Nearly 200 years later, the Cherokee Nation is building a groundswell of support around its campaign to finally seat a non-voting House delegate. Those tensions are resurfacing today around the push for Cherokee representation in Congress.Īn 1835 treaty promised the Cherokee Nation a congressional delegate in exchange for ceding millions of acres of land to the growing United States. The two tribes share a history and operate less than three miles apart, but disputes over land and status have divided them for generations. Leaders of the United Keetoowah Band have tried, so far unsuccessfully, to revive their gaming operations, which acted as the tribe's main economic driver.
