Saturday, October 8, 2011

Slave descendants fight to stay in Cherokee tribe (AP)

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. ? Charlene White didn't learn the whole story about her grandfather's secret number until she was 12.

Prior to that time, she knew only that he had scrawled the mysterious digits ? 3489 ? on a crumpled piece of paper and hidden it in a drawer The number was assigned to him as a boy to indicate that members of his family had once been slaves to the Cherokee Nation. It seemed to be a piece of personal history best left in the past.

"I feel like he felt it was shameful being known as a slave, especially a slave of the Indians," White said. "It was an embarrassment."

More than a century after her grandfather got the number, White is telling the story of her ancestors' servitude as she fights along with 2,800 other descendants of Indian slaves across the country to be embraced as full members of the tribe.

Just as many white Americans owned black slaves until after the Civil War, so did some Cherokee tribesmen. The practice generally ended with an 1866 treaty that freed the slaves and afforded them the same rights as native Cherokees.

But leaders of the Cherokee Nation, one of the largest and most influential American tribes, have been trying to change that policy by declaring that the descendants should not be considered Cherokee citizens unless they can show proof of Indian blood.

The descendants stand to lose part of their identity if the tribe is successful in removing them. In 2007, more than three-quarters of Cherokee citizens voted to kick out descendants of freedmen and other non-Indians. The dispute has been in and out of the courts ever since.

Loss of citizenship could also mean losing valuable tribal benefits such as medical care, housing assistance and grocery stipends.

"They're treating us like we're still their slaves," White said. "That is so degrading."

Voting is under way in the tribal election for chief, with the final ballots to be cast Saturday. The two candidates have battled for months over almost every aspect of the tribal government. But they find common ground on the freedmen issue: Both want them booted.

Tribal leaders say it is their right as a sovereign nation to determine who qualifies to be a citizen.

"I have considered the Cherokee Nation's right to determine their own national identity the most fundamental right of every government," said Chad Smith, the incumbent chief, who is being challenged by longtime tribal councilman Bill John Baker.

The descendants say being Cherokee has always been part of their family stories, even if they were not actively involved with the tribe after their relatives were released.

White was born and raised in Tahlequah, the capital of the 300,000-member Cherokee Nation in northeastern Oklahoma.

Her grandfather, Clarence Wilson, was 13 when he received his number from a document known as the Freedmen's Roll. It was 1902, just five years before Oklahoma became a state, when segregationist Jim Crow laws were taking a firm grip on the territory.

Wilson had not been eager to share the family's story, White said. He didn't want his kids to think they were any different than their classmates. And he feared that knowledge of the number, like the ones tattooed on Jews by the Nazis, would brand his household, potentially inviting angry whites to lynch them or kick them off their land.

When she was 12, White learned the whole ugly story: Wilson's grandmother had been a slave of a Cherokee who traveled the Trail of Tears ? the perilous trek taken by thousands of American Indians in the 1830s after they were forced from their homelands in the Southeast.

"I didn't understand the meaning that my grandfather had a roll number," White recalls.

Now in her 60s, White suffers from glaucoma and cataracts that have stolen much of her eyesight, and she needs new glasses every four months or so. She uses special eye drops that cost $80. All those medical benefits are provided by the tribe, for now.

The freedmen families' struggle for citizenship can be compared to "a latent civil rights struggle," said Carla Pratt, a law professor at Pennsylvania State University who has studied the freedmen issue for several years. The key question, Pratt asks, is "What does a slaveholding nation owe to the people it has enslaved?"

"Part of the reason people are still dependent on these services is because they are the descendants of slaves, who have been denied the opportunity of intergenerational wealth," she said.

In deciding a person's identify, the tribe relies on a historical record called the Dawes Rolls, which was created by the federal government between 1898 and 1906 to identify citizens of the Cherokee Nation ? and members of other tribes ? who were living in Indian territory.

The roll has two parts. The first, called the Cherokees-by-Blood Roll, identified about 32,000 citizens of the nation who could prove direct Indian ancestry. The second, known as the Freedmen Roll, identified about 5,000 freedmen citizens of the nation, typically black former slaves and their descendants owned by Cherokee tribesmen.

The freedmen families have argued that the Treaty of 1866, signed decades before the Dawes Rolls were written, takes precedent. That treaty between the U.S. government and the Cherokees gave the freedmen and their descendants "all the rights of native Cherokees."

Until a court rules otherwise, the Cherokee Nation is still offering medical care to descendants of freedmen. Of the $300 million the tribe budgets for health care, medical services for the descendants cost about 1 percent, or $3 million, a tribal spokesman said.

Rena Logan, a retired cook from Muskogee who keeps her ancestors' Freedmen Roll number of 3918 close to her heart every day, gets treatment at tribal clinics for her arthritis, hypertension, osteoarthritis and a dislocated back disc.

"We are black, and we were slaves, and they want to keep us that way," Logan said. "It really hurts the heart. What did we do to be discriminated against?"

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111007/ap_on_re_us/us_cherokee_freedmen

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Hedge funds can make big losses

When you invest in a hedge fund, you are giving money to a fund manager to speculate for you. The fund can speculate in any type of assets - shares, currencies, commodities. They can borrow money, i.e. leverage, to speculate in bigger stakes. The fund manager can make a lot of profit, but can also make a humongous loss. The hedge fund charge high fees, usually 3% or more of the invested assets, and can also take a large part of the profit, e.g. 20% of the gains. But, when the hedge fund loses big on the bets, they do not compensate the investors for the losses. Hedge funds managers can be multi-millionaires.

