Beebe rejects Cherokee ballot measure
Posted on Thursday, December 22, 2005
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/140328/
Arkansas Attorney General Mike Beebe declined Wednesday to certify a proposed constitutional amendment that would name the Lost Cherokee of Arkansas a “state recognized tribe.” The measure was intended to establish a “new and working tribal organization in Arkansas” that would have allowed the Cherokees to apply for federal grants and other federal opportunities available to recognized tribes. “We could actually even apply for defense contracts,” said Dub Maxwell of Jonesboro, a headman of the group. But Beebe’s opinion ruled that the U. S. Constitution, as interpreted over the years by the U. S. Supreme Court, gives the authority to recognize Indian tribes to Congress, not state voters.
The state Constitution “cannot empower the people of this state to initiate any measure, law, or amendment which falls outside the power reserved to the states and their citizens by the United States Constitution,” wrote Deputy Attorney General Elana Wills on behalf of Beebe.
Maxwell said the Lost Cherokee will discuss Beebe’s decision with attorneys and respond soon.
“We’re going to probably come back fighting,” Maxwell said.
Under Arkansas Code Annotated 7-9-107, the attorney general is required to rule on whether the ballot title and popular name of proposed initiated acts and constitutional amendments are sufficiently clear.
In considering the Cherokee’s request, Beebe noted a U. S. Supreme Court ruling that said “the Constitution grants Congress broad general powers to legislate in respect to Indian tribes.”
The Cherokee’s proposed amendment states “all rights and privileges of Indian tribes and the members of the tribe under any existing Federal treaty, executive order, agreement or statute, or any other federal authority are hereby adopted by the state of Arkansas for the Lost Cherokee of Arkansas.”
Cliff Bishop, a headman of the Cherokee, said his group has more than 9, 000 members in Arkansas, according to the 2000 U. S. Census.