Cherokee Phoenix March 15, 2019

ON A Mission Oaks Mission alumni are planning a reunion for April and working to open a museum about its history. COMMUNITY, 5

CHEROKEE CHEROKEEPHOENIX.ORG

March 15, 2019

PHOENIX 191 YEARS OF JOURNALISM

Court OKs 3 candidates, ousts another Chuck Hoskin Jr., Bryan Warner and Debra Proctor can run, but Rhonda Brown-Fleming cannot.

BY CHAD HUNTER Reporter

PHOTOS BY WILL CHAVEZ/CHEROKEE PHOENIX The Cherokee Nation’s 2019 “Remember the Removal” cyclists are, frome left, mentor rider Kevin Stretch, Shadow Hardbarger, Josh Chavez, Steven Shade, Kayli Gonzales, Ashley Hunnicutt, Elizabeth Hummingbird, Sydnie Pierce, Brooke Bailey, Destiny Matthews and mentor rider Marie Eubanks.

‘REMEMBER THE REMOVAL’ CYCLISTS NAMED Eleven Cherokee Nation cyclists train for the ride in June, which will mark the 180th anniversary of when Cherokees reached Indian Territory.

BY WILL CHAVEZ Assistant Editor AHLEQUAH – The Cherokee Nation recently introduced the nine youth cyclists and two mentor riders who are training for the “Remember the Removal” bicycle ride this June.

The nine youth cyclists are Brooke Bailey, Josh Chavez, Kayli Gonzales, Shadow Hardbarger, Elizabeth Hummingbird, Ashley Hunnicutt, Destiny Matthews, Sydnie Pierce and Steven Shade. Mentor cyclists are 55-year-old Marie Eubanks, a teaching assistant at the Cherokee Immersion Charter School, and 58-year-old Kevin Stretch, interim director of CN Community & Cultural Outreach.

This year marks the 180th anniversary of when Cherokee people reached Indian Territory in 1839 following months of traveling in 13 contingents from eastern Tennessee.

Hardbarger, 24, of Marble City, said she was encouraged to apply for the annual ride by friends who previously completed it.

“They always would tell me what a journey it is and that it would be a really good experience for someone like me,” Hardbarger said. “I was so happy when I found out I had been selected. My fellow riders are so nice, so smart, and we’ve made really good friendships. They’ve given me a lot of support.

When we’re training on the bikes, I might be the last one done, but the other riders are always there cheering for me. I’ve been able to learn so much from them, and together we’re learning about our Cherokee ancestors. I can’t imagine the feeling we’ll get when we are out on the trail together and see what our ancestors went through.”

This year also marks the 35th anniversary of the inaugural 1984 “Remember the Removal” bike ride.

During that ride, 20 students, ride coordinators and two bicycle consultants set out from Cherokee, North Carolina, on bicycles followed by vans and a converted school bus with supplies. The group finished the ride in about a month, covering about 1,100 miles. Along the way they raised awareness that the forced removals or “Trail of Tears” happened and encouraged the federal government to mark the trails.

This June, 11 CN cyclists and 10 Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians cyclists will travel nearly 1,000 miles retracing the Northern Route of the Trail of Tears. The ride will begin in Georgia and travel through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

The ride became an annual event in 2009 when the CN Education Department revived the ride with the idea of developing leadership in Cherokee youth to give them confidence to take on future challenges and to give them a glimpse of the hardships their ancestors faced when they made the same trek. The EBCI joined the ride in 2011.

CN cyclists are selected based on essays, interviews and a physical to ensure they are up for

the challenge. After selection, CN participants are required to take part in a physical training schedule and attend history and Cherokee language classes for six months. The cyclists began training in the tribe’s recreation center on spin bikes in December but are now training outside on their bicycles.

Steven Shade, 24, of Briggs, credits his grandfather with encouraging him to learn more about his Cherokee heritage.

“He implanted in me the idea that I should be appreciative of who I am, that I am more unique than what I know,” Shade said. “That got me thinking about joining the ‘Remember the Removal’ bike ride. I was selected out of so many applicants, and that was unreal. It felt really special, and I feel more proud than I have ever been. I’m looking forward to being where our ancestors were and visiting historical sites that I visited when I was much, much younger, at a time when I didn’t fully appreciate what I was seeing and taking in.”

