The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (American University Studies IX: History)

The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, 65 percent of whose members are full-blooded Indians, asserts that it predates the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and represents the real Cherokees. The Bureau of Indian Affairs recognized the Band as the only legal entity among the Cherokee Tribe, yet, the Cherokee Nation, 90 percent of whose members are less than one-quarter Indian blood quantum, usurped the Band’s sovereignty. In a David and Goliath struggle, the United Keetoowahs battle for self-determination against their politically powerful and numerically superior adversary.