James R. Newell, PhD

At age 52, Joseph “Stick” Ross testified before the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes in Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, in April 1901. Ross enrolled himself, his wife Nancy and his five youngest children as Cherokee Freedmen (shown here).

In his interview with the commission, Ross talked about his children, identified his post office address as the Tahlequah District and said that he’d always lived in the Cherokee Nation.

Ross, enslaved with his parents by Principal Chief John Ross, was freed after the 1866 Treaty abolished slavery in the Cherokee Nation. Ross was allotted land, now known as Stick Ross Mountain, and went on to serve on the Cherokee National Council in 1893.

Stick Ross died in 1930, but his legacy lives on in the Cherokee Nation.

Image courtesy of the National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas

Marilyn Vann broke barriers last year when she became the first Cherokee citizen of Freedmen descent since Oklahoma statehood to hold a position on a Cherokee Nation government board.

Vann, who spent more than 30 years as an engineer for the U.S. Treasury Department, is a trailblazing leader and now sits on the tribe’s Environmental Protection Commission.

For years, Vann has been fighting for the rights of Freedmen — descendants of people once enslaved by members of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee and Seminole Nations — and is the president of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Tribes.

Mexicans of African Descent Established Los Angeles on This Day in 1781 The Los Angeles Pobladores, or "townspeople," were a group of 44 settlers and four soldiers from Mexico who established California 1781

‘A BIG DEAL:’ Tribal libraries qualify for discounted broadband after FCC updates eligibility rules A new change in Federal Communications Commission rules has the potential to bring affordable broadband internet to more communities in Indian Country. 

Happy Killing of Captain Cook Day!

"On February 14, 1779 Captain James Cook of the british royal navy was killed by natives in Kealakekua Bay, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Cook was a true savage, who sailed across the world bringing murder, r**e, disease, and colonialism to native peoples all over the Pacific.
When he was killed, Cook was trying to kidnap the Hawaiian Aliʻi (tribal chief) Kalaniʻōpuʻu in response to an unknown person stealing a small boat. In the process, he had threatened to open fire on the islanders.
At this point, the Hawaiians decided they had enough of Cook’s bu****it, threatened with mass murder and the kidnapping of one of their tribal leaders, the Hawaiian islanders finally gave this piece of s**t what he deserved: a beatdown on the beach, and a knife to the chest. This put an end to a lifetime of predatory behavior and conquest of lands in the service to the british empire.

So how about instead of celebrating a boring consumerist holiday like Valentine’s Day, we celebrate something awesome, like the death of Captain Cook …"

Thanks James Connolly

Today is the birthday of Art Spiegelman, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel, "Maus," explores his father's experiences as a Holocaust survivor. In response to a Tennessee school board's recent decision to remove the book from classroom curriculum, LibraryThing has been hosting a group read of the first volume of "Maus." Come join the discussion!
https://www.librarything.com/author/spiegelmanart
https://www.librarything.com/topic/339164

The Trail of Tears Should be Part of Curriculum in Every School On May 28, 1830, then President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act that established a process for the president to grant land west of the Mississippi River to Indian tribes that agreed to give up their homelands.

The Black Church | PBS An intimate four-hour series from Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

The Cherokee Woman Who Changed the Aerospace Game Forever Mary Golda Ross was a pioneer in the fields of interplanetary space travel and rocket science.

https://shop.himalayaninstitute.org/products/flying-monkeys-floating-stones?fbclid=IwAR0QUH9dETrUfStoij5mSAfLqetONGah0v2q9pwwSC-d22WGS9OVbOMLcgs

Today I stood with Quanesha Langley (daughter), Roslyn Langley (mother) and other family members as we recounted last breaths.

Robert was unarmed, following commands, shot and killed by a Hemmingway City Police Officer.

Tonight google the name Robert Langley read his story and keep his family in your prayers.