CHEROKEE NATION News:
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker and tribal officials travel to the Albuquerque and Denver areas this month to host community meetings and offer tribal citizenship photo I.D. cards to Cherokee citizens living there.
The Cherokee Nation hosts a community meeting Saturday in New Mexico. Tribal officials will host another community meeting with Cherokee citizens in the Denver area Saturday, July 19.
With 1,825 Cherokee Nation citizens living in New Mexico and 3,470 living in Colorado, it’s important to meet with at-large Cherokee citizens about tribal issues and programs, as well as offer some of the same benefits as tribal citizens have in Oklahoma, such as photo I.D. citizenship cards, Baker said.
The photo I.D. cards will be issued during the community meeting and luncheon attended by Baker.
“Producing a government-issued, photo I.D. helps to instill a greater sense of pride in our people, and we’re happy to bring this service to our Cherokees living outside of Oklahoma,” Baker said. “I’ve presented my photo tribal citizenship card at several major airports, and even to the U.S. Secret Service and experienced no problems whatsoever.”
Since October 2012, Cherokee Nation’s registration department has issued more than 42,000 of the upgraded citizenship “blue cards” in Oklahoma and 11 other states, as well as Washington, D.C.
The tribe’s upgraded photo I.D. citizenship card is similar in appearance to a driver’s license. It features the citizen’s Cherokee Nation registration number, official registrar signature, citizen’s photo and signature, Principal Chief’s signature, and a distinctive Cherokee Nation hologram seal for validation. Citizens can opt for their official Bureau of Indian Affairs Certificate Degree of Indian Blood on the back of the card.
For more information, contact Tammy Keeter-Miller at 918.207.4950 or the Cherokee Nation registration department at 918.458.6980 or registration@cherokee.org.
The community meeting, luncheon and photo I.D. event will be held at the following times and locations:
Sandia Pueblo, N.M.
- 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Saturday, July 12
- Sandia Lakes
- 100 Highway 313
Aurora, Colo.
- 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Saturday, July 19
- University of Colorado – Denver
- Nighthorse Campbell Native American Health Building
- 13001 E. 17th Place
The Cherokee Nation is the federally recognized government of the Cherokee people and has inherent sovereign status recognized by treaty and law. The seat of tribal government is the W.W. Keeler Complex near Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capital of the Cherokee Nation. With more than 300,000 citizens, 9,000 employees and a variety of tribal enterprises ranging from aerospace and defense contracts to entertainment venues, Cherokee Nation is one of the largest employers in northeastern Oklahoma and the largest tribal nation in the United States.
To learn more, visit http://www.cherokee.org.