The cyclists will visit the Kituwah Mound in the original Cherokee homeland where a send-off ceremony will be held. They will also visit the former Cherokee meeting site at Red Clay, Tennessee; New Echota, the former Cherokee capital in Georgia; stop at Blythe’s Ferry along the Tennessee River, where Cherokees gathered and were moved across the river; stop at unmarked graves of their ancestors along the route; and take time to reflect on their ancestors at Mantle Rock in Kentucky.

A genealogist will also compile each rider’s family tree before the trip, providing the group with insights into their ancestral past and any family links they might share with other cyclists.

Starting in the spring of 1838, Cherokee people were rounded up and forced from their homes in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and North Carolina and moved to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, as part of the federal Indian Removal Act. Of the estimated 12,000 Cherokees forced to make the journey, an estimated 4,000 died due to exposure, starvation and disease before, during and after the journey. The Northern Route followed by “Remember the Removal” cyclists is one of six removal routes. The cyclists will leave New Echota on June 2 and will arrive June 20 in Tahlequah.

“It is quite an honor to be one of the few chosen for this opportunity of a lifetime,” Principal Chief Bill John Baker said. “By the time these young men and young women leave to begin their journey on May 28, they will have spent more than half a year training together and developing a bond that will last a lifetime. As is true year after year, I am convinced the lives of these Cherokees will be forever changed along this journey.”

For more information or to follow the journey, visit www.facebook.com/removal.ride and watch for the #RTR2019 and #RTR35 hashtags on the official CN Twitter (@CherokeeNation) and Instagram (@ TheCherokeeNation) in honor of the inaugural ride’s 35th anniversary.

Trainer Sarah Holcomb, center, goes over hand and arm signals before a ride on Feb. 24 in Tahlequah. The 11 cyclists have trained since December to prepare to ride through seven states in June.

Cyclists take a first aid class on Feb. 23 at the Cherokee Nation EMS building in Tahlequah. The 11 cyclists learned CPR, the importance of staying hydrated and how to stop bleeding.

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TAHLEQUAH – The Cherokee Nation Supreme Court on March 12 affirmed that a principal chief candidate was ineligible to run, but three other hopefuls made the cut.

Rhonda Brown-Fleming, a Cherokee Freedman descendant who filed to run for principal chief in the June 1 election, was initially deemed ineligible to run by the Election Commission after two CN citizens challenged her candidacy.

“The candidate lives in California and does not meet the residency requirements of the election code,” EC attorney Harvey Chaffin said during a March 11 Supreme Court hearing.

A qualification for the principal chief position is living within the CN jurisdiction for at least 270 days prior to the general election.

Brown-Fleming filed a Supreme Court appeal, which the court dismissed in a March 12 order.

SEE COURT, 3

CHAD HUNTER/CHEROKEE PHOENIX The Supreme Court on March 12 deemed candidates Chuck Hoskin Jr., Bryan Warner and Debra Proctor eligible to run. It tossed Rhonda Brown-Fleming as a principal chief candidate and had yet to rule on Buel Anglen’s case.

Nation gives record $5.7M to 108 schools Officials from area schools attend a March 1 meeting for the distribution of motor vehicle tag revenue.

BY D. SEAN ROWLEY Senior Reporter CATOOSA – Continuing its long-standing efforts to support education throughout its jurisdiction, the Cherokee Nation held a lunch on March 1 for school officials and guests to announce funding awards to districts during its Public School Appreciation Day. At the gathering in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, CN officials reported the disbursement of a record $5.7 million to 108 school districts. Each year, the tribe gives 38 percent of revenue generated by car tag sales to public schools.

“We have almost doubled our contributions to the public schools in the last eight years,” Principal Chief Bill John Baker said. “It warms my heart to know that these revenues will be utilized by our future Cherokee leaders…. This money is really your investment, and next year we expect to do even more for local schools.”

With districts battling budget crises since the 2008 recession, Baker said the tag revenue disbursements have helped schools pay expenses that otherwise might not have been met.