It can be reckless for trustees of trust funds or corporate funds to invest their money in hedge funds. But many of them do. This is why hedge funds are so successful. Here is a story of a hedge fund that performed badly this year. 

How to Create a Podcast for Free

Amplify’d from webdesigndublin.org
Creating a podcast or videocast is a great way to let your visitors or subscribers to listen to or watch all of your videos or voice recordings in one place.





Obviously you will need to create your audio or video files first before creating a podcast. A podcast is simply an RSS feed with all of your sound or video files attached to each post as an attachment.
Read more at webdesigndublin.org
 

Extended Auto Warranty - Should I Buy an Extended Car Warranty?

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Extended Auto Warranty - Should I Buy an Extended Car Warranty?

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10 products that defined Steve Jobs' career

FILE - This 1998 file photo provided by Apple, shows Apple CEO Steve Jobs pose for a photo with an iMac computer. Apple on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011 said Jobs has died. He was 56. (AP Photo/Apple, Moshe Brakha, File)

FILE - This 1998 file photo provided by Apple, shows Apple CEO Steve Jobs pose for a photo with an iMac computer. Apple on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011 said Jobs has died. He was 56. (AP Photo/Apple, Moshe Brakha, File)

(AP) ? Steve Jobs had no formal schooling in engineering, yet he's listed as the inventor or co-inventor on more than 300 U.S. patents. These are some of the significant products that were created under his direction:

1. Apple I (1976) ? Apple's first product was a computer for hobbyists and engineers, made in small numbers. Steve Wozniak designed it, while Jobs orchestrated the funding and handled the marketing.

2. Apple II (1977) ? One of the first successful personal computers, the Apple II was designed as a mass-market product rather than something for engineers or enthusiasts. It was still largely Wozniak's design. Several upgrades for the model followed, and the product line continued until 1993.

3. Lisa (1983) ? Jobs' visit to Xerox Corp.'s research center in Palo Alto inspired him to start work on the first commercial computer with a graphical user interface, with icons, windows and a cursor controlled by a mouse. It was the foundation for today's computer interfaces, but the Lisa was too expensive to be a commercial success.

4. Macintosh (1984) ? Like the Lisa, the Macintosh had a graphical user interface. It was also cheaper and faster and had the backing of a large advertising campaign behind it. People soon realized how useful the graphical interface was for design. That led "desktop publishing," accomplished with a Mac coupled to a laser printer, to soon become a sales driver.

5. NeXT computer (1989) ? After being forced out of Apple, Jobs started a company that built a powerful workstation computer. The company was never able to sell large numbers, but the computer was influential: The world's first Web browser was created on one. Its software also lives on as the basis for today's Macintosh and iPhone operating system.

6. iMac (1998) ? When Jobs returned to Apple in 1996, the company was foundering, with an ever shrinking share of the PC market. The radical iMac was the first step in reversing the slide. It was strikingly designed as a bubble of blue plastic that enclosed both the monitor and the computer. Easy to set up, it captured the imagination just as people across the world were having their eyes opened to the benefits of the Internet and considering getting their first home computer.

7. iPod (2001) ? It wasn't the first digital music player with a hard drive, but it was the first successful one. Apple's expansion into portable electronics has had vast ramifications. The iPod's success prepared the way for the iTunes music store and the iPhone.

8. iTunes store (2003) ? Before the iTunes store, buying digital music was a hassle, making piracy the more popular option. The store simplified the process and brought together tracks from all the major labels. The store became the largest music retailer in the U.S. in 2008.

9. iPhone (2007) ? The iPhone did for the phone experience what the Macintosh did for personal computing ? it made the power of a smartphone easy to harness. Apple is now the world's most profitable maker of phones, and the influence of the iPhone is evident in all smartphones.

10. iPad (2010) ? Dozens of companies, including Apple, had created tablet computers before the iPad, but none caught on. The iPad finally cracked the code, creating a whole new category of computer practically by itself.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2011-10-05-Obit-Jobs-Greatest%20Hits/id-0f4acc9d8ba24d7a99c8546c97a341b4

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2 Great Ways to Start an Online Business in Ireland with Wordpess Websites


Hotels in Wexford

Amplify’d from luxuryhotelsireland.org

Wexford has been described as the “sunny south east” as the weather does tend to be as good as you will find in Ireland but always be prepared for the typical, unpredictable Irish weather.


 


Lets take a look at some of the hotels in Wexford that you might consider for your next break..


Check out spa hotels Ireland and luxury hotels Ireland also.


Maldron Hotel Wexford


The Maldron hotel in Wexford boasts a great health and fitness club and Dolphin kids club as well as gym, great meeting rooms, 108 luxury guest rooms and all the mod cons that you would expect from a modern luxury hotel.


hotels-in-wexford1

Read more at luxuryhotelsireland.org
 

Spa Hotels Ireland

Amplify’d from luxuryhotelsireland.org

There are some great spa hotel breaks available now as many deals are being offered by some of the top class resorts for a relaxing break.


spa-hotels-ireland


Carlton Hotel and Spa


The Carlton hotel and spa complex is located in the south of the country in Kinsale, County Cork and boasts a steam room, sauna, spa tub and indoor pool with full service spa.

(Check out Kildare hotels and castles in Ireland also)


Parking is free for guests and all of the luxurious features that you would expect in a top class hotel with 128 bedrooms are laid on for your relaxing break.


 


Monart Spa


The Monart spa in Enniscorthy, County Wexford offers a very extensive range of treatments including dry flotation, facials, massage, body treatments, scrubs, wraps and Hamam and offers special offers regularly.


spa-hotels-ireland1

Read more at luxuryhotelsireland.org