Statement from Chief Jeff Wacoche of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians

BY: STAFF REPORTS

There is a long and painful history in this country of using violent rhetoric to justify the violent treatment of Native peoples. From the first moments of colonization to the forced removals of the 1800s and the boarding school era of indoctrination, dehumanizing language has always been a tool of oppression – a way to marginalize Native populations and make it easier to take what is ours.

That history is not behind us. The same attitudes that drove historical mistreatment still exist today – sometimes whispered, sometimes shouted. And while many believe the worst is in the past, Native people continue to face daily reminders that our lives, our rights, and our histories are still viewed by some as obstacles to overcome rather than truths to be honored.

The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians knows this reality intimately. We have fought every inch of the way – to protect our land, to defend our sovereignty, and to be recognized as the legal and spiritual heirs of our ancestors. We have been forced to prove time and again what history already knows: that we are a legitimate, federally recognized Cherokee Tribe, successors in interest to the Cherokee Treaties. We have fought for jurisdiction over our own reservation, for federal approval of trust lands to host programs and deliver services to our elders and youth, and for our right to game on our own lands, all to provide for our people on our terms. And we fight still.

We continue to place our faith in the Department of the Interior and the Trump Administration to do right by Native peoples – to uphold the law, honor treaties, and reject false narratives used to undermine the legal standing of the UKB. We stand behind President Trump and the federal government in safeguarding Tribal rights and protecting them from erosion.

The attacks may look different today, but the damage cuts just as deep. And yet, despite all efforts to erase us, we remain. We govern. We speak our language. We raise our children to know who they are. And we refuse to let ignorance or hate determine our future.

We do not exist for others to debate our worth. We exist because we have never stopped fighting. And we are not done yet.