“Funding for state and public schools has decreased by nearly nine percent over the last decade,” he said.

“Our student enrollment in Oklahoma has increased by more than 8 percent…. Sometimes all a young person needs is an opportunity to achieve something special.

As we continue to make our foundation strong at the Cherokee Nation, education and opportunities for our people will remain a strategic priority.”

Numerous superintendents attended and praised the Nation’s efforts to provide budgetary assistance to area schools and enhance students’ educational opportunities.

“Sequoyah Schools very much appreciates the Cherokee Nation giving tag money to help support the budget,” Sequoyah Schools Superintendent Leroy Qualls said. “It is a savior for us because it provides us a way

SEE TAG, 3

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CHEROKEE PHOENIX • MARCH 15, 2019

News • ᏗᏕᏃᏣᎸᏍᎩ

ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎴᎯᏌᎤᎯ • AnIl9 15, 2019

Cherokee Freedmen urged to vote in election

BY CHAD HUNTER Reporter

MUSKOGEE – Cherokee Freedmen who gathered March 9 at the Martin Luther King Community Center were urged to have their voices heard in the Cherokee Nation’s June 1 general election.

“People are concerned about the election because there are some people who try to use the Freedmen to gain power,” Marilyn Vann, Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes president, said. “We don’t plan to be used and abused.”

During the informational meeting, attendees heard from a handful of election candidates and were updated on issues related to Freedmen rights.

Vann said Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes formed in 2002 “to fight for the rights of the freedmen.”

“The Freedmen had been thrown out,” she said. “It was a very poor status. At that time, there was not a lot of organized effort to do something about it.”

The deadline to register to vote in the general election is March 29. Several of the 50 Freedmen in attendance filled out voter registration paperwork.

Cherokee Freedmen are descendants of former Cherokee-owned slaves.

In 1971, “blue cards” or citizenship cards were issued to CN citizens, including Freedmen, who voted in the 1971, 1975 and 1979 tribal elections.

However, in 1983, Freedmen were not allowed to vote. Letters were sent informing them their citizenship had been cancelled due to the tribe requiring citizens to provide a Certificate Degree of Indian Blood card.

The Tribal Council passed an act requiring all CN citizens to provide a CDIB card based on the Dawes Rolls for their degree of blood or their ancestor’s degree of blood. Since the Dawes Rolls did not list a blood degree for Freedmen, they and their descendants were removed from the rolls.

At the time, the Bureau of Indian Affairs emphasized that the CN Constitution and the 1866 Treaty granted citizenship to Freedmen and their descendants, and that Freedmen should be allowed to vote.

In 2006, the CN Supreme Court ruled that Freedmen descendants were entitled to enroll in the CN. But in 2007, CN voters amended the CN Constitution to limit citizenship to people who were Indian “by blood,” which removed eligibility for citizenship from Freedmen and intermarried whites.

Ten years later after additional legal

BY D. SEAN ROWLEY Senior Reporter

Cherokee Phoenix to host candidate debates TAHLEQUAH – The Cherokee Phoenix is hosting two debates – one for deputy chief candidates and one for principal chief candidates – beginning at 6 p.m. on April 16 at Northeastern State University.

The debates will be held in the auditorium of the W. Roger Webb Educational Technology Center.

Doors will open at 5 p.m., and the deputy chief debate will begin at 6 p.m.

This year there are two candidates running for the Cherokee Nation’s deputy chief office: Meredith Frailey, of Locust Grove; and Bryan Warner, of Sallisaw. The winner will replace Deputy Chief S. Joe Crittenden.

Linda Sacks, of Muskogee, withdrew from the race on Feb. 21, Election Commission officials said. The Supreme Court on March 12 affirmed Warner’s candidacy after it was challenged.

After the deputy chief candidates’ debate and a short intermission, the principal chief candidates’ debate will begin at 7:30 p.m. This year’s principal chief’s race is between Chuck Hoskin Jr., of Vinita; Dick Lay, of Ochelata; and David Walkingstick, of Tahlequah. The winner will replace Principal Chief Bill John Baker.

wrangling, a federal judge ruled in favor of Cherokee Freedmen rights to citizenship. U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan’s ruling stated that, “In accordance with Article 9 of the 1866 Treaty, the Cherokee Freedmen have a present right to citizenship in the

Cherokee Nation that is coextensive with the rights of Native Cherokees.”

