Georgia 2023-2024 Regular Session

Georgia Senate Bill SR84 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	23 LC 112 1255
2	2	S. R. 84
3	3	- 1 -
4	4	Senate Resolution 84
5	5	By: Senators Gooch of the 51st, Kennedy of the 18th, Strickland of the 17th, Beach of the
6	6	21st, James of the 35th and others
7	7	A RESOLUTION
8	8	Commending the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Cherokee Nation, United Keetoowah Band of
9	9	1
10	10	Cherokee Indians, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the historical tribes that once2
11	11	called Georgia their home, including the Yuchi Tribe, Chickasaw Nation, Seminole Nation,3
12	12	Seminole Tribe of Florida, Shawnee Tribe, and all tribes; and for other purposes.4
13	13	WHEREAS, the ancestors of today's Southeastern tribes and other Native peoples have for5
14	14	millennia inhabited the lands of the present day State of Georgia. The Lower Muscogee6
15	15	Creek, a major tribe, occupied towns on the Fall Line, the Piedmont, and coastal plain areas.7
16	16	They were not one tribe but several tribes that formed a powerful confederacy. The8
17	17	Cherokee, another major tribe, occupied the mountains of northern Georgia; and9
18	18	WHEREAS, the arrival and settlement of General James Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony10
19	19	of Georgia, opened a new chapter in the histories of the Native peoples of said territory; and11
20	20	WHEREAS, the State of Georgia acknowledges the significant role that the Native American12
21	21	tribes have played in permitting the birth of this colony to take root, such as Tomochichi; and13
22	22	WHEREAS, in 1801, the first mission school to the Cherokee and the Lower Muscogee14
23	23	Creek was established at Spring Place, Georgia. The Moravian mission became a model for15 23 LC 112 1255
24	24	S. R. 84
25	25	- 2 -
26	26	ministry, education, and farming techniques, and in subsequent years, a friend and ally to the
27	27	16
28	28	chiefs and tribal heads at New Echota, capital of the Cherokee Nation; and17
29	29	WHEREAS, on November 12, 1825, New Echota was officially designated as the capital of18
30	30	the Cherokee Nation, and the tribal council also began a building program that included19
31	31	construction of a two-story council house, a supreme court, and later, the office of the first20
32	32	Indian-language newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix, which used the new syllabary created by21
33	33	the Cherokee scholar Sequoyah; and22
34	34	WHEREAS, the Native American sovereign rights to their lands and nations were confirmed23
35	35	by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Worcester vs. Georgia, in which Chief24
36	36	Justice John Marshall opined that all Muscogee Creek land east of the Mississippi is that of25
37	37	nations and that the federal government had the sole right to deal with the Indian nations in26
38	38	North America. Justice Marshall also clearly stated that neither the states nor the federal27
39	39	government had the right of possession to Native lands nor political dominion over the laws28
40	40	enacted by Native peoples; and29
41	41	WHEREAS, in subsequent years prior to 1830, relationships with all Native tribes began to30
42	42	deteriorate. In 1826, the Treaty of Washington was signed, which ceded to the United States31
43	43	all Muscogee Creek land east of the Mississippi River. The passage of the Indian Removal32
44	44	Act of 1830 initiated the removal of the Native peoples from Georgia beginning with the33
45	45	Lower Muscogee Creek, thus perpetrating the removal of approximately 17,000 Creeks to34
46	46	the Oklahoma Territory. Georgia then included Cherokee territory in its Sixth Land Lottery,35
47	47	allocating Cherokee land to white settlers, although the Cherokee Nation had never ceded the36
48	48	land to the state; over the next six years, the Georgia Guard operated against the Cherokees,37
49	49	evicting them from their properties; by 1834, New Echota was becoming a ghost town, and38
50	50	council meetings were moved to Red Clay, Cherokee Nation, now in Tennessee; and39 23 LC 112 1255
51	51	S. R. 84
52	52	- 3 -
53	53	WHEREAS, as the General Assembly recalled in a 1997 resolution dedicating the Trail of
54	54	40
55	55	Tears Highway: "New Echota was converted from the capital of a nation to a holding pen for41
56	56	the human inhabitants of that nation as they were rounded up and corralled like cattle to42
57	57	embark on one of the most sordid chapters in our state’s history, the forced migration of the43
58	58	Cherokee people from their native Southeastern foothills and mountains to Oklahoma, an44
59	59	event that lives in infamy as the Trail of Tears"; and45
60	60	WHEREAS, the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land, which we46
61	61	are sworn to protect and uphold; and47
62	62	WHEREAS, it is abundantly fitting and proper for members of this body to recognize the48
63	63	importance of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Cherokee Nation, the United Keetoowah Band49
64	64	of Cherokee Indians, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, including the historical50
65	65	tribes such as the Yuchi Tribe, Chickasaw Nation, and the Seminole Nation, Seminole Tribe51
66	66	of Florida Indians, and the Shawnee Tribe to the rich history of this state and our nation; and52
67	67	NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body,53
68	68	in honor of Native American Honoring Day, commend the Muscogee (Creek) Nation,54
69	69	Cherokee Nation, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, Eastern Band of Cherokee55
70	70	Indians, and the historical tribes, including the Yuchi Tribe, Chickasaw Nation, Seminole56
71	71	Nation, Seminole Tribe of Florida Indians, the Shawnee Tribe, and all tribes.57
72	72	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of this body proclaim, "LET US GO58
73	73	DOWN TO THE RIVER, LET US BURY THE HATCHET AND PLANT THE TREE OF59
74	74	PEACE!"60 23 LC 112 1255
75	75	S. R. 84
76	76	- 4 -
77	77	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed
78	78	61
79	79	to make appropriate copies of this resolution available for distribution to the public and the62
80	80	press.63