Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is a Joke Among Real Indians

by Chief Adrian Roman

The real Indians (those that are more Indian than white) of Oklahoma are saddened and look no more to the Nation for leadership. Most do not use the services that the Choctaw Nation has to offer because of reverse discrimination. Once again they feel abandoned and left out in the cold.

An elder Choctaw, I’m full blood and going to say what most want to say, but as a proud people, will not say.

The Choctaw Nation should be lead by a Chief that is full blood and speaks his native language. If you were a Christian, would you want to be lead to the Promised Land by a half God/half devil? Of course not. You want your leader to have your best interests at heart.

The present Chief of the Choctaw Nation is Greg Pile, who is ½ Choctaw, does not speak the Choctaw language, and was raised in California. He rode the coattails of former Chief Hollis Roberts, who now sits in prison. Roberts actually ran the Choctaw Nation from prison thru Pile for a short time.

Pile is building a legacy to himself and his administration by putting his name on all the buildings, billboards, and everything else he can think of. Under his watch, we now have a watered down requirement in place for membership into the Choctaw Nation. If you can prove that you have a DROP of Indian blood in your family down line, you can become a tribal member. The obvious reason for this insulting, watered down bloodline requirement, is to use it in a numbers game. It can be used when asking for federal and private money. The Choctaw Nation is a big nation of people and we should have a big voice. The more people you represent, the more money you can receive.

The problem with this one drop blood quantum requirement is one day in the future the Choctaw Nation will be disbanded and lose their Sovereignty. One day the people in Washington will look at the Choctaw Nation and say “wait a minute, all you Choctaw Indians have blond hair and blue eyes, and you don’t look anymore Indian than we do.” The federal government would like nothing better than to say NO MORE tax dollars are going to be spent in your favor. We would loose our leverage for gaming and casinos and/or might even have to take the federal government as our partner.

The Choctaw Nation boosts 200,000 strong. That’s because of the watered down blood quantum requirement. It dilutes the tribe to the point that we look like everybody else. The Membership pool is so large that it makes delivery of services to Choctaws thin and/or non existent.

As an elder Choctaw, it has come to my and other elders’ attention that many of you are having difficulty obtaining services in a timely manner, if at all. I understand that many of the amoma (full blood) Choctaw in Idabel, Broken Bow and other towns in Oklahoma (headquarters of the Choctaw Nation), have given up on obtaining services. I have witness statements from many full blood Choctaw who feel like 2^nd class citizens in their own tribe. When you visit the waiting rooms of the Nation clinics and hospital it’s very apparent who is getting service; the white Choctaws. Full bloods should have priority over these people. The core existence of this tribe should be directly related to high blood quantum. We want to correct these negative images and thoughts. We want to assist you in getting these services as quickly as possible. We want to be a sounding board for any ideas and questions that you may have. As elders of the Choctaw tribe, we hope that the Nation will listen to our request.

These are the solutions for the next generation of Choctaws:

1. Elect a Full Blood Choctaw for Chief who speaks the Choctaw language and make that a requirement to hold the office.

2. Establish a new blood quantum for tribal membership; no less than one quarter. This will shrink the tribal membership and insure timely services to deserving members.

3. Set aside at least 15% of revenue from gaming and casinos for cash dividends payable to tribal members every year.

4. Allow all members to have access to services, regardless of where they live and work.

5. If you are going to allow a diluted blood quantum, let them have access to services based on their blood quantum. Example: If you are half Choctaw, you get a 50% discount for all services. This will keep One Drop Indians out of the waiting rooms of clinics and hospitals asking for free services that they don't deserve, depriving higher quantum Choctaws of the care and services they are entitled to.

The American Indian is an Endangered Species & should be Protected:

When a plant or animal is placed on the endangered species list we become concerned that we may lose something forever. The federal government and private groups get involved and spend millions of dollars to ensure that we protect this endangered species. Congress even passes laws to assist this situation. The American Indian should be on the endangered species list. Our numbers are frighteningly low.

Less than 1% of all Choctaws are Full Blood. It may be closer to .50 %:

That is a frightening statistic for those of us who want our race to continue to prosper & grow.

A Choctaw Full Blood 4/4 is absolute and pure. His or her blood quantum can never be questioned. A Choctaw Half-breed is in a very unique situation. He or she has the choice to be call Choctaw Indian or “other”. You can be one or the other, you can’t be both.

In the olds days be assured he or she would have chose the “other.” In today’s world it’s very fashionable to be Indian. Today he or she would choose “Choctaw Indian.” Good choice!

Part Choctaw Indian:

Anyone less than 50 percent, ½ Choctaw Indian, should not refer to themselves as Indian. You are part Choctaw Indian. Be proud of that heritage, but don’t claim to be more that you are!

Those who are less than ½ Choctaw, claiming to be Choctaw, are insulting the Full Blood Choctaw who are most entitled to the health and other benefits of the Choctaw Nation, but are increasingly less likely to receive them.

What we should have done was promote and vote full bloods into power positions. Families and elders should have encouraged Indian children to marry within there race and to keep producing more full bloods. Too many of our children have married outside the race, resulting in our blood quantum across the board to be diluted. Our race will die if we allow this to continue. Families and elders must develop an incentive to entice our children to marry within our race.

