April 2013 - Cherokee Phoenix

Lacrosse Lifer
Wind Farm?
Cherokee Nation citizen Marty Ward
coaches the men’s lacrosse team at
Florida Southern College. PEOPLE, 19
Tribal Council approves two leases for the
study and possible development of a wind
farm in central Oklahoma. COUNCIL, 7
April 2013 • cherokeephoenix.org
Plans Unveiled
Officials announce plans to add 30,000
square feet to the Redbird Smith Health
Center in Sallisaw, Okla. HEALTH, 15
185 Years of Cherokee Journalism
PHOENIX
CHEROKEE
Sequestration to hit tribal programs
The U.S. government is enacting a 5.3
percent decrease to its budget for the
rest of the fiscal year.
BY TESINA JACKSON
Reporter
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Cherokee Nation citizens will see less
services from the tribe for the rest of the fiscal year because of
federally mandated budget cuts that took affect on March 1.
As part of the U.S. government’s sequestration, the tribe’s
overall budget will be cut approximately $14.5 million, or 2.3
percent, and will affect services such as the Women, Infants and
Children Program and Head Start.
Tribal officials said WIC would be cut by nearly $430,000,
while IHS services would lose approximately $8 million. The
tribe’s diabetes programs will receive a $415,000 cut, while Head
Start’s budget will decrease $327,937. Also, the CN Housing
Rehabilitation Program will lose $476,216, while CN Food
Distribution will lose more than $400,000.
According to published reports, the budgets cuts could equate
to 6,000 fewer clients for Food Distribution, 4,500 fewer food
vouchers, 52,900 fewer patient visits to tribal health clinics, 165
fewer supervised caregivers for at-risk children and 7,000 fewer
people in diabetes programs.
“We’ve been studying it, looking at it, trying to figure out what
it would affect, and now that we’ve received it we’ve put some
measures into place that we think are physically and financially
prudent,” Principal Chief Bill John Baker said.
The sequester is a set of automatic spending cuts put into
law by the Budget Control Act of 2011 as an effort for Congress
to decrease the nation’s $16 trillion deficit. Because Congress
couldn’t reach a compromise before the March 1 deadline, $85
billion in across-the-board budget cuts will be in effect the rest
of fiscal year 2013 for non-defense spending.
Baker said his administration had been looking at the
sequestration since learning of a possible 10 percent to 12
percent budget cut.
“We had it mapped out to where we could absorb 6.5 percent
with minimal damage, and it came in under that,” he said. “You
never like to see budget cuts at all, but it’s in a manageable area.”
See BUDGET, 4
10 STORIES OF SUITE-NESS
Baker said CN citizens would still be able to apply for and
receive help from affected programs.
According to CN Communications, a majority of the tribe’s
programs are forward funded, which means the Nation has
received most of the money.
Jerry Snell, CN Family Assistance director, said Food
Distribution clients shouldn’t expect to see significant changes.
“In 2008, USDA (United States Department of Agriculture)
developed a new funding formula which gave the Cherokee
Nation an increase in funding, which has allowed us in the past
five years to remodel all of our Food
Distribution stores and update all of our equipment,” he said.
“With a 5 percent cut, it won’t affect our staffing or ability to
provide food for our citizens.”
Snell said holding off on any remodeling or purchasing of
equipment should absorb most of the cuts.
A Cherokee Nation citizen and her son shop at the
Food Distribution Center in Tahlequah, Okla. Because of
federal budget cuts, federally funded CN programs such
as Food Distribution will see a 5 percent decrease for
the rest of fiscal year 2013. COURTESY PHOTO
CN left out of
Illinois River
proceedings
Oklahoma and Arkansas leaders
make a pact over the river’s watershed
but do not invite Cherokee officials.
BY WILL CHAVEZ
Senior Reporter
All of the suites in the new 10-story hotel tower at the tribe’s Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Catoosa, Okla., are
available. The tower has 98 suites, a sports bar and more than 500 electronic games.
WILL CHAVEZ/CHEROKEE PHOENIX
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Cherokee Nation leaders are
questioning why they were not invited to an Illinois River
Watershed meeting on Feb. 20 hosted by the Arkansas and
Oklahoma attorneys general.
At the meeting, the two states agreed to work on a three-year
study focusing on the river’s water quality.
The agreement was reached following months of negotiations
concerning phosphorus limits in parts of the river that travels
from Arkansas through 100 miles of eastern Oklahoma, according
to separate statements from Oklahoma Attorney General Scott
Pruitt and Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel.
It also extends a similar pact reached in 2003 after Oklahoma
established standards for allowable levels of phosphorus released
into the IRW and other scenic rivers from water treatment
See ILLINOIS RIVER, 2
CNE unveils finished Hard Rock tower
The $52 million addition has 98
suites and is fully non-smoking.
BY WILL CHAVEZ
Senior Reporter
CATOOSA, Okla. – One of the main attractions of the new
10-story hotel tower at the tribe’s Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tulsa are the 98 suites that guests have been asking for and are
now reserving.
Cherokee Nation Entertainment and Cherokee Nation
officials showed off the suites’ amenities on March 19 while
discussing what the additional rooms mean for the property.
Jon Davidson, CNE senior director of hospitality operations,
said guests’ reactions to the suites have been positive. Davidson
said a guest recently said he would save his money to again stay
in one of the new suites during his next visit to the Hard Rock.
“They’re received very, very well, not only by him, but by
others,” Davidson said. “We opened three floors on New Year’s
Eve and opened the balance of the floors in mid-February, and
they’ve just been really well received by our guests.”
The tower’s first floor is a non-smoking gaming area with 500
electronic games, 15 table games and a poker room. There is also
a food court where guests can enjoy pizza at “Slice,” Mexican food
at “Salsa” and burgers, sandwiches or breakfast at “Flipside.”
The second floor is a mezzanine that has additional gaming,
the “Replay” sports bar and guest services. “Replay” has 50
high-definition televisions ranging from 32 inches to 103
inches, as well as a digital sports ticker above a bar that serves
See TOWER, 4
Oklahoma and Arkansas attorneys general have said
the Illinois River Watershed will be the focus of a threeyear study. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Interactive Tribal Council districts map available online
Cherokee Nation citizens
can go online to see in what
districts they live.
BY STAFF REPORTS
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – An online map of
the new Tribal Council districts is available
for Cherokee Nation citizens to key in their
addresses to learn in which districts they reside.
CN citizens can type in their
addresses at http://geodata.cherokee.org/
ElectionAddresses/ and it will show their new
representative districts.
The CN jurisdiction is now divided into
15 districts, with each district assigned one
council representative. The 17-member council
also has two At-Large seats. The former Tribal
Council map consisted of five jurisdictional
districts with three councilors in each.
The tribe’s Supreme Court ruled the new
15-district map constitutional on Feb. 27 in
order for the tribe’s Election Commission to
proceed with this year’s elections.
“Since we have redistricted, it is important
that citizens are informed and aware of
where they are supposed to vote,” Election
Commissioner Lindsay Earls said. “Voters can,
starting now, access an online map to find their
district or call our office for guidance so we can
avoid any headache come Election Day.”
Nine seats will be up for election on June
22. Those districts with elections are Dist. 2,
now represented by Joe Byrd; Dist. 4, now
represented by Don Garvin; Dist. 5, now
represented by David Thornton; Dist. 7, now
represented by Frankie Hargis; Dist. 9, now
represented by Curtis Snell; Dist. 10, a newly
formed district without current representation;
Dist. 11, now represented by Chuck Hoskin
Jr.; and Dist. 15, now represented by Meredith
Frailey. One At-Large seat, now represented by
Jack Baker, will also be decided. Only voters in
those districts and at-large citizens will vote.
CN citizens have until April 1 to register to
vote and update their respective addresses. The
EC asks that citizens who have moved since
they last voted in a tribal election or those who
use a post office box or rural route address to
call 1-800-353-2895 to verify their respective
appropriate districts.
Voter registration forms for the 15 districts
are
available
at
http://www.cherokee.
org/OurGovernment/Commissions/
ElectionCommission/30871/Information.aspx
Requests for absentee ballots must be
submitted by May 10. Absentee ballot
request forms are available at http://www.
cherokee.org/OurGovernment/Commissions/
ElectionCommission/24782/Information.aspx
Voting precincts for the respective districts
will be determined at a later date and posted on
www.cherokee.org.
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CHEROKEE PHOENIX • April 2013
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2013
EC disqualifies 1
candidate, another
drops out of race
That leaves 25
candidates vying for
nine Tribal Council
seats.
BY JAMI CUSTER
Reporter
The late Rogan Noble, a Marine Corps veteran and Cherokee Nation’s Office of Veterans Affairs
veterans advocate, raises the American flag at the tribe’s Warrior Memorial in Tahlequah, Okla., in
this 2004 photo. He died on March 9 at age 64 and was buried on March 13 at Fort Gibson National
Cemetery. WILL CHAVEZ/CHEROKEE PHOENIX
CN veterans advocate
Rogan Noble dies
Along with serving Cherokee
vets, he was instrumental in
establishing the tribe’s Office of
Veterans Affairs and Warrior
Memorial.
BY STAFF REPORTS
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Rogan Noble, a longtime
employee of the Cherokee Nation’s Office of Veterans
Affairs and Housing Authority, died on March 9 at 64.
Services for Noble were held March 13 at Sequoyah
High School’s The Place Where They Play Gymnasium
with Steve Campbell and Richard Allen officiating.
Former U.S. Marine Cpl. Noble was buried at the Fort
Gibson National Cemetery under the direction of Hart
Funeral Home of Stilwell.
According to his obituary, Noble was a proud Marine
Corps veteran who served in the Vietnam War. While
working at the CN, he was instrumental in establishing
its Office of Veterans Affairs and the Warrior Memorial
that sits adjacent to the Tribal Complex.
Noble also sold Warrior Memorial bricks that listed
veterans’ names, their respective branch of service and
when they served as a fundraiser for the memorial and
could be seen sometimes installing the bricks in the
walkway next to the memorial.
He worked diligently as an advocate for Cherokee
veterans and served as a liaison between the CN and the
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He also supported
and helped plan the construction of the tribe’s Veteran’s
Center being built next to the Warrior Memorial.
“Rogan was a valued employee of the Cherokee
Nation. He was a true warrior and deeply committed
to furthering Cherokee veterans,”
Principal Chief Bill John Baker
said. “He was our director of our
tribal veteran’s program and a
champion of our Veteran’s Center.
He’ll be sorely missed, and I wish
he could have seen the completion
of the Veteran’s Center.”
Noble was born on Aug. 27,
1948, in Lawrence, Kan. He is the
Rogan Noble
son of the late Clayton Sequoyah
Noble and Cynthia (Snell) Noble. He is survived by
his wife Sarah of the home; an older brother Jamey
L. Noble of Stroud; daughter Kelly Zunie of South
Ogden, Utah; stepchildren Ryan Tiger of Stilwell, Dawn
Rush and Bronson McNeil of Tahlequah; and seven
grandchildren. His parents and his son Brian Noble
preceded him in death.
Noble joined the Marines on Jan. 15, 1968. He served
with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Marine Divisions during his
four-year enlistment, achieving the rank of corporal. He
was trained as a radioman and served in the Republic of
Vietnam in 1969 with “Task Force H” in the Northern I
Corps area of operations.
During his tour of duty, he received the National
Defense Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the
Vietnam Service Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon,
the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation and the
Vietnam Cross of Gallantry.
He received an honorable discharge from the Marines
on Jan. 15, 1972. He was employed by the Nation as its
veterans representative and was an accredited service
officer of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs.
Noble was proud of “his Corps” and believed it to be
second to none. He was loyal to his comrades and to the
Marine Corps, adhering to the motto “Semper Fidelis”
or “Always Faithful.”
ILLINOIS RIVER
from front page
plants, farming operations and
other sites that deposit excess levels
of phosphorus into the river before
it leaves Arkansas.
On Feb. 28, CN Attorney General
Todd Hembree told the Tribal
Council’s Rules Committee it was
disheartening that Oklahoma
officials did not invite the tribe to
the meeting and that measures may
have been taken to ensure the CN
didn’t know about it.
“The Cherokee Nation was not
involved and this was done without
our knowledge. I intend to meet
with Attorney General Scott Pruitt
to inform him and educate him
about our significant interest in the
watershed as has been ruled on by
(federal) Judge (Gregory) Frizzell,”
Hembree said.
In 2009, Frizzell ruled that under
federal guidelines the Nation was
an “indispensible party” to a case
filed by then-Oklahoma Attorney
General Drew Edmondson against
12 Arkansas poultry companies.
Edmondson sued the companies
claiming they had polluted the IRW
with poultry waste.
In his ruling against Oklahoma’s
request for pollution damages,
Frizzell said the state did not have
standing to prosecute monetary
damage claims for injury to the
Nation’s lands, water and other
natural resources in the watershed or
to assert claims of injury to property
it did not own or hold in trust.
Also, during the case’s hearing,
Edmonson acknowledged the CN
has “substantial interest” in the
natural resources in the watershed,
though the extent has not been
determined. Because Frizzell used
Edmondson’s admission in his
ruling, it was thought the CN and
state would eventually have to break
down ownership of the watershed.
Senior
Assistant
Attorney
General Sara Hill said the CN would
like to open a discussion with both
states about the watershed.
“I’d also want to have the
opportunity to sit down and hear
what they have to say for themselves.
Why was this decision made the
way it was?” she said. “They’re well
aware the Cherokee Nation has
an interest in this watershed and
the standards, so there are a lot of
questions that we would like to have
answers to.”
Hembree
told
the
Rules
Committee he is going express
“how incumbent and necessary” it
is that the CN be involved in the
three-year study.
The study is expected to determine
the amount of phosphorus that can
be contained within the watershed
without negatively impacting
water quality. A six-member
committee will oversee the study
and decide who will conduct
it. Arkansas is responsible for
securing the estimated $600,000
the study is expected to cost. The
Arkansas-Oklahoma
Arkansas
River Compact Commission will
administer the funds.
Officials from both states have
agreed to be bound by the study’s
findings. Oklahoma’s phosphorous
standard will remain in effect while
the study is conducted.
[email protected]
918-207-3961
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – At a
March 22 meeting, the Election
Commission declared Cherokee
Nation citizen Wade Hampton
ineligible for the Dist. 7 council race
in this year’s tribal election.
Commissioners
denied
his
candidacy based on him not
providing proper proof of residency.
According to tribal election laws,
residence “may be shown by at least
three…documents, provided always
that such documents show one or
more addresses within the required
geographic area for a continuous 270
days for the time-period outlines in
the requirements for each elective
office.” Those documents are current
driver’s license, utility bill, income tax
return from the preceding year, state or
county voter registration, homestead
exemption and bona fide document
evidencing such verification.
The Cherokee Phoenix attempted
to call Hampton for comment but
was unsuccessful.
Also, Dist. 2 candidate Tonya
Teaney of Rose withdrew her
candidacy on March 20 after
accepting a job at the CN-operated
W.W. Hastings Hospital.
“I accepted a job at the Hastings
Hospital on March 14, and there is a
stipulation that candidates in the running
cannot work for Cherokee Nation, which
I oppose. I think it’s ridiculous,” she said.
“We still have to take care of our families,
but my three girls come first. Therefore
I had to withdraw from candidacy for
District 2.”
According to election laws, a
candidate shall not be a CN employee
or work at any corporation, agency
or entity that is at least 51 percent
owned by the tribe as of the date of
filing or any time thereafter.
The commissioners approved
the remaining 25 candidates for the
upcoming election.
Incumbent Joe Byrd and Tamsye
Dreadfulwater, both of Tahlequah,
will vie for the Dist. 2 seat located in
northern Cherokee County.
In Dist. 4, which consists of
parts of Muskogee and McIntosh
counties, incumbent Don Garvin
of Muskogee will run against Justin
E. Carlton of Muskogee and Mike
Dobbins of Fort Gibson.
Incumbent David W. Thornton Sr.
of Vian will run against Dink Scott of
Vian and Sherri L. Doolin of Braggs
for the Dist. 5 seat that covers parts
of Sequoyah and Muskogee counties.
In Dist. 7, incumbent Frankie
Hargis of Stilwell and Joe Adair of
Stilwell will run for the seat that
encompasses western Adair County.
Lonus Mitchell of Rose challenges
incumbent Curtis G. Snell of Rose
in Dist. 9, which covers parts of
Delaware and Mayes counties.
For Dist. 10, Nettie Detherage of
Fairland, Melvina Shotpouch of Jay
and Harley L. Buzzard of Eucha will
compete for the newly created seat
that covers parts of Delaware, Mayes
and Ottawa counties.
In Dist. 11, incumbent Chuck
Hoskin Jr. of Vinita drew no
opponents for the seat that consists
of portions of Mayes and Nowata
counties and all of Craig County.
In Dist. 15, consisting of portions
of Mayes and Rogers counties, Janees
Taylor of Pryor and Marilyn Marion
Carlene Cooper of Locust Grove
challenge incumbent Meredith A.
Frailey of Locust Grove.
Six candidates filed for the No.
2 At-Large seat, which represents
CN citizens outside of the tribe’s
jurisdictional boundary. They are
Robin Mayes of Denton, Texas;
Ken Luttrell of Ponca City; Carole
Richmond of Tulsa; incumbent Jack
D. Baker of Nichols Hills; Curtis
West of Klamath Falls, Ore.; and
Curtis Bruehl of Norman.
Earlier in the month, the EC
returned Tribal Councilor Buel
Anglen’s filing fee after he filed to run
in the new Dist. 13. However, there
is no election for that district until
2015. Anglen’s terms expires on Aug.
14 and Tribal Councilor Cara Cowan
Watts will represent the district
despite living in Dist. 14.
Also on March 22, Mayes
appealed to the tribe’s Supreme
Court regarding the EC’s denial
of his challenges against Garvin,
Thornton, Snell, Hoskin, Frailey
and Baker’s candidacies. Mayes
challenged Garvin, Thornton and
Frailey claiming they exceeded
the constitutional limit of two
consecutive terms. He challenged
all six named incumbents claiming
their six-year terms violated the
constitution’s four-year term rule.
The EC on March 19 denied those
challenges saying it could not violate
Supreme Court rulings. The court
has previously ruled the first term
for elected officials under the 1999
Constitution began with the 2007
election and that establishing sixyear terms for nine council seats
in order to stagger the Legislature’s
elections was constitutional.
Mayes also states the EC
erroneously ruled when declaring
that it was not the commission’s
duty to seek determination of his
complaints that:
• Cherokee Freedmen were being
denied the right to register and vote
in CN elections because of unlawful
delay in processing their citizenship
applications,
• And that it’s his right to receive
an answer on whether or not he is a
candidate for a de-facto office.
According to the EC timeline, the
Supreme Court has April 2-4 to set
candidacy appeals.
[email protected]
918-453-5560
Cherokee Nation Election Commission Chairman Bill Horton, right,
Election Commissioner Martha Calico and EC attorney Harvey
Chaffin discuss Tribal Council candidacy challenges during a break
at the commission’s special meeting on March 19 in Tahlequah, Okla.
JAMI CUSTER/CHEROKEE PHEONIX
Tribal Council attorney asks court to deny redistricting motion
Dianne Barker Harrold writes the appellants’ failure to
comply with court rules is a “recurring theme.”
BY WILL CHAVEZ
Senior Reporter
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Tribal Council
attorney Dianne Barker Harrold filed a motion
on March 7 asking the Supreme Court to not
reconsider its Feb. 27 ruling that deemed the
tribe’s 15-district map constitutional.
“In reviewing the Cherokee Nation Supreme
Court rules, no provision was found to allow
for a reconsideration of a final opinion by the
Supreme Court,” Barker Harrold’s motion
states. It also states the appellants’ failure “to
observe and comply” with court rules “is a
recurring theme.”
Following the court’s ruling, Tribal
Councilors Buel Anglen, Jack Baker, Julia
Coates, Lee Keener and Cara Cowan Watts
on March 1 filed a reconsideration motion
asking the justices to review the case. The
five appellants state the 15 districts are
unconstitutional because they are not compact
and contiguous in all instances, they appear to
disrupt established Cherokee communities and
they do not afford a reasonably equal division
of the Cherokee electorate.
Barker Harrold also wrote that the council
was under a constitutional mandate to create
no less than 15 council districts by Aug. 1,
2012, and in passing Legislative Act 26-12, the
council fulfilled that mandate.
She reminded the court the appellants told
the Supreme Court they were not limited in
time or denied arguments by the District Court
and they had no further evidence to present in
court during a hearing on Jan. 18.
“Time is of essence in this matter as the
2013 Election processes began on February
4, 2013, when the opportunity for voters to
begin requesting absentee ballots became
available and the candidate filing process ends
today on March 7, 2013. With these critical
timelines taking place, appellants’ request for
reconsideration is another self-serving delay
and is not in the best interests of the Nation,”
Barker Harrold wrote.
[email protected]
918-207-3961
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April 2013 • CHEROKEE PHOENIX
3
Anglen files lawsuit against Cowan Watts, EC
Tribal Councilor Cara
Cowan Watts says the suit is
at her request to shed light
on the 15 new districts’
unconstitutionality.
what has occurred. Cherokee people should
decide who their representative is instead of
just 10 people on council. The constitution
must be followed at all times, not just when it
is convenient.”
Under the 15-district map, Anglen resides in
Dist. 13, which was part of Dist. 5 under the
five-district map. That map previously allotted
three councilors to a district. The 15-district
BY JAMI CUSTER AND TESINA JACKSON
map has one councilor per district.
Reporters
Cowan Watts, who in 2011 was elected to
represent the old Dist. 5 until 2015, said she
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Tribal Councilor
asked Anglen to file a friendly lawsuit so that
Buel Anglen on March 19 filed a lawsuit in
questions surrounding the new districts may
Cherokee Nation District Court against Tribal
be answered.
