The Cherokee Nation has announced that it will for the first time appoint a delegate to Congress, a position promised it in an 1835 treaty as part of compensation for forcibly relocating the tribe into what is now Oklahoma, The Hill reported on Sunday.

The Cherokee has nominated its vice president of government relations Kimberly Teehee as its delegate, according to Cherokee Phoenix.

Teehee is the Cherokee Nation Businesses vice president of government relations and a former adviser to President Barack Obama.

Commenting on why it took so long for the Cherokee Nation to attempt to assert its right under the treaty, American University law professor Ezra Rosser told CNN, "to me, it's not surprising that it would take somewhat deep into the self-determination era for tribes to be in a position to assert some of these rights.”

Chuck Hoskin, Jr., who was recently sworn in as principal chief of the nation, said the “Cherokee Nation is today in a position of strength that I think is unprecedented in its history.”

Although the treaty does not state if the delegate would have voting power, Hoskin said the Cherokee would use as a model the existing non-voting members representing U.S. territories and Washington D.C.

Those delegates do not have a vote on the House floor but are allowed to introduce bills and vote in committee. Hoskin said this ability would be vital in promoting issues important to the Cherokee and Native Americans in general.

"I think we have to look at the roadmaps that are laid out as a suggested path to seating our delegate, and certainly the delegates afforded the territories give us an idea of what is workable in the Congress," he said.