Hi Ed,
Nope, it has nothing to do with lineage. It only has to do with whether
your direct ancestor was either 1.) a collaborator with the government in
the dissolution of the Cherokee, religion, identity and lands through the
Dawes Act or 2.)whether you were unable to escape the federal troops or
marshals who were sent out to jail you until you accepted the deal and a
roll number.
My Great Grandfather stayed in the hiding bushes amongst the off reservation
Cherokee community in Arkansas. He also had false papers that kept the law
away from him and his offspring. This ruse was kept up until the 1930s
when the authorities could no longer abscond with children and property
under the guise of white Guardianship, or as my father put it, "If you aunt
was raped by a White Man we would have no recourse under the law if we were
recognized as Indian." When he was fourteen he had seen a 13 year old
hung by the local courts. He was sure that he didn't want to have anything
to do with any of those people or their system of government, especially if
he was identified as an Indian.
He did, however, teach in Indian Schools and make himself available to
Indian students all of his life and they knew who he was, where he was from
and who his family was. It was enough until this current law emerged from
the first Bush administration in conjunction with the authorized Indian
governments who made it a Trademark issue. The most famous Cherokee
sculptor from the traditional side of the Nation was Williard Stone. Since
the Stone family refused to collaborate or be caught by the Federales,
Williard Stone's scultures had to be removed from the Cherokee Nation's
Museum even though he was acknowledged as the Nation's greates sculptor with
international credentials in the Art world. God, it really makes you
love the middle class and their ways.
Ray Evans Harrell
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed Goertzen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Magic Circ Op Rep Ens" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2001 11:47 AM
Subject: Re: Musings on the FTAA
> Not to the list
>
> Hi Ray:
> Certainly I'm not qualified, but with the advance of DNA technology, would
> it not be possible to re-enfranchise those natives who were "cut out" of
> the authentication process through arbitrary measures.
>
> Regards
> Ed G
>
> At 02:39 PM 30/04/2001 -0400, you wrote:
> >Mike,
> >
> >The American Indian Arts and Crafts Act finalized in 1996 was pushed
through
> >during the first Bush administration as a way of eventually eleminating
all
> >tribal entities, i.e. if you require a blood quantum and a membership
card
> >that allows for no "naturalized" members of an Indian Nation, then
> >eventually the blood quantum will drop to the point where the tribe will
be
> >declared exstinct by the Federal government and the land will be open to
> >settlement by non-Indians. It was supposed to protect Indian people
from
> >contraband art and craft work from China and Taiwan that was killing the
> >authentic articles. The issue is the same as any intellectual capital
> >anywhere. However the first Bush administration saw that drawing the
lines
> >very narrowly would eventually cut off the Indian nations from the
> >replenishment of the blood from non-Governmental Indian people who were
> >family but not enrolled.
> >
> > The AIACA begins by declaring only card carrying members who relate back
> >"in a direct line to an enrollee", i.e. your great uncle by blood won't
do,
> >are considered tribal members according to the government. Tribal
> >membership constitutes a "trademark" owned by the tribe and so any artist
> >whose ancestors weren't collaborators (or were good enough to evade
capture
> >by the army and jailed for same purpose ) cannot call themselves an
Indian
> >or their art in the tradition of their family. Any gallery that
exhibits
> >their art as such is liable for over a million dollar fine for each
article.
> >
> >In the Cherokee nation there were around 6,000 traditional Cherokees who
> >practiced the old religion and spoke only Cherokee who were never
enrolled.
> >The count is still high and they still practice the old religion and most
> >are still Cherokee language only speakers. Something that is not the
case
> >in either of the authorized Cherokee nations East or West.
> >
> >This is not an issue with the people in either nation but with the
> >government and its equal treatment of Citizens within the country as a
> >whole. For Indian people it is a classic Batesonian Double bind.
> >
> >Welcome to the world of Indian People Mike. This has been the shell
game
> >practiced for over 300 years in the world's most "Christian" Nation.
> >Artistry is not a part of their fundamentalist traditions and to them we
are
> >just another Pagan to be eleminated or converted. For a long time they
> >weren't sure that we were human since we aren't in their holy book.
All
> >of the Middle Eastern Fundamentalisms are hard on artists and pagans.
> >
> >REH
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "mckeever" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >To: "Magic Circ Op Rep Ens" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Sent: Monday, April 30, 2001 10:56 AM
> >Subject: Re: Musings on the FTAA
> >
> >
> >> Ray:
> >>
> >> Are serious?
> >>
> >> Let's find an up-the-establishment gallery and put on an exhibition.
> >> especially if the artist is broke - being judgement proof is a good
thing
> >> sometimes.
> >>
> >> Mike
> >>
> >> PS Loved Susan George, am distributing the piece to interested parties
on
> >> the ipe list.
> >>
> >> Mike
> >>
> >> Like the
> >> Cherokee sculptor Jimmy Durham whose ancestors resisted the government,
> >> refused to collaborate with the thieving state governments who acted
like
> >> Nazis and banned Indian religions from 1880 to 1978 and enrolled
Indians
> >to
> >> keep track of them. Most of the traditional people hid in the
mountains
> >> rather than be jailed for speaking Cherokee or practicing the religion.
> >> Today, the latest gloss is that no Indian without an enrollment number
> >from
> >> that period can earn a living as an Indian artist without it. Fines
are
> >> from $250,000 to over one million per infraction. The same being true
to
> >> any gallery that exhibits their work as Cherokee or even Indian.
> >> Michael Pierce McKeever, Sr.
> >> Economics Instructor, Vista Community College, Berkeley, CA
> >> URL: www.mkeever.com [Note: no 'c' in mkeever]
> >>
> >
> >
>
>
>
