The Washitaw Nation, or Washitaw de Dugdahmoundyah, is a group of Black Americans that claims to be a sovereign Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 nation within the boundaries of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.
Their name is taken from that of the Ouachita tribe

Ouachita tribe

The Ouachita are a Native American tribe from northeastern Louisiana along the Ouachita River.-History:The Ouachita were loosely affiliated with the Caddo Confederacy. Their traditional homelands were the lower reaches of the Ouachita River and along the Black River...

,
who are also eponymous of the Washita River

Washita River

The Washita River is a river in Texas and Oklahoma, United States. The river is long and terminates into Lake Texoma in Johnston County , Oklahoma and the Red River.-Geography:...

 and of Washita, Oklahoma

Washita, Oklahoma

Washita is a rural community in Caddo County, Oklahoma, located west of Anadarko on a bend in the Washita River. The post office opened October 31, 1900. The ZIP Code is 73094....

.

The group is headed by Verdiacee Hampton Goston (a.k.a. Verdiacee Turner, a.k.a. Empress Verdiacee Tiari Washitaw Turner Goston El-Bey, born ca. 1927). She was mayor of Richwood, Louisiana

Richwood, Louisiana

Richwood is a town in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,115 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Monroe Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Richwood is located at ....

 in 1975-76 and 1980-84. She is the author of the self-published book Return of the Ancient Ones (1993). Goston asserts that the United Nations "registers the Washitaw as indigenous people No. 215".

In 1999, the Southern Poverty Law Center

Southern Poverty Law Center

The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...

 estimated the group had about 200 hard-core members, noting
its popularity among followers of Moorish Science, an older black separatist sect.
The asserted legal basis for the establishment of the Washitaw nation is a theory that individuals and groups may declare "sovereignty" and separate from state and federal governments, a concept earlier used by the Posse Comitatus. The argument is also made that Napoleon only sold "the streets of New Orleans and a military barracks" and that the rest of Louisiana was stolen from the Washitaw.
Various United States courts have held that the Washitaw Nation is "fictional" and that it is not recognized as a sovereign nation.

The "Washitaw Nation" is the accrediting agent for a diploma mill

Diploma mill

A diploma mill is an organization that awards academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official educational accrediting bodies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit...

, the "City University of Los Angeles".

External links

• http://www.empirewashitaw.org/
• Common Law Groups and Starting Small - articles critical of the Washitaw Nation
• Korosec, Thomas “Soul food & crackers: How two black Dallas men learned to love the lily-white Republic of Texas—especially the part about phony checks and payment-free plastic” Dallas Observer 18 September 1997