Congressmen urge probe into tribes

WASHINGTON, May 5 (UPI) -- Members of Congress have asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate five Oklahoma tribes accused of expelling descendants of former tribal slaves.

The Tulsa (Okla.) World reported Tuesday that the tribes, including the Cherokee Nation, are accused of wrongly cutting off Indian freedmen, and denying them federal education, housing and health benefits.

"Over 40 years after enactment of the landmark Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, there is a place in the United States that African-Americans cannot vote or receive federal benefits as a matter of law," the letter said.

The newspaper noted that six Democratic members, including Reps. John Conyers of Michigan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Barney Frank of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

In addition to the Cherokee Nation, other Oklahoma tribes targeted in the letter are the Seminole, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Muscogee (Creek) Nations.

"The illegal actions of the leadership of the five tribes, some of which are the wealthiest tribes in Indian country, have resulted in the freedmen's inability to access federal benefits and programs, totaling in the hundred of millions of dollars annually, in the areas of housing, education, health, and public works,'' the letter said.