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ETYMOLOGY The word "Keetoowah" is the name of an ancient Cherokee Township in the Eastern Homeland of the Cherokee, where all Cherokee originated after the migration and integration of various groups from the Great Lakes and Ozark Plateau Regions of the United States 3,000 years ago, based upon cultural and archeaological evidence. There is also evidence in the modern culture to suggest that the Keetoowah evolved an ancient hereditary preisthood called the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni who were a religious ruling class of the Keetoowah people and Cherokee Society for thousands of years. According to Cherokee legend, when the population grew too large to sustain the mother city, groups moved to new areas and created new Cherokee Communities and Mound Cities. The residents of the city of Keetoowah called themselves "the Keetoowah People". The ancient site of the Mother City of Keetoowah is still visible in Eastern North Carolina in the same general area as the Qualla Boundary . Keetoowah was an ancient "mound" city and the mound is still visible at the ancient townsite. Moundbuilding was not confined to the Cherokee, but was a common defensive construction method of various Mississipian Cultures throughout the Mississippi Basin. Some Cherokee traditionalists refer to themselves as ''Ah-ni-ki-tu-wa-gi'' (spelled variously in local Oklahoma dialects as ''Ki-tu-wa'' or ''Gi-du-wa''), Keetoowah People. The addition of the verb stem modifier "gi" indicates the word ''Ki-tu'-wa-gi'' actually means, "a gathering or putting together of the ''Ki-tu'-wa'' people", since "gi" means "to combine" in the Cherokee Language. Most modern Cherokee speakers can no longer translate the word "Ki-tu-wa" as the meaning of the word has been lost. Ki-tu-wa means "the mother city" or "the center (spiritual center)" in the ancient Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni dialect. The word ''Ki-tu'-wa-gi'', therefore, implies a religious or social gathering of the people. Honoring the mother city was analogous to honoring Selu , the Cherokee Corn Mother of the ancient Green Corn Ceremony , a concept that pervades Cherokee Culture. During the Green Corn Ceremony practiced by the Cherokee, one of the two social dances performed is of ancient origin, and originated from the mother city of Keetoowah. The dance is called "ye-lu-le" which means "to the center". During this dance, all of the dancers shout "ye-lu-le" and move towards the fire in the center of the sacred dance circle . This dance symbolizes the dispersal of the sacred fire given to the Keetoowah people by the Creator and the Thunder Beings in their ancient legends. During Green Corn ceremonies in traditional Cherokee Society, the coals of the central fire in the City of Keetoowah were carried to all the Cherokee communities and used to kindle the ceremonial fires for the dances in each Cherokee City or township. The home fires in outlying Cherokee communities were then extinguished before the ceremonies and re-lit from the coals of the fire kindled during the Green Corn Dances. A group of Cherokee traditionalists calling themselves the Keetoowah Society (also called the Keetoowah Nighthawk Society ) took advantage of the 1936 Oklahoma Indian General Welfare Act to organize a federally recognized Indian Band called the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. HISTORY The UKB was the first federally recognized group of Cherokee to come into existence after the Cherokee Nation was divided by the Dawes Commission in the early 1900's. The Dawes commission was tasked to force assimilation and breakup of tribal governments within Oklahoma by instilling the concept of land ownership with individual members of the Five Civilized Tribes . The commission divided large sections of land into tribal allotments in an effort to eliminate the traditional governments of the Cherokee, which at that time were based on a socialist form of government with the lands being controlled by the tribal government. As a consequence of the Dawes Commission programs and policies, the Cherokee culture and society was destabilized and strictly controlled, with presidentially appointed "Chiefs" of the tribe, who were reduced to tribal administrators and who imposed the will of the United States on individual Cherokee citizens in support of the Federal Governments attempts to force assimilation of the Cherokee. Cherokee children were prohibited from speaking their own language in communal schools set up by the Federal government during the late 1800s and early 1900's. Over time, much of the Cherokee culture was lost. The remaining