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Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee (Petitioner #41) Proposed Finding

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Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee (Petitioner #41) Proposed Finding Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee (Petitioner #41) Proposed Finding This page is intentionally left blank. ii Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee (Petitioner #41) Proposed Finding Proposed Finding The Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee (Petitioner #41) TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS…………………………………………………..…....iv INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………...………1 Regulatory Procedures ……………………………………………………………………1 Administrative History……………………………………………………………..……..2 The Historical Indian Tribe ………………………………………………………….…5 Historical Overview ………………………………………………………………. 6 Unambiguous Previous Federal Acknowledgment (25 CFR §83.8)………………….....11 CONCLUSIONS UNDER THE CRITERIA (25 CFR 83.7)……………………..……………..13 Criterion 83.7(a)………………………………………………………………………… 17 Criterion 83.7(b)…………………………………………………………...…………….23 Criterion 83.7(c)………………………………………………………………………… 37 Criterion 83.7(d)…………………………………………………………………..……..51 Criterion 83.7(e)………………………………………………………………………… 53 Criterion 83.7(f)………………………………………………………………………….65 Criterion 83.7(g)………………………………………………………………...……….67 SUPPORTING MATERIALS FIGURES 1. Treaty Cession Map of Georgia ……………………………………………………...v 2. Map of Area of the Cherokee Nation after the American Revolution………………vii BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………….……….69 APPENDICES A. Cherokee Descendants in Lumpkin County circa 1850……………………………..91 B. Ancestry and Kin of Rachel (Martin) Davis…………………………...………… …93 iii Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee (Petitioner #41) Proposed Finding ACRONYMS and/or ABBREVIATIONS in THIS REPORT AS-IA Assistant Secretary − Indian Affairs BAR Branch of Acknowledgment and Research BIA Bureau of Indian Affairs CN Cherokee Nation CFR Code of Federal Regulations DOI Department of the Interior (the Department) FR Federal Register FD Final Determination GTEC Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee, Inc. (the petitioner) IBIA Interior Board of Indian Appeals ICC Indian Claims Commission IRA Indian Reorganization Act OFA Office of Federal Acknowledgment PF Proposed Finding SOL Office of the Solicitor, Department of the Interior iv Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee (Petitioner #41) Proposed Finding This page is intentionally left blank. vi Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee (Petitioner #41) Proposed Finding vii Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee (Petitioner #41) Proposed Finding This page is intentionally left blank. viii Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee (Petitioner #41) Proposed Finding INTRODUCTION The Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs (AS-IA) within the Department of the Interior (Department) issues this proposed finding (PF) in response to the petition the Department received from the group known as the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee Inc., (GTEC), Petitioner #41, headquartered in Dahlonega, Georgia. The petitioner seeks Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe under Part 83 of Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations (25 CFR Part 83), “Procedures for Federal Acknowledgment of Indian tribes.” As permitted in section 83.7(b) of the regulations, effective July 31, 2015, the petitioner choose to have its petition evaluated under the previous version of the Federal acknowledgment regulations revised as of April 1, 1994 (1994 Regulations). The evidence submitted by the GTEC petitioner and evidence Department staff obtained through its research does not meet three of the seven mandatory criteria for Federal acknowledgment: criteria 83.7(a), 83.7(b), and 83.7(c). The petitioner has submitted evidence sufficient to meet criteria 83.7(d), 83.7(e), 83.7(f), and 83.7(g). An explanation of the Department’s evaluation of each criterion is presented in full in sections that follow this introduction. In accordance with the regulations 25 CFR Part 83, the failure to provide evidence sufficient to meet all seven criteria requires a proposed finding that the petitioning group is not an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. Therefore, the Department proposes to decline to acknowledge the GTEC petitioner. Regulatory Procedures The acknowledgment regulations under 25 CFR Part 83 establish the procedures by which a group may seek Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe, establishing a government-to- government relationship with the United States. To be entitled to such a political relationship with the United States, the petitioner must submit evidence documenting that the group meets the seven mandatory criteria set forth in § 83.7 of the regulations. Failure to meet any one of the mandatory criteria will result in a determination declining to acknowledge the group as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law (§ 83.6(c)). Section 