On Sept. 1, 2017, the tribe’s Supreme Court chief justice ordered CN Registration to begin processing citizenship applications of eligible Freedmen descendants.

Tribal Council recognizes ‘Removal’ ride volunteer

ARCHIVE Former Tribal Councilor Lee Keener, right, addresses a question while Deputy Chief S. Joe Crittenden looks on during the Cherokee Phoenix’s deputy chief debate in 2015 at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah.

The Cherokee Phoenix will host this year’s debate on April 16 at NSU.

BY STAFF REPORTS

CHAD HUNTER/CHEROKEE PHOENIX Marilyn Vann, president of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes, speaks March 9 at the Martin Luther King Community Center in Muskogee.

The Supreme Court on March 12 affirmed Hoskin’s candidacy after it was challenged.

It also ruled on March 12 that Rhonda Brown-Fleming, a Cherokee Nation citizen living in California, was ineligible to run for principal chief because she does not meet the CN Constitution’s residency requirement.

The Constitution states all principal chief and deputy chief candidates must live within the CN jurisdiction.

Dylan Goforth, editor in chief of The Frontier, a nonprofit journalism group in Oklahoma, will moderate the debates. The Cherokee Phoenix staff will formulate all debate questions, and no candidate will have prior access to the questions.

Seating in the auditorium will be first-come, first-serve. The debate will also be streamed live on the at www. cherokeephoenix.org and Rogers State University TV at https://rsu.tv The Cherokee Phoenix has previously hosted three similar debates in 2007, 2011 and 2015.

For Tribal Council candidates, the Cherokee Phoenix will publish a Tribal Council questionnaire in the April 1 issue. The April 15 issue will be consist of an Election Guide.

TAHLEQUAH – Tribal Councilors on March 11 recognized with a resolution a volunteer who supports the Cherokee Nation’s annual “Remember the Removal” bike ride.

Councilors unanimously recognized Jose Alcala for his volunteer work repairing the bicycles used during the nearly 1,000-mile journeys. Principal Chief Bill John Baker presented Alcala a traditional blanket and thanked him for his efforts to ensure the safety of cyclists.

Councilors also authorized the donations of surplus equipment by the tribe’s warehouse to Vian Peace Center, Mid-County Community Organization, Oaks Community Organization, Zion School and No-We-Ta Cherokee Community Foundation.

During the afternoon meeting of the Tribal Council’s Community Services Committee, members approved a resolution authorizing the Bureau of Indian Affairs to update the CN’s tribal transportation facilities inventory to include 28.9 miles of road in Ottawa, Washington and Sequoyah counties.

The item was amended into the council agenda and approved.

In his State of the Nation address, Baker said the tribe disbursed more than $5.7 million to 108 school districts in the Nation’s jurisdiction, and the arrangement between Financial Resources and Nissan USA offers tribal citizens and employees a $3,500 rebate on the purchase of a Nissan LEAF by April 1.

Cherokee Nation Businesses CEO Shawn Slaton said CNB’s income was “up $8.7 million from last year” through the first four months of fiscal 2019.

After the report, Slaton and Councilor Shawn Crittenden engaged in an exchange about the claim that some Cherokee Nation Industries employees in Stilwell were “getting write-ups due to a computer system” erroneously logging “idle time.”

Slaton said of at least 125 employees, more than 100 were not experiencing problems. He further stated that an assessment of the idle time logged by 22 employees determined that 19 were issued justified write-ups. Crittenden was

dissatisfied with the explanation and said a supervisor told him that a number of hard-working employees were written up.

Council Speaker Joe Byrd asked Slaton to email a summary of the situation.

Councilor Dick Lay said he had received inquiries about the process of selecting art for the W.W. Hastings Hospital expansion and the new casino in Tahlequah. Slaton said there were two bidding periods handled by a procurement company, and a committee selected the pieces.

