Back in 1835, the Treaty of New Echota guaranteed the Cherokee Nation a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. It’s a promise that still hasn’t been fulfilled nearly 200 years later.

Teehee spoke to Newsweek on Indigenous Peoples Day about the tribe’s continued push to hold the U.S. to account.

“When I think back at what it’s cost us in blood, sweat and tears—the justice that I feel will be had once the United States honors this treaty right is remarkable to me and humbling,” she said.

The Trail of Tears claimed the lives of more than a quarter of the Cherokee Nation, who were driven from their homelands. The United States government removed the tribe and kept their land via the Treaty of New Echota, but the document also ensured the Cherokee a “voice in Congress,” according to CherokeeDelegate.com.

The centuries-old treaty doesn’t have an expiration date.

There are more than 440,000 tribal citizens nationwide, and many tribal organizations have passed resolutions supporting the Cherokee Nation’s proposed congressional delegate, Teehee said. She urges people to contact their representatives to push for a hearing on the matter.

Teehee notes that it would mean Cherokee Nation would get a say in laws and policies that affect tribal members.

“We have issues that are pretty similar to other tribes throughout the country as well,” she said. “But more importantly, I think representation does matter when you couch it in terms of honoring a treaty right, because what it says is that the United States is a country of this word.”

Back in 2019, Teehee was nominated to serve as her tribe’s first delegate to Congress by Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr.

Hoskin previously spoke to Newsweek about the importance of Indigenous Peoples Day. He stressed that a lack of knowledge surrounding tribal communities can lead to harmful policies that trample Native rights.

“I think as we increase the knowledge of the basics of tribes in this country that we will usher in an era in which we have better policy,” he said. “And better policy at the federal and state level can really help tribes do what we did before there were colonizers here, which is governing ourselves, caring for our natural resources and caring for each other.”

Updated 10/11/2022, 10:38 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with an image of the Cherokee Nation flag.