Court tileNASHVILLE – Leaders of three Tennessee groups briefly recognized as American Indian tribes in 2010 have filed a federal lawsuit that seeks more than $36 million in damages, contending that the loss of recognition violated tribe members’ civil rights and blocked them from obtaining various benefits under federal law.
The three plaintiffs – the Remnant Yuchi Nation, the Tanasi Tribe and the United Lenape Tribe – were among six groups granted state recognition as Indian tribes by the Tennessee Commission on Indian Affairs in June of 2010 – just days before the commission ceased to exist.
Subsequently, representatives of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, which opposed recognition of the groups, filed a Davidson County Chancery Court lawsuit declaring the commission violated Tennessee’s Open Meetings Act, also known as the “sunshine law,” in the session in which the recognition was approved.
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