Councilor Cara Cowan Watts and the tribe’s
“The Supreme Court left a number of
Election Commission.
constitutional questions unanswered, including
Anglen’s petition requests judgment and
my assignment to a district where I do not
relief from an “unconstitutional election law
live,” she said. “The politicians in Tahlequah
of the Cherokee Nation to be administered
left gaping holes in our lawsuit that referred to
by the defendant Cherokee Nation Election
constitutional issues, and I feel it was in haste
Commission.”
to remove Buel and I from council. Someone
Anglen, whose term expires this year,
has to try and clean their mess up so the
alleges in his filing that Legislative Act 26Cherokee people have confidence they have
12 is “inconsistent with the provisions of the
been counted.”
constitution that will govern the conduct of Tribal Councilor Buel Anglen smiles while filing a lawsuit against fellow Tribal
Election Commissioner Carolyn Allen
all elections.” LA-26-12 changed the number Councilor Cara Cowan Watts and the Cherokee Nation Election Commission on March declined to comment on the commission being
of representative districts within the CN 19 at the Cherokee Courthouse in Tahlequah, Okla. COURTESY PHOTO
named a defendant because commissioners
jurisdiction from five to 15.
had not reviewed the lawsuit.
The tribe’s Supreme Court ruled the new
counties, until 2015 despite her residing in Dist. 14.
Anglen and Cowan Watts, as well as Tribal
15-district map constitutional on Feb. 27.
“This is a lawsuit that I felt I had to file after being denied the Councilors Jack Baker, Julia Coats and Lee Keener, previously
According to CN election law, individuals elected to the right to run in new council District 13 after I filed a declaration challenged the new districts’ constitutionality, stating the
Tribal Council for each district shall maintain their respective of candidacy and submitted the filing fee. I am the only council districts are unconstitutional for reasons including not being
domiciles within the boundaries of their respective districts. member residing in new District 13, and what LA-26-12 did compact and contiguous in all instances, appearing to disrupt
Failure to do so will result in forfeiture of the office and the was deny the right of Cherokee citizens to decide their elected established Cherokee communities and not affording a
position shall be declared vacant.
representative,” Anglen said. “Our Supreme Court did not reasonably equal division of the electorate.
However, according to District Court and Supreme Court directly address the issue of the majority ‘placing’ a council
rulings, as well as a CN attorney general opinion, Cowan Watts member in a district where that council member clearly does not
[email protected]
will represent Dist. 13, which covers parts of Tulsa and Rogers live. The Constitution of the Cherokee Nation clearly prohibits
918-453-5560
CNB to
update
Cherokee
Springs
BY JAMI CUSTER
Reporter
Jim Ferrell of Ferrell Heat and Air installs a heat and air conditioning system in a home being built near Moodys, Okla. The home
is being built through the tribe’s New Construction Home Ownership Program, which the Housing Authority of Cherokee Nation
administers. PHOTOS BY JAMI CUSTER/CHEROKEE PHOENIX
Tribe’s home-building venture
hits its 1-year anniversary
A Housing Authority of
Cherokee Nation official
says the ultimate goal is to
build 300 homes a year.
BY JAMI CUSTER
Reporter
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – April 2 marks the
one-year anniversary of the Cherokee Nation
going a different direction for how it provides
housing to its citizens.
Under Principal Chief Bill John Baker’s
administration, the tribe began taking
applications for its New Construction Home
Ownership Program on April 2, 2012, to once
again build homes for Cherokees.
Since then, the Housing Authority of
Cherokee Nation has taken control of the
venture with 30 homes expected to be complete
before the program’s one-year mark.
“We’ll have 30 homes completed and then
we’ll be on schedule to build at least 20 homes a
month starting in April,” HACN Director Gary
Cooper said. “It’s taken a long time, and there
is a lot of stuff involved and that’s what a lot of
folks don’t understand.”
He said during the past year the HACN has
worked tirelessly to create a program from
scratch and to work out kinks.
Cooper said everything that needs to be done
to build houses such as surveys, abstracting
and utility assurances has been done.
“During this past, year we’ve re-established
the housing authority or set back up the housing
authority. We started taking applications,
started working through applications, got all
of the land stuff done,” he said. “We’ve done
somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 land
inspections…so now we’re working through
everything else that goes along with that.”
The HACN has processed or begun
processing more than 1,380 applications
and receives 50 to 60 applications a month.
Cooper said the plan is to
get what they need and to put
So starting in
get enough houses through
the HACN on track to build 300
April, we can do houses annually.
the processing and ready for
construction to complete 20
know if it was ever said
at least 20 homes that“I don’t
homes a month.
we were going to build 300
“So starting in April we
homes the first year. I think that
a month.
can do at least 20 a month.
Gary Cooper, was probably a misconception,”
That’s our goal. Of course, we
he said. “The plan was to build
HACN director 300 houses a year, and our year
would like to do more than
that, but want to make sure
is starting for all intents and
we do at least 20 each month,” he said.
purposes on April 1 of this year.”
As of late March, there were nearly 100
For more information, call the HACN at 918properties that were in some stage of building, 456-5482 or go to http://housing.cherokee.org/
Cooper said, and that for every 100 properties
there may be a “hold up” on half.
[email protected]
“But that’s OK because we want to make
918-453-5560
sure that we have at least 20 a month,” he said.
“So if we have 50 or so that are already in the
pipeline, then we know that we got 20 that we
can start now and then 20 the next month and
so on and so forth…It’s an ongoing process
and it never stops.”
He said the ultimate goal is to build 300
homes a year once the program is fully
functional.
“You’ve got to have a way to process
applications in place so we’re not building
housing based on who you know. It’s based
on an established protocol or procedure. Can
we build 300 houses a year? Absolutely. Have
we built 300 houses the first year? No, but
we basically took a program from nothing,”
Cooper said.
“If you asked most folks ‘could you take
a program from nothing and build it into
something that is going to be beneficial for
Cherokee families from here for 30 years from
now that’s going to allow them to basically
develop wealth?’ he added. “For lack of a better
word that’s what we’re doing. We’re building a Steven Forrest of Forrest Vinyl Siding
family a house. They’re paying for that house, Windows and Construction attaches
and at the end of the day they’re building equity vinyl to a home being built in Moodys,
and building ownership and building an asset Okla. The home is part of the tribe’s New
in that house.”
Construction Home Ownership Program
Cooper said it took the first year to develop administered by the Housing Authority of
a program that ensures participating families Cherokee Nation.
CATOOSA, Okla. – During its Feb. 27
meeting, the Cherokee Nation Businesses
board of directors voted to update and
renovate the former Cherry Springs Golf
Club, now named Cherokee Springs Golf
Club.
The golf club’s renovations and updates
are estimated to cost more than $1 million.
CNB CEO Shawn Slaton said when CNB
purchased the property officials expected to
spend money for renovations.
“We knew when we went in that there
were going to be refurbishments that were
going to be made. That’s why it was such a
good price. We didn’t buy it at the top, we
bought it at the bottom,” Slaton said.
CNB owning and renovating the 18-hole
golf course would allow people in Tahlequah
to play on a golf course they can be proud of,
Slaton said.
“That whole package (Cherokee Springs
and its connecting property), it’s crafted
with the strategy of developing all of that
land around that,” he said. “That golf course
will play an integral part as an amenity to
whatever strategy that ends up being.”
He added that CNB didn’t go there to just
“buy a golf course.” A CNB press release
states that CNB officials plan to “enhance the
course to provide golfers the best experience
in the area.”
“We bought both packages together to
be something greater and really nice for
Tahlequah,” he said.
Changes to the course include new
energy-efficient electric golf carts, a new
cart barn, renovations to the restaurant and
clubhouse and a new irrigation system.
The press release also confirms the
Cherokee Phoenix’s report that CNB
purchased the golf club, including the land
and assets, along with a 154-acre tract of
undeveloped land for $8.5 million.
“Over the years we have eyed this property
due to its prime location,” Slaton said in the
release. “Patience is often the key to success
when investing in real estate, and in this
case the price aligned with the location.
It offers us many different development
opportunities, which we are reviewing to
find the best fit.”
CNB changed the name to Cherokee
Springs Golf Club to “create a better
connection to existing Cherokee Nation
courses,” the release states.
“Adding Cherokee Springs to our
hospitality portfolio shows our commitment
to providing top notch leisure and
recreation choices to Cherokee County and
the surrounding area,” Principal Chief Bill
John Baker said. “These purchases help us
achieve two goals. It allows us the space to
develop the last stretch of undeveloped land
between the Tribal Complex and downtown
Tahlequah, and perhaps more importantly,
it returns land back to Cherokee Nation
ownership.”
Cherokee Springs Golf Club is located
at 700 E. Ballentine Road. For more
information for rates and tee times, call 918456-5100.
[email protected]
918-453-5560
4
NEws • dgZEksf
CHEROKEE PHOENIX • April 2013
Ewf #>hAmh • JO/
2013
Federal court denies tribe’s
Vann v. Salazar motion
The case is reinstated
after a court says
Cherokee Freedmen
could sue the tribe’s
current chief for
citizenship
BY WILL CHAVEZ
Senior Reporter
Tribal Councilor Chuck Hoskin Jr. says the council
would not govern using the new 15 districts until Aug.
14, inauguration day. COURTESY MAP
New 15 council districts
in effect for tribe’s EC
BY TESINA JACKSON
Reporter
TAHLEQUAH,
Okla.
– The Cherokee Nation’s
Election
Commission
is using the tribe’s new
15-district map to conduct
this year’s nine Tribal
Council races, but the
Legislative won’t restructure
under them until elected
councilors are inaugurated
on Aug. 14, said Tribal
Councilor Chuck Hoskin Jr.
Hoskin said Legislative
Act 26-12, which converts
the jurisdictional districts
from five to 15, became
effective on July 16, 2012, to
allow the EC to prepare for
the 2013 election.
“That is the effective date
of the legislation because,
of course, you can’t hold an
election unless the Election
Commission can operate
under the authority of that
statute. So we have to give
the Election Commission
the authority to conduct
an election with the new
districts,” Hoskin said.
LA 26-12 repealed LA 3610, the act that created the
five jurisdictional districts,
and amended the CN
Election Code to define the
apportionment process of
council seats. LA 36-10 also
provided three councilors to
each of the five districts. LA
26-12 calls for one councilor
per district.
However,
Hoskin
said the council will not
represent the 15 districts
until after the nine council
races are decided and their
respective representatives
are inaugurated.
According to a Cherokee
Phoenix article in January,
Hoskin
testified
that
councilors were under a
2010 statutory mandate to
create the 15 districts by
August 2012.
[email protected]
918-453-5000, ext. 6139
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The District
of Columbia Circuit Court on March 12
denied the Cherokee Nation’s request to
reconsider an appeals court decision that
reinstated the case of Marilyn Vann v.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
The case was dismissed in September
2011 by a federal judge but reinstated in
December by the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia. The appeals
court ruled that Cherokee Freedmen
could sue the tribe’s current principal
chief, Bill John Baker, in an attempt to
restore their tribal citizenship. Freedmen
are descendants of black slaves once
owned by CN citizens.
The appeals ruling overturned a lower
court’s decision that stated the case could
not proceed because the CN was not a
from front page
more than 50 beers.
“The third floor, we have yet to determine
what we are going to use that floor for. We’re
talking about a variety of things. At this point
and time that’s a roughed-in floor,” Davidson
said. “Four through 10 (floors) are all guest
rooms, all suites. Generally speaking, they’re
all about the same size. They’re about 600
square feet. One of the greatest features when
you walk in is just the spaciousness.”
Principal Chief Bill John Baker said he has
not yet stayed in one of the suites, but after
touring the tower he believes guests will be
impressed with the color combinations and
suite sizes.
“It’s what market research said that the
people prefer at these casinos,” he said.
Baker said having the additional tower
means CNE can bid on larger conventions and
there is additional space for guests who want
to stay at Hard Rock and enjoy the casino.
BUDGET
from front page
To adjust to the budget cuts, the tribe has
instituted a hiring freeze on all non-essential
hires and halted non-essential travel and
training. It has also enacted a strict no overtime
policy for non-exempt employees as well as
Clarification
In the story “Recognition for groups claiming
Cherokee ancestry tabled” in the March 2013
issue, based on an interview with Appalachian
Cherokee Nation officials, we reported that the
ACN uses its membership fees to pay for the
group’s needs as well as its scholarship fund. In
states “all freedmen…as well as all free
colored persons…and their descendants,
shall have all the rights of native
Cherokees.” Freedmen officials claim
“the rights of native Cherokees” language
equates CN citizenship.
Chad Smith was principal chief
in 2003 as well as 2007 when voters
amended the tribe’s constitution to
require citizens to have a by-blood
Native American ancestor listed on the
Dawes Roll, thus rescinding citizenship
for about 2,800 Freedmen.
The
constitutional
amendment
followed a 2006 decision by the tribe’s
Judicial Appeals Tribunal that ruled
the descendants of Freedmen were CN
citizens and could enroll in the tribe.
CN Attorney General Todd Hembree
has said rescinding Freedmen citizenship
was not a racially motivated decision,
but one of a tribe’s sovereign ability to
determine its citizens.
“It’s not asking too much that in order
to be a citizen of an Indian tribe, that you
be Indian,” he said. “We believe that’s
very important, and so did the Cherokee
people, and we intend on representing
their will in this case.”
[email protected]
918-207-3961
CN Registration employee auditing CDIB cards
BY TESINA JACKSON
Reporter
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Since January,
Cherokee Nation citizen David Cornsilk
has worked in the tribe’s Registration
Department verifying that Certificate
Degree of Indian Blood cards were issued
to eligible Cherokee descendants.
“He is also researching pending
ineligible applications to verify that all
Dawes Rolls connections have been
thoroughly researched,” CN Registrar
Linda O’Leary stated in a March 20
email. “He is also researching and
preparing records for pending Freedmen
applications. This work is done by
reviewing and verifying existing records.”
O’Leary’s email also states, “In David’s
review thus far of the current citizenship
database, there have been no fraudulent
cases found. Should any be discovered,
A new tower at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Catoosa, Okla., has 98 non-smoking
suites for guests. The spacious rooms are about 600 square feet. COURTESY PHOTO
TOWER
defendant in the case and couldn’t be
compelled to abide by the court’s ruling.
“The Cherokee Freedmen tribal
members are grateful for the decision made
by the honorable judges of the D.C. appeals
court,” Vann, the lead plaintiff of Vann v.
Salazar, said. “We hope and pray that we
and our children will be able to serve our
Nation as citizens of the tribe as did our
fathers and grandfathers based on our
rights guaranteed by both the tribe and the
U.S. government in the 1866 treaty.”
Vann and five other Freedmen filed
the lawsuit in 2003 contending the CN,
with Department of Interior approval,
prevented them from voting in the 2003
CN elections. The plaintiffs sought a court
order declaring the elections invalid and
asked DOI Secretary Dirk Kempthorne
to not recognize the election’s results until
Freedmen were permitted to vote.
Vann has said Cherokee-owned slaves
played an integral role in the tribe’s
survival along the Trail of Tears during
the late 1830s. She likened the Freedmen’s
plight today to the civil rights struggle of
blacks in the South during the 1950s.
The Freedmen claim the CN principal
chief – and through him, the sovereign
tribe – is breaking federal law by not
honoring an 1866 treaty between the CN
and United States. Article 9 of the treaty
“Before we had send people away. Now we
won’t have to send people away,” he said.
With the tower, the Hard Rock property
now has 454 guest rooms, including153 suites.
“That’s a good mix for our convention group
sales because that frees up some of our standard
rooms we can utilize for convention business
and group business while not consuming all of
our suites and keeping those for our gaming
guests,” Davidson said.
Davidson said with 454 rooms the Hard
Rock Hotel & Casino offers the most rooms of
any casino property in the area.
The tower’s completion finishes a $52
million expansion project that was funded
after a portion of the casino collapsed in the
same spot during a February 2011 blizzard
that dumped 12 to 15 inches of snow.
The entire new hotel tower is a non-smoking
area. Hiring for the tower brings the resort’s
employment to more than 1,500 people.
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa is located
off of Interstate 44 at exit 240. For more
information, visit www.hardrockcasinotulsa.
com or call 1-800-760-6700.
[email protected]
918-207-3961
delaying and forgoing capital acquisitions.
Baker said the tribe would cut services
before cutting jobs.
“We’re looking to protect every single job so
there are no furloughs, and we’re going to do
our absolute best to see that no services are cut
to our people,” he said.
[email protected]
918-453-5000, ext. 6139
the interview, Rosalee Evans, ACN council member
and genealogist, said membership fees help fund
the group’s scholarship trust. However, after the
story’s publication, Audrey Dillard, ACN vice chief
and head of the Women’s Council, said the group’s
scholarship fund is funded solely by donations
from members and non-members.
a notation is placed in the person’s file
and that person is notified. There is an
appeals process for anyone who chooses
to challenge the determination. That
person’s citizenship status remains intact,
pending the outcome of any appeals.”
However, in a January Facebook post,
Cornsilk wrote he had found ineligible
recipients. “Part of my work will be to
audit CDIBs issued over the past 12 years.
I have already found a large group that
were issued to an ineligible family. We
shall get to the bottom of this fraud and
whomever is responsible could be facing
prosecution for theft from an Indian
organization,” his post states.
On March 22, an email from O’Leary
states the “ultimate determination of
whether a citizenship claim is fraudulent”
lies with the CN attorney general.
The Cherokee Phoenix on Jan. 18 sent
a Freedom of Information request to the
Attorney General’s Office for Cornsilk’s
contract, job title and qualifications.
In a Feb. 8 response, Attorney General
Todd Hembree denied the request
citing Section 75-1-6 A of the tribe’s
Freedom of Information Act that states a
public body may, but is not required to,
exempt from disclosure information of a
personal nature where it would constitute
unreasonable invasion of personal
privacy and all salary compensation paid
by public bodies to individuals.
The Phoenix then called Cornsilk who
said his job is similar to his former CN job
as an analyst and that his contract states
he is not allowed to conduct interviews
without the registrar. According to
O’Leary, Cornsilk is on a nine-month
contract that ends on Sept. 30 and that is
not to exceed $24,000 in salary.
[email protected]
918-453-5000, ext. 6139
2013 Ewf #>hAmh • JO/
NEws • dgZEksf
April 2013 • CHEROKEE PHOENIX
5
Rep. Mullin
explains his
VAWA vote
BY STAFF REPORTS
President Barack Obama signs the Violence Against Women Act on March 7 in Washington, D.C. Participants, from
left are, Diane Millich, a citizen of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in Colorado; Deborah Parker, vice chairwoman of
the Tulalip Tribes of Washington State; Vice President Joe Biden; Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Tysheena Rhames,
a trafficking survivor; House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif.; Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; Sen. Patrick Leahy,
D-Vt.; and Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis. SUSAN WALSH/ASSOCIATED PRESS
VAWA bill signed into law
WASHINGTON (AP) – President
Barack Obama signed expanded
protections for domestic violence victims
into law on March 7, renewing a measure
credited with curbing attacks against
women a year and a half after it lapsed
amid partisan bickering.
The revitalized Violence Against
Women Act also marked an important
win for Native Americans and gay rights
advocates, who will see new protections
under the law, and for Obama, whose
attempts to push for a renewal failed
in 2012 after they became entangled
in gender politics and the presidential
election.
“This is your day. This is the day of the
advocates, the day of the survivors. This is
your victory,” Obama said. “This victory
shows that when the American people
make their voices heard, Washington
listens.”
As Obama prepared to put his pen
to the new law, new government data
underscored both the progress that has
been made and the enduring need to
do more. The rate of sexual violence
against women and girls age 12 or older
fell 64 percent in a decade and has
remained stable for five years, the Justice
Department stated in a survey released
March 7. In 2010, women and girls
nationwide experienced about 270,000
rapes or sexual assaults, compared with
556,000 in 1995.
The survey also showed that rapes and
sexual assault rates involving women
have plateaued while violent crime rates
overall have declined. Women’s advocacy
groups called the report proof that the
VAWA and heightened awareness of the
problem by police had a positive effect.
Still, 1 in 5 women will be raped during
their lifetime, said Obama, asserting a
continued need for action nearly two
decades after the bill’s original passage
in 1994. “It didn’t just change the rules,
it changed our culture. It empowered
people to start speaking out,” he said.
The law authorizes some $659 million
a year over five years for programs that
strengthen the criminal justice system’s
response to crimes against women and
some men, such as transitional housing,
legal assistance, law enforcement training
and hotlines. One element of this year’s
renewal focuses on ways to reduce
sexual assault on college campuses. It
also reauthorizes the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act, adds stalking to the list of
crimes that make immigrants eligible for
protection and authorizes programs to
reduce the backlog in rape investigations.
After twice being renewed with little
resistance, it was something of a surprise
in 2011 when lawmakers let the act
expire. At the crux of the election-year
clash were disagreements about expanded
protections for gays and lesbians, Native
Americans and illegal immigrants.
Sensing a political advantage, Senate
Democrats offered an expanded law
that specifically protects gays, lesbians,
bisexuals and transgender Americans
and gives tribal authorities the power
to prosecute non-Indians for abuse
committed on tribal lands. Republicans
saw the move to load a popular bill with
controversial elements as a provocation
and objected to the Native American
provisions on constitutional grounds.
Democrats rejected a Republican
alternative, arguing it didn’t go far
enough.
Continued resistance became less
tenable for the GOP after its less-thanstellar performance among women voters
in November’s election. In February,
House Republicans capitulated and
allowed a vote on an almost identical
version of the bill, which passed 286138. It was the third time in two months
that House Speaker John Boehner let a
Democratic-supported bill reach the floor
despite opposition from a majority of his
own party – a clear sign that Republicans
wanted to put the issue behind them.
The VAWA has set the standard for how
to protect women from domestic abuse
and prosecute abusers and is credited
with helping reduce domestic violence
incidents by two-thirds.
