Washitaw Nation

The Washitaw Nation, or Washitaw de Dugdahmoundyah, is a group of Black Americans that claim to be a sovereign Native American nation within the boundaries of the United States.[1] Their name is taken from that of the Ouachita tribe,[2] who are also eponymous of the Washita River and of Washita, Oklahoma.

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 ofRichwood, Louisiana in 1975-76 and 1980-84.[citation needed] 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".[2]

In 1999, the Southern Poverty Law Center 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.[2] Various United States courts have held that the Washitaw Nation is "fictional" and that it is not recognized as a sovereign nation.[3]

The "Washitaw Nation" is the accrediting agent for a diploma mill, the "City University of Los Angeles".[4] [5]