Leadership Lessons from the Cherokee Nation: Learn from All I Observe

INTRODUCTION

The 2006 Cherokee National Holiday theme was “Full Force and Effect.” Even though the federal government had legislated a plan from 1898 to 1906 to liquidate the Cherokee Nation’s assets, terminate federal recognition of the Cherokee Nation, allot our lands, and forcibly assimilate the Cherokee people, it could not complete the process, so it enacted a provision in 1906 that the Five Civilized Tribes would continue “in full force and effect.” This provision was the equivalent of the federal government dragging the Cherokee Nation up the gallows to be hung and at the eleventh hour issuing a reprieve. This reprieve is so important in our legal history that it became custom during our history class to stop, have all the students stand, ...