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – According to
a March 1 letter sent to tribal leaders,
freshman Oklahoma Congressman and
Cherokee Nation citizen Markwayne
Mullin states he did not vote for the
recently enacted Violence Against
Women Act because of “sexual
orientation” language in the bill’s nonMarkwayne
discrimination provisions.
Mullin
Mullin, who represents Oklahoma’s
2nd District, was one of 138 Republicans
who voted against the act.
In addition to programmatic support for Native survivors
of domestic violence and sexual assault, the law includes
constitutionally sound tribal jurisdiction provisions
authorizing tribal governments to prosecute non-Indian
defendants involved in intimate relationships with Native
women and who assault these victims on tribal land.
In his letter, Mullin writes that he was proud to sponsor
House Resolution 780, which was co-written by Oklahoma
Congressman and Chickasaw Nation citizen Tom Cole,
because the legislation “effectively protected the sovereign
rights of our tribes in dealing with cases of domestic violence
against women on tribal lands.” However, Cole’s resolution
was not brought to the House floor for a vote. Cole was the
only delegate out of Oklahoma’s seven, including its two
senators, to vote for the passed version.
Mullin writes that he also voted against a substitute bill
because of sovereignty issues brought to his attention by
tribal officials. He also voted against S. 47, the bill that passed
the Senate on Feb. 12 and ultimately signed into law by
President Obama on March 7, because he did not agree with
the entire bill.
“The language regarding ‘sexual orientation’ in the bill’s
non-discrimination provisions was unacceptable to me, and
in my opinion had no place in a bill whose primary intent
was to deal with protecting women from domestic violence,”
Mullin writes. “While the House and Senate versions had
good intentions, there were details in each that ultimately
made them something I could not support.”
According to the act, provisions regarding sexual
orientation include:
• A non-discrimination clause that prohibits lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender victims from being turned away
from services such as traditional shelters on the basis of
sexual orientation or gender identity;
• Explicitly names LGBT people as an underserved
population, which allows organizations serving LGBT victims
of domestic violence to receive funding from a grant program
that focuses specifically on underserved populations;
• And allows states, at their discretion, to use certain
grant funds to improve responses to incidents of domestic
violence among LGBT people. This bolsters law enforcement,
prosecution and victim service efforts within states.
6
OPINION • Zlsz
CHEROKEE PHOENIX • April 2013
April 2013
Volume 37, No. 4
Bryan Pollard
Executive Editor
(Cherokee)
Travis Snell
Assistant Editor
(Cherokee)
Mark Dreadfulwater
Multimedia Editor
(Cherokee)
Dena Tucker
Administrative Officer
(Cherokee)
Will Chavez
Senior Reporter
(Cherokee/San Felipe Pueblo)
Jami Custer
Reporter
(Cherokee)
Tesina Jackson
Reporter
(Cherokee)
Roger Graham
Media Specialist
(Cherokee)
Nicole Hill Carter
Advertising Coordinator
(Cherokee)
Joy Rollice
Secretary
(Cherokee)
Chelsea Moser
Intern
(Cherokee)
Stacie Guthrie
Intern
(Cherokee)
Anna Sixkiller
Linguist
(Cherokee)
Editorial Board
John Shurr
(Cherokee)
Jason Terrell
(Cherokee)
Robert Thompson III
(Cherokee)
Gerald Wofford
(Cherokee)
Clarice Doyle
(Cherokee)
Cherokee Phoenix
P.O. Box 948
Tahlequah, OK 74465
(918) 453-5269
FAX: (918) 207-0049
1-800-256-0671
www.cherokeephoenix.org
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Please contact us at the number above to subscribe.
Published monthly by the Cherokee Nation with offices
at the W.W. Keeler Tribal Complex, Tahlequah, Okla.
Member
Mail subscriptions and changes of address to
the Cherokee Phoenix, P.O. Box 948, Tahlequah, OK
74465, phone 918-453-5269. Please include the
words “Change of Address” or “Subscription” on the
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Back Issues may be purchased for $2.50 postage
and handling. Please inquire to make sure the issues
are in stock by writing to Back Issues, Cherokee
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Copyright 2013: The entire contents of the Cherokee Phoenix are fully protected by copyright unless
otherwise noted and may be reproduced if the
copyright is noted and credit is given to the Cherokee
Phoenix, the writer and the photographer. Requests
to reprint should be directed to the editor at the
above address. Material provided through membership with Associated Press NewsFinder, identified by
(AP), may not be reproduced without permission of
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Unsolicited Manuscripts and Photos: We will not
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photos, nor responsibility for the publication and
return of such material. Please query by telephone or
mail before sending copy and/or photos.
Obituaries will be published at a cost of 10 cents
per word for the first 150 words and 20 cents per
word for each additional word. We do not invoice
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submission.A photo may be placed with the obituary
for an additional $5.00 and will be returned if you
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photo and your payment.
The Cherokee Phoenix also publishes an In Memoriam section at no cost to families to honor Cherokee
citizens who have recently passed away. That section
includes the name of the deceased; age; birthplace and
date of birth; place and date of death; and occupation.
Oklahoma Press
Association
Native American
Journalists Association
Diversify tribal businesses
Ewf #>hAmh • JO/
2013
Talking Circles
In 2020, the Cherokee Nation’s gaming compact with the state of
Oklahoma will expire and require renegotiation. Presently, Cherokee
Nation Businesses’ gaming operations pay a relatively small fee to the
state (approximately 6 percent) for this privilege. Unfortunately, with
the state in need of new revenue, I fear the state will demand a much
higher fee, especially if the governor and Legislature in 2020 are not
pro-tribe. If a substantial fee increase is realized, a significant negative
impact to both CNB and the CN government will occur. According to
the fiscal year 2011 comprehensive audit, gaming accounts for almost
75 percent of CNB’s net revenue and all of CNB’s net income. As the
35 percent dividend CNB pays to the CN government is paid out of
net income, gaming revenue is currently the sole provider of that
dividend. As such, any increase in the gaming compact fee will have
a negative impact on the dividend CNB pays to the CN. Non-gaming
business operations, however, are not required to pay this fee.
It is my hope that CNB and CN leadership will use the next seven
years before the compact expires to aggressively diversify our people’s
business holdings in order to best position the Cherokee people for
the looming compact negotiations. Thank you (Cherokee Phoenix)
for your time and for the work you do for our people.
John Hammons
Muskogee, Okla.
Sincerest appreciation
The family of Charles L. Head would like to express our sincerest
appreciation for the outpouring of support as we dealt with his tragic
death. The food, cards, calls, visits and prayers were so appreciated.
A special thank you to Pastor Roy Evans, Principal Chief Bill John
Baker, the Cherokee Nation and Stephens Memorial Chapel.
Family of Charles L. Head
Pryor, Okla.
Editor’s Note: Article VI, Section 3 of the 1999 Constitution states that council
“shall establish representative districts which shall be within the boundaries
of the Cherokee Nation. Fifteen of those seats shall be apportioned to afford a
reasonably equal division of citizenship among the districts…” Also, Cherokee
voters approved the tribe’s 1999 Constitution in 2003, but the tribe didn’t begin
operating under it until 2006 following a ruling by the Nation’s high court.
CHIEF’S PERSPECTIVE
VAWA’s passage, ONE FIRE Center make CN safer
BY BILL JOHN BAKER
Principal Chief
When
President
Obama
signed
the Violence Against Women Act
reauthorization, he made a historic
commitment to Indian Country and
provided the authority to better protect
American Indian and Alaska Native women.
President Obama said: “Indian Country
has some of the highest rates of domestic
abuse in America. And one of the reasons
is that when Native American women are
abused on tribal lands by an attacker who
is not Native American, the attacker is
immune from prosecution by tribal courts.
Well, as soon as I sign this bill that ends.
Tribal governments have an inherent right
to protect their people, and all women
deserve the right to live free from fear. And
that is what today is all about.”
Several Cherokee Nation citizens – Tribal
Councilors, staff and youth – were able to
witness the significant event firsthand.
This law gives tribes increased capacity
to better protect our people from violent
offenders. It was the right thing to do
for Native women,
and it was the right
time to expand
tribal authority to
prosecute
these
heinous
crimes.
Oklahoma
Rep.
Tom Cole made sure
this bill was heard
and championed its
passage in the U.S. House. I commend him
for his commitment to tribal nations and
to all of Indian Country. As a Chickasaw
Nation citizen, Cole understands how
critical it is to close the loopholes in our
laws and legal system.
Within the Cherokee Nation, we
launched the Charles L. Head ONE FIRE
Center to provide Cherokee survivors
of domestic violence a safe escape from
dangerous situations and enable them to
begin a healing process. The late Cherokee
Nation Secretary of State Charles Head
sought to liberate victims of violence. The
ONE FIRE Center will protect the rights of
Cherokee Nation citizens and carry on the
vision of Secretary Head that it is a basic
human right to live a healthy life – ¬free
from fear and intimidation.
Cherokee Nation First Lady Sherry
Baker is leading the advocacy for ONE
FIRE. Our Nation has an opportunity to
set a national precedent in Indian Country
for our assistance and immediate response.
From emergency health care to temporary
and permanent housing to abuse and
addiction counseling to legal aid and
education and job placement, the One Fire
approach will be an all-encompassing one
stop shop for survivors who need help and
immediate assistance out of chaotic and
abusive situations.
In addition to domestic violence
protection, the ONE FIRE Center is
committed to offering Cherokee Nation
citizens suffering from mental health issues
the help they need to cope and survive.
ONE FIRE will serve all Cherokee people,
especially those who need our help the most.
We founded ONE FIRE to empower
survivors and to break the cycle of violence
for Cherokee communities once and for all.
[email protected]
918-453-5618
GUEST PERSPECTIVE
Did Markwayne Mullin forget?
BY TWILA BARNES
Cherokee Nation
Citizen
Did
Rep.
Markwayne Mullin,
R–Okla., forget who
he is? He is supposed
to be a Cherokee
man, a warrior
and one who protects the women of his
nation. Instead, he betrayed American
Indian women, including the women
of the Cherokee Nation, when he voted
against the passage of the Violence Against
Women Act.
Apparently he has forgotten, or maybe
he never knew, from whom he descends.
I traced his Cherokee ancestry, and I
learned that he descends through Dawes
enrollee Bert Morris. Bert was the son of
Dawes enrollees (Susan) Fannie Cleveland
and John Morris. Through Fannie’s line,
Mullin’s ancestry goes back to Richard
Bark Foreman, a Cherokee healer known
as “The Cherokee Physician.”
Richard Bark Foreman’s contribution
to knowledge of Cherokee medicines
is invaluable, not only because of his
documentation of use, but also the
documentation of Cherokee names for
plants and diseases. He was a well-known
medicine man and so good that even white
people used him because of his extensive
knowledge of herbs. He was a respected
man who brought healing to people.
Passage of the VAWA was needed to
protect American Indian women who are
victims of assault or rape on tribal lands.
Too many times in the past, offenders
of such crimes went free to harm Native
women again and again. Because the VAWA
passed, now tribes have the authority to
charge and prosecute offenders and give
Native women hope for justice. This is
important because without justice, how can
one ever heal from such horrific crimes?
Mullin could have played an important
role in helping women – not just Indian
women, but all women – get justice after
these crimes have been committed against
them. He had the opportunity to follow in
his great, great, great, great-grandfather’s
footsteps and vote to do something that
would help people heal. He decided not to
do that.
Whether he likes it or not, Mullin has
a responsibility to Indian people, not
just Cherokees, but all Indians. It is not
just an option but also an obligation.
It’s an obligation because Mullin didn’t
have a problem embracing his heritage
when he used Indian preference to get
jobs for his business. He didn’t have a
problem embracing his heritage when
he was presented with a blanket from the
principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.
He didn’t even have a problem embracing
his heritage and listing himself as an
American Indian in the U.S. House of
Representatives. But, when he had to make
a choice between embracing his heritage or
clinging to his political party, he dropped
that Cherokee identity like a hot potato and
strictly became “a Republican” and then
voted against something that would help
American Indian women.
Mullin is in a position to actually make a
difference now, to be a voice for American
Indians, but up to this point, he has
seriously failed in that role.
For most of us, “Cherokee first” means
we are Cherokee first, and all other things,
like being members of a political party,
come after that. For Mullin, it seems
“Cherokee first” only means he gets to cut
to the front of the line for a job that has
Indian preference.
Twila Barnes writes the blog, “Thoughts
from Polly’s Granddaughter,” where she
writes on anything concerning the Cherokee
people in the past or today.
COuNCIl • d/wWf
2013 Ewf #>hAmh • JO/
April 2013 • CHEROKEE PHOENIX
7
Council strengthens
Law and Order Act
with stiffer penalties
The act gives the
Nation more power to
prosecute offenders
in tribal court.
BY JAMI CUSTER
Reporter
A map shows the Cherokee Nation’s properties around the old Chilocco Indian boarding school in
Kay County in central Oklahoma. The properties could be the locations of a wind farm.
CNB WIND PROJECT PRESENTATION
Further study of Chilocco
wind farm approved
If developed, the renewable
energy project would be located
on tribal lands in central
Oklahoma.
BY JAMI CUSTER
Reporter
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Tribal Council at its
March 11 meeting approved two wind energy-related
leases to Chilocco Wind Farm LLC for the evaluation
and possible development of a wind farm on Cherokee
Nation-owned lands in central Oklahoma.
If developed, the wind farm would be located on
lands commonly referred to as Chilocco. Chilocco is
a former federal Indian boarding school that operated
between 1884 and 1980 near present-day Newkirk.
According to a report given earlier that day to
the council’s Resource Committee, a wind energy
evaluation lease allows CWF to lease 1,334 acres in fee
land and 1,281 acres in trust land of the tribe’s Chilocco
property for evaluating wind energy potential. The lease
requires a limited waiver of sovereignty by the tribe for
the project’s financial underwriting and gives CWF the
option to execute a wind resource lease that would give
CWF the rights to develop the wind farm.
The report states the project calls for 90 1.7 megawatt
wind turbines to be installed for a potential 153 total
megawatts. One megawatt equals 1,000 kilowatts.
Tribal Councilor Chuck Hoskin Jr. said the council
passed a similar resolution in December but the March
resolution changes the name of the entity involved from
Chilocco Wind Park LLC to CWF. Both CWP and CWF
are subsidiaries of PNE Wind USA. He added that the
new resolution “substantially expands the opportunity
for Cherokee Nation to realize money off this project
for services.”
CN Communications Director Amanda Clinton said
estimated costs and payments to the tribe would be
only speculation at this time.
“The resolution passed at the March Tribal Council
meeting allows us to move forward in exploring this
opportunity,” she said. “Further decisions regarding this
project will be made at upcoming council meetings, and
we look forward to sharing those developments.”
However, according to the Resource Committee
report, the Nation could potentially earn at least $9.2
million over a 20-year period and at least $22.1 million
over a 40-year period.
Tribal Councilor Cara Cowan Watts said she supports
alternative energy, but the new resolution was “dropped”
in councilors’ laps at the Resources Committee meeting
earlier in the day.
“They’ve added a layer of additional business.
Everything was dropped on our desk at the last
committee meeting, in fact in the last hour or two. We
were given no warning. They amended the agenda. We
didn’t even know it was an agenda item,” she said. “I’ve
had no opportunity to digest this. I don’t understand
what this means and what it might cost the Cherokee
people, so I can’t support pushing it on through given
that we have not had proper time to digest the additional
business layer and change in the deal.”
Hoskin said the wind farm idea is something
councilors have been aware of for months and not
something they learned about “at the 11th hour.” He
also said no agreements have been signed or approved
and the resolutions do not authorize the expenditure of
tribal funds.
“The resolutions passed on March 11 were small step
towards realizing these goals, and the council will have
plenty of opportunity to scrutinize the plans before any
deals are done,” he said.
Hoskin said ultimately he expects the tribe to be
a winner in terms of providing renewable energy,
responsible stewardship of land and additional revenues
for CN services to citizens.
“If the deal is completed, we expect Cherokee Nation
to realize a great deal of money for the utilization of land
which is currently underutilized,” he said. “As Cherokee
Nation and CNB (Cherokee Nation Businesses) are not
wind energy experts, it’s not at all surprising that we
need to partner with third parties who can provide that
expertise.”
According to the Resource Committee report, CNB
sponsored the initial wind project, but high costs forced
CNB to seek a developer that would lease the land and
develop a wind farm. It states PNE Wind USA offered
the best deal and a memorandum of understanding was
signed in 2010 between PNE and CNB.
The report also states the project stalled in December
and CNB asked Cimarron Power Ventures to review
the project and offer opinions on the “viability of the
transaction and the structure of the deal.”
Cimarron Power Ventures LLC’s registering agent is
Walters Power International LLC. According to WPI’s
website, former Oklahoma Gov. David Walters is the
president of WPI.
The resolution passed 11-6 with Tribal Councilors
Cowan Watts, Buel Anglen, Lee Keener, Dick Lay, Julia
Coates and Meredith Frailey voting against the measure.
[email protected]
918-453-5560
Nation’s motor vehicle fees
reduced for military veterans
Fees for active and former
vets as well as veterans of
foreign wars are lowered by
$5 to $20.
Veteran Faye Thompson Richardson, a
Cherokee Nation citizen, is honored for
her service in the Navy at the March
11 Tribal Council meeting in Tahlequah,
Okla. JAMI CUSTER/CHEROKEE PHOENIX
old, $40 for trucks 9-16 years old and $30 for
trucks 17 years and older.
“So it’s a reduction for our veterans, and
gives them a little more variety in there for
the age of the vehicle,” Tax Commission
Administrator Sharon Swepston said. She
added that the TC has approved the changes
and is ready to implement. Principal Chief Bill
John Baker signed the act on March 14 with it
to take effect 30 days afterward.
[email protected]
918-207-3961
[email protected]
918-453-5560
Cherokee Nation citizen Cierra Fields hands out beaded necklaces
and bracelets to Tribal Councilors during their March 11 meeting in
Tahlequah, Okla. JAMI CUSTER/CHEROKEE PHOENIX
Tribal Council 2011-2013
Joe Byrd
918-316-9463
[email protected]
Don Garvin
918-616-3961
[email protected]
Buel Anglen
918-752-4339
[email protected]
Tina Glory Jordan
918-457-9207
Janelle Fullbright
918-315-0583
Cara Cowan Watts
918-752-4342
[email protected]
David Walkingstick
918-822-4681
David Thornton
918-458-7991
[email protected]
[email protected]
Lee Keener
918-550-3351
[email protected]
Frankie Hargis
918-316-9454
[email protected]
Meredith Frailey
918-453-1572
[email protected]
Jack Baker
918-457-9382
[email protected]
Curtis Snell
918-232-0233
[email protected]
Dick Lay
918-822-2981
[email protected]
Julia Coates
918-772-0288
[email protected]
Jodie Fishinghawk
918-207-5757
Chuck Hoskin Jr.
918-323-5411
[email protected]
Tribal Council House
918-207-3900
[email protected]
[email protected]
BY WLL CHAVEZ
Senior Reporter
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Tribal Council
amended the Cherokee Nation’s Motor
Vehicle Licensing and Tax Code on March
11 by reducing vehicle registration fees for
active and former military veterans as well as
veterans of foreign wars.
According to the act, vehicle registration
fees for any active or former member of a
branch of the U.S. military, not including
veterans of foreign wars or disabled veterans,
are now $65 for a vehicle 1-4 years old; $45 for
a vehicle 5-12 years old, $35 for a vehicle 9-12
years old, $20 for a vehicle 13-16 years old and
$5 for vehicles 17 years and older. Fees were
reduced between $5 and $20.
The act sets vehicle registration fees for
veterans of foreign wars to $60 for a vehicle 1-4
years old, $40 for vehicles 5-12 years old, $30
for vehicles 9-12 years old, $20 for vehicles 1316 years old and $5 for vehicles 17 years and
older. Fees were reduced between $5 and $15.
The amendment also set rates for
commercial trucks to $70 for trucks 1-8 years
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – At its
March 11 meeting, the Tribal Council
added some teeth to the Cherokee
Nation Law and Order Act by giving
the tribe more power to prosecute
offenders in tribal court.
The act imposes stiffer fines and
jail times for crimes committed by
Native Americans on tribal land.
The act states that Native Americans
convicted of serious crimes such as
manufacturing methamphetamines
or child abuse now face up to three
years in jail and up to a $15,000 fine
in CN District Court.
Prior to the act, the law allowed
just a one-year maximum sentence
and up to $5,000 fine for all crimes.
The act also allows the tribe to
send convicted offenders to federal
prison to serve sentences instead of
subsidizing area jails to house them.
“The Cherokee Nation Law and
Order Act will strengthen our
ability to protect our citizens in
our jurisdiction, which in turn
strengthens our sovereignty,” Tribal
Councilor Chuck Hoskin Jr. said.
“This legislation gives us the tools
we need to keep our people safe and
bring criminals to justice.”
Other changes in the act include
lowering the legal blood alcohol
content to .08 for driving under
the influence, adding a $5,000 fine
or one-year sentence for stalking
and domestic violence convictions,
adding a fine between $4,000 and
$10,000 or a 120-day jail term for
starting a fire during a tribal burn
ban and adding a fine between $200
to $5,000 or up to a month in jail for
illegal trash dumping.
“The law will give our citizens
peace of mind that if crime occurs
on tribal lands, the marshal service,
Cherokee prosecutors and Cherokee
judges will have the tools they
need to fight crime and rehabilitate
offenders,” Hoskin said.
The act passed unanimously with
Tribal Councilor Jodie Fishinghawk
absent from the meeting.
The council also authorized a grant
application to the Department of
Housing and Urban Development for
an Indian Community Development
Block Grant for the “Cherokee Cort
Mall Retail Incubator.”
The CN will apply to HUD’s
ICDBG program for financing to
create a “microenterprise program
targeting entrepreneurs, which
would both be low and moderate
income Cherokees to receive services
and strengthen communities.”
