court, or to the Secretary of the Interior. We know that we can establish our rights, and we are only asking for just and fair treatment.

By reason of valuable oil and gas deposits in the lands, which by rights belong to your petitioners, the same—worth many millions of dollars—we will lose, also be deprived of other property, and our homes if Congress does not give us relief

treating other human beings as property became a way for Native nations to demonstrate their civilization

The Secretary of Interior in his letter of instructions told the commis-sion what it should do, and had the commission followed the law and his instructions there would have been no trouble, but the commission did neither. He informed them that “The roll of 1880 made by the Cherokee Nation is to be accepted by you as conclusive of the rights of all persons whose names are found thereon and of their descendants to be enrolled by you, ***no evidence was to be accepted tending to disprove the citizen-ship of any person whose name was upon the roll of 1880.

Notwithstanding the decree of the court and the strong language of the Secretary, the commission did fail and neglect to properly place upon the final roll the names of a number of freedmen who were on the 1880 roll. Many of the freedmen whose names were on that roll and their descend-ants have been and still are wrongfully denied membership in said nation, and they will lose their valuable rights unless some action is taken by Con-gress. There can be no reasonable excuse offered for the neglect of the Commission to the Five Tribes, for it was fully instructed what to do in regard to the Cherokee freedmen. . . .

yet a number of our people whose names appear upon the various rolls have been denied their rights.

purporting

Five Tribes

(the Indian appropriation bill)

We, the undersigned, representing the Cherokee freedmen who have been wrongfully excluded from the final rolls of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, do hereby memorialize Congress to enact legislation which will protect us in the rights guaranteed us under treaties between the United States and said nation, under the laws of Congress, and the rules and regulations of the Interior Department, and the decisions of the courts

Were Cherokee Freedmen, in the absence of kin relations, entitled to the same rights and entitlements as Cherokees who were citi-zens “by blood?” And who possessed the power to decide?

kin relations

delineated

pernicious

chattel slavery

As they deal with me and my people,

It is for them that I would give the last drop of my blood; it is for them that I would spend, nay, am spending, everything belonging to me.

With all your goodly possessions, covering a territory so immense that there yet remain parts unexplored, possessing islands that, although near at hand, had to be neutral ground in time of war, do not covet the little vineyard of Naboth’s, so far from your shores, lest the punishment of Ahab fall upon you, if not in your day, in that of your children, for “be not deceived, God is not mocked.

aborigines

relegated

usurpers

marauders

When they overthrew my government, and placed themselves under the protec-torate established by John L. Stevens—as he so states in writing,—they designated themselves as Americans; as such they called on him to raise their flag on the building of the Hawaiian Government.14 When it pleased the Provisional Government to give their control another name, they called it the Republic of Hawai‘i. To gain the sympathy of the American people, they made the national day of the Independence of the United States their own, and made speeches claiming to be American citizens. Such has been their custom at Honolulu, although in Washington they represent themselves as Hawaiians. . . .

They are not and never were Hawaiians.

The second package of documents received by me in Boston was addressed to President [William] McKinley, and was similar to the others I already had. . . .12 Accompanying these papers were other documents, showing that full power was accorded to me, not only as their queen, but individually, to represent the real people of Hawai‘i, and in so doing to act in any way my judgment should dictate for the good of the Hawaiians, to whom the Creator gave those beautiful islands in the Pacific. Commissions were also issued to Mr. Joseph Heleluhe, empowering him to act with me; he having been chosen by the Hawaiians as the special envoy of those deprived by the Provisional Government, not only of the franchise, but also of any representation at the capital of that American nation to which they have never ceased to look for the redress of national wrongs, brought upon them by the hasty action of United States officers.

t is alleged that my proposed constitution was to make such changes as to give to the sovereign more power, and to the cabinet or legislature less, and that only subjects, in distinction from temporary residents, could exer-cise suffrage. In other words, that I was to restore some of the ancient rights of my people

depos

degraded

Space will only permit, how-ever, a mere outline

ongoing resist-ance movement. Consider how and why she deployed concepts such as citizenship, civilization, indigeneity, self-determination, sovereignty, consti-tutionalism, representation, patriotism, international law, and Christianity in defense of Hawaiian nationhood.9

annexa-tion.

General Allotment Act

"the closing of the female seminary was the best thing that ever happened.

decry

Although there undoubtedly was prejudice against the traditional girls and these students were often devastated by their seminary experiences, full-bloods were at least exposed to the ways of white society, and the mixed-blood girls had the opportunity to interact for a short time with less acculturated tribal members.

All four were one-thirty-second Cherokee blood

They were grateful to receive skills that enabled them to survive in white society. To others, the acculturation policies of the schools, intertribal racism, the social class system, and emphasis on Christianity disrupted their lives, and the schools remain symbols of that inhospitable world.

