D. Sean Rowley
Cherokee Phoenix
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – It has been a long wait, and everyone is still waiting, but at some point – to fulfill federal treaty obligations – the U.S. House of Representatives will seat Kim Teehee as delegate for the Cherokee Nation.
Teehee was appointed as the delegate designate by Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. in 2019. A series of detours and distractions, including the COVID-19 pandemic, have left the Cherokee Nation and Teehee waiting patiently. There seems to be widespread bipartisan support to make space for Teehee, but a resolution must find its way to the House calendar.
As a delegate, Teehee will not have the same powers as the elected representatives from the various states. She cannot participate in a floor vote in the chamber, but otherwise may take part in most other House procedures.
“We would be treated like a U.S. territory delegate,” Teehee said. “Delegates get to serve and vote in committee. They can introduce legislation, they can speak before the committees and they can work on amendments to legislation in committee. All of that is part of the deliberative process within the House of Representatives.”
As part of a committee to amend bills and make recommendations, a delegate’s vote for or against changes is counted and recorded.
“The delegate is involved in the more deliberative process in lawmaking,” Teehee said. “There is that limitation without a (floor) vote, but there’s also a lot of authority that comes with being a delegate. The process of working through committee is very important.”
A voice for the Cherokee Nation would have value in the House. The federal government’s relationship with the Cherokee Nation and other tribes includes funding allocations that allow provision of health care, housing, education and other services.
“Our issues cross cut so many areas that we believe Congress has a duty – a legal obligation – to ensure that we have enough funding to take care of the needs of our citizens,” Teehee said. “That’s part of the government to government relationship with the United States. Another areas is language where, frankly, we were able to get a bill across the finish line last year, the Durbin Feeling Native Languages Act.”
Teehee said another pressing need of the Cherokee Nation is enhancement of infrastructure, be it bridges or internet access.
“Infrastructure is additional dollars to address roads, connectivity, broadband, things that would allow our citizens, our speakers, our students to have greater access to the services they need,” Teehee said. “Those are things that are desperately needed in our community and elsewhere.”
The agreement to seat a delegate is part of the Treaty of New Echota of 1835. Arranged by “Treaty Party” Cherokees, most within the tribe deemed the document invalid. But it was ruthlessly enforced by successive federal administrations to impose a policy of forced removal that killed thousands. Language concerning a Cherokee Nation delegate was also included in the Treaty of 1865.
“That provision is in our Removal treaty,” Teehee said. “We had so many citizens, including my own ancestors, who perished on that forced march. We know what happened to those who perished and the aftermath; those who survived and the rebuilding that it took to bring us back to the great nation we are today. I think it’s important that we work collectively as a people to ask Congress to seat the delegate.”
This article was first published in the Cherokee Phoenix.
