Title
CHEROKEE NATION HISTORIC CEMETERIES PRESERVATION ACT
Body
BE IT ENACTED BY THE CHEROKEE NATION:
Section 1. Title and Codification
This legislative act shall be titled and codified as the "Cherokee Nation Historic Cemeteries Preservation Act of 2025."
Section 2. Findings
The Council of the Cherokee Nation finds it to be in the national interest to comprehensively identify, make record of and provide additional resources for the restoration of cemeteries within the Cherokee Nation Reservation that are of enduring historical significance to Cherokee Nation. The Council finds that cemeteries established after the forced removal of the Cherokee people in the 19th century through the turn of the 20th century hold the remains of our ancestors, reflect familial and community bonds and are physical records of Cherokee people, communities, religious institutions, culture and traditions and that many of these cemeteries remain in active use. The Council finds that a comprehensive evaluation of these historic Cherokee cemeteries has not been attempted since the issuance of James Tyner and Alice Timmons' 12 volumes of Our People and Where They Rest beginning in 1969. The Council finds that in the interest of historical preservation, respect for ancestors and to assist Cherokee Nation citizens with improved access to historic Cherokee cemeteries that a strategic plan should be developed by the Principal Chief or his designee to identify said cemeteries, evaluate the relative endangered status of said cemeteries and provide resources to assist in the restoration and preservation of said cemeteries. The Council further finds that certain previous acts of Council on the subject should be repealed but that the purposes and policies of those previous acts should be substantially retained in this single comprehensive legislative act.
Section 3. Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to Amend Title 8 of the Cherokee Nation Code Annotated, authorizing the funding of ...
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