But the full-bloods who were fluent in their native language and participated in tribal ceremonies also saw themselves as Cherokees, and their tenure at what they regarded as an oppressive school only strengthened their ties to their traditional families.

The hundreds of Cherokee girls who passed through its halls were profoundly influenced both positively and negatively by their experiences at the school.

men with a lesser degree of Cherokee blood than they had, had tended during tribal enrollment to claim a lesser degree of Cherokee blood than their siblings, perhaps in an attempt to appear "whiter," while at the same time retaining their Cherokee identity.

After graduation they became educators, businesswomen, physicians, stock-raisers, and prominent social workers, among other professions. They also followed their mothers' examples and "married well." Of the 212 graduates, at least 189 eventually married. Most of them married white men or men who had a smaller amount of Cherokee blood than they had. In a few cases, the husbands had a greater degree oflndian blood, but in every such in-stance, they were either physicians, politicians, or members of promi-nent (usually wealthy) Cherokee families.

The seminary administrators yielded to the pressure, and by 1905 the school's "domestic science" department included lessons in cooking, cleaning (dusting and making their beds; a laundress washed their clothes), and sewing (usually to mend torn clothes; only a few girls became skilled seamstresses) and a modest agricultural program that featured botany, gardening, and flower arrangement.

The debate over educational priorities had begun as early as 18231 when Chief John Ross and Second Principal Chief Charles Hicks disagreed over the type of "national academy" the tribe should es-tablish. Ross advocated the traditional, New England-style school, while Hicks championed what he believed was the most practical education for tribal members, a vocational school.54 The council dis-regarded Hicks's suggestion, and thirty-three years later Indian Agent W. A. Duncan reported that the seminaries still "were only producing intellectuals .... [but] not everyone can become a professional ... [or] live here without manual labor."55 Because of pressure from tribal members who wanted vocational training to be available, the Na-tional Council gave the Board of Education permission to declare the boarding schools "industrial or manual labor boarding schools.

The seminaries met the expectations of the National Council, the teachers, and most of the Cherokee Nation's citizens, but some Cherokees protested that the academic curricula were not applicable to the needs of the students

Prejudice against traditional Cherokees was the parents' main argument against the seminaries, but they also had doubts about the practicality of the schools' curricula.

several girls voluntarily went home because of the crowded living conditions

These dropouts usually left because of personal or family illness, an impending marriage, or homesickness.

Many of the graduates attended the school at the same time as their rela-tives, which helped to alleviate homesickness

had reasonably good educational backgrounds.46 In addition, many mixed-blood parents hired private tutors if their daughters had difficulty with their studies or if the common school teachers were incompetent.

Granted, many girls left the seminary before they had completed their first semester, and some left after only one week

We are simply Cherokee school girls

while a handful did not marry at all and concentrated on careers.

Although many Cherokee women were expected to adopt Victorian social skills, that did not mean they all accepted their subservient roles. The semi-nary girls discussed marriage among themselves and in the newspaper once posed the question "The State of Matrimony: Is It a Free State or a Slave State1"39They did not, however, answer the question, perhaps out of fear that they would insult the male administrators. Little is known about what happed to most of the seminarians after they left the school, but I have ascertained that some of the seminarians dropped out of school, married, and stayed housewives their entire lives.

"What more admirable than the noble form, erect in God-like majesty, or the more perfect gracefulness of woman? The blushing smiles that play upon the rosy cheek, the silken hair falling luxuriantly over the shoulders, the sparkling eye;-these are all lovely and call forth many a word of praise.

The seminarians hoped to accomplish their goal of enlightening other Cherokees about the merits of white civilization by having their newspapers distributed throughout the Cherokee Nation. Even if they could not understand the English language, Cherokees could read the students' commentaries because the papers were printed in both English and Cherokee. Students spread the word personally when the seminary opened for "public inspection" several times a year. Students also frequently paraded into Tahlequah to mingle with Cherokee citizens in the shops and churches, and they regularly attended Sons of Temperance meetings. Every May during gradua-tion ceremonies, the Cherokee Female Seminary hosted an elaborate anniversary celebration to commemorate the opening of the school; hundreds of Cherokees (and members of other tribes) attended and witnessed the product of seminary training.

wild, passive, uninteresting life without any intellectual pleasure or enjoyment, /1 except, she adds, to attend the Green Corn Dance, a "kind of religious festival.

imbeciles

The seminarians were not shy in vocalizing their hope that their unsophisticated peers would do the same.

emphasize the vast improvements the tribe had made

Female seminarians on the school's front porch, 1897. Courtesy of University Archives, John Vaughan Library, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Female seminary superintendent and male seminary graduate Spencer Seago Stephens, for example, pro-claimed in 1889 that "it is the white blood that has made us what we are .... [Ijf missionaries wish to lift up Indian tribes ... let them en-courage intermarriage with whites."