Slaton said 25 artists submitted works for the first bid, and 20 had pieces selected. The second bid yielded pieces from 63 artists, Slaton said, with 48 having works chosen.

Before the meeting closed, Councilor Janees Taylor presented “forms” that she said refuted an allegation by Councilor David Walkingstick during the Feb. 28 Rules Committee meeting that her family owned a building that was rented to CN Career Services.

“I have never owned this building,” said Taylor, claiming the warranty deed on the property showed a sale in 2002.

“Nobody in my family owns this building.

Nobody in my family is a party to this contract with Cherokee Nation….”

Taylor said Walkingstick could have verified ownership of the property, but chose to “slander a fellow council member.”

Walkingstick claimed he researched the property, saying it was owned by an in-law of Taylor’s, and sold in 2015. He said “a CNB board member cannot have any immediate family member doing business with the Cherokee Nation.”

Taylor asked Walkingstick who in the Mayes County Courthouse informed him the property was sold in 2015, adding that her brother-in-law built the building and sold it in 1996. Walkingstick said he personally checked the deed, and would “distribute it to the council.”

Byrd closed the meeting with a statement to councilors to “do due diligence,” and “make sure you have your facts straight.”

According to Mayes County Assessor officials, the land the Career Services building in Pryor sits on is owned by Rex Alexander Enterprises. The company bought the property in 2002, officials said.

News • ᏗᏕᏃᏣᎸᏍᎩ

AnIl9 15, 2019 • ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎴᎯᏌᎤᎯ

MARCH 15, 2019 • CHEROKEE PHOENIX

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Appeals court to hear ICWA case FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – A federal law giving preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings involving Native children is facing the most significant legal challenge since its enactment.

A federal judge in Texas ruled the Indian Child Welfare Act is unconstitutional, saying it is racially motivated and violates the equal protection clause.

More than 20 states have joined hundreds of tribes, advocacy groups and the federal agency that oversees Indian affairs in urging an appellate judge to uphold the law. They say tribes are a political classification, not a racial one, and overturning the ICWA would lead to untold damage in tribal communities.

“The fear is without the statute, Indian children will once again sort of disappear into the child welfare system and be lost to their families and their tribes,” said Adam Charnes, who was set to present arguments on behalf of five tribes before a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on March 13.

The law has led to some emotional, high-profile cases, including one in 2016 in which a court ordered that a young Choctaw girl named Lexi be removed from a California foster family and placed with her father’s extended family in Utah.

Images of the girl being carried away from her foster home drew widespread attention.

In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the law didn’t apply in a South Carolina case involving a young girl named Veronica because her Cherokee father was absent early on.

Congress passed ICWA in 1978 because a high number of Native children were being removed from their homes by public and private agencies. In adoptions of such children, the law requires states to notify tribes and seek placement with the child’s extended family, members of the child’s tribe or other Native families. Tribes also have a say in foster care placements.

The law allows states to deviate from placement preferences when there is “good cause.” The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs sought to clarify the term in 2016 by saying state courts shouldn’t consider socioeconomic status, or ordinary bonding or attachment to host families, among other things.

The latest case centers on Chad and Jennifer Brackeen, a Texas couple who fostered a baby eligible for citizenship in the Navajo and Cherokee tribes. His parents terminated their rights, and the Brackeens petitioned to adopt him.

COURTESY Cherokee Nation citizen Dusten Brown and his daughter Veronica admire horses in this 2013 photo at an undisclosed location. The two were involved in one of the most highly publicized Indian Child Welfare Act cases ever. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled that the ICWA didn’t come into play because Brown never had custody of Veronica until a South Carolina court ordered her removal from her adoptive parents.

COURTESY Supporters of Cherokee Nation citizen Dusten Brown keeping his daughter Veronica rally outside a Tulsa, Oklahoma, hotel in 2013 to protest a press conference held by the South Carolina couple who adopted the girl. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Indian Child Welfare Act didn’t apply because Brown had been absent from Veronica’s life.

The state denied their request after the Navajo Nation identified a potential home with a Navajo family. The Brackeens got an emergency stay and went to court. They were able to adopt the boy in January 2018 after the placement fell through. The boy is now 3, and the couple is seeking to adopt his younger half-sister.

