The phrase heirs and descendants has been thrown around in Native American Legal circles for years. The Treaties must speak for themselves and their signatories. Do not be sucked into the morass of reading additional information into a treaty which did not exist at the time of the signing of the treaty. Preambles to treaties and language added by the Congress to provide clarity to the Representatives and Senators as they read it for the first or second time.
First, one must determine to whom are the treaties addressed. Second, are those rights guaranteed to heirs and descendants or to the government of the signatories? Third, if it is to the government, does that government still exist or has it been terminated by the Congress of the United States? Fourth, who are the signatories and does their government still exist or has it been terminated by the Congress of the United States?
As you examine the key phrases of each treaty and to whom it is written, you must ask yourself the four questions above to determine the legitimacy of the rights of those treaties today and to whom if anyone do they belong.
It will become obvious after reading the first few items that there is a major disconnect in who he "Cherokee" are in regard to these treaties. That is the real problem with these treaties, until you understand that they are written to those who spoke the Cherokee Trade Language. It is also important to understand who the key players are in each of these treaties. While the United States Senate and its commissioners worked almost exclusively with the Lower Town Chickamauga, there are a few "Cherokee" signatories scattered in for good measure, but very few.
Enjoy interpretation of original documents at one of it highest levels. Then use your own mental acuity to make a determination as to whom these treaties belong?
UPDATE: The Chickamauga Nation, while not ethnically Cherokee are politically Cherokee according to the United States under treaty and statute code. Politically, The Chickamauga Nation is a Category 4 Cherokee as defined by the Department of Interior and are Federally Recognized under treaty as politically Cherokee, not ethnically Cherokee. Therefore, the Secretary of Interior MUST immediately place The Chickamauga Nation on the List of Federally Recognized and Serviced Tribes as a result of the Treaties they have made with the United States.