Even progressive mixed-blood girls who were dark-skinned faced prejudice.

It appears that the more Chero-kee blood a girl had, or the more Native she looked, the more she felt she had to prove herself as a scholar and as a useful member of a society that lshe believed) valued only those women who were white in appearance and in attitude.

Seminaries were made only for the rich and those who were not full Cherokee

Indeed, many of their families had already succeeded, and the children came to the seminary armed with the knowledge of white society that was necessary to function among their acculturated peers.

Many of them did not speak Cherokee, nor did they have any interest in traditional Cherokee customs.

Some full-bloods who wanted a seminary education were willing to work for their tuition, but only a limited number of workers were allowed each semester. Some of the more acculturated full-blood girls at the seminary were from families that could afford the tuition.

After the 187os many of the neighborhood common schools taught in the Cherokee language for the benefit of the full-bloods; therefore, high school-age children who could not afford the seminary tuition were limited in their educational choices.

they stayed an average of four semesters, two semesters longer than the average for mixed-bloods (but five semesters less than the average for graduates

ascertained)

ostracized

With the National Council advocating white education, the traditionalists were continually pressured to adopt a different culture if they wanted to attend the seminary.

the third-floor inspection duty because the other teachers were repelled by the students' head lice.

In 1908, for example, mixed-blood seminary superintendent Albert Sydney Wyly Ian 1890 graduate of the male seminary) expressed his impatience with the full-blood girls by referring to the mixed-bloods as "whiter" and therefore "more intellectual." He criticized the full-bloods for their "pathetic attachment to home" and remarked patronizingly that at least they "possess a great deal of artistic ability.

but there were no traditional Cherokee teachers. Despite the instructors' sympathies for the traditional girls, they rarely understood the problems the full-bloods faced

Since most full-bloods and some poor mixed-bloods worked for their room and board, they were assigned to the third floor with the primary students. Because they were often behind academically, many were placed in classes with the younger girls. They were left behind on social excursions, because only those in the high school grades were allowed to attend events in Tahlequah and the male seminarians' ballgames.

It was the general consensus among the mixed-blood students that the full-blood girls were "a little but backward" and well aware of their inferior status.

A few progres-sive full-bloods also belittled those who had limited understanding of white ways.

but from 1872 until 1910 it appar-ently was based more on race (Cherokee and white blood quantumsl, appearance (Indian or Caucasianl, and degree of acculturation.

Some students who failed courses semester after semester were repeatedly granted re-admittance as long as they could pay the tuition.

The schools they attended in the distant reaches of the Cherokee Nation were not as well equipped as those closer to the capital, Tahlequah, nor were there enough Cherokee-speaking teachers to help them learn English.

During the seminary's early years I 18 5 1-5 6) there was no tuition fee, but money undoubtedly determined who entered the seminary.

Because of these socioeconomic dif-ferences, within the seminary walls a definite class system evolved, creating tension much like that which existed throughout the Chero-kee Nation between the mixed-bloods and the full-bloods, between the traditionalists and the progressives, and between those tribal members who were proslavery and those who were not.

after the council was pressured by disgruntled tribesmen to establish a "primary department" to provide free education to full-blood children who could not afford the five-dollar-per-semester tuition.

acculturation

they were also interested in the proper "refinement" of their daughters, to enable them to serve as knowledgeable, but dutiful, wives in the Cherokee Nation

Their decisions regarding the seminary were supported by most of the mixed-bloods of the tribe, white men and their Cherokee spouses (for the most part mixed-bloods), and to a lesser extent, by the progressive full-bloods.

the success of the seminaries is measured by non-traditional Cherokee standards, not from a traditional, egalitar-ian Cherokee standpoint.

the schools espoused Victorian women's roles (holding women inferior to men),

Most of the pride came from those who believed they should compete with whites on white terms.

They were able to slip back and forth between the white and Cherokee cultures-or at least the Cherokee culture they were used to-depending on their needs.

Interestingly, just like many mixed-bloods today, the Cherokee women who looked Caucasian found that their appearance, in combination with their educational backgrounds, gave them an advantage.

Although they had pride in being Cherokee, they did not aspire to retain traditional Cherokee values that included equality between genders.

pious

reater formal education put them in a higher cultural class

cost seventy-eight thousand dollars to build

the seminary did nothing to preserve or reinforce Cherokee customs among its students. Reten-tion of ancestral Cherokee values was not the school's purpose.

hailed

he social atmosphere at the seminary contributed to the rift between Cherokee girls from progressive, mixed-blood families and those from more traditional, uneducated backgrounds.

rift

to provide high-quality education