TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) -- A Cherokee Nation committee has voted to spend $520,000 to defend the tribe from any possible lawsuits over a vote to expel freedmen descendants from the tribe. The vote is not final and the proposal goes before the full tribal council in May.
Tribal members voted last month to limit citizenship to descendants of "by blood" tribal members. The vote removes about 2,800 freedmen descendants from the tribe.
Several tribal councilors oppose the funding saying they're using tribal money to kick out tribal citizens.
But council attorney Todd Hembree says the lawsuit would be used to attack tribal sovereignty.
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