Cherokee during this period in history begin to adopt and integrate cultural practices of other tribes who were being forcibly removed into Oklahoma Territory. Many Cherokee leaders and elders, in response to the cultural erosion that was occurring, formed a secret society, the Keetoowah Nighthawk Society , and practiced the ceremonies and gatherings of the people in secret, in order to avoid censure or reprisal by the United States. This group preserved much of the pre-removal culture, ceremonies, and beliefs of the Cherokee. This society formed the core group that later became the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in 1946. In modern times, the society and the UKB are no longer a single organization, but have split, as over time many UKB members have joined the Cherokee Nation and the society has grown in modern times, with members who are affiliated with both the Cherokee Nation and the UKB. Historically, after the UKB attained Federal recognition, they instituted Blood Quantum restrictions which increase the shares of federal payments to tribal members. The UKB have historically attempted through litigation and the legislative process to gain control of Cherokee tribal land allotments since its inception. The Cherokee Nation was formed in the 1970's by the Cherokee mixed bloods who perceived disfrancisement by the UKB in the 1960's and 1970's. The UKB only claimed a small percentage of the total Cherokee Society as members, since over time, the Cherokee intermarried with non-Indians in Oklahoma and were gradually assimilated. The largest percentage of Cherokee Indians and their descendants living in Oklahoma were not members of the UKB and comprised the bulk of the Cherokee People. The Cherokee mixed bloods and their representatives petitioned the United States, and Congress subsequently reinstated its relationship with the modern Cherokee Nation, which was open for membership to any Cherokee whose ancestry could be traced from the Dawes Commission Land Rolls. The UKB leaders reacted unfavorably to the formation of the modern Cherokee Nation, with tension existing into modern times between various factions of the Cherokee Nation and the UKB. Ironically, many Cherokee Nation citizens are members of both tribes. The Cherokee Nation has the largest number of full-blooded Cherokee citizens of any Federally Recognized Cherokee Tribe with over 30,000 registered full blooded Cherokee. During the formation of the Cherokee Nation, the Congress of the United States ceded all rights and title to the tribal lands, allotments, and right of succession to the Cherokee Nation. The UKB did not own any tribal lands, except for a limited number of original family held land allotments, and currently operated from the tribal lands of the Cherokee Nation , in the basement of the UKB Casino in Tahlequah. UKB MEMBERSHIP CONTROVERSIES Several controversies have arisen over the UKB's issuance of memberships to individuals who do not qualify for a CDIB (Certificate Degree of Indian Blood) issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. These memberships were given in honorary appreciation to several people, but were ended in 1994. While some such recipients were given an enrollment card with a number, tribal legislation did not allow the honorary recipients to receive tribal benefits, and they do not appear on official tribal rolls today. Ward Churchill , a Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado, was one grantee of honorary "associate" membership in the UKB; Churchill's public statements that he was a member of the UKB, created some controversy, in part because Churchill often failed to distinguish qualified enrollment from honorary membership. Ward Churchill did not possess an issued CDIB during his membership in the UKB, and hence was not eligible for any federal benefits reserved for Native Americans. The UKB issued a Press Release In 2005 Clarifying The Former Honorary Membership Of Churchill , but indicating that those memberships are no longer in force. LEGAL CONTROVERSIES Recently, the UKB has come under scrutiny and been subjected to prosecution by the State of Oklahoma for allegedly operating illegal gaming facilities off tribal land. The UKB leaders have also been allegedly accused of diversion of funds by its own members. The State of Oklahoma sued the UKB in federal court for operating illegal gaming facilties off of BIA approved tribal lands, since they do not own tribal lands. The lawsuit and prosecution are currently pending in the federal courts in Oklahoma and have been recently remanded to the Indian Gaming Commission for review.