“The Cort Mall will be used as a
retail incubator and e-commerce
training center for Cherokee
entrepreneurs,” CN Commerce
Executive Director Anna Knight said.
“We expect it to be finished with the
renovations this early this spring. We
expect it to create jobs for Cherokee
citizens and provide additional retail
space in downtown Tahlequah.”
Cherokee entrepreneurs with retail
sales will use the space. Knight said
the Nation intends on moving the
Cherokee Arts Center Gallery to the
mall to give it a “main street presence.”
The council also unanimously
approved the nominations of Jack
Spears and Blake Fletcher to the
CN
Environmental
Protection
Commission and Johnnie Earp and
Brian Hartley as board members of
the Economic Development Trust
Authority board of directors.
Leroy Qualls was approved by
councilors as a board member to the
Cherokee Nation Foundation by a 133-1 vote. Tribal Councilors Cara Cowan
Watts, Julia Coates and Buel Anglen
voted against his nomination, while
Tribal Councilor Lee Keener abstained.
The council also amended the
tribe’s budget, increasing it by $4
million to $541.5 million.
[email protected]
[email protected]
8
CHEROKEE PHOENIX • April 2013
Ewf #>hAmh • JO/
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Curtis Snell: District 9
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Joe Byrd: District 2
Tribal Council Member Curtis Snell
filed paperwork seeking re-election to
District 9.
Snell commented, “We’re making
progress in helping our kids get a good
education. There is progress being
made in health care and housing too,
but we have got to finish the job.”
Council Member Snell chairs
the Natural Resources Committee,
overseeing
Cherokee
Nation
properties.
He
was
instrumental
in
purchasing property in Jay for a
new health care clinic. His second
term goal is to attract the highestqualified doctors and nurses to care
for the Cherokee people.
“We can only be a strong Nation if
we are a healthy Nation. Health care is
a priority. Our job is to make sure that
Cherokee people have access to the
best doctors,” Snell explained.
Snell used his construction talents
Cherokee Nation Council Member
Joe Byrd filed to seek re-election to
District 2.
“I’m pleased with the direction of
the Nation as we are building houses,
sending stipends to elders in need,
expanding health care and serving our
people. I’m proud to be part of progress
and respectfully ask for another term,”
Byrd said.
Byrd is former principal chief and a
long time servant of the Nation.
He is the only Council member
fluent in Cherokee, his first language.
“I live Cherokee every day and that
means giving back, lending a hand and
setting an example for the next generation
as our elders have set an example for me.
It is with pride that I speak our language,”
the former chief declared.
He was born in W.W. Hastings
Hospital, is the father of two daughters
and one son.
Upon receiving his master’s
to
help
the
Nation create a
housing program
that builds homes
by Cherokees for
Cherokees
for
the first time in a
decade.
Snell
and
Leetha, married for 49 years, have one
daughter and four sons.
Upon graduating from Kansas High
School he joined the Air Force.
He is a member of Lowery Free
Will Baptist Church and served
16 years on the Leach School
Board while managing his steel
construction company.
“The Cherokee Nation has been
good to my family. My ability to give
back by serving on Council means a
lot to me. I need everyone’s vote as
I continue to serve all Cherokees,”
Snell concluded.
degree
from
No r t h e a s t e r n ,
he spent his life
in
education
working
with
children.
B y r d
concluded, “I’m
proud of Chief
Baker for building a team that puts
Cherokees first. If re-elected I plan
to help him continue growing our
Nation, making decisions that will
help generations to come.”
Councilman Byrd is active in
numerous organizations dealing with
Native American issues: the Cherokee
Baptist Association, Native American
Diabetes Association, National Indian
Education Association, Oklahoma
Association for Bilingual Education,
Drug Free Youth program and Intertribal Council of the Five Civilized
Tribes.
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Frankie Hargis: District 7
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Dink Scott: District 5
Cherokee Tribal Council member
Frankie Hargis filed to represent
District 7 in the June elections.
Since Hargis’ election, the Cherokee
Nation has recorded record profits in
its business ventures and expanded
health care to its citizens.
“The new programs we created are
helping Cherokees. Our job is to help
people and I will continue to work with
those who want to help Cherokees,”
Hargis stated.
As a Council member, she supported
building a new Child Development
Center in Stilwell.
The CDC will double enrollment
and create 10 to 12 new Cherokee jobs.
The health care plan will build a new
clinic in Jay and expand the Wilma P.
Mankiller Clinic.
She continued, “On Council I
supported creating the Elders in Need
program and the new housing program.
I want to build on our recent successes.”
Vian community coach and
Farmers CO-OP warehouse manager
Dink Scott announced he would run
for the Cherokee Nation Council
District 5 seat.
“As a coach for the Sallisaw and Vian
Youth League my mission has been to
teach children about responsibility,
values and teamwork.
“The Cherokee Nation is at a
crossroads and we must use teamwork
to move the Nation forward. Our
council spends too much time fighting
and not enough time working together.
I’ll lead by example and work with
each member and do what is right,”
said Scott.
Dink Scott graduated from Vian
High School. He successfully coached
Cherokee youth to winning seasons,
numerous state titles, including the
2006 Willie Mayes World Title.
Scott continued, “The Cherokee
Nation has given me a great deal
Hargis,
a
member
of
Calvary Southern
Baptist Church
and mother of
two, was raised in
Adair County and
lives in Stilwell.
She graduated
from Stilwell High School and
Northeastern State University. Before
Council, she served the Nation as an
Adult Education instructor.
She serves on all standing committees
of the Tribal Council and co-chairs the
Community Services and Resources
committees.
Hargis is an advisory board
member for the CNB, the Nation’s
Housing Authority and the CN Waste
Management Board.
“It has been an honor to serve and I
humbly ask for the votes of my fellow
Cherokees,” she concluded.
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Justin Carlton: District 4
Educator and small businessman
Justin Carlton declared his candidacy
for the Cherokee Tribal Council
District 4 seat.
“I am blessed to be Cherokee. The
Nation helped my family survive. I was
born in a Cherokee hospital, housed
under a Cherokee roof, used Cherokee
vouchers for clothes, educated with
Cherokee scholarships and employed
by Cherokee businesses. Being
Cherokee helped me grow into a man
who makes his family proud. Being
Cherokee is more than what I am, it’s
who I am,” Carlton said.
Justin is a professor at Bacone College
and operates a small business.
He served the Nation as a public
health educator and will focus on
continuing improvements to the
Cherokee health care system and
cutting wait times at clinics.
Carlton stated, “At 32 years old, it
would be my
honor to bring
the insight of
our youth to the
Tribal Council.
Our Nation is
building homes,
improving
clinics
and
spending money on health care for
our people. The time has come for
Cherokee youth to shoulder some of
the responsibility for managing our
Nation and participate in our system of
government.”
This is Carlton’s first run for office
against a candidate who is seeking his
fourth term.
Carlton indicated that he would serve
only two terms, a position supported by
the voters as recently as 2011, when the
majority of the Cherokee Nation voted
to limit council members to two terms.
over my lifetime
and
I
want
to give back.
The
Nation
is
improving
with the new
administration
and
I
want
to bring new
energy as it continues to improve.”
This will be Scott’s first run for office
against a candidate who will be seeking
his third term.
“I’ll work with Chief Baker to bring
jobs to our area and to build more
quality homes. I’ll bring new ideas
to the council, not vote with any one
group, and will always be open to a
good idea no matter whose it is. That
is teamwork. We can’t go backwards,”
he said.
“When you think council, think
Dink”, he concluded.
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Janees Taylor: District 15
Certified public accountant and
local business owner Janees Taylor
announced her candidacy for the
newly redrawn Cherokee Tribal
Council District 15.
Taylor, the 47-year-old mother of
two declared, “I’m a proud Cherokee
citizen and it is my honor to run for
Council District 15. As our Nation
moves in a new and better direction,
we have the opportunity to make
unprecedented differences in the lives
of our people. My campaign will offer
a fresh outlook and add a new voice.”
This will be Taylor’s first run for
office against a candidate who will be
seeking her fourth term.
Taylor stated that she would serve
only two terms, a position supported
by the voters as recently as 2011, when
the majority of the Cherokee Nation
voted to limit Council members to
two terms.
“As a CPA I
know the value
of
a
dollar.
I will watch
the
Nation’s
finances closely
to ensure the
C h e r o k e e
business profits make it to our
people.
“As a small business owner, I
understand making tough decisions
that affect the lives of our staff and
customers. If I have the opportunity to
serve on council, I will stop any deal
that doesn’t make sense. As a Cherokee,
I will lead by example to stop council
members from fighting each other so
we can all focus on creating a Nation
that gives a better quality of life to our
people.” Taylor concluded.
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Melvina Shotpouch: District 10
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Joe D. Adair: District 7
Community leader and former
Cherokee Nation Council member
Melvina Shotpouch announced her
candidacy for the new District 10.
“I am witnessing a Council with
new energy, a new leadership helping
Cherokees like never before and
everyone knows, I don’t like to sit
still. Stipends to elders, a housing
program for the first time in a decade
and expanding health care are the
beginning and I want people in District
10 and our communities to benefit.”
Shotpouch announced.
Melvina Shotpouch is one of nine
children, lives on her grandfather’s
original allotment and continues her
family’s famed hog fries that have fed
Cherokees for 60 years.
Previously, she served on the
Cherokee Tribal Council from
Delaware County and is a member of
the Jay City Council.
Shotpouch continued, “I am proud
Joe D. Adair announced his campaign
and candidacy for the Cherokee Nation
Tribal Council for District 7 in Adair
County.
Joe is the son of Paul and Shirley
Adair of Stilwell. He is married to
Barbara Goodwin Adair and together
they have four children and eight
grandchildren.
Joe’s father, Paul was born in the
Bell Community and was raised by his
grandmother, Lizzie Daugherty.
Joe graduated from Northeastern
State University in Tahlequah where
he earned a bachelor of science degree
with majors in accounting and business
management and graduated from the
University of Arkansas School of Law.
Joe has been a Stilwell attorney for the
past 26 years and has served as city judge
for Westville and West Siloam Springs,
city attorney for Stilwell and assistant
district attorney for Adair County.
Joe and Barbie are members of First
that I speak
the
Cherokee
language.
I’m
proud of the
successes during
my
previous
term on council,
but there is more
to do. We are
moving the Nation forward with a
vision that will benefit the lives of
our people. Better access to health
care, shorter wait times at clinics,
glasses to see and dentures for folks
who need them.”
During her previous service on
Council, Shotpouch helped secure fuel
tax money for local schools, money for
fire fighters and increased the dollars
spent on roads.
She was instrumental in securing
the vo-tech school and building the
assisted living center for elders.
2013
Baptist Church
in Stilwell where
Joe is a Sunday
School teacher.
“I
believe
that we need to
kick our house
building efforts
into high gear,
create more jobs, and hire more doctors
and other health care professionals
to eliminate long waiting times at our
hospitals and clinics.”
“I am an independent candidate
and if elected I will be an independent
Councilman who will always put the
good of the Cherokee People first.
“If you have any questions or concerns
please contact me at 918-696-9461 or
email me at [email protected] or
facebook me at Joe D. Adair.
“I need your help and would
appreciate your vote on June 22, 2013.”
April 2013 • CHEROKEE PHOENIX
2013 Ewf #>hAmh • JO/
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Mike Dobbins: District 4
Dr. Mike Dobbins – Cherokee
Council Candidate District No. 4.
Born in 1953 in Muskogee, Okla.
Married 37 years to Terrye, who is
also Native American. 31-year-old
son, Luke; 29-year-old daughter,
Brynlee; four grandsons.
Health care provider since 1981.
Had contractual relationship with
Cherokee Nation health care for 25
years.
Fully knowledgeable about health
care issues that confront Cherokees.
Will push for 100 percent funding
of Three Rivers Medical Center.
Continue
making
diabetes
prevention and treatment a top
priority at Three Rivers Medical
Center. Will seek expansion of
mental health programs at Three
Rivers. Visionary new leadership for
District 4 Cherokees.
When elected,
will return all
phone
calls
within 24 hours.
Attends
First
Baptist Church
of
Muskogee
and a long-time
member of First
Baptist Church of Tahlequah.
Understands the health care needs
of the Cherokee people. Obtained
undergraduate degree in zoology
from the University of Tulsa and
played basketball at the University
of Tulsa.
Obtained doctor of dental surgery
(DDS) from the University of
Oklahoma.
Understands the importance of
additional education benefits for
Cherokee people.
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Sherry Doolin: District 5
I’ve tried to focus my entire adult life
towards giving back to others, especially
those who are vulnerable, in need, and at
risk.
I enjoy serving our Cherokee families and
those I’ve worked with throughout Indian
Child Welfare and other departments I’ve
come in contact with. Married to Danny
Doolin. 6 children & 5 grandchildren.
Active Member “The Crossing” church,
Gore, Okla. Over 20 years’ experience
serving & working with Oklahoma’s youth,
families & children.
Employment & Volunteer Experience
– 2012-2007: Cherokee Nation employee
working in Human Services-DCYFSIndian Child Welfare Catoosa and Sallisaw
sub-offices. Special Project the Cherokee
Nation Angel Tree 14 County area
coordinated with all Sub-office Angel Tree
Coordinators and CNE representatives.
2012-present:
Small-business
owner.
Volunteered with Cherokee Nation Angel
Tree past season Sept. 2012- Jan. 2013.
Volunteered for Special Olympics benefit
breakfast Special Project of the Cherokee
Nation
Marshal
Service Feb. 2013.
Support
–
“New” initiatives
for those inflicted
and suffering from
domestic violence
(native women are
among the highest
in statistics). Work/
Job programs for Cherokee citizens (By
directly supervising, I’ve seen first-hand
through the day work program and work
experience program, that our citizens want
to work.)
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or
vain conceit, but in humility consider
others better than ourselves.
Each of us should look not only to our
own interests, but also to the interests of
others. – Philippians 2 verse 3-4. A heart to
serve people.
Contact information: doolinsherri@
yahoo.com Mailing address: Rt. 1 Box
78 Braggs, OK 74423. facebook.com/
sherri.j.doolin. 918-639-5761
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Meredith Frailey: District 15
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Harley Buzzard: District 10
Councilwoman Frailey’s decision
to run for re-election is based on the
fact that now more than ever we need
experienced leadership on the Tribal
Council with a single-minded focus on
handling challenging issues Cherokee
people are faced with today.
Elected the first ever speaker of the
council by her fellow council members,
she chaired Tribal Council meetings
during two terms.
She feels honored to have been a
part of a team over the last decade
that grew Cherokee Nation assets
from $334 million to $1.2 billion, and
health care services from $48 million
to $225 million.
Councilwoman Frailey is one-half
Cherokee, graduate of Locust Grove
High School, a licensed airplane pilot
and holds a bachelor of science degree
from NSU and juris doctorate from
the University of Tulsa Law School
with years of experience in diversified
I am announcing my candidacy for
Tribal Council District 10.
I am a lifetime resident of Delaware
County and reside in the Eucha community.
I served four years as your Tribal Councilor
in 2007-2011.
During that time, the major
accomplishments were securing a tag office
in Jay, a laundry business with an estimated
payroll in excess of $400,000 annually and
securing jobs for Cherokees in Delaware
County.
Another accomplishment was the
construction of the West Siloam Springs
Casino, which employs approximately 800
people.
I worked for Cherokee Nation for 24
years serving as director of the Roads
Department and manager of Water and
Sanitation & Engineering where miles of
roads and water lines were constructed.
I will continue supporting educational
opportunities, improve health care, build
more houses, roads, water lines, create
more jobs that employ Cherokees, put more
councilors in the school systems, employ
businesses.
When
reelected she will
work to retain and
bring jobs to her
district, support
TERO businesses,
advocate
more
funding to retain
and recruit more doctors and nurses,
increase funding for vocational
education and specialized training
initiatives for businesses and health
careers and strengthen the Elders in
Need program.
She stated that she will continue to
steadfastly hold tribal government
accountable, protect our fragile tribal
sovereignty and remain an independent
voice on the council for all Cherokee
people.
For more information, go to:
meredithfrailey.com.
more
Cherokees
in
management
positions, employ
Cherokee
and
Native American
contractors to build
our infrastructure,
support
our
Cherokee language
and
culture
programs and ensure our elders are taken
care of.
Cynthia and I have been married for 46
years and live on our family allotment land
near Jay.
Cynthia works at the Jay Sam Hider
Health Center as the patient services
advocate.
We have two children, Darren and Haley,
and 6 grandchildren.
I graduated from Haskell Institute in
Lawrence, Kan., and served in the United
States Army.
Contact:
918-253-8665,
email
[email protected], 8385 CR
396, Eucha, OK 74342, or Facebook.
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Lonus Mitchell: District 9
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Ken Luttrell: At-Large
Lonus Mitchell is a lifelong resident
of Delaware County and graduate of
Kansas High School.
Lonus is descended from the Morris
and Welch Cherokee families known in
the area. Lonus retired from pipeline
construction after 42 years of hard
work and providing for his family.
Lonus has been married to fellow
Cherokee citizen Dianne (Duncan)
Mitchell for 27 years and is a member
of the Lowery Free Will Baptist Church.
Lonus is running for Tribal Council
because of recent expensive land
purchases that he believes has taken
money away from health care services for
the Cherokee people and the tribe’s ability
to recruit more doctors and nurses.
In addition, Lonus does not agree
with the recent hay equipment
purchases and hay business practices,
which seem to only benefit a few and
do not make for best use of tribal lands.
Lonus wants to improve health care
Stating that “For too long at-large
citizens have had council members more
concerned with politics than with working
for their families,” former Oklahoma Rep.
Ken Luttrell announced he would seek to
be the voice for all at-large citizens of the
Cherokee Nation.
“I don’t answer to special interest
groups or big donors. I will be your voice
in the council fighting for the concerns of
at-large Cherokees.”
Luttrell, with 25 years of business
management, brings firsthand knowledge
of economics to the council.
As a legislator, Luttrell served on the
National Energy Council, co-chair of
the Native American Caucus and on the
Executive Board of the National Caucus of
Native American State Legislators.
Rep. Luttrell is a Vietnam-era Army
veteran, coaches boxing and mentors atrisk youth in drug and gang prevention
programs.
He serves on the boards of the Salvation
Army, The Boys and Girls Club of America
and the facility
at the Jay Clinic,
including
the
addition of new
health
services
and
consistent
cleanliness.
He wants to
expand
tribal
businesses into Delaware County for
new jobs.
Lonus is a regular tribal citizen
who wants to restore the Cherokee
government back to the people.
Lonus will hold regular community
meetings throughout the district,
return your phone calls and emails. He
will be open and transparent.
To contact Lonus Mitchell about your
concerns and questions, call (918) 8687629 or email [email protected].
Lonus wants to earn your vote and
will respect your concerns after he is
elected.
and the American
Red Cross.
Descended
from
Trail
of
Tears
survivor
Tonniette (Do-deyunt) Ketcher and
Charlotte (Soh-latta) Ratler, Luttrell’s
great grandmother
was Nancy Ketcher Hannah, grandmother
Ona Hanna Caudill and mother Jewell
Caudill Luttrell of the Grove, Okla., area.
His family still has the original home
place and log cabin where his grandmother
was born south of Honey Creek.
“I will be a strong and independent
voice for your family, always
remembering who I represent, fighting
for common sense solutions over
politics, to maintain sovereignty, expand
Cherokee community groups and against
any attempts to disenfranchise at-large
citizens,” said Luttrell.
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Jack D. Baker: At-Large
Mid-Term Elections 2013
Tamsye Dreadfulwater: District 2
After being appointed by the Tribal
Council in 2006 to fulfill the 1999
Constitution requirement of adding
two council members who represent
citizens residing out of the Nation, Jack
has fought to preserve At-Large voting
rights and expand tribally funded
services such as scholarships to include
At-Large citizens.
Jack has served the Cherokee people
in culture, history and government
since the 1970s and voted in every
Cherokee election since 1971.
Some of his accomplishments
include president of the national Trail
of Tears Association, treasurer of the
Cherokee Heritage Center, board of
the Oklahoma Historical Society and
president of the Goingsnake District
Heritage Association.
In addition, he has facilitated more
than 100 Trail of Tears survivors’
grave markings and been instrumental
in obtaining the translation of the
Moravian
historical
documents
concerning the Cherokees.
Tamsye is the daughter of Louise and
J.B. Dreadfulwater and was raised in
Tahlequah, Lowery and Woodall.
Traveling with the Cherokee choir,
Tamsye was surrounded by family and
friends who lived by traditional values.
Today, Tamsye continues her family’s
tradition of service to our people.
Tamsye began at Cherokee Nation in
1984 with Registration and Head Start after
graduating from Tahlequah High School.
Tamsye attended NSU to earn a bachelor’s
degree in accounting and continued on to
Oklahoma City University for her master’s
in business.
She returned to Nation employment in
1993, which began her 18-year-career in
tribal accounting. Tamsye’s last six years as
senior director of finance included repeated
national awards for transparency and
unqualified audits of the Nation’s financial
books.
With Tamsye’s extensive finance and
auditing skills, she insists on transparency
and accountability at the tribe. Tamsye will
work tirelessly to protect employee rights,
Jack
was
born
on
his
g r a n d f a t h e r ’s
C h e r o k e e
allotment
at
Chewey in Adair
County
and
graduated from
Westville High.
He has been
living out of the Cherokee Nation since
leaving for college but has maintained
close ties to his family’s community.
He has lived in Oklahoma City for
more than 40 years.
With immediate federal budget cuts
impacting services and requiring the
use of tribal dollars, Jack’s extensive
budget knowledge and experience with
the tribe is more valuable than ever.
Jack is respectively requesting your vote
for one more term on the Tribal Council.
To contact Jack with your questions
and concerns, call him at (405) 850-8828
or email him at [email protected].
9
to create a fair,
positive and safe
work environment
for everyone.
Tamsye
will
insist on Cherokee
preference.
She
knows
Cherokee
people
are
competent
and
capable of running the Nation.