83.10 of the 1994 Regulations specifies the timeframes for evaluating documented petitions. Publication of the notice of the PF in the Federal Register (FR) initiates a 180-day comment period during which the petitioner, and interested and informed parties, may submit arguments and evidence to support or rebut the evidence used in the PF. Such comments should be submitted in writing to the Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, 1951 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Mail Stop 34B-SIB, Washington, D.C. 20240, Attention: Office of Federal Acknowledgment. Interested and informed parties must provide copies of their submissions to the petitioner. The regulations at section 83.10(k) provide the petitioner a minimum of 60 days to respond to any comments on the PF submitted during the comment period. At the end of this response period for the PF, the Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA) will consult with the petitioner and interested parties to determine an equitable time frame for consideration of written 1 Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee (Petitioner #41) Proposed Finding arguments and evidence that are submitted during the comment and response periods. The OFA will notify the petitioner and interested parties of the date such consideration begins. After consideration, the AS-IA will issue a final determination (FD) regarding the petitioner’s status. The Department will publish a notice of this FD in the FR. After publication of the notice of the FD, the petitioner or any interested party may file a request for reconsideration with the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA) under the procedures in § 83.11 of the regulations. A request for reconsideration must be made within 90 days of publication of the notice of the FD. Unless the petitioner or interested party files a request for reconsideration pursuant to section 83.11, the FD will become effective 90 days from its date of publication. Administrative History On December 3, 1978, Chairman Thomas B. Mote, and nine board members of the “Georgia Tribe of Cherokees, Inc.” signed resolution “No 2-78” to apply for Federal acknowledgment.1 The Department received it on January 1, 1979, and designated GTEC as Petitioner #41, under the provisions of the 1978 regulations, 25 CFR Part 54 (later re-designated as Part 83 without change). The petitioner submitted petition materials on February 5, 1980. The Department conducted an initial review of the petition on August 22, 1980, and issued a letter providing technical assistance (TA) under 83.9(b) of the 1978 regulations.2 Before the Department reviewed the GTEC petition, a group led by Mrs. Mary Ann Cain represented a faction of Petitioner #41 and filed a separate letter of intent to petition as the “Cane Break Band of Eastern Cherokee” on January 9, 1979. The Department designated the Cane Break group “Petitioner #41A.”3 By the early 1990s, the Department began to receive letters from other individuals claiming to represent Petitioner #41, including “The Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee, Inc.”; the “Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee”; “Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee - Echota Fire”; and the “Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee Echota Fire UKB.” The major issue of disagreement expressed in the correspondence from Bill Dover, Thomas B. Mote, and others, was who “owned” GTEC, Inc., an organization established in 1977 by the newly created Georgia Indian Commission. Any Georgian of Cherokee Indian descent was eligible to join it. It was a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization, eligible for various grants and services. Thomas B. Mote and his mother Hannah (Corn) Mote, the duly authorized leaders of Petitioner #41, monitored this on-going argument. Over time and often 1 The signers were Thomas B. Mote, Virgil G. Hopkins, Jr., Walker Dan Davis, J. W. Davis, Jr., Kay Hendricks, Carlton Seitz, C. S. Gaddis, Margaret G. Wilson, Mary Ann Cain, and Shirley Perry. 2 The obvious deficiency (OD) letters referred to in the 1978 regulations were termed “technical assistance” (TA) letters in the 1994 regulations since they not only noted deficiencies, but also provided advice. 3 By 1997, the Cane Break individuals rejoined Petitioner #41, and the Cane Break Band is no longer a separate petitioner. 2 Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee (Petitioner #41) Proposed Finding simultaneously, the Motes, Walker Dan Davis, Bill Dover, John H. Chattin, Charles Thurmond, and Lucian Lamar Sneed, claimed ownership or leadership of “GTEC, Inc.” Some of the individuals had previously associated with the GTEC petitioner’s current leaders in an organization the State of Georgia had created through legislation in the 1970s. Others had no known connection to the State-created entity or the GTEC petitioner. The Department could not determine, at that time, whether there were genuine changes in a single petitioner’s leadership over time, internal political disputes breaking up an original petitioner into several
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