If you look at the phrase "Native Americans" to start.   Use of this phrase was started by the white government to mean those of indigenous ancestry.  The phrase is different than "native American", which means those born here.  The difference is the use of the Capital N or lowercase n.   If the phrase has the Capital N, it means indigenous people, if not, then it means anyone born on US soil.    American Indian is also a term applied by the government, but most Native Peoples, call themselves what they are, such as the Lenape, call themselves Lenape, Navajo call themselves, Navajo, etc.   We use the term Native American and American Indian as not everyone in this world knows some of the tribal names, such as the Kickapoo, the Mericopa, or the Oto.  Native Americans are also native Americans, but not all native Americans are Native Americans or American Indians.  

The rest of the opinion was responded to in my letter.

In both the opinions printed on June 3 and June 17, the caller manages to use outright and subtle name calling, in which not one of the members of the Standing Stone Village of the UELN or any UELN member or anyone associated with The Gathering in September has called this caller a name.    So far, the Lenape have been called by this person ..... "wannabees", "liars", con artists," "charlatans", and "non-legitimate".    

The information discussed was responded to in my letter to the Editor.

The last thing I want to point out to the caller is that we have not just appeared in the Huntingdon County area.    I got the Events Page on this site up to date and included the events from the past to show that we have been around and doing many things each year, since 1996.    

In 1866 a treaty allowed the Kansas Delaware to either become United States citizens or retain tribal affiliation and remove to the Cherokee Nation as the Registered Delaware. The Delaware (Lenape) paid the Cherokee Nation $ 1/acre for 157,000 acres and were considered a band of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, having been governed by the Cherokee Nation government and constitution. In 1979, at the request of the Cherokee Nation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs revoked federal recognition of the tribe. This was reversed in 1996, when they gained Federal Recognition from the United States Federal Government as an independent tribal nation, a reversal that was upheld in the United States District Court in 2002. The tribe were considered the 25th largest tribe in the United States with a membership of 10,500. They located their headquarters in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, on the original land that they had purchased from the Cherokee Nation in 1866.  In 2004, the United States Court of Appeals once again denied the tribe their sovereignty.  As of March 2005, the Delaware (Lenape) Tribe of Oklahoma was back under the governance and jurisdiction of the Cherokee Nation government, of Oklahoma.

Further note should be made that part of the whole Cherokee/Delaware contract in the first place was for the Delaware to become Cherokee when they purchased land from the Cherokee Nation originally in 1866.   By the Delaware seeking and obtaining Federal Recognition in 1996, they breeched their contract with the Cherokee Nation.    As part of the breech of contract, the Cherokee asked the court and was granted that assets of the Delaware be frozen, of which included the casino and resort that the Bartlesville, OK Delaware was in the process of building.   

Since you ask how to help them, it should be asked, do they really need help?   If the nation was the 25th largest one and they were in the process of building a casino and since the Cherokee gets Federal allotments for all Cherokee (which includes those Delaware in Bartlesville, OK), just how bad do you think they are hurting?    Or is it the few headquarter jobs that are being shut down, those people are losing some income .. sure ... but they still benefit from the casinos the Cherokee Nation has out there too .... and just how much reward should anyone get when they violate contracts?

To see the Indian casinos in OK, click this link: 500Nations.com  Please make note of the Gold River Bingo & Casino in Anadarko, OK, operated and run by the Anadarko, OK  Delaware.    The Cherokee Nation has 8 casinos listed on that site.    Do a list by tribe to see that.