Attorneys general in Texas, Indiana and Louisiana joined in suing the federal government over the ICWA in 2017. The states say the law is discriminatory, and the federal government has no right to tell states how to regulate child welfare cases.

“It coerces state agencies and courts to carry out

NICK UT/ASSOCIATED PRESS This 2016 photo shows Rusty and Summer Page, foster parents of Lexi, a then-6-year-old girl with Native American ancestry, who was removed from their home, outside the California Court of Appeal in downtown Los Angeles. Lexi was placed with her father’s extended family in Utah. The case involves the Indian Child Welfare Act and is still in litigation.

unconstitutional and illegal federal policy, and it makes child custody decisions based on racial preferences,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has said.

Matthew McGill represents the Brackeens, two other couples from Nevada and Minnesota, and a birth mother in the case. He said the ICWA may have been well-intentioned, but it illegally segregates Native children by race and has upended his clients’ lives.

“Fundamentally, the issue here is that the Indian Child Welfare Act subordinates individualized considerations of a child’s best interest in favor of a blunt assumption that being placed with a tribe is going to be

better for the tribe, and that’s just demonstrably untrue,” he said. “It’s not going to be true in every case.”

The Minnesota couple, the Cliffords, wanted to adopt a girl who lived with them after being in foster homes for two years.

The child ultimately was placed with her maternal grandmother, a White Earth Band of Ojibwe citizen. The tribe at first said she wasn’t eligible for citizenship but later reversed course.

The Librettis in Nevada arranged with a pregnant woman, Altagracia Hernandez, to adopt her unborn child.

Hernandez isn’t Native, but the biological father is from Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in El Paso, Texas.

The tribe intervened and has

identified three dozen possible placements. Hernandez is a plaintiff in the case.

Tribes and tribal advocates say Native American children are still separated from their families at rates higher than the general population, and the law helps them stay connected to their tribes, relatives and culture.

The ICWA defines Indian children as enrollees or potential enrollees who have a biological parent who is a member of any of the country’s 573 federally recognized tribes. About a dozen states have similar laws, some of which expand the definition, said Sarah Kastelic, director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association.

When the federal law was enacted, studies showed up to one-third of Native American children were being taken from their homes by private and state agencies, including churchrun programs, and placed with mostly white families or in boarding schools. Testimony in Congress showed that was due to ignorance of tribes’ values and social norms. Kastelic also said there was a misconception that Native American families were unfit or too poor to care for their children.

“It was important to halt that removal, to correct state behavior, to put in minimum standards,” she said.

Many Native American families have stories about loved ones who disappeared and never returned.

Allie Greenleaf Maldonado said her grandmother and uncles were placed in boarding schools, forced to cut their hair and beaten if they practiced their religion. When the grandmother died, Maldonado’s mother was sent to live in Indiana with a Mennonite family who put bleach on her skin to lighten it, told her to say she was Armenian and kept her from communicating with her family, she said.

“They were ashamed she was Native American, and they made her ashamed she was Native American,” Maldonado said. “To this day, she’s never come back to the reservation.

She says she’s an apple, red on the outside, white on the inside.”

Maldonado and her husband have an adopted son from a neighboring tribe. She said unlike her, 11-year-old Riley is growing up on the reservation and learning about traditional medicine and a culture that includes hunting and fishing.

“Only because of the Indian Child Welfare Act, (and) people following it, he has a community,” she said.

COURT: The Supreme Court had yet to rule on Buel Anglen’s Dist. 13 eligibilty from front page

Her removal from the race leaves candidates Chuck Hoskin Jr., Dist. 3 Tribal Councilor David Walkingstick and Dist. 12 Tribal Councilor Dick Lay. The Supreme Court also ruled in favor of three candidates whose eligibility was challenged by CN citizen Robin Mayes.

Mayes had challenged the eligibility of Hoskin, deputy chief candidate Bryan Warner and Dist. 3 candidate Debra Proctor, alleging they accepted in-kind contributions via a professional campaign manager before legally allowed to under CN election law.

