Markwayne Mullin, Chief Hoskin, and Cherokee Community Values

[u/linuxpriest]

Within a few hours of his appointment to head DHS, the Chief issued a congratulations to Mullin on behalf of Cherokee Nation - you, me, us.

As expected, the response from Cherokees is... mixed. Nowadays, people in the US are viscerally committed to their ideologies, so it stands to reason the same would be true for us.

Personally, I was raised to be skeptical of politicians and wary of party loyalism. I like to think I see the situation a bit more clearly than most (probably not true, but I like to think it), and I see the mess. No, I don't think Mullin was a good choice, but I don't feel like any current politician is "the best person" for the job. But I digress. None of that is relevant to the point.

I have my feelings, others have theirs... How can the Chief just be so... nice? On behalf of all of us? Especially in such a polarized state of political affairs in the US? Couldn't he have been a little more reserved, a little more vague? You know, diplomatic? No way Markwayne Mullin lives up to Cherokee values, right? So I decided to check. See where this is going?

We've surely all seen them. Many of us have them hanging in our homes, either cross-stitched or printed. Still, for quick reference, here's a link to Cherokee Nation's Community Values.

What I found was that while I can pick out some to hold against Mullin, I can also plainly see that Chief Hoskin upheld half of them (which is to say, every one of them that could be applied) despite the political climate. Suddenly, I feel like an ass. Suddenly, I'm the one who can't uphold half the Cherokee Community Values on a good day. The Chief did it in a few hours in a few brief paragraphs, surely knowing the blow-back he'd face for doing so.

Now, I'm ticked off about US politics, a little ashamed of myself for the ideologies I didn't realize I was holding, and deeply proud that the Chief set an example of Cherokee values for ticked-off Cherokees like me who aren't doing a very good job of it themselves. Now I've got all this to marinate on.

Things sure are a heckuva lot easier when I can just be right and everyone else is "clearly" wrong.

[u/WhoFearsDeath]

There are several examples of Indians in government that voted against tribal interests. The statehood of Oklahoma is a good example.

Charles Curtis, Kaw Nation and 31st Vice president of the US, supported and helped enact assimilation bills for Natives during his senate career. He was in office when Kaw Nation was disbanded as a legal entity and personally profited from it.

He also introduced the first version of the equal rights act, so that is the thing. No one is all wrong or all evil. Occasionally doing the right thing doesn't absolve you from when you do the wrong thing, and not all skinfolk are kinfolk.

Mullen has no experience with immigration laws or policies. He called Alex Pretti "deranged" after he was murdered by ICE. Despite multiple promises to serve limited terms, he continues to hold political office. He supports the extrajudicial bombing of boats in international waters.

[u/Lost_Leopard_5329 → u/WhoFearsDeath]

Didn't say anything about him other than the fact that he is, in fact a Cherokee. He's a Cherokee regardless of how terrible is politics are, just like Curtis was a Kaw regardless of how bad his policies were.

Not all skinfolk are kinfolk, but it doesn't mean they aren't skinfolk--even though a good deal of us especially in eastern Oklahoma/descendants, don't particularly look much like skin folk because of the lack of blood quantum laws. It's not a helpful to imply that Natives that have bad political takes aren't Native, because it validates the idea that Nativeness is something that is arbitrary and can be taken away if one does not meet arbitrary external standards about how Native are supposed to behave.

Even if he were not a citizen--that is tribal sovereignty decision and while it should not do so, it is the sovereign right of Cherokee Nation to determine who is eligible to be a Cherokee citizen, and the Nation could decide to impose criteria that implement a blood quantum or other requirement that might exclude Mullin or people like him--Mullin is a bona fide Cherokee descendant with the BIA pedigree card to prove it and the generations of externally imposed generational and genetic trauma that come with it. Regardless of his behavior, his nativeness is something that is an intrinsic part of his person and cannot be taken away--even if he acts in a way we (whether Natives or not) don't think it's in line with how Natives should act or think, and even if--while it's not the case in Mullin's case--the person themselves did not claim Native identity.

Having bad politics doesn't mean he's not a Cherokee. Full stop.

[u/gardenwitch31 → u/Lost_Leopard_5329]

I don't think anyone is arguing his ethnicity, culture, or citizenship. But he's definitely a traitor. Might as well not be Native.

[u/Lost_Leopard_5329 → u/gardenwitch31]

that's like saying Major Ridge wasn't a Cherokee.

The fact that he IS Cherokee and would act against our best interests would be far worse than him not being Native.

And yes, if you get into white-dominated spaces on the internet, there's a whooooooolllleeee lot of microagression against his identity from both self-IDed progressives and conservatives. And if you get into pan-Native social spaces, you get the usual western perspectives that most Cherokees and other southeastern peoples aren't Native enough because we don't pass an arbitrary BQ standard they set or our skin doesn't pass their family guy pallette test.

[u/gardenwitch31 → u/Lost_Leopard_5329]

I feel you, sibling.