Washitaw Nation

Common card · No. 446453

The Washitaw Nation (Washitaw de Dugdahmoundyah) is an African-American group associated with the Moorish Science Temple of America who claim to be a sovereign state of Native Americans within the boundaries of the United States of America. Their name is appropriated from that of the Ouachita tribe, who are also eponymous of the Ouachita River, Washita River, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, and Washita, Oklahoma. The group is part of the sovereign citizen movement, whose members generally believe that they are not subject to any statutes or proceedings at the federal, state, or municipal levels. The Washitaw Nation was headed by Verdiacee Hampton Goston (a.k.a. Verdiacee Turner and Empress Verdiacee Tiari Washitaw Turner Goston El-Bey; c. 1927–2014). She was mayor of Richwood, Louisiana, in 1975 and 1976, and again from 1980 to 1984, and is the author of the self-published book Return of the Ancient Ones (1993). Goston asserted that the United Nations "registers the Washitaw as indigenous people...

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