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The controversy stems from a footnote in the brutal history of U.S. treatment of Native Americans. When many Indians were forced to move to what later became Oklahoma from the eastern U.S. in 1838, some who had owned plantations in the South brought along their slaves.Some 4,000 Indians died during the forced march, which became known as the "Trail of Tears.""And our ancestors carried the baggage," said Marilyn Vann, the Freedman leader who is a plaintiff in the legal battle.Officially, there are about 2,800 Freedmen, but another 3,500 have tribal membership applications pending, and there could be as many as 25,000 eligible to enter the tribe, according to Vann.The tribal court decision was announced one day before absentee ballots were to be mailed in the election of the Cherokee Principal Chief."This is racism and apartheid in the 21st Century," said Vann, an engineer who lives in Oklahoma City.
Removal from the membership rolls means the Freedmen will no longer be eligible for free health care and other benefits such as education concessions.
Okay, so the tribe is excommunicating those who are not Indian because they're not Indian. I get it, see no problem with it, what am I missing?