Many of you will realize that Monday, October 11th, was Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a holiday that celebrates and honors Native American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures. But most, if not all of you, will not be aware of another recent milestone in the history of Native Americans.
On September 25th, the Tribal Council of the Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama met to share a meal together and convene for tribal affairs, which included a formal resolution recognizing Israel as a sovereign Jewish Nation and Jerusalem as its Eternal Undivided Capital.
September 25, 2021 (Guntersville, AL) – Following a unanimous vote of the Tribal Council, the Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama expressed solidarity with Israel as a sovereign Jewish Nation, and formally recognized Jerusalem as its eternal undivided capital. It was an expression of covenant and brotherhood, out of a shared bond, with both being indigenous peoples who sense a deep calling and divine responsibility to steward sacred lands.
For many the timing was also especially meaningful as the resolution was signed and presented from the Cherokee Tribal Council during Sukkoth, the biblical Feast of Tabernacles on the Hebrew Calendar – a holy season of the year when Israel remembers their dwelling in tents after the deliverance from Egypt, celebrates with thanksgiving the annual ingathering of the fruits of the Land, and is the very time when the Shekinah glory of God filled the biblical temple as Solomon dedicated it in Jerusalem (2 Chr 5-7). That same “Temple Mount,” and its historic foundation still visible at that very same site (including the “Western Wall”), remain one of the holiest sites of Judaism and is located in “East Jerusalem” – which many dispute claiming Jews have no right to (and therefore “occupy”).
In a time when many call for the dividing of Jerusalem with East Jerusalem as the capital of an Arab state, it is very significant that a strong voice and witness recognizing an undivided Jerusalem as the capital of a Jewish state comes from the Cherokee, an indigenous people pre-dating the modern ideological, partisan, and geo-political lines.
The resolution presented was leather bound and emblazoned with the seal of each people – the seal of the Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama to the Left, and the seal of Israel to the Right.
It was a powerful expression of covenant and brotherhood, out of a shared bond, with both being indigenous peoples who sense a deep calling and divine responsibility to steward sacred lands.
Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama
Resolution Recognizing Israel as a sovereign Jewish Nation and Jerusalem as the capital of IsraelWHEREAS, throughout history and its entire existence, Jerusalem has only been the capital of the sovereign Jewish Nation of Israel and no other nation; and
WHEREAS, each sovereign nation, under international law, may designate its own capital; and
WHEREAS, Israel throughout its entire existence has declared Jerusalem to be its eternal undivided capital; now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE TRIBAL COUNCIL OF THE CHEROKEE TRIBE OF NORTHEAST ALABAMA IN UNANIMOUS AGREEMENT, That we do recognize Jerusalem as the eternal undivided capital of the sovereign Jewish Nation of Israel. In addition, we vow our full support in the pursuit of the peace of Jerusalem and the Nation of Israel by which ever means may be necessary.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be sent to all proper government authorities for the recognition of its passing.
Adopted and Signed September 25th, 2021
At the moving ceremony, Deputy Representative of the Red Wind Tribal District Seth Penn also presented a Native American blanket to Israeli Consul General Anat Sultan-Dadon, while she presented actual dirt from the Holy Land “from the very place along the Jordan River where the biblical account records Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land after the Exodus.”
Update: I have been advised thar Consul General Sultan-Dadon was not able to attend as it was Shabbat in the middle of Sukkot. She sent a letter that was presented by Laura King, past national Network chair for JFNA, who lives in nearby Huntsville and is co-founder of the Alabama Israel Task Force. Co-founder John Buhler, a Christian, is the one who presented Chief Smith with the dirt from by the Jordan River.
At a time when our indigenous status is being erased by all and sundry
this is welcome news, and something that should be spread far and wide.
Hat tip: Michael