Section 44 of the CN election code states no candidate “shall receive campaign contributions prior to the beginning of the six month period immediately preceding” an election, which in the case of the June 1 general election would be Dec. 1.

“These candidates, they’re working with professional campaign managers,” Mayes told the Supreme Court on March 11. “They’re working on their campaigns way in advance. I think the Cherokee people need to know if it’s illegal, if it’s disqualifying or not.”

After hearing both sides in February, the EC deemed the three candidates eligible. Affirming that decision, the Supreme Court’s March 12 order states that Mayes “presented no evidence” on March 11 that the candidates

failed to meet eligibility requirements.

Attorney Doug Dodd represented Hoskin, the former secretary of state, and Dist. 6 Tribal Councilor Warner.

Dodd said Mayes was “talking about disqualification while the issue here is eligibility.”

“I would say that his cart is before his horse, and the horse is not that good,” Dodd said. “We believe the Election Commission ruled properly.”

Representing the EC, Chaffin said it found “no violations of campaign law.”

As of early March 13, the Supreme Court had not issued a ruling for Tribal Councilor Buel Anglen, the current Dist. 13 representative.

In February, the EC tossed Anglen’s candidacy after opponent Joe Deere challenged his eligibility.

Deere and his attorney claimed, that based on term limits, Anglen is ineligible to run, and the EC agreed.

“The Election Commission is wrong,” attorney and former Principal Chief Chad Smith told Supreme Court justices on Anglen’s behalf during a March 11 hearing.

Anglen’s initial run on the council began in 2002, when he was appointed to fill a Dist. 8 vacancy. He was elected to the seat in 2003, serving a full term.

In 2007, when term limits took effect under the tribe’s current Constitution, Anglen was elected again for Dist.

8. However, the typical four-year term was extended to six years to stagger terms of half the council.

Because of redistricting, Anglen lost his seat and wasn’t allowed to run in the 2013 general election. He sat out for two years before winning the Dist. 13 seat in 2015. Dist. 8 now covers part of Adair County and is represented by Shawn Crittenden.

Deere’s attorney, Carly Griffith Hotvedt, said Anglen should “be required to sit out four years” before he’s eligible to run again.

CN law restricts councilors to two consecutive fouryear terms. The Constitution states that, “All Council members having served two consecutive terms must sit out one term before seeking any seat on the Council.”

Smith argued that Anglen complied with “the letter and spirit of the Constitution.”

“We find nothing in the law that requires him to sit out four years,” he said. “We all know consecutive is not a vague term. It requires uninterrupted service. His next consecutive term would have been in 2013, but he didn’t run. He waited until 2015 to run.”

The term limit provisions, Hotvedt said, were designed to prevent “the consolidation of power.”

During the Supreme Court appeal, she laid out scenarios in which two-year sit-out terms could be exploited.

Deere, speaking to Cherokee Freedmen the prior weekend, addressed the possibility of Anglen’s return to the race. “At the worst, if he wins, we just keep campaigning and fighting.”

TAG: Schools have received $56.3 million in CN tag revenue since 2002 from front page

to assist our students with their school activities and functions. We thank the Cherokee Nation for helping us provide a quality education for the students who attend Sequoyah Schools. We certainly would not be able to do as good a job without the tribe’s support.”

Linda Clinkenbeard, Woodall Public Schools superintendent, said the tribe is a community oriented “neighbor.”

“I believe that by providing this money to public schools, the Cherokee Nation sends a loud and strong message around the state that the Cherokee Nation as a whole supports public education and recognizes the importance of investing in its children and

communities,” she said. “This is a very generous gift, and I applaud the Cherokee Nation for its continued efforts. Woodall strives to be a good neighbor to the Nation and do our part to grow young people to be confident, well-educated, and strong leaders in our community, state and nation.”

Schools receive money based on the number of CN citizens enrolled, but the tribe does not categorize the funding, and districts can use awards to benefit all students. Schools have used funds to enhance programs, salaries, operations and upgrade technology in past years.

Within the CN jurisdiction, schools have received a total of $56.3 million in tag revenue since 2002.

Cherokee Nation Tax Commission Administrator