[http://www.unitedkeetoowahband.org Lawsuits and litigation with the Cherokee Nation The UKB has repeatedly sued the Cherokee Nation demanding the cession of tribal land allotments and monetary damages over a variety of issues. All of these lawsuits have failed or been dismissed. The UKB also recently sued the Cherokee Nation for a share of the proceeds under HR-3534, a bill that required the Government of Oklahoma and the United States to compensate the Cherokee Nation and was concerned with the illegal seizure of the Arkansas Riverbed by the State of Oklahoma for public use lands and hydroelectric power generation. {Link without Title} The lawsuit filed by the UKB demanding disbursements from the Cherokee Nation from HR-3534 was also ruled to be frivilous and without merit. During the State of Oklahoma lawsuit pertaining to the UKB's illegal casino operations, the UKB again sued the Cherokee Nation demanding cession of tribal land allotments to the UKB to build casinos. These lawsuits were also dismissed, and it was ruled the UKB is not the successor of right to the assets of the Cherokee People. The UKB more recently held banishment proceedings against Chief Chad Smith , Chief of the Cherokee Nation who also had dual membership in both the UKB and the Cherokee Nation. Since the UKB scheduled the banishment proceedings at the exact time scheduled for the Cherokee Nation State of the Nation Address by the Principal Chief at the Cherokee National Holiday, the entire proceeding was perceived as a public spectacle by the majority of the Cherokee People and garnered disdain and disbelief. The UKB stated in a news release that they were performing the banishment ceremony to punish Chief Chad Smith for failing to support the illegal UKB casino during the pendency of the State of Oklahoma prosecutions of the UKB Band. {Link without Title} The Cherokee People as a whole reacted unfavorably to the actions of the UKB regarding Chad Smith's banishment, and the event was widely viewed as a political embarrassment and publicity stunt by the UKB. Many Cherokee believe the UKB is no longer an actual "band" but a social club, and have vocally stated as such in news announcements. Chad Smith criticized the UKB for disgracing the Cherokee People and behaving like a "social club" in response to their actions. {Link without Title} Modern Cherokee Societies, with the exception of the UKB, are true democratic societies which no longer allow banishment of tribal members. SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP Although the UKB administration is widely criticized by the Cherokee People based on the reported legal controversies, many of the UKB members are spiritual leaders of the Cherokee People and are highly respected. Many highly respected and revered Cherokee traditionalists within Oklahoma are members of both the UKB and the Cherokee Nation ''(See Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni )''. TRIVIA Many Cherokee groups still refer to themselves as "Keetoowah ''(ki-tu'-wa)'' people." The original name used to describe all of the Cherokee People was Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya , which means ''the human people'' . ''"Back in Georgia from whence the Cherokees originally migrated to the Indian Territory in 1838 and 1839, the old Keetoowah group (City of Keetoowah) was dying out as early as 1835," (Tulsa Tribune, Dec. 28, 1928) stated John L. Springston Tulsa Tribune, Dec. 28, 1928).'' Springston had served as a clerk and court reporter in the Saline District before Oklahoma statehood and was a Keetoowah Society Member. ''In the early 1900's, anthropologists noted that on ceremonial occasions, Cherokees frequently speak of themselves as Ki-tu-wa-gi," (James Mooney, Myths of the Cherokees, 19th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington Government Printing Office, 1900, pg. 15) '' ''Legends of the ki-tu'-wa people say that the name was given after seven of the wisest men (the seven priests of the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni ) of the ancient Cherokees went to the highest peak and fasted for seven days and nights, asking the Creator for guidance. This peak is known today as "Clingman's Dome." On the seventh night of their fast, the Creator told them, "You shall be ''ki-tu'-wa'' ''(the spiritual center of the Cherokee People)''."'' (Benny Smith, The Keetoowah Society of Cherokee Indians, Masters Dissertation, Northwestern State College, Alva, OK, 1967) Former Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Chief Dugan confirms this, "One name for the tribe is 'people of ''ki-tu'-wa'." ("Where Myth Meets Reality," Washington Post, Sept. 13, 2004) SEE ALSO LINKS REFERENCES
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