Again, less than 1% of all Choctaws are full blood and that's exactly what your Federal Government wanted to accomplish when the Bureau of Indian Affairs initiated the Relocation Program in the 1950’s. By law, (one that the federal government kept) the Choctaw and other Five Civilized Tribes were recognized and had to be dealt with. We just wouldn’t go away.

Prior to 1832 the United States Government tried their best to divide us, conquer us, and kill us off. Yet 19,000 Choctaws lived and flourished in the area we know today as Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and other surrounding states. So the question is. “What do we do with these Indians? Our people (the settlers) need this land. Let’s make a law, take their land, and move everyone west of the Mississippi River to Oklahoma Territory. Get them out of our hair.” This is how the “Trail of Tears” story is born. The black have there southern slave issue, the Jew's have their Auschwitz Concentration Camp and this is ours; The Trail of Tears and Wounded Knee. Reek havoc, death, and slaughter on the Indian people and maybe they will go away. Andrew Jackson and his administration produced the Indian Removal Act. In 1832 the Choctaw set out on their journey to Oklahoma Territory. Hundreds of books have been written about the tragic journey, so I will not dwell on it here. Do some research and your will appreciate the Full Blood’s heroic journey. The benefits you enjoy, if any, are due to their efforts to make it to the new territory and survive.

Back to the 1950’s, we won’t go away, we are still here in Oklahoma and the Federal Government still has to deal with us. It’s no secret that if you have treaties, voice and numbers; you have some degree of power. You have heard the saying, he who has the microphone will be heard or something to that effect.

The Federal Government came up with the infamous “Relocation Program.” This was the government version of the TV show “the price is right.” If you go thru this door, you will get this and this and this. The B.I.A. (Bureau of Indian Affairs) people were great car salesmen. They promised that if you and your family would go to Dallas, TX, the B.I.A would pay for everything and find you a good job, making more money than you have ever seen in your life. This Relocation Program was nothing more than another attempt to divide and isolate the Choctaws from other Choctaws and deposit whole families in metropolitan cities and let them sink or swim. It had tragedy written all over it. I know this for fact as my family was one of them. If I knew then what I know now, I would have never have left Oklahoma. We are still paying for it today.

Greg Pile and his administration are in fact assisting the B.I.A in an attempt to do what was done in the 1950’s with the relocation program. Unfortunately we are stuck with him until he dies or resigns. The way it is currently set up, it would be difficult to unseat him. Most are afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation in a loss of your job or services to your family.  

More to come.

This I know to be true:

Debby Jean Billey (53) a full blood Choctaw lived in Wewoka, Ok. She was on dialysis and the Chickasaw Nation was providing her heath care. The Choctaw Nation would not help her because she lived out of their area of service. She died a year and half ago. The Chickasaw Nation paid for her burial in Achille (Bryan County Oklahoma, home of the Choctaw Nation). Where was the Choctaw Nation when she needed assistance even in death? She was my baby sister.

Her 19 year old son Sigas, a full blood Choctaw committed suicide a year later grieving and troubled by drugs and alcohol abuse. He could not get the help he needed from the Choctaw Nation. The Chickasaw Nation paid for his burial in Achille, next to his mother.

Yankee Jack, a 3/4 Choctaw living in Achille, Oklahoma lost his house to a fire. The Chickasaw nation built him a new house. Where was the Choctaw Nation?

A couple of years ago, I attended a Choctaw Language class at Brookhaven Collage in Dallas. The Choctaw Nation provided some guess speakers to the class for one day. The three speakers consisted of a full blood husband and wife team and their supervisor who was part Choctaw (very little, but spoke the language) There were about 15 class members who witnessed this exchange. I'm not sure how the conversation got on the subject, but the full blood Choctaw wife mentioned that her supervisor would get faster care when he went to the clinic, even if she was there before him. They joked and laughed that it was common knowledge. I could not believe my ears. The non Indian supervisor got faster care because he identified more closely with the people giving out the care and services.  He laughed it off like he could flirt with the people behind the counter.  This is another example of reverse discrimination. The full bloods being treated like second class citizens in a facility that is there to serve them.

The honor due to 4 /4 Choctaws is simply a matter of respecting our grandparents and their culture. Any Choctaw living today rode the backs of Full Blood Choctaw during the Removable Act in 1832. If it were not for those brave and courageous people who survived the bitter journey, you and I would not be here today. We live in a country that still measures that if you have one drop of Indian or Black blood in you that makes you one or the other. Logically, that train of thought is simply not true. 

I listened to the Chief speak to a large group of people in Plano, TX a couple of years ago. I listened to him boast about the programs that the Choctaw Nation had to offer. If you do not live in the 12 Tribal districts in Oklahoma, you do not qualify for these programs. I listened to him boast about the Talihina Recovery Center. He stated that if you were a Californian and needed help, that the nation would put you on a plane and get you to the Center. At that very moment I knew of a full blood Choctaw that was sitting in Durant, Oklahoma needing their help, needing to be admitted to the recovery center, but who could not be admitted due to a lack of misplaced paper work, even though he had attended the recovery center on another occasion for which they had records. This man needed immediate help, not next week or month. The man in question finally got assistance at another recovery center. In reality, he should have called the Chickasaw Nation, they would have responded faster. 

More to Follow. adrianroman@verizon.net