TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Cherokee Nation Holiday parade featured a long line of more than 90 entries on Saturday morning, among them the Cherokee Freedmen descendants.
Muskogee Freedmen descendant Rodslen Brown said the decision to be in the annual tribal parade through Tahlequah was made after a successful float in the nearby Muskogee Azalea Festival parade earlier this year.
“We are freedmen and we wanted to show that if involved, we can make a difference,” she said. “It was a surprise to a lot of people.”
The decision to register for the parade comes on the heels of a recent dismissal of a federal court case in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In that case, judges determined that the tribe’s sovereign immunity prohibited it from certain litigation but did not discount the possibility of bringing suit against tribal officials in their capacities. But Brown said the parade reception was welcoming and they (freedmen) received many inquiries from people who asked for literature on the freedmen.
Other freedmen supporters, including Marilyn Vann, freedmen descendants’ president, said that the decision to march was pro-active.
“This is the time to stand up and let people know about us, you know, educate folks,” she said.
Brown said about 30 freedmen descendants showed up to be in the parade and their participation was conducive to good relationships with the tribe in which they are petitioning to belong.
Moreover, Brown said her decision to organize for parade participation was spurred in part by recent backing given to them by the Cherokee Nation. Brown said that her non-profit group, Project A in Muskogee was set to receive over $20,000 in tribal funds to help the group complete construction on a new facility.
Brown said she considered the freedmen descendants’ parade run and booth at the three-day festivities a success.
“It’s time we come together, the Cherokee Nation and the freedmen, instead of being at odds,” she said. “There will be a time of acceptance.”
Freedmen descendants have sued in other venues for the right to be in the 250,000-member tribe. Meanwhile, a bill proposing to remove the Cherokee Nation’s federal funding is being backed by the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C. Reinstating permanent freedmen citizenship will remove the federal funding threat. The tribe operates on 80 percent federal funding for its $330 million budget.
Federal court decisions are still pending.