The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee

The Keetoowah Cherokee are a separate political entity, separate from the
Cherokee Nation although both are based in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The Keetoowah are
federally recognized as a separate tribe. This is quite common amongst tribes that are
geographically separate such as the differing bands of Ojibwe, but a unique situation
where two separate bands of the same tribe exist in the same exact locale.

The current chief of the Keetoowah is John Ross. This is the same name as the
principal chief of the Cherokee who argued before the United States Supreme Court in
1830 against the eviction of the Cherokee people from their traditional lands. Although
the earlier Chief John Ross won his case before the court, President Andrew Jackson
went ahead with the forced removal of the Cherokee and other tribes to the Indian
Territory (ENAT, 46).

The current Chief John Ross (the author apologizes, he forgot to ask the current
chief if he his descended from the earlier John Ross) explains the seal of the Keetoowah
as three circles surrounding a central blue disc (sample seal provided by the United
Keetoowah Band) . The outer most circle contains nineteen black seven pointed stars.
The next innermost circle is orange and contains the name of the band in black capital
letters, English at the top, Cherokee script at the bottom. The third ring is yellow and
bears eleven more seven pointed black stars.

The central light blue disc bears the yellow seven pointed star surrounded by oak
branches that is common to the other Cherokee of the North Carolina and Oklahoma
tribes, but not found in the seal of the Chickamauga Cherokee noor in the flag and seal of the Cherokee of Georgia.

Beyond the central seal are four additional black seven pointed stars. These four
stars recall the four primary directions of the compass, a recurring theme in Native
American design.

Chief Ross explained that the thirty black stars contained within the rings stand
for the extinguished campfires of the thirty original Keetoowah villages back in their
hommelands of North Carolina and Georgia. They act as a constant reminder of the
Keetoowah's past and their continuing ties to their original lands.

The three rings stand for the colorful history of the Keetoowah people. The
central star, as with the other Cherokee people, is used to recall the seven original clans
of the Cherokee while the oak branches symbolize strength.

The seal was originally adopted in 1968 and was modified into its current form
in 1991. For a tribal flag, the Keetoowah use their tribal seal on a plain white
background that signifies that the Keetoowah people are at peace.

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Go on to the flag of the United Sioux Tribes