Cherokee Nation v. Nash

In an 1866 treaty ending slavery within its territory, the Cherokee Nation (plaintiff) promised that freedmen living in the Nation, or returning within six months, and their descendants would have “all the rights of native Cherokees.” A federal commission later compiled the Dawes Freedmen Roll listing these freedmen. A century and a half later, the Cherokee Nation sued seeking a declaration that the treaty did not guarantee present-day freedmen descendants continuing citizenship rights; Raymond Nash and other descendants (defendants) cross-claimed for a declaration of their citizenship rights, and both sides moved for summary judgment.