I know that the Cherokee Constitution forbade individual ownership or sale of land, but when was the Constitution written? What would have been the legal status of a "fullblood Cherokee" owning land, being listed on tithable rolls, tax rolls, etc. in the 1700's? The ancestor in question did all these things, yet many insist he was a fullblood Cherokee. I need something to refer to. Thanks! Janet Crain

Hi, Janet! Who was your ancestor? Full-blood was not necessarily an indication of "pure blood" descent. It was as often a state of mind. A friend's ancestor was 1/4 but considered a full-blood because she lived and grew up among the full-blood community. Makes for fun, yes? Blessings, Susan

The first constitution was written in the 1820's. You are correct that the Constitution forbade the selling of land. Under Cherokee law & custom the land was owned by the Tribe. An individual Cherokee could own the improvements to the land and had a possessory right to the land he/she was own. They could sell, trade, etc that possessory right and the improvements but not the land itself. Ethnicity and citizenship are not necessarily the same. The Cherokee allowed citizenship to whites. A Cherokee (or any other Native) could leave their tribe and live in the American society. Whether they were tithable or not would depend on the location and the laws of that location. In many locales they would be called "a free person of color", a term normally thought of as referring to freemen of African ancestry but in actuality would be any non-white who was not enslaved. Whatever the laws were at that time and in that locale would determine whether a person of Native American ethnicity could serve on a jury, vote, be a witness, etc. ----- Original Message ----- From: "ljcrain1" <ljcrain1@asapchoice.com> To: <CherokeeGene-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, June 24, 2005 11:38 AM Subject: Cherokee Constitution >I know that the Cherokee Constitution forbade individual ownership or sale >of land, but when was the Constitution written? What would have been the >legal status of a "fullblood Cherokee" owning land, being listed on >tithable rolls, tax rolls, etc. in the 1700's? The ancestor in question >did all these things, yet many insist he was a fullblood Cherokee. > > I need something to refer to. > > Thanks! > > Janet Crain > ______________________________