From the Washington Post:

"Descendants of slaves owned by members of the Cherokee Nation can sue the current chief in an attempt to restore their tribal memberships, a federal appeals court ruled Friday."

For more information see link below. (Or copy and paste this link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/appeals-court-descendants-of-slaves-owned-by-cherokees-can-sue-chief-for-tribal-membership/2012/12/14/53f9fa46-4615-11e2-8c8f-fbebf7ccab4e_story.html )