High salaries for non-Cherokees and
backdoor land deals benefiting political
supporters will not be tolerated.
You deserve a councilperson who follows
the laws, returns your phone call, keeps
confidences and works for our people
rather than personal gain.
Tamsye will hold regular town hall
meetings and regular office hours. Tamsye
will be your voice in tribal government and
wants to earn your vote.
To visit with Tamsye, call 918-373-9837
or email [email protected]
10
CHEROKEE PHOENIX • April 2013
Raymond Oliver
Northrup, Tonya Sue
Norton, Christopher
Scott
Norton, Emma
Norvell, Kelly Suzanne
Norwood, James Oscar
III
Norwood, Lee Reynolds
Norwood, Sparlin
Nott, James Earl
Nott, Rosemary
Nowlin, Lois Willene
Nunn, Brenda Kay
Nunn, Glenda Kay
Nusz, Wilma Lillian
Nutter, Delbert Farrell
Nutter, Michael Allison
O’Beirne, Joyce Elaine
O’Brien, Catherine
Sunshine
O’Brien, Norma Galela
O’Connor, Suzanne Rae
O’Dell, Jimmie Allen
O’Dell, Justin Ashley
Offutt, Lloyd Leo
Ogden, Brenda Jane
Ogden, James Quinton
Ogle, Arden Lee
O’Keefe, Marilyn Beatrice
Oldaker, Vickie L.
Olds, Mary Frances
Olinger, Clarinda S.
Oliver, Alice Ann
Oliver, Charles Eugene
Oliver, Gary Edward
Oliver, Jack Bryan Sr.
Oliver, Kristina Marie
Oliver, Leo Lawrence Jr.
Oliver, Timothy Lee
Olson, Phyllis Rowena
O’Malley, Kenneth
Patrick
Omidy, Jeanna Zainab
O’Neal, Daniel Charles
O’Neal, Daniel Edgar
O’Neal, Daniel Edgar Jr.
O’Neal, Joseph William
O’Neal, Sherrie Ellen
O’Neil, Meagan Elaine
O’Neill, Jade
Oney, Rachel Marie
Ongaro, Rene’ Jeanette
O’Quinn, Amanda Jo
O’Reilly, Cora Ann
Orf, Jewel Lealma
Orman, James Richard
Orr, Keith Van Allen
Osborn, Leigh Ann
Osborne, Norma Virginia
Osburn, Michael Todd
Oslin, Wahmulkaee
Rachael
Osterman, Janet Ann
Otey, Michael Lee
Otto, Virgie Bell
Overfield, John Dean
Overturf, Sherri Lya
Owen, Jaunita
Owen, Kimberly Ann
Owens, Amanda Minett
Owens, Martha Ann
Owens, Robert Victor
Owens, Robin Marie
Owens, Sheila Renee
Owens, Stanley Ray Sr.
Owens, Steven Jesse
Oxley, LaDonna Jo
Paatalo, Tammy Lynn
Pace, Betty Sue
Paden, Stephen Troy Jr.
Paden, Thomas Wayne II
Padgett, Marquerite
Oshea
Padgett, Tony Estel
Paez, Linda Marie
Page, Mary Elizabeth
Page, Mary Lee
Painter, Edward Glen
Painter, Michael Wayne
Painter, Sherie Jean
Palm, Sara Catherine
Palmer, Bryan Patrick
Palmer, David Stanley
Palmer, James David
Palmer, Jason William
Palmer, Kenneth Leroy
Palmer, Larry Ray
Palmer, Lewis Wayne
Palmer, Stanley David
Palmour, Charles William
Palmour, Lloyd David
Palmour, Robert
Alexander
Panfil, Gina Diane
Panis, Stacey Lea
Pankey, Terry Kathleen
Pannell, Clint Andrew
Pannell, Eddie Gene
Panter, David Lee
Panter, Jane Marie
Pardue, Deborah
Charlene
Pardue, Robert Alan
Paris, Douglas Eugene
Paris, Jeffrey Franklin
Paris, Ronald Ray
Paris, Thomas Doyle
Park, Lutie Larie
Park, Mary Anne
Parker, Delmar
Parker, Earl
Parker, Grace Molean
Parker, Janie Ann
Parker, Jaunita
Parker, Larry Joe
Parker, Patricia Joann
Parker, Sandra Sue
Parker, Scott David
Parker, Stephen Clyde
Parker, Teddy Wayne
Parker, Virginia
Parker, William Mark
Parkhurst, John Clark
Parks, Jimmy Duane
Parks, Nancy Ellen
Parmley, Leona Dracine
Parnell, Brian Dale
Parnell, Richard Griffin
Parr, Eula Lucille
Parris, James Ross
Parris, John Wesley
Parris, Melissa Kay
Parris, Robert Lee
Parris, Thomas
Parrish, Steven Louis
Parson, Billy Joe
Parsons, Barney Ingle
Parsons, Robert Mitchell
Partridge, Martha Jane
Pate, Jason Christopher
Patel, Christine Diane
Pathkiller, Ronnie Gene
Patrick, Anna Bell
Patrick, Cheri Ann
Patrick, Cindy Elaine
Patrick, Dennis Hugh
Patrick, Gary Don
Patrick, James Richard
Patrick, La Juana E.
Patrick, Lillard Thurman
Patrick, Linda Ann
Patrick, Lorissa Kaye
Patrick, Malina May
Patterson, Charles
Frederick
Patterson, Donna Sue
Patterson, E. L.
Patterson, Ralph Wayne
Patton, Charles Curtis
Patton, James Daniel
Patton, John Edward
Patton, Jonathan David
Patton, Katie
Patton, Lois Evelyn
Patton, Mark Christopher
Paulson, Helena Sarah
Payne, Donald Eugene
Payne, Donna June
Payne, Douglas Edward
Payne, Earnest Robert
Payne, Gregory Paul
Payne, James (Jimmy)
Madison Jr.
Payne, Louise Marie
Payne, Peggy Nell
Payne, Randy Joe
Payne, Ray Faron
Payne, Robert Rosswill
Payne, Sean Michael
Payne, Wanda Lee
Payton, Dale Eddie
Payton, Kenneth L.
Payton, Lee
Peacock, Roger Franklin
Peak, David Joel
Peak, Stan Watie
Pearce, Amy Sue
Pearce, Darrell Anthony
Pearson, Kimberly Dawn
Pearson, Laveeda Maxine
Peavler, Ruth Genevieve
Pemberton, John Paul
Pendergraft, James
Wesley
Penn, Michael Kent
Penn, Virginia Pearl
Penner, Jennifer Lynn
Penney, Donna Lorraine
Penrod, John Thomas
Pepin, Signe Renee
Perkins, Judy Kay
Perrin, Richard Paul
Perrin, Ronald Eugene
Perry, Blake Alan
Perry, Dana Michelle
Perry, Mary Frances
Perry, Seth Vann
Perry, William Marion
Person, Donna Rae
Persons, Pansey Mae
Peter, Ginger Ellen
Peterson, Daniel Paul
Peterson, Jack Lee Jr.
Peterson, Lola May
Petray, Karen Denise
Petree, Lois Sandra
Petree, Staci Deann
Petty, Donald Gene
Petty, Ernest Clifton Jr.
Peyton, Lawrence Earl II
Pfaender, Daren Richard
Pfaender, Linda Marlene
Phifer, Clyde Elaine
Phillippe, Loretta Nanette
Phillippi, Penny
Phillips, Allison Fay
Phillips, Bob
Phillips, J. R.
Phillips, Jeffrey Scott
Phillips, Jennifer Diane
Phillips, Jimmy Dewayne
Phillips, Kyle Douglas
Phillips, Linda Annette
Phillips, Melbern Gene
Phillips, Patsy Louise
Phipps, Lolah Lorene
Phipps, William Ronald
Pickard, Dewey
Columbus Jr.
Pickard, Gwen L.
Pickard, Terry Linn
Pickett, Joel Lewayne
Pierce, David Patrick
Pierce, Florence
Pierce, Franklin Lawler
Pierce, Henry Lee
Pierce, Mary Lou
Pierce, Maude
Pierce, Paul Brian
Pierce, Stephani Siobhan
Pierce, Wendy Lynn
Pierson, Thomas Frank
Pigeon, Calvin Bruce
Pilant, Marissa Lyn
Pile, James Richard Jr.
Pile, Michelle Leeann
Pilgrim, Hugh Maurice
Pilgrim, Joyce Ann
Pilgrim, Sherrion Kay
Pillow, Christopher
Michael
Pingleton, Brian Ed
Pinkney, Robyn Morgan
Pisarra, Galela Dixie
Pitchford, Isaac Daniel
Pitman, Bill
Pitre, Tresa Lynn
Pitts, David Wayne
Pitts, Marcus Allen
Pivonka, Eunice Dorene
Planchon, Medlia Sue
Plummer, Patricia Ellen
Plunkett, Marvin Wayne
Poague, Lee E.
Poague, Robin Lee
Poe, Bessie Marie
Poindexter, Angela Louise
Polone, Duane Drew
Polone, Hubert Felix
Polsley, Shirley
Polson, Robert Donald
Poncy, Therese Mary
Poole, Bertha Lynn
Poole, Jason Alan
Pooler, Jennifer Ann
Pope, Doyce Bores Jr.
Pope, Lovella Evyone
Porter, Melody Kathryn
Porter, Sherri Lea
Posten, Virginia Faye
Postier, David Lee Jr.
Postier, Jessica Rae
Potter, Glen Richard
Potter, Howard Leroy
Potter, Ted Robert
Potts, Jack
Potts, James Franklin
Pounds, Colleen Maria
Powell, Corrod William
Powell, Craig Tyson
Powell, Georgia Anna
Powell, James Brenton
Powell, Jennifer Leah
Powell, Kelly Wanean
Powell, Laura Elizabeth
Powell, Lori Lynn
Powell, Mary Christene
Powell, Melissa Dawn
Powell, Reta Sue
Powell, Travis Tracy
Powell, Wendy Lee
Powers, Billye Jean
Powers, Clara Ann
Powers, Jean Louise
Powers, Kenneth Eugene
Jr.
Powers, Kenneth Eugene
Powers, Sandra Diann
Prather, Michael Ennis
Prentice, Yetta Lucile
Presnell, David Gilbert III
Prewitt, Anna Francille
Price, James S.
Price, Joe Lloyd
Price, Ray Lee
Price, Robert Lloyd
Price, Ronald William
Price, Susan Cary
Prim, Marion Lee
Prince, Christie Sue
Prine, Betty
Privett, Tasha Nikole
Proctor, Andy Mack
Profitt, Loretta Maxine
Imogene
Prosise, Tamera Sue
Prouty, James Kevin
Pryor, William Carl
Pullen, Sheila Christine
Pulley, Billie Faye
Puls, Peggy Jean
Punnett, Kathryn
Christine
Purcell, Edith Maxine
Purdy, Audine Wanda
Pursley, George William
Pusey, Gladys Ruth
Puskar, Cynthia Dawn
Pyron, Shirley Dean
Queen, William Jackson
Jr.
Quick, Kenneth Charles
Quick, William Jay
Quinton, Florence Ellen
Quinton, Gloria
Quinton, Marion Wade
Rabon, Dianne Marie
Rabon, Erin Elizabeth
Rackleff, Barney Glen
Rackleff, Richard Dean
Rackliff, Melanie Dawn
Rader, Marilyn Ruth
Rae, Darlene Frances
Rae, Lois Gail
Ragland, Guyniece
Ragle, Ronald W.
Ragsdale, Gene Mark
Ragsdale, Geraldine
Ragsdale, Joe Anglin II
Ragsdale, Michael
Rockefeller
Rahmer, Cindy Louise
Raincrow, Bobby Joe
Rainwater, Jeral David
Ralston, Joan Scott
Ralston, Myrtle Whiteday
Ramey, Earldine
Ramsey, Ruth Faye
Ramsey, Sandra G.
Ramsey, Viola Genevieve
Randall, Harlan Delano
Randolph, Natalie Suzette
Randolph, Terri Lynn
Raner, Sally Jane
Raney, Mary Ellen
Rangel, Tammy Annette
Rankin, Bettie Jo
Raper, William Chester
Rath, Jenny Marlene
Rathbone, Paula Jean
Ratliff, Rickey Gail
Ratliff, Vanessa Jane
Rauland, Judith Arleen
Rawlings, Edna Ivona
Rawls, J. Berry
Rawls, Jay Berry Jr.
Rawls, Patricia Ann
Raxter, Max Dennis
Ray, Debra Gayle
Ray, Gary Dwight
Ray, Roger Lynn
Ray, Samuel Jr.
Rayburn, Robert Hugh
Raycraft, Mary Ruth
Raymer, Philip Alan
Raymond, Tamhra
Deann
Raynor, Nancy Caroline
Read, Josephine Mae
Read, Ross Whitney
Reagan, James Wesley
Reasonover, Jerrie Lynne
Ewf #>hAmh • JO/
Reasonover, Martha
Rector, Sandra Lucille
Redbird, Edward
Redden, Ronald Henry
Reddin, Gertrude Mae
Redmond, Karon Ruth
Redus, Martha Ann
Reed, Angela Gaye
Reed, Earl Leroy
Reed, Erma Lou
Reed, Jeffrey Scott
Reed, Katherine Jannette
Reed, Lois Fay
Reed, Mark Raymond
Reed, Martha Ann
Reed, Shirley Ann
Reed, Stephen Correll
Reeder, Brenda Jo
Reeder, Gary Earnest Jr.
Reeder, Ronald Irvin
Reeder, Timmy Alan
Reeds, Jon Nell
Reedy, Henryetta Polly
Reese, Christina Marie
Reese, Murry Wayne
Reeves, Anna Lee
Reeves, Emma Jean
Reeves, Kelly Dawn
Reeves, Steven Lester
Reich, Amanda Nicole
Reid, Richard Alan
Reid, Robert Shaw
Reif, Kathleen Joy
Reisch, Anita Gaylene
Remick, Dorothy Cynthia
Remington, Lary Lee
Renfro, Jack Shirley
Rettke, Caroline Ann
Revas, Mildred Ann
RevelleRogers, Lucille
Rogers, Marsha
Rogers, Maxine Jeannette
Rogers, Neva Lorene
Rogers, Richard Donald
Rogers, Rueben Bennett
Jr.
Rohan, Virginia Lea
Roig, James Edward
Rolland, Jearl Ernest
Rollins, Mary Jean
Romero, David Allison
Romias, Elmo Lee
Romolo, Christopher
Angelo
Roop, Ginger Ann
Root, Heather Nicole
Rosander, Sandra Sue
Rose, Betty Virginia
Rose, Eunice Wilma
Rose, Frankie Louise
Rose, James Clifford
Brooks
Rose, Joshua Scott
Rose, Richard Alan
Rosecrans, Franklin
Duane
Ross, James
Ross, Jesse Harold
Ross, Jimmie Wasker
Ross, Joetta Lynn
Ross, John William
Ross, Julia Laree
Ross, Kenneth Dale
Ross, Kyle Dewayne
Ross, Mary Golda
Ross, Shawn Charles
Ross, Vernon Reid
Ross, William Albert
Rossi, Jennifer Lynn
Rossman, Christina Mae
Rosson, Julie Elizabeth
Roth, Jimmy Lee
Roth, Theresa Ann
Roupe, Harold Eugene
Rouston, Joyce Irene
Routh, Gregory Kent
Rowan, Charolette
Beatrice
Rowe, Margie May Helen
Rowland, Edgar Clay III
Rowland, Enid Avis
Rowland, Joyce Odean
Rowley, Eric Lee
Rowsey, Paul Edward Jr.
Roy, Leigh Don
Rozell, Kenneth Lee
Rozell, Linda Ann
Rubalcaba, Ruth Raquel
Ruby, Dorothea Elizabeth
Rucker, Dorothy Weir
Rucker, Roy Earnest
Ruel, Sharon Sue
Ruiz, Anthony Mauro
Ruiz, Jennifer Leann
Rule, Ronald Charles
Running Deer, Tyler
Runswick, Willie Victoria
Runyon, Christopher
Malcolm
Rupard, David Eugene
Rupert, Deborah Kaye
Rupert, Justin James
Ruse, Sallie Headen
Rush, Fern
Rush, Jimmie Veldonna
Rush, William Arthur
Russell, Charla Clayton
Russell, Glorena Sue
Russell, Mary Ellen
Russell, Paul Gene
Russell, Sharon Koleene
Rutherford, Alden Arvoi
Rutherford, Bruce Wayne
Rutherford, Charles
Edward
Rutherford, Eva Jean
Rutherford, Virgil
Augustus
Rutledge, Mildred
Imaline
Ryals, Brian Douglas
Ryals, Phillip Dee
Ryals-Putnam, Stacey
Jean Renee
Ryder, Bryan Paul
Ryder, Floyd
Ryder, Stephen Wilson
Ryder, Wilson Jr.
Saade, Hilary Antoinette
Saccardo, Bettie May
Sachse, Mildred Marcella
Sade, Lisa Chenoia
Sadler, Tamara Lue
Salas, Charlotte DeLacy
Salazar, Rose Marie
Sam, Maudie Louise
Sample, Rebecca
Elizabeth
Sams, Harold Wayne
Sams, Kelli Diane
Sanchez, Jewell May
Sanders, Billie Jean
Sanders, Billy Gene
Sanders, Brenda Kay
Sanders, Brent Eric
Sanders, Charles William
Sanders, Clara
Sanders, David Michael
Sanders, James Otho
Sanders, John Edward
Sanders, John Joseph
Sanders, John Philip
Sanders, Linda Faye
Sanders, Randal Reddell
Sanders, Shuford Wayne
Sanders, Teri Evelyn
Sanders, Terrie Lynn
Sanders, Thomas Michael
Sanders, Timothy Joe
Sanders, Wanda Mae
Sanderson, Pamela Marie
Sanderson, Willie
Heywood Jr.
Sandhoff, Kimberly Gaye
Sandifer, Kenneth Allen
Sangster, Hattie
Santee, Normajean
Condley
Sapp, Lola Mae
Satterfield, Homer Oscar
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Welch, Tony Eugene
Welch, Vanoy Lee
Welch, William Howard
Welchel, Susan Kay
Wells, Annie
Wells, Carrie
Wells, Cheryl Kay
Wells, Clella Mae
Wells, David Lynn
Wells, Rosalind Edmunds
Welsh, Sherri Lynn
Wengolin, Pauline Louise
Wesson, Shannon Dale
West, Angela Michelle
West, Chris Gyles
West, Curtis Duane Jr.
West, David Neil
West, Gaines Franklin II
West, Kara Jo
West, Lisa Lorene
West, Lori Jean
West, Nona Ruth
West, Paul Dewayne
West, Slyvia Jane
West, Sylvia Ann
West, Terry Owen
West, Ula Winifred
Westlake, Terry Ann
Westwood, Mary Jane
Whaley, Dennis
Whatley, Michael Steven
Wheeler, Dixie Lea
Wheeler, Kelly Sue
Wheeler, Lena Lou
Wheeler, Martha
Shannon
Wheeler, Natalie Lynn
Wheeler, Paul Lee
Wheeler, Steven Paul
Whelan, Timothy David
Whipple, Marsha
Lorraine
Whisenhunt, Cherry
Kenneth
Whisenhunt, Connie
Wayne
Whisenhunt, Jeffery
Wayne
Whisenhunt, Mary
Margaret
Whisenhunt, Melvin Ross
Whisenhunt, Paula Diana
Whisenhunt, Thelma
Whisman, Wanda
Lowayne
Whitaker, Carolyn Jean
Whitaker, Gary Lynn
Whitaker, Weyman
Hilliard
Whitaker, Zetta Pearl
White, Betty Jane
White, Billy J.R.
White, Calvin Kim
White, Dawn Michelle
White, Deborah Lee
White, Dennis Lee
White, Frank Jr.
White, Joshua Lee
White, Kristyn Dianne
White, Laurie Gail
White, Mark Steven
White, Mary Allen
White, Mary Jo
White, Norma June
White, Opal Wanda Lee
White, Paula Kay
White, Robert Allen
White, Roberta Lee
White, Timothy Doyle
White, Willard Helen
Whitecotton, Mary
Emmalee
Whitecrow, Leora
Whited, Judy Jillaine
Whitehorn, Dudley Paul
Whitehorn, Maria Lee
Whitehouse, Lois Loeva
Whiteturkey, Dennis
Louis
Whitewater, David Lee
Whitewater, Terry Faye
Whitfield, Michael John
Whitley, Rachel Jean
Whitlock, Julie Joann
Whitlock, Van Todd
Whitlow, Ryan Jay
Whitman, Vera Louise
Whitmer, Jason Allen
Whitmire, Thomas
Wayne
Whitson, Cory Dwayne
Whitson, Jimmy Joe
Whittaker, Sara J.
Whittenburg, Michael
Christopher
Whittle, Sophia
Whitworth, Keith Hugh
Wickett, Homer Lee
Wickliffe, Sandra Lea
Wicks, Jackie Ray
Wicks, Randy Ray
Wiebe, Debra Jo
Wiggins, Elton Todd
Wilbanks, Evan C.
Wilbourn, Gracie Sue
Wilkett, Cynthia Kay
Wilkett, Sharon Kay
Wilkey, Matt Steven
Wilkie, Becky Darlene
Wilkie, Richard Harrell
Wilkins, Kenna Lorraine
Wilkinson, Nedia Mae
Willhoit, Sandra Gayle
Williams, Betty Jean
Williams, Brandon Wade
Williams, Carol Annette
Williams, Connya Cae
Williams, Cynthia Jolene
Williams, Danny James
Williams, Danny Roy
Williams, David Leroy
Williams, Delinda Marie
Williams, Diana Lynn
Williams, Diane Michelle
Williams, Donald Duane
Williams, Edwin Burton
Williams, Frances
LeeEllen
Williams, Gerald Dean
Williams, Harold Lloyd
Williams, Janelle
Williams, Janis Marie
Williams, Joe Henry
Williams, Joe Michael
Williams, John Byron
Williams, John Howland
Williams, John Jeffrey
Williams, Joyce Maxine
Williams, Judy Ann
Williams, Julie Ann
Williams, Karen Loraine
Williams, Kimberlin Gay
Williams, Krisinda
Danette
Williams, Laura Sue
Williams, Lonnie Emery
Williams, Louise
Williams, Marcia Nadine
Williams, Mark Earl
Williams, Mary Alice
Williams, Mary Pauline
Williams, Morrise Wayne
Williams, Otis Emmett Jr.
Williams, Peggy Louise
Williams, Robert Earl
Williams, Roger Keith
Williams, Ronald Leon
Williams, Roy Jr.
Williams, Sara Susan
Williams, Shelly Ann
Williams, Timothy Brian
Williams, Vaughn
Charles
Williams, Zona Evelyn
Williamson, Kyla Renee’
Williamson, Mary Ellen
Williamson, Robert
Curtis
Willis, Ashlee Mae
Willis, Beulah Marie
Willis, Debra Lynn
Willis, Heather Rae
Willis, Roger Paul
Willis, Stephen Nance
Willman, Patricia Ann
Willman, Sheryl Ann
Willman, Timothy Alan
Wills, J.b. Jr.
Wills, Wanda Lee
Willson, Enix Michael
Willson, Vyronda Maxine
Wilmoth, Ila Mae
Wilms, Fontnee
Wilson, Alan Wesley
Wilson, Alma Dean
Wilson, Angela Carol
Wilson, Angela Renee
Wilson, Bobbie Jean
Wilson, Brenda La Nell
Wilson, David Randall
Wilson, Deborah Sue
Wilson, Dessa Lorraine
Wilson, Eugene Wesley
Wilson, Floyd Collins
Wilson, Floyd Ned
Wilson, Hazel Mae
Wilson, Janice Euphemia
Wilson, John Neal
Wilson, Keith Allen
Wilson, Kelly Diane
Wilson, Ladon
Marguriette
Wilson, Lonnie Wayne
Wilson, Mabel Norris
Wilson, Patti Jene
Wilson, Rauna Rae
Wilson, Robert Lee
Wilson, Roy
Wilson, Shirley Carolyn
Wilson, Stephen Wayne
Wilson, Vickie Alene
Wiltshire, Brenda Jane
Wimmer, Andrea Lee
Windsor, Brenna Colette
Winje, Vera Nell
Winkelmaier, Mary Joan
Winn, Jeffrey Dean
Winn, Mary Sue
Winn, Susan Jacquelyn
Winsett, Dolores June
Winters, Peggy Wanda
Wisdom, Ova Rava
Wise, Christiana
Elizabeth
Wise, Crissie Leon
Wiser, Rosemary
Kathleen
Witthaus, Michelle
Denise
Wittler, Joice Marie
Wofford, Charles Eugene
Wofford, Earl Jr.
Wofford, Larry Eugene
Wofford, Quane Pontotoc
Wolf, Cynthia A.
Wolfe, Cheri Ann
Wolfe, Cherie Ilene
Wolfe, Cody Richard
Wolfe, John Owen
Wolfe, Nathan Charles
Wolfe, Sheila Kay
Wolff, Opal Pauline
Woll, Tracy Michelle
Womack, Richard Dale
Wood, Andrew Barton
Wood, Donald Lee
Wood, George Thomas
Wood, Harold Thurman
Wood, James Michael
Wood, Jerry Ray
Wood, Jesse Carl
Wood, Judy
Wood, Larry Richard
Wood, Mary Tricia
Wood, Peggy Joyce
Wood, Richard Bryon
Wood, Ricky Leroy
Wood, Rollin M.
Wood, Shauna Cheri
Wood, Timothy Lee
Wood, Wanda Lee
Wood, Wilson Leon
Woodall, Everett Pharis
Woodall, James Michael
Woodall, Ron Earl
Woodall, Steven Rich
Woodard, Bobby Lee
Woodard, Kim K.
Woodard, Peggy Sue
Woodfin, James Merrill
11
Woodle, Terrie Lynn
Woods, Becky Ann
Woods, Benjamin Roe
Woods, Casey Leroy
Woods, Elmira Oralee
Woods, Jerry Dwight
Woods, Sue Parker
Woodward, Taura Jo
Woodworth, Bertha Lee
Woody, Euna Oklahoma
Woolard, Allan Orvil
Woolard, Norma Jean
Wooley, Beverly Ann
Workman, Susan Lynn
Works, Charley M.
Worley, Lola Mae
Worley, Obenetta
Worrall, Linda Carolyn
Worrell, Brent Albert
Worsham, Larry Dale
Wortham, Douglas
Vernon
Wortman, Clara Jean
Wortman, Jennie Lue
Wortman, Pearl Nadean
Wrestler, Janet Dian
Wright, Carole Anne
Wright, David Bruce
Wright, Erik Scot
Wright, Jack
Wright, Joe Tommie
Wright, Leona May
Wright, Marsha Kay
Wright, Robert Daryl
Wright, Roger Wayne
Wright, Sheila Diane
Wright, Sherri Dian
Wyly, Percy II
Wynn, Richard Lee Jr.
Wynngate, Ann Elizabeth
Wyse, Alvin Coney
Yantz, Karen Joanne
Yenter, Theodore Ross
Yeoman, Pat Douglas
Yocham, Danna Deann
Yocham, James Clemon
Yochum, Charles Brent
Yochum, Kendra Dawn
Yochum, Shawna Denae
York, Georgia Rose
York, Jeffrey Allen
Young, Andrea Lois
Young, Charles Anthony
Young, Crystal Lynn
Young, Danny Joe
Young, Deborah Elaine
Young, Emilie Joann
Young, Mark Hunter
Young, Nancy Nora
Young, Olen Rex
Young, Richard Harrison
Young, Robert Matthew
Young, Tony Lynn
Young, William Allen
Youngblood, Donna Lou
Younger, Ernestine
Younger, Vallajean R.
Yow, James Donald
Yox, Catherine Sue
Zabienski, James Joseph
Zacher, Cheryl Marie
Zajac, Cindee Lynn
Zambalis, Robyn Lee
Zangrilli, Sheila
Ziegler, Charlotte Jean
Ziem, Brenda Joyce
Ziem, Debora Ellen
Ziem, Michael Allen
Zilite, Frankie Doris
Zimmerman, Debra Kay
Zimmerman, Sandra
Lynn
Zuel, Juli Dawn
Zuniga, Edna Pauline
12
CHEROKEE PHOENIX • April 2013
COmmuNIty • nv 0nck
Community Calendar
Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
Marble City Nutrition Center
711 N. Main, Marble City, Okla. 918-775-2158
The Marble City Nutrition Center serves hot
meals at the Marble City Community Center
at 11:30 a.m. Meals are free to anyone
over 50, but a small donation is suggested
to help with the expense of the program.
Gather for fellowship and friendship.
Volunteers welcome.
Third Tuesday of even numbered
months
Mayflower UCC Church
Oklahoma City 405-408-0763
The Central Oklahoma Cherokee Alliance
meets at 6 p.m. on the third Tuesday
of every even numbered month at the
Mayflower Church. The next meeting is Feb. 16.
First Friday of every month
Concho Community Building
Concho, Okla. 405-422-7622
The Indian Art Market invites all Indian
artist to come and sell/share their work.
Year Round
Will Rogers Memorial Museum
Claremore, Okla. 918-341-0719
The museum honors the Cherokee cowboy,
movie start, writer and humorist every day
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with nine galleries, three
theaters and a special children’s museum.
Fourth Thursday of each month
American Indian Chamber of Commerce
of Oklahoma – Eastern Chapter monthly
luncheon at Bacone College
Muskogee, Okla. 918-230-3759
GENEALOGY
First Tuesday of each month
Cherokee Basket Weavers Association
at the Unitarian Universalist
Congregation
Tahlequah, Okla. 918-456-7787
Monthly meetings are at 6 p.m. the first
Tuesday, but if it is a holiday it’s on the
second Tuesday. Everyone is welcomed to
come and visit or join the CBWA.
FOR SALE
Every Friday of each month
Dance at Tahlequah Senior Citizens
Center
230 E. 1st St. in Tahlequah, Okla.
For seniors 50 and over, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Admission is $2.50, includes pot luck dinner
Every Tuesday of each month
Dance at Hat Box Dance Hall
540 S. 4th St. in Muskogee, Okla.
For seniors 50 and over, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Admission is $2.50, includes pot luck dinner
To have an event or meeting listed, fax
information to 918-458-6136 attention:
Community Calendar. The deadline for
submissions is the 10th of each month.
Community Meetings
April 1
Belfonte, 6:30 p.m.
Glen Qualls 918-427-1700 or 427-0227
Eucha, 6:30 p.m.
Juanita Bark 918-207-4925
Marble City Community Organization, 7 p.m.
Ellen McClendon 918-775-2158 or 774-0074
April 2
Tulsa Cherokee Community Organization, 6 p.m.
Donna Darling 918-808-4142
[email protected]
Muldrow Cherokee Community Organization
7 p.m., Tim Laney 918-427-4006
April 4
Lyons Switch, 7 p.m.
Karen Fourkiller 918-696-2354
Greasy, 7 p.m.
Charlie Shell 918-774-0857
Washington County Cherokee Association, 7 p.m.
Potluck dinner 6 p.m.
Ann Sheldon 918-333-5632
April 8
Brent, 6 p.m.
Sam Bush 918-316-1054
Marble City Pantry, 7 p.m.
Clifton Pettit 918-775-5975
Four Corners, 7 p.m.
Sue Fine 918-386-2352
April 9
Victory Cherokee Organization, 7 p.m.
918-798-2402, [email protected]
Oak Hill/Piney, 7 p.m.
Dude Feather 918-235-2811
April 11
Native American Fellowship Inc.
South Coffeyville, 6:00 p.m.
Bill Davis 913-563-9329
April 14
Rogers County Cherokee Association, 2 p.m.
Cyndi Vaughn 918-704-1588, [email protected]
April 16
Fairfield, 7 p.m.
Jeff Simpson 918-696-7959
Rocky Mountain, 7 p.m.
Doris Shell 918-207-4924
Dry Creek, 7 p.m.
Shawna Ballou 918-457-5023
April 18
Tailholt, 7 p.m.
Sam Bush 918-316-1054
April 22
Christie, 7 p.m.
Shelia Rector 918-778-3423
cherokeephoenix.org
2013
Classifieds dgCAm
The lunch begins at 11:30 a.m. at Benjamin
Wacoche Hall. Please RSVP one week ahead
of time.
Second Tuesday of each month
Cherokee Artists Association
202 E. 5th Street
Tahlequah, Okla. 918-458-0008
Web site: www.cherokeeartistsassociation.org
The CAA meets at 6 p.m. the second
Tuesday of each month.
Ewf #>hAmh • JO/
Cherokee Adairs book. Large, hard bound, well-referenced. $60 plus $6 s/h. Send to Adair Reunion
Association, 104320 S. 4610 Rd., Sallisaw, OK 74955
Building site Sallisaw. Ideal for Indian Home. $11,500 OBO. 918-773-5283
CELEBRATIONS
Mayme Irene (Glad) Weller, tribal citizen of the Cherokee Nation, celebrated her 100th birthday. Born in
the Manard area of Cherokee County on January 28, 1913, she is one of twelve children born to Fred and
May (Kerr) Glad. Her childhood was spent in Zeb where she attended grammar school. She graduated
eighth grade from Ryder School and then went to Haskell Institute in Kansas where she graduated
high school in 1933. (Now Haskell Indian Nations University.) While attending Haskell, she met, famous
Caddo citizen and athlete, Louis “Rabbit” Weller. They were married soon after graduation in Chickasha,
Oklahoma and then moved to Hobbs, New Mexico.
Louis and Mayme worked and lived in Shiprock, New Mexico
where they had three children: Faye, Louis and Joe Weller. They
later moved to Indian Village, New Mexico. Mayme worked as a
civilian security guard for Wingate Ordinance Depot for several
years. In 1948, the family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico
where Louis was employed as guidance counselor at the Indian
School. All three children graduated from Albuquerque High
School.
Mayme was employed at the BIA as accounting clerk and
employment assistance specialist. Louis worked there also after the
Indian School. Mayme retired after 30 years with the BIA.
Widowed since 1979, she has lived with her son, Joe since
1983. She is still in good health and enjoys her 9 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and 4 great-greatgrandchildren.
We want to wish our dear Aunt a Happy Birthday! We love you.
– Linda Taylor and Fran Sims
The Cherokee Phoenix publishes classified ads in good faith. However, we cannot guarantee the integrity of every ad. If you have doubts
concerning a product or service, we suggest contacting the Better Business Bureau and exercising proper caution.
Classified ads are a minimum of $5.00 for the first 10 words and 25¢ for each additional word. Ads must be prepaid by check or money
order to the Cherokee Phoenix, Attn: Classifieds, P.O. Box 948, Tahlequah, OK 74465
In Memoriam dmcdsdi
Rogan Noble
Aug. 27, 1948 – Lawrence, Kan.
Mar. 9, 2013 – Stilwell, Okla.
CN Tribal Veterans Representative
“Once a Marine, Always a Marine.”
Helen Dean Buzzard Ryals
March 23, 1930 – Jay, Okla.
February 7, 2013 - Boise, Idaho
Retired, Owner of Head Dress Barber Salon
2013 Ewf #>hAmh • JO/
mONEy • a[w
April 2013 • CHEROKEE PHOENIX
13
Oklahoma gaming tribes’
revenue up 7.7 percent
Oklahoma tribes produce
nearly $3.48 billion in
revenues in 2011.
BY STAFF REPORTS
Cherokee Nation citizen Pat Gwin feeds sheep that he raises at his Coweta, Okla.,
home. He started raising sheep 12 years ago with just two, and at one time had as
many as 40 sheep. TESINA JACKSON/CHEROKEE PHOENIX
3 CN citizens raise
sheep for extra income
BY TESINA JACKSON
Reporter
COWETA, Okla. – For the past 12 years,
Cherokee Nation citizen Pat Gwin has raised,
bred and sold Katahdin sheep to supplement
his family’s income and as a food source.
“The reason I began doing this was to
supplement my family’s food supply, which
resulted from the job I do. I sometimes have to
deal with confined animal feeding operations,
and the first one of those I did I said ‘I will do
the most I can to keep from giving those folks
business’ because I have differences with the
way animals like that are treated,” Gwin said.
“I wanted to be proactive and I began raising
sheep. I wanted to make sure I knew where my
food was coming from.”
Gwin raises Katahdin sheep, which were
developed in Maine and originated by Michael
Piel in 1956.
He started with just two sheep and added
two each year. At one time he had as many as
40 sheep.
“Most small sheep producers, like myself,
they will go and buy baby ewe lambs, small
female lambs. They will raise those up to
breeding age, which is anywhere from about 6
and 8 months old, and then I will rent a ram,
rent a male, and a male will service 20 animals
in about a month,” he said.
Most sheep usually have two breeding
cycles in a year, with each cycle being about
five months. The first year ewes have a single
lamb. The next cycle usually brings twins.
Gwin said he tries to rotate his ewes, or
female sheep, out when they reach 4 years of
age. When it comes to selling his sheep, he
sometimes takes them to a custom processor.
Other times, people come to his house and
purchase them.
“It’s been a supplement to my income,”
Gwin said. “I have more people wanting to
come and purchase animals from me than I
have that are available.”
He said typically a person can get 100 to 120
pounds of meat from a mature sheep and sell
it for a shelf price of anywhere from $6 to $12
per pound. He said he usually keeps half of the
meat for his family and sells the rest, which
allows him to spend less on store-bought meat.
“Lamb is very healthy meat,” he said.
“Number one is it’s grass fed. I don’t use any
chemicals at all in my operation. I know I have
no steroids. I know I have no antibiotics, and
being familiar with the red meat production
processes in the United States, I know I have a
very healthy supply of red meat and I wouldn’t
have it any other way. I think the taste and the
quality is much higher than what you could
get in the store.”
CN citizens Ryan Callison and Dan Carter
are two other sheep farmers who typically
raise sheep for commercial purposes.
Callison owns and operates Roundtop
Dorper Sheep in Gore. He started with six
sheep four years ago to help clear brush on his
land. Today, he has more than 30 sheep.
The Dorper is a South African breed
created by the South African Department of
Agriculture for meat.
Callison said one reason he chose the Dorper
breed was because of its low maintenance of
care and distinctive traits. Like the Katahdin
sheep, the Dorper sheds every year so it doesn’t
need to be sheared.
“Raising sheep is really kind of a renewable
resource in a way because they’re providing
multiple benefits for us,” he said. “One is brush
control, and secondly is a little bit of income.
It’s a renewable resource basically. Our grass
grows. Our sheep eat it, and we raise the
animals and sell them so it’s kind of a win-win
thing for us.”
Callison said when he sells sheep at the
market, prices are anywhere from $1.50 to
more than $2 per pound.
Carter of Teresita started with two Dorper
lambs eight years ago. He also sells sheep
and lamb for a market price but travels to
Diamond, Mo., to do so.
“We supplement our income raising the
sheep and selling the wethers (castrated
male sheep), and we sell ewes from time to
time,” he said.
Today, Carter has 84 male and female sheep
and 51 lambs, all originating from his first two
lambs. Like Callison, Carter began raising
sheep to clear land, and on average, he can
earn $400 a year on one ewe.
“If you manage it correctly it could be
pretty good to supplement your income,”
he said. “Here, the big draw for me was the
weed control and the grass control without
pesticides.”
[email protected]
918-453-5000, ext. 6139
OKLAHOMA CITY – According to a
California economist’s report released on Feb.
27, Oklahoma Indian gaming tribes produced
nearly $3.48 billion in revenues in 2011 – an
increase of 7.7 percent over 2010’s $3.23 billion.
The 7.7 percent more than doubles the 3.4
percent national Indian gaming growth rate,
according to the 2013 Casino City’s Indian
Gaming Industry Report by economist Alan
Meister, of Nathan Associates Inc.
Gaming tribes in Oklahoma also created
about $49.4 million in nongaming revenue
from sources such as beverages, food,
shopping, lodging and entertainment at
gaming facilities in 2011, a 7.9 percent increase
over 2010, the report states.
Despite the rise in revenue from gaming
tribes in Oklahoma, the state received less
money from tribal compact fees. In 2011,
the state garnered $121.7 million, which
was down from $122.7 million in 2010, state
officials said.
The report states the reason for the drop in
compact fees was because Oklahoma gaming
tribes decreased the percentage of compacted
nonhouse-banked table games such as poker,
as well as the percentage of Class III games.
It also states Oklahoma tribes increased
the number of Class II games, which do not
require compact fees.
According to the report, gaming tribes in
Oklahoma increased the percentages of Class
III games from 2005-08 as the National Indian
Gaming Commission tightened Class II game
limitations, making them less like Class III
Patrons play machines at the Cherokee
Nation’s Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tulsa in Catoosa, Okla. According to a
Feb. 27 study, Oklahoma Indian gaming
tribes produced nearly $3.48 billion in
revenues in 2011 – an increase of 7.7
percent over 2010’s $3.23 billion.
WILL CHAVEZ/CHEROKEE PHOENIX
games. However, in 2008 the NIGC withdrew
those limitations, which led to a decline of Class
III games, dropping to 60 percent in 2011.
In 2012, however, Oklahoma gaming tribes
paid more to the state as compact fees rose to
nearly $127.8 million. State officials said this was
due to more casinos operating more total games
rather than more Class III games being installed.
According to the report, Indian gaming
generated about $27.43 billion nationally in
2011, a 3 percent increase over 2010’s total.
The revenue increase is the second in as many
years following a first-ever drop in Indian
casino revenue in 2009 as the worst recession
in decades took its toll on consumer spending.
The back-to-back increases in revenue are
encouraging, the report said.
“The question is how much further can
Indian gaming grow?” author Alan Meister said.
The outlook for Indian gambling now
appears healthy because the economy is
expected to continue improving, restoring
consumer spending, Meister said. In addition,
many tribes are upgrading, expanding and
replacing casinos.
The report states that nationally 242 tribes
operated more than 7,700 table games and
341,000 gaming machines in 460 gaming
facilities in 28 states. Those tribes also provided
approximately $12.3 billion in wages and
339,000 jobs, the report states. It added that
tribal casinos nationally paid approximately
$1.4 billion to nontribal governments.
But the long-term outlook for Indian
gambling is uncertain, Meister said. Potential
threats include continuing legal challenges –
such as a land dispute court case in Michigan
that Meister said increases the likelihood of
other legal challenges to gambling projects
– and state regulations that restrict Indian
casinos and limit expansion. Indian casinos
face “a lot more” restrictions than their
commercial counterparts, he said.
“That, in some ways, holds back Indian
gaming from what it could potentially be,”
Meister said.
Other potential challenges include
increasingly saturated markets, rising
competition and Internet gambling.
Indian gambling generated about 43
percent of U.S. casino gambling revenue in
2011, the report states. Revenue at commercial
casinos was 45 percent and revenue from
racinos – casinos that operate at race tracks
– accounted for the remaining 12 percent.
That’s unchanged from 2010, but represents a
huge gain from the Indian casino share of less
than 20 percent in 1993.
Both Indian and commercial casinos could
lose business to racinos, he said. State approval
of gambling is easier at race tracks where
betting already occurs than establishing new
casinos, Meister said.
Revenue growth varied from as much as
26 percent in Alabama to minus 3 percent in
New York. After Alabama, the fastest-growing
states were Mississippi, Montana, North
Carolina and Oklahoma.
The top five states – Washington, Florida,
Connecticut, California and Oklahoma
– accounted for about 61 percent of total
gambling revenue.
Ironically, the weak economy has helped
spur casino growth among states seeking more
revenue, Meister said.
For more information, visit www.
casinocitypress.com.
–The AP contributed to this report.
14
CHEROKEE PHOENIX • April 2013
EduCatION • #n[]Qsd
Powwow dancers enter the Northeastern State University Center Ballroom for
grand entry during a past Symposium on the American Indian in Tahlequah, Okla.
COURTESY PHOTO
NSU to host 41st
Indian symposium
BY STAFF REPORTS
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Northeastern State
University and its Center for Tribal Studies are
inviting people to the 41st annual Symposium
on the American Indian on April 10-13 at its
Tahlequah campus.
This year’s theme is “Technology Future,
Technology Past: A Woven Link.”
“Indigenous societies have endured as
technological innovations have effected
massive cultural change. The spiritual paths
taken are interwoven as living links between
the past and the future,” the event’s website
states. “As we enter the environment of
cloud technologies, the rapid acceleration of
computer engineering is in some ways leading
us into a complex realm of little understood
ecosystems through which we must,
sometimes blindly, navigate. In the Native
universe, we must carefully consider our trust
relationship with technology.”
Confirmed keynote speakers are Charles
“Chief ” Boyd, Dr. Daniel Littlefield Jr., Dr.
Daniel Wildcat, Bunky Echo-Hawk, Dr.
Colleen Fitzgerald and Dr. Pamela Munro.
Boyd has been an architect with Thalden
Boyd Emery Architects since 1978 and is a
graduate of the University of Colorado-Boulder.
He has experience with American Indian
projects beginning in 1963 with the Cherokee
Heritage Center, and his keynote symposium
address will observe its 50th anniversary. He
has worked with 45 tribes across the country
and is a renowned Native American architect.
Since 1964, he has been the official architect to
the Cherokee National Historical Society and
serves on its board. He is the architect of the
CHC’s Ancient Village addition.
Littlefield is a history scholar and
director of the Sequoyah National Research
Center at the University of Arkansas-Little
Rock, home to the American Native Press
Archives, which he co-founded in 1983. The
ANPA contains newspaper and periodical
publications from more than 2,100 titles by
American Indian nations, individuals and
organizations. It also contains American
Indian manuscripts, scholarly works and
records and biographical information on
about 4,500 Native American writers.
Wildcat is a professor at Haskell Indian
Nations University in Lawrence, Kan., with
published works on indigenous knowledge,
technology, environment and education. He is
also co-director of the Haskell Environmental
Research Studies Center, which he founded
with colleagues from the Center for Hazardous
Substance Research at Kansas State University.
A Yuchi citizen of the Muscogee (Creek)
Nation, Wildcat is co-author of “Power and
Place: Indian Education in America” and coeditor of “Destroying Dogma: Vine Deloria Jr.,
and His Influence on American Society.”
Echo-Hawk is a multifaceted creator of
art whose work spans media, lifestyle and
pop culture. A graduate of the Institute of
American Indian Arts, he is an artist, graphic
designer, photographer, writer and a nonprofit
professional. He is also a Pawnee/Yakama
singer and dancer.
Munro is a professor of linguistics at
the University of California-Los Angeles
specializing in American Indian languages.
She helped create the dictionaries for the
San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec, Chickasaw and
Wolof tribes.
Leading the annual Indigenous Language
Documentation and Revitalization Seminar,
co-sponsored by the Oklahoma Native
Language Association, is Fitzgerald from the
University of Texas-Arlington and Dr. Brad
Montgomery-Anderson of the NSU College
of Liberal Arts. Fitzgerald and MontgomeryAnderson will conduct the seminar from 6
p.m. to 8 p.m. on April 11 and from 8 a.m. to
5 p.m. on April 12 in the University Center
Morgan Room.
Participation is free and open to
Native language practitioners, speakers,
students and others interested in language
revitalization. The seminar is supported by
an Oklahoma Humanities Council grant and
is open to the public.
Other scheduled presenters are Becky
Chandler and Karissa Pickett of Chickasaw
Nation Communications and Creative
Services, as well as Tom Mooney, Mickel
Yantz and Tonia Hogner of the CHC.
Luncheon speakers are Chris Samples of
Redstone Construction and Cherokee Nation
storyteller Robert Lewis.
A pre-symposium film series is set for
April 8-9 with the symposium schedule
running April 10-13.
The annual powwow is scheduled for 6 p.m.
to 10 p.m. on April 12 and 2 p.m. to midnight
on April 13 in the University Center Ballroom.
The Friday schedule includes gourd dancing at
6 p.m. and the grand entry at 8 p.m. Saturday
opens with gourd dancing, the powwow
dinner at 5 p.m. and the grand entry at 7 p.m.
All activities are free and open to the public.
The Center for Tribal Studies and the
American Indian Heritage Committee
organized this year’s symposium. In
collaboration with the CHC, this year’s event
will highlight the CNHS’ 50th anniversary.
For more information, call the Center
for Tribal Studies at 918-444-4350. Vendor,
sponsor and agenda information is available at
www.nsuok.edu/symposium.
CNB hosts job shadowing day
Sequoyah High School
students get the chance
to gain knowledge
about Cherokee Nation
Businesses professions.
BY TESINA JACKSON
Reporter
CATOOSA, Okla. – In conjunction with
Junior Achievement of Oklahoma, Cherokee
Nation Businesses on March 6 hosted its first
job shadowing day to allow 19 Sequoyah High
School students to gain knowledge about CNB
professions.
“They’re our future leaders for the
businesses, and we hope that they will take
the opportunity to check out what we do and
hopefully decide to at some point in the future
join us and help us help the Cherokee people,”
CNB CEO Shawn Slaton said.
Four juniors and 15 seniors were given an
overview of CNB and learned about Cherokee
Nation Entertainment, Cherokee Nation
Industries and the company’s diversified
businesses, including security and defense,
environmental and construction, health care
and technology.
SHS English teacher Tonya Fowler said the
even was a good opportunity for students to
see what the Cherokee Nation has to offer.
“Some of the students are undecided about
what they really want to do when they leave
high school,” Fowler said. “Many of them
have plans to go to college, but they don’t
know what they’re going to do when they get
to college. They don’t know what to major in.
They realize that they are going to have to take
the basic classes for the first couple years, but
then after that what do they do?”
To understand what CNB career
opportunities are available, students broke
into small groups to speak with CNB
executive leaders such as Brian Morris, vice
president of engineering for CNI; Cheryl
Cohenour, president of Cherokee CRC;
Stephen Bilby, president of CNB’s diversified
businesses; Todd Gourd, Mobility Plus
president; Amanda Clinton, CNB director
of communications; and Jennylynn Morton,
Cherokee Nation Health care Services
operations general manager.
SHS senior Lanny Drapeau said he plans to
pursue a business technology career.
“I’m hoping to get more experience and see
how everything works around here,” he said.
After group sessions, students toured the
building where CNB entities such as Cherokee
CRC, Cherokee Services Group/ITX and
Cherokee Nation Security and Safety occupy
the building.
The students finished the day with CNB’s
Employee and Leadership Development team
by learning about the interview process and
professionalism.
In the future, CNB officials said they plan
to expand the program and provide the
experience to all interested Cherokee junior
and seniors.
[email protected]
918-453-5000, ext. 6139
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2013
HEaltH • aBk 0sr
2013 Ewf #>hAmh • JO/
April 2013 • CHEROKEE PHOENIX
CN Healthy Nation expands Tobacco Tour
BY TESINA JACKSON
Reporter
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – For the first time,
the Cherokee Nation’s Healthy Nation Tobacco
Tour recently went outside of the tribe’s
jurisdiction by speaking to students at two
Mulberry, Ark., schools.
Greg Bilby, Healthy Nation public health
educator and outreach coordinator, said an
email from a school nurse sparked the idea to
travel to Mulberry, which is located in Crawford
County in western Arkansas.
“I was forwarded an email from a school nurse
in Mulberry, Ark., asking for information about
the Tobacco Tour,” Bilby said. “After trading a few
emails, she wanted to book us for two schools.
We were pretty excited because this would be
the first time we would take the Tobacco Tour
outside Cherokee Nation’s boundaries, let alone,
to another state.”
The Tobacco Tour, which is aimed at students
in fourth grade through high school, began with
only two speakers in November 2008 to raise
awareness about lung cancer.
“It was supposed to be just a one-time effort
for that month, but that’s when it started to take
on a life of its own,” Bilby said.
During the next couple of years, the program
added elements such as storytelling from
Cherokee storyteller Robert Lewis; a personal
survivor story from Ronnie Trentham, who was
diagnosed with oral cancer; and Brian Jackson,
who holds 15 Guinness World Records and is
known as the I Believe Guy.
Bilby said the tour has presented at assemblies
as large as 600 students and as small as 10
students and has delivered its message to more
than 9,000 students within the CN and the
Mulberry schools.
The presentation consists of Lewis telling
traditional Cherokee stories by using volunteers
from the audience to act out the stories. Each
story is significant to Cherokee culture and ties
into the anti-tobacco message.
BY WILL CHAVEZ
Senior Reporter
Robert Lewis, far left, Brian Jackson, Greg Bilby and Ronnie Trentham present the
Cherokee Nation Healthy Nation Tobacco Tour recently at a school in Mulberry, Ark.
This is the first year the program has expanded outside of the Nation’s jurisdiction.
COURTESY PHOTO
Trentham tells his story about how he started
using chewing tobacco as a teen because his
friends did. He only chewed for six years but
believes that is what caused the cancer in his jaw.
During his segment, Trentham provides pictures
of the surgery that removed a portion of the
cancerous jawbone and the radiation treatments
that followed.
“Even though Ronnie’s pictures and his
story really grabs the attention of the kids, it’s a
picture called “The Hairy Tongue” that gets the
biggest reaction,” Bilby said. “It is a picture of
a tongue with taste buds that are now covered
with cancerous cells that resembles a patch of
dead grass.”
Jackson tells his story of how he once faced
prison time because of some bad choices he
made as a teen. To show the kids how good
choices have taken him places, he shows video
Just give me a list
Recently,
after
spending quite a bit of
time with a patient, the
patient looked at me
and said “aren’t’ you
just going to give me a list of good foods and
bad foods?” This wasn’t the first I had heard
this statement. Could this diet stuff be that
simple? Would a list really do the job for most
people? It’s doubtful, but it’s got me thinking.
What would these “lists” look like?
The Academy of Food and Dietetics
(formerly American Dietetic Association)
suggests that there are no such things as
“bad” foods and that all foods can healthfully
fit into a meal plan in moderation. For the
most part, I agree, but obviously there are
foods that are healthier than others, and
many people struggle with the concept
of moderation. To complicate matters,
moderation may mean different things to
different people based on age, activity level
or disease state. For example, an active teen
boy can probably afford the calories of two
cookies, while a sedentary middle-aged
woman should stop at one.
My college Basic Nutrition book defines
moderation as “not too much or too little.” It
Redbird Smith
Health Center
addition plans
unveiled
The original center was
forced to close in 2012
because of mold.
clips of his TV appearances and some famous
folks he has met.
Bilby said the presentation doesn’t condemn
the traditional use of tobacco for sacred
American Indian ceremonies but is designed to
teach students about the danger of commercial
tobacco use and how it can lead to cancer and
other health-related issues. He said it is important
to expand the Tobacco Tour because youth are
still using tobacco across the United States.
“The underlying theme of the Tobacco Tour is
they (youth) have the power to choose,” he said.
“They can choose to use their gifts and talents to
their fullest potential, but if they choose to use
commercial tobacco, drugs or alcohol they may
not be able to reach those goals and dreams.”
[email protected]
918-453-5000, ext. 6139
DIETITIAN’S CORNER
BY RACHELLE
HOLMAN
Registered Dietitian
15
does go on to say “moderation does not mean
that you have to eliminate low nutrient foods
from your diet, but that you can include
them on occasion.” Taking that information,
I would think that one could enjoy foods off
that “bad foods” list on occasion. Say maybe
not daily, once or twice a week or for those on
the “really bad” list only on special occasions
like birthday or anniversary.
Going back to the lists. Since I don’t want
to offend anyone, rather than listing specifics
let’s look at the characteristics that would
earn food a place on the naughty list. The top
of the list would be foods that contain transfats. These are solid fats that are manufactured
from liquid oils (stick margarine and
shortening) through the process of partial
hydrogenation. Foods that would use these
ingredients would make the list. In 2006,
food labels were required to list trans-fats on
the package. Be sure that there are zero grams
and read the ingredients list for “partially
hydrogenated” oils. Fried foods would also
top my list (many are prepared using trans
fats) as they are generally high in calories
and total fat. Highly processed meats, most
breakfast meats and convenience dinner
items would make this list, primarily due to
extra preservatives and sodium. High sugar
items should be enjoyed “in moderation”
as well as many carry high calorie content.
Refined grains are considered “less healthy”
as they have been stripped of the greatest
nutrients that are found in whole grains.
Foods on the “good” list include those
that are consumed as they are found most
naturally such as fresh fruits and vegetables.
Whole grain products are on the good list,
especially those considered old grains such
as barley, millet, buckwheat, quinoa and oats.
Beans, dried peas, nuts and small quantities
of natural seeds are good sources of protein
as are lean cuts of beef and poultry and
the occasional egg. Fatty fish such as tuna,
salmon and mackerel are all great sources of
omega-3 fats, which are beneficial to heart
health. Low-fat dairy products, yogurts
and small portions of cheese would also be
included on my “good” list. As for beverages,
nothing tops water, skim milk, unsweet tea
and coffee. “Moderation” has been clearly
defined in regards to alcohol as no more than
one drink per day per woman and no more
than two drinks per day per man (1 drink = 1
beer, 1 1/2 oz. alcohol or 5 oz. wine).
So there, I’ve made a couple of lists. It’s
important to note that too much of a good
thing can sometimes be a bad thing. This
is especially true when it comes to dietary
supplements such as vitamins. Always
discuss over-the-counter supplements with
your primary care provider or registered
dietitian. Remember that overall calorie
intake does matter when trying to manage
body weight and those with specific disease
states may require more (or less) of certain
food groups.
SALLISAW, Okla. – The interior of the
Cherokee Nation’s Redbird Smith Health
Center is being renovated as plans move
forward to add 30,000 square feet of
space to the center.
Mold was found in the health center’s
dental clinic in August, forcing officials
to close it while the mold was removed.
Built in 1992, the facility was the first
health clinic to be constructed from the
ground up under CN management.
CN Health Services Executive Director
Connie Davis said the abatement or
cleanup of mold in the clinic is done,
which required every wall in the facility
to be removed. She said the building
was completely gutted leaving only the
building’s skeleton and pipes. Work crews
are expected to soon begin replacing
walls and other interior fixtures.
Davis said the total project cost is $12
million, which includes the renovated
clinic and the 30,000-square-foot annex
addition. The annex is located behind the
original clinic and work on the addition
is expected to begin this summer after
an expected groundbreaking in June.
The original clinic had 13 exam rooms,
three treatment areas and two pediatric
exam rooms. The addition will have 22
exam rooms, two treatment rooms, two
procedure rooms, four pediatric exam
rooms and an immunization room.
Davis said talk of the expansion has
increased interest from health providers
wanting to work at the center.
“They see what we’ve done in
Muskogee and what we’ve done in Vinita.
Those clinics are very appealing, and I
think it’s going to help us recruit a whole
different level of providers,” she said.
The projected work time for the
addition is approximately 24 months.
Davis said renovations to the original
clinic should be complete before the
addition is finished. When the addition
is done the health center will have 62,769
square feet of space, she said.
Currently, patients are seen in the
11,444-square-foot annex and mobile
clinics. About 10,000 patients visit the
center each month for medical, dental,
optometry, radiology, behavioral health,
public health nursing, health promotion/
disease
prevention,
pharmacy,
laboratory, nutrition, WIC and contract
health care services.
[email protected]
918-207-3961
…I think it’s going
to help us recruit a
whole different level of
providers.
– Connie Davis, Health
Services executive director
16
CHEROKEE PHOENIX • April 2013
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TMI launches Cherokee language video game
BY TESINA JACKSON
Reporter
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Thornton Media
Inc. has developed a new 3-D video game
designed to help revitalize the Cherokee
language. Formerly called “RezWorld,” the
newly named “Talking Games” gives players
the chance to learn Cherokee while playing a
video game.
“In some ways it’s a regular role-playing 3-D
video game, but in this game, it’s equipped
with an automated speech recognizer with
the target language and you have certain goals
that you have to meet at every level,” TMI
President and CEO Don Thornton said.
Founded in 1995, TMI has created custom
language tools for more than 170 American
Indian tribes and Canadian First Nations.
It relocated from southern California to
Las Vegas in 2010 and is the only high-tech
language learning company in the world
devoted to the accelerated and better learning An interactive screenshot of Thornton Media Inc.’s “Talking Games” at www.
of all languages as well as the revitalization of kickstarter.com. The game gives players the chance to learn the Cherokee language
indigenous tongues.
while playing a video game. KICKSTARTER WEBSITE
Thornton, a Cherokee Nation citizen, said
Not only is “Talking Games” available in actually an all-or-nothing thing. Either we
Cherokee was his mother’s first language
and he felt it was important to promote that the Cherokee language, but also in Spanish. raise the money and go forward or we get
Thornton said he hopes to create more videos nothing.”
language and honor his family.
If TMI raises the funds, the game will
In the game, the player is the main character with different languages.
“It’s actually an attempt to create a mass be distributed on the Internet. To view the
who must speak Cherokee with other
market product that would compete with game, visit http://www.kickstarter.com/
characters to reach game objectives.
“You’re actual goal is to learn the language, major language tools that are out there for all projects/783297741/talking-games-play-avideo-game-learn-a-new-langua?ref=email.
but you have questions and trainings that help languages,” he said.
To raise funds to continue producing the
TMI has also created an app available for
you to learn the language,” Thornton said.
The game’s plot involves the main character game in Cherokee and Spanish, the Cherokee iPads called “Cherokee Baby Flashcards,”
losing his memory and the ability to speak his version of “Talking Games” is available on which is available in iTunes for $2.99 and
language after being involved in a car accident. www.kickstarter.com where people can view will soon be available for iPhones. Thornton
His friends and family, who do not speak or the video for 32 days starting March 11. The said the app contains reading, speaking and
listening quizzes at easy, medium and hard
understand English, have to help the character company’s goal is to raise $350,000.
“If we raise that, that will build two games. levels.
regain his language.
“There are also other characters like Big One for Cherokee and one for Spanish,”
[email protected]
Foot, and you may have to fight a ninja and Thornton said. “If we don’t raise the money
then everyone gets their money back. It’s
918-453-5000, ext. 6139
zombies,” Thornton said.
Women’s Cherokee syllabary watch available
BY STAFF REPORTS
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Cherokee
Nation Gift Shop recently introduced its
Cherokee language-faced ladies watch.
According to a Cherokee Nation Businesses
press release, the watch uses the written
Cherokee language as its face and “is a shining
expression of the tribe’s culture.”
“This one-of-a-kind watch is another way
we’re working to promote Cherokee culture to
a modern audience,” Principal Chief Bill John
Baker said. “Continuing to use the Cherokee
syllabary is an important part of preserving
our history and language.”
The watch will feature a silver body and
band as well as a silver dial with the tribe’s
logo and seven-pointed star. Around the
dial will be the syllabary markers in the
Cherokee language.
The watch will sell for $85 and will be
available for purchase at the Cherokee Gift
Shop Tahlequah, Cherokee Art Gallery Hard
Rock and online at CherokeeGiftShop.com.
The Gift Shop continues to sell the men’s
watch displaying the Cherokee language, but
in limited supply. Along with the new watch,
the Cherokee Nation continues to increase
Cherokee language-based retail items, the
release stated.
“This winter, Cherokee Nation introduced
hooded sweatshirts featuring the University
of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University
logos in the Cherokee language. The Cherokee
Nation Gift Shop features a wide selection of
Cherokee and Native American art including
authentic baskets, sculptures, paintings,
jewelry and more,” the release stated.
Cherokee merchandise includes distinctive
Cherokee-branded apparel such as Cherokee
Nation ‘Osiyo’ T-shirts, books along with
historical and genealogical literature, authentic
jewelry, cultural CDs and other materials and
Cherokee gifts like distinctive dolls, pins and
Pendleton blankets. Much of the merchandise
is available on the website.
For more information, call 1-877-779-6977
or visit CherokeeGiftShop.com.
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2013
Service to
commemorate
Cherokee removal’s
175th anniversary
BY STAFF REPORTS
CALHOUN, Ga. – A memorial service will
be held at 2 p.m. on May 18 at the New Echota
historic site in Calhoun to commemorate the
175th anniversary of the removal of Cherokees
from Georgia that began in May 1838.
The “175 Years: Cherokee Trail of Tears
Memorial Service – Honor and Remember” is
free and open to the public. However, regular
admission applies to the museum/site tour.
Presenters will include Cherokee tribal
representatives and Trail of Tears Association
President Jack Baker, who is also a Cherokee
Nation Tribal Councilor. The All Nations
Warrior Society Honor Guard accompanied by
the Medicine Ridge Singers from the Eastern
Band of the Cherokee Indians will conduct flag
and honor ceremonies and place a wreath at
the Trail of Tears Monument.
Tommy Wildcat will represent the CN as its
tribal emissary. Wildcat is a cultural educator,
historical storyteller and an internationally
known recording artist and performer.
Sammy Still will represent the United
Keetoowah Band. Still serves as the UKB’s
public information officer and editor of the
Cherokee Gaduwa News. He is also a founding
member of the Turtle Island Liars Club, a
group that preserves the tradition Cherokee
storytelling.
The 1835 New Echota Treaty relinquished
Cherokee claims to land east of the Mississippi
River. The majority of the Cherokee people
considered the treaty fraudulent. On May 26,
1838, the U.S. government and the state of
Georgia began the forced removal of more than
16,000 Cherokee people from their homelands
to Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma.
Although the exact number is not known,
disease, exposure and sickness claimed
thousands of Cherokee lives during the
course of their capture, imprisonment and
removal. Their ordeal became known as the
Trail of Tears.
Opportunities are available to become
involved or volunteer. For more information,
call 706-624-1321. Tax-deductible donations
to support these efforts may be made to Friends
of New Echota State Historic Site and mailed to
FONE, P. O. Box 643, Resaca, GA 30735-0643.
The host hotel for the May 17-18 memorial
event is the Baymont Inn & Suites at 189
Jameson St., in Calhoun.
For more information, call 706-629-8133
or 1-800-526-3766 or visit calhoun.ga@
cphosp.com.
2013 Ewf #>hAmh • JO/
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A collage showing the availability of the Cherokee language in today’s technology.
ROY BONEY/LANGUAGE TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST
Technology specialists help
advance Cherokee language
BY JAMI CUSTER
Reporter
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Cherokee Nation
citizens and language technology specialists
– Roy Boney Jr., Jeff Edwards and Joseph
Erb – have been instrumental in expanding
the Cherokee language with 21st century
technologies.
Advancements include the language’s
availability on the iPhone, iPad and iPod, as
well as on Google and in Google email. The
journey to get the language where it is today
has been interesting, Boney said, because each
man has different skills and interests, which
when combined create ideas that further the
language.
“It all comes back to Joseph, Jeff and I. We’re
artists. We’re not computer technicians or
anything. So this kind of goes back to finding
a creative solution to a problem that we may
have,” Boney said. “The problem was that
the Cherokee language is not supported on
computers and other devices, so we decided
‘hey we got to fix this.’ And getting there, we
may not have had the technical skills, but we
had the ability to come up with a solution.”
He said a big part of the job is creativity, but
having an adventurous streak, such as asking
Apple to add the Cherokee language on its
products, doesn’t hurt.
“You don’t know if they’re going to do it or
not, but they did end up helping us, so we’re
risk takers and we enjoy our work,” he said.
“We have fun and we work together real well.
We collaborate a lot and constantly bounce
ideas off each other.”
Boney said he, Erb, Edwards, as well as
language translator Durbin Feeling, ensure
the language is compatible with technology
and that the effort began nearly five years ago
while he and Erb were creating materials for
the Cherokee Language Immersion School.
“The school at the time had been going for a
couple years or so and they needed technology
in the classroom because they were doing
everything by hand. So the goal was so they
could use their tools in their language. And
that kind of led to working with Apple,” he
said. “So we introduced the MacBook’s into
the Cherokee classes and that kind of took off.
At this time it was right when the iPhone came
out. So our assumption was if Apple can put
it on the desktop system it should go in the
phone.”
Soon after, a partnership was formed with
Apple to design a keyboard.
“Now every Apple device, mobile device,
the iPhone, the iPod, the iPad, they all support
the Cherokee language. You can type in
Cherokee. You can text. You can email…you
can do all this in the language. And this is
right on the device,” he said. “There is no app
to download. It’s actually part of it. So this
development caused a lot of interest in the
Cherokee language around the world and that
led to further partnerships.”
Boney said some of the other partnerships
are with Facebook and Microsoft, including
a Microsoft translation project that is one of
the largest in modern history. In late 2012,
Cherokee became the first Native American
language to be integrated into a Windows
system. Sixteen CN language translators and
other staff members worked with Microsoft
to prepare the integration of Cherokee into
Windows 8. Cherokee translators translated
more than 180,000 words, the largest
Cherokee translation project since the Bible
was translated in the 1800s.
“It could not have been done without our
translators. Durbin Feeling was the lead
translator on that project. And they had to
come up with these new terms for this new
technology, which did not exist in Cherokee.
So that was quite a challenge,” Boney said.
He said when one looks at Cherokee history,
the Cherokee people have always adapted well
to the times.
“Like when the trading began with the
Europeans, we took their materials and we
would use it for our own purposes…so there
is always an adaptation to technology,” Boney
said. “So when Sequoyah invented the writing
system, initially it was handwritten. The
Cherokee Nation decided ‘hey, we need to go
to a printing press,’ so they modified it to fit the
printing press, which is the technology of that
time. And that led to typewriters, to computers
to fonts. So there’s this line of continuation of
technology that we’re always adopting.”
Edwards said his job is to work with major
technology companies to get the Cherokee
language represented on the companies’
products.
“Their devices, operating systems, Internet
– just anything dealing with technology – we
try to get the Cherokee language supported
on it,” he said. “It is pretty crazy work, but we
do it so much and we’ve done it for so many
years it’s kind of just like every day life. It’s very
rewarding in the end.”
Erb said digitizing the Cherokee language
and ensuring its accessibility on many types
of electronic devices is necessary for the
language’s continuation.
“To make sure that from now on our
language will be used in the communities at
lightning speed…that’s really exciting to see
Cherokee in text messaging and email,” he
said. “We’re pretty pleased with the last few
years in this department and how we’ve been
able to kind of come together and make some
big things happen.”
Erb said if substantial jumps in the Cherokee
language’s use do not continue as technology
does, the language could be lost for future
Cherokee speakers.
“We’re an endangered language, so we have
to make sure that this occurs,” he said. “We’re
really proud that we’ve been able to accomplish
what we can.”
Boney said “more stuff ” is in the works,
though it cannot be shared publicly yet,
because language technological advances will
help sustain the Cherokee language.
[email protected]
918-453-5560
Gathering of Nations
to celebrate 30th year
BY STAFF REPORTS
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Gathering
of Nations, the world’s largest gathering of
Native American and indigenous people, will
celebrate its 30th anniversary in Albuquerque
on April 25-27.
The three-day event will host more than
700 tribes from around the world honoring
three decades of Native American culture
and traditions. The event includes more
than 3,000 traditional Native American
singers and dancers, more than 800 Native
American artisans and dozens of indigenous
contemporary musicians and performers.
Miss Indian World – a Native American
and indigenous women representing different
tribes and traditions who compete in the
areas of tribal knowledge, dancing ability and
personality assessment – will also be crowned.
The first Gathering of Nations was in 1983
at the former University of Albuquerque. In
1984, the powwow was relocated to the New
Mexico State Fair Grounds and eventually
moved to its current location, the University
of New Mexico Arena in 1986. Throughout the
years, it became the largest Native American
powwow in North America.
The Gathering of Nations is also celebrating
its 30th anniversary with the release of a new
book, “30 Years of Gathering: Gathering of
Nations Powwow,” and the launch of Gathering
of Nations Internet Radio on the iHeartRadio
network.
The Gathering of Nations begins at 7 p.m.
on April 25 at the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel
Albuquerque with the Miss Indian World
competition. The powwow will start with the
grand entry at noon on April 26 and will be
repeated that evening at 7 p.m. and at noon
and 6 p.m. on April 27. The new Miss Indian
World will be crowned on Saturday evening
during the powwow.
For more information, visit http://www.
gatheringofnations.com/powwow/index.htm
April 2013 • CHEROKEE PHOENIX
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Cherokee Children’s Mission provides safe ‘Saturday place’
BY WILL CHAVEZ
Senior Reporter
BUNCH, Okla. – The Cherokee Children’s
Mission is an outreach ministry mission in
Adair County that’s been providing a safe
“Saturday place” for Cherokee children for
more than 40 years.
CCM Co-Director Nanette Ketcher
said about 35 children visit the mission on
Saturdays with chapel beginning at 10 a.m.
Before the children leave at 1:30 p.m., they are
fed breakfast, lunch and a snack.
“We’re a Saturday place. We bus kids in
for a Saturday Sunday school. We don’t teach
any doctrine whatsoever. It’s just basic Bible
stories,” she said.
She and her husband Ray are reopening the
mission in March. They closed it in November
after the death of their son Zach.
“We shut down until we could get our act
together. It’s been really hard. He was just 28,”
Nanette said.
She said they operate the mission
throughout the fall and winter months into
the spring and early summer. They take a
break while Nanette is on summer vacation
from teaching at nearby Zion Elementary.
“We do all major holidays for the kids. We
do Christmas, and we do Easter baskets for the
kids and have an Easter program for the kids,
but that’s in addition to the regular Saturday
stuff that we do,” she said.
On Saturday mornings, Ray drives a bus to
Stilwell, about 10 miles away, while Nanette
drives to Greasy in southern Adair County
to pick up children. Parents also bring their
children to the mission.
Ray or “Uncle Ray,” as some children call
him, said he enjoys seeing the children’s
smiling faces and hopes he and Nanette are
providing them with a good direction in life.
“Just being able to help them gives me
A sign written in Cherokee greets
visitors to the Cherokee Children’s
Mission chapel located near Bunch, Okla.
Churches and missions there have served
Cherokee people for more than 100
years. Translated, the first four words are
“Cherokee Children’s Mission School.”
satisfaction. And then you think ‘I’m tired
and I can’t do this anymore,’ but then kind of
miss it and you miss the kids,” Nanette said.
“You don’t know what they’ve been through
that week, and for me to know they have a
sanctuary to come to feels good.”
The mission has a chapel, kitchen, dining
room, office and classroom. It also has a
building with a second classroom, toy room
and three extra rooms, which are used for
groups who assist the mission. There is also a
building with bathrooms and showers.
The mission also has a long history, serving
as the Mallow Hollow Methodist Church for
60 years beginning in the late 1800s, CCM
volunteer Micah Wilkie said. He said it was
also a Pentecostal Church before being sold
in the 1960s to become the Cherokee Indian
Children’s School for 10 years. The property
was again sold to a Pentecostal group that
operated the Cherokee Children’s Mission
School before Jimmie and Doris Varnell,
Nanette’s parents, bought it about 25 years ago.
The Ketchers got involved with the mission
after Nanette’s parents asked them to help run
the mission on Saturdays.
“They asked us if we would like to come
down and help. They always loved children.
Dad was full-time minister. That was always
their dream, to have something for children,”
Nanette said.
The mission is located in a county that
usually ranks near the top as Oklahoma’s
poorest. She said she knows about the poverty
in Adair County, having worked as a social
worker before becoming a teacher, and worries
if the children who visit the mission are eating
properly when they’re not in school.
“Dad used to say ‘if we can give them a
smile and hug and let them know we are here,
then we’ve accomplished what we need to,’”
she said. “We just do what we can to help them
out. We’ll run it until we can do it anymore. I’d
always like for it to help children in some way.”
On Feb. 16, using social media and phone
calls, Tribal Councilor Frankie Hargis
encouraged her friends to volunteer at the
mission for a cleaning and repair day. About
30 people, most of them Cherokee Nation
citizens, raked and burned leaves and brushed,
painted and built playground equipment.
Hargis said she noticed that yard work was
needed and playground equipment needed to
be repaired or replaced when she visited the
Ketchers after Zach’s funeral. So Hargis spent
nearly $400 dollars of her own money buying
playground equipment and other items.
“I know they don’t get a lot of donations, so
I just wanted to help. I bought new swings for
the swing set. We got the rock wall (climbing
wall) replaced,” she said. “They do a great
service for the kids, and I just wanted to help
out in the best way I could.”
Engineering and Sanitation
promotes healthy environment
BY TESINA JACKSON
Reporter
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Through the
Cherokee Nation’s Engineering and Sanitation
Program, any qualified applicant who is a
citizen of a federally recognized tribe can receive
sanitation assistance on new or existing homes.
“We install septic tanks and drain fields. We
install water service lines and pay for people’s
water meters,” environmental health specialist
Billy Hix said. “We also provide a lot of repair
services. If the wells break, if the sewer is
clogged or an issue is in the yard we will fix
that for citizens.”
Engineering and Sanitation promotes a
healthy environment through the cooperative
development and continuing operation of safe
water, wastewater and solid waste systems
and related support facilities. The department
has an outreach of installments and repairs of
more than 150 tribal citizens per year.
In 2011, the department received more
than $1 million from the Tribal Council
for individual water and sewer as well as
community water lines, Hix said.
The department also received more than
$1.4 million from Indian Health Service for
scattered housing projects, which covers new
and like new homes within the CN jurisdiction.
Water services include well drilling,
including pump, pressure system and all
appurtenances; connection to community and
rural water systems; and existing well system
renovation and repair.
Wastewater services include septic system
installation, which includes septic tank and
drain field and alternative disposal system;
and connection to community sewer systems.
The engineering side of the department
provides design and technical assistance for
water, wastewater and solid waste projects.
Services provided include design and
construction of individual and community
water and sewer systems and solid waste
cleanup activities.
Sanitation facility construction installation
inspections are also provided under this program.
The department will install new services into
a citizen’s home, as well as repair any existing
damages to previous installments, Hix said.
To request installment or repair services
or be placed on the waiting list, applicants
can go online at www.cherokee.org/Services/
Community/30854/Information.aspx
to
complete applications. Applications may also
be mailed.
Applicants need to show proof of income,
a deed or proof of residency to the property
and other basic proof of identification and
tribal affiliation.
Time of assistance is solely based on the
magnitude of the project. The wait for repair
services can range anywhere from a few days
to a week and the wait for installments ranging
over four to six months. For more information,
call 918-453-5111.
[email protected]
918-453-5000, ext. 6139
CN offers housing assistance for students
BY STAFF REPORTS
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Through the
Cherokee Nation College Housing Assistance
Program, low-income CN citizens can receive
affordable housing while pursuing higher
education.
The program, which is funded by the
Native American Housing Assistance and Self
Determination Act, aims to provide CN citizens
with safe, secure and affordable housing while
they pursue a degree or trade as full-time
students. Selected applicants will receive up to
$1,000 per semester for housing costs.
“The College Housing Assistance Program
is a great resource for low-income Cherokee
citizens who are pursuing higher education
to help alleviate some of their housing costs
during that time,” CHAP Manager Jerri
Callaway said. “The program includes case
management services to address any barriers
students may have to graduating as well as
a Cherokee cultural curriculum that will
encourage each student to explore their own
family’s heritage and cultural traditions in
their home communities.”
An applicant must be a CN citizen living
within the tribe’s 14-county jurisdiction
and meet all eligibility requirements for the
program, including a national median income
of 80 percent or less. Priority will be given to
returning students on the CHAP.
Selected students can attend any accredited
institute of higher education within the United
States but must maintain a 2.5 cumulative
grade point average while on the program.
Assistance is limited to eight semesters.
Applications will be accepted July 2-16.
For more information or to obtain an
application packet, call the Housing Services
Rental Assistance Program at 918-456-5482 or
email [email protected].
Cherokee Children’s Mission Co-Director Ray Ketcher installs new swing sets
donated by Tribal Councilor Frankie Hargis during a Feb. 16 cleanup day at the
mission in Bunch, Okla. PHOTOS BY WILL CHAVEZ/CHEROKEE PHOENIX
Hargis said she hopes her friends return
periodically to help the mission.
“The volunteers did an excellent job. It is
going to really help give the kids a safe area
to play,” Ray said. “We appreciate everything
and hope to see the volunteers return for other
service projects and just to visit the mission
and see what we do.”
The nonprofit mission operates solely
from donations. For more information, visit
Cherokee Children’s Mission on Facebook or
call 918-775-0307.
[email protected]
918-207-3961
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April 2013 • CHEROKEE PHOENIX
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Late CN citizen receives Defense of Freedom Medal
BY WILL CHAVEZ
Senior Reporter
TAHLEQUAH,
Okla.
–
DynCorp
International on Feb. 11 hosted the family of
former Cherokee Nation marshal Mike Dawes
at a ceremony honoring 17 of the company’s
employees who have died while serving U.S.
government missions abroad.
The honorees were killed while working
on U.S. Department of State police training
missions in Iraq and Afghanistan between 200411. The employees posthumously received the
Department of Defense’s Defense of Freedom
Medal, recognizing their contributions made
for their country.
Dawes, a 57-year-old CN citizen, was
training police in Iraq when he died in a
suicide bombing on Aug. 23, 2005, in the
Diyala Province of Baqubah. A report states the
bomber walked into the dining facility Dawes
was in and detonated explosives.
“The family is very proud that Mike received
this honor and recognition for his service and
sacrifice for our country. He was a Cherokee
patriot and proud citizen of the Cherokee
Nation and this country. We miss Mike,” said
his sister Barbara Martens. “There is not a day
that goes by that we don’t think of him or speak
about him. This has been an honor for Mike’s
family as well as the other families recognized.”
Dawes is the son of the late Sam and Bessie
(Gourd) Dawes. He served in the U.S. Army’s
82nd Airborne Division in 1967-69 and later
for the Tahlequah Police Department before
joining the CN Marshal Service in 1992.
He left the CNMS in 1998 to work for
DynCorp, assisting a United Nations
peacekeeping force in Kosovo in the former
republic of Yugoslavia. There he helped keep
the Serbian Army and police from committing
atrocities against the Albanian people. For
18 months, Dawes served with an elite U.N.
special operations unit throughout Kosovo.
He was honored several times during his
Kosovo duty, reports state. He once helped
Deretha Dawes receives the Defense of Freedom Medal from U.S. Army Lt. Gen.
William N. Phillips, right, and Ambassador William R. Brownfield in honor of her
husband, Mike Dawes, who was killed in Iraq in 2005 while working for DynCorp
International training Iraqi police. Mike Dawes served as a Cherokee Nation marshal
from 1992-98. COURTESY PHOTOS
arrest an Albanian caught with a hand grenade
and moments later protected the Albanian
from a mob of angry Serbs, reports state.
In 2004, Dawes volunteered to go to Iraq to
serve as an international police liaison officer
training Iraqi police officers.
“I am proud to have known and served
with him,” said former CNMS Director Pat
Ragsdale. “I join others in recognizing his
special service as an international police liaison
officer. Mike was loyal and trustworthy. He died
demonstrating the virtues of bravery, courage
and fidelity. We still miss him, and are pleased
with his posthumous honor.”
The medal recipients’ families, representatives
from the departments of State and Defense, along
with nearly 200 DynCorp personnel attended
the Feb. 11 ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Dawes’ wife of 28 years, Deretha, accepted
his medal.
Speaking on behalf of the Department of
State were Under Secretary Patrick Kennedy
and William R. Brownfield, assistant secretary
of State for the Bureau of International
Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
“There are about 17,000 DynCorp
personnel serving in a combat theater today.
They are serving alongside our warfighters
and protecting our freedom. Bottom line,
contractor personnel, and all they do, remains
vital to our nation. We depend on them, we rely
on them and they are extraordinary for their
Mike Dawes served as a Cherokee Nation
marshal from 1992-98.
execution of the mission,” Phillips said.
Brownfield announced that later this year the
State Department would unveil its memorial to
honor civilian personnel, including contractors
who have died serving on police training
missions abroad.
“On the 13th of May this year, with the
support, assistance and my personal gratitude to
Under Secretary Kennedy, I hope we will unveil
and dedicate a memorial to all those civilian
police personnel who have given their lives up
in overseas operations,” Brownfield said.
DynCorp International is a global
government services provider working in
support of national security and foreign
policy objectives, delivering support solutions
for defense, diplomacy and international
development.
[email protected]
918-207-3961
Ward only Native lacrosse coach for major college
BY STACIE GUTHRIE
Reporter
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Marty Ward, head
coach of the men’s lacrosse team at Florida
Southern College, is a Cherokee Nation, Iroquois
citizen and the only Native American head
lacrosse coach at a major university in the country.
Ward enters his third season as head coach for
FSC in Lakeland with an 18-12 overall record in
his first two seasons.
Under Ward, the Moccasins have posted backto-back winning seasons and reached the Deep
South Conference Championship both years.
The Mocs finished the 2012 season receiving
votes in the final United State Intercollegiate
Lacrosse Association Coaches Poll after
posting a 10-6 overall record and 6-2 mark in
the conference championship. The year was
highlighted by a six-game win streak at the end
of the season going into the conference title
game where Ward’s team lost.
The Syracuse, N.Y., native said it’s an honor
being one of the first Native American lacrosse
head coach in the NCAA.
Marty Ward, a Cherokee Nation citizen,
instructs his team in a 2011 home game
against Pfiefer in Lakeland, Fla.
ANDY MENG/STAGESHOT PHOTOGRAPHY
“My heritage has helped me embody the kind
of man, the kind of husband, the kind of son, the
kind of brother that I want to be,” Ward said. “It’s
made me find myself a little bit…understand
that I give thanks to everything, every day.”
Ward said he remembers playing lacrosse his
whole life and could not think of anything that
suits him more.
“Lacrosse is a way of life,” he said.
This past summer, Ward served as an
assistant coach served for the Iroquois Nationals
Under-19 Program that won a bronze medal at
the 2012 Federation of International Lacrosse
U-19 World Championships in Turku, Finland.
He is also set to play goalie for the Iroquois
Nationals at the 2014 World Lacrosse
Championship in Denver, a position he played
in 2006 for the team. Ward said playing for the
Iroquois team and just to be able to wear the
Iroquois jersey on the field is an honor.
“The Iroquois National team represents the
creators of the game lacrosse,” he said. “As it
being a Native game, this was really a special
honor for me playing with them in (20)06.”
The Iroquois Nationals are the first Native
American lacrosse team to compete on an
international level. The team consists of
players from the six nations of the Iroquois. In
1998, the team began competing in the World
Lacrosse Championship.
However, after the 2014 world tournament,
Ward said he plans to focus more on the sport’s
coaching side.
“This is going to be my last world games to play
in as a player,” he said. “I’m more in the coaching
realm now than the playing realm. So this is my
last opportunity to get out there and compete for
a medal with the Iroquois Nationals team.”
In 2012, he served as an Iroquois Nationals
assistant coach. At the World Lacrosse
Championship, the team beat the United States
team for the first time, a great accomplishment
considering it was Team USA’s second loss in 40
matches for the year.
In college, Ward played goalkeeper at
Limestone College in South Carolina. He posted
a 55-9 career record at the school and was a twotime team captain.
In 2008, he served as a Limestone College
student assistance coach before being hired
as lacrosse coach in 2009 at Heathwood Hall
Episcopal School in S.C.
[email protected]
918-453-5000, ext. 5903
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