'It’s time for Congress to seat the Cherokee Nation Delegate' as promised in 1835

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Members of the Cherokee Nation tribe are leading a push to hold government officials accountable for their promises made more than 185 years ago.

“In 1835, the government of the United States and the Cherokee Nation signed the Treaty of New Echota, which forced our ancestors to give up their homelands and move west on the Trail of Tears,” Chuck Hoskin, Jr., principal chief of Cherokee Nation, said in a moving video posted on YouTube. “Today, people remember that dark chapter in our nation's history where one quarter of the Cherokee Nation population perished. But they may not know that the same treaty promise that was used to remove the Cherokee Nation also guaranteed the tribe a right to send a delegate to Congress.”

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Hoskin continued in the video with the title, “It’s time for Congress to seat the Cherokee Nation Delegate”:

“For two centuries, Congress has failed to honor that promise. However, the Treaty of New Echota has no expiration date. The obligation to seat a Cherokee Nation delegate is as binding today as it was in 1835. In 2019, I nominated Kim Tehee as Cherokee Nation's first ever delegate. She's a former White House senior policy adviser for Native American affairs and has extensive experience working in the halls of Congress. She'll be a strong and effective advocate for all Native Americans.”

YouTube Video


Teehee served the White House Domestic Policy Council under former President Barack Obama, and was the “first-ever senior policy advisor for Native American affairs.”

If seated as a delegate, she wouldn't be able to vote on final legislation but she could advocate for issues on the House floor and be a part of committee votes, The Hill reported.

Teehee said in the video advocating for her delegacy:

“I think back at the ancestors who lost their lives and who survived the Trail of Tears, my ancestors. As I think back at what they went through in order for this particular treaty provision to have never been fulfilled, and so to have Congress take action to finally seat the delegates would be a tremendous honor but also would show that the United States keeps its word. We often get asked, why now? Why 200 years? Well, it's because forced removal means all that we had developed in the east. All that wealth, the housing, all of that. We had nothing when we came here. Look at the time. It took forever or the Cherokee Nation post removal to rebuild itself. It's important to Cherokee Nation that Congress seats its delegates to Congress this year.”

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