Cherokee Freedmen say temporary reinstatement and the right to vote in the June 23 tribal election is not enough and will seek injunctive relief in a Monday hearing.

The hearing will be in federal court in Washington, D.C., before U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy, who has been presiding over the federal case.

The tribe’s March special election stripping the Freedmen of their tribal membership “denied us the right to run for election — a right we’ve had since 1866,” said Marilyn Vann, of Oklahoma City, president of the Descendants of Freedmen Association.

“They (Cherokees ) are trying to erase our identity as Cherokees. We may have the right to vote now, but we will have no Freedmen candidates to vote for.”

Cherokee Nation Communications Officer Mike Miller called the requested injunction “a remedy in need of a wrong and asks this Court to order relief Plaintiffs have already obtained.

“There is no controversy. A small group of non-Indian Freedmen have asked the court to stop the election unless the election is open to non-Indian Freedmen to vote; it's public record that non-Indian Freedmen can vote, and have been sent absentee ballots.”

Miller also said no Freedmen candidate was denied access to the election process during the filing period because of their lack of Indian heritage, as no non-Indians filed for candidacy.

The Freedmen contend they were Illegally disenrolled tribal members recently when they requested Judge Kennedy issue an injunction against the Cherokees:

• Halting distribution of federal funds to the Cherokee Nation;

• Refusing to recognize Cherokee Nation elections; and

• Stop recognition of a government-to-government relationship with the Cherokee Nation (established in the Treaty of 1866).

The Freedmen are hoping for a favorable decision in the Monday hearing. Some Cherokees are hoping recent actions to get some Freedmen registered to vote in the tribal election will keep any further federal action at bay.

Kennedy earlier denied the Cherokee Nation’s request he dismiss the case or move it to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. It was only after that ruling that a tribal court then reinstated the Freedmen’s right to vote in the upcoming tribal election, Vann said.

The Cherokee administration does not want Kennedy to rule on the issues, Vann said.

Cherokee Nation Attorney General Diane Hammons repeatedly has stated there was a high probability that Kennedy would halt the June 23 tribal election if Freedmen tribal members were not permitted to vote in the election. She urged the tribal court to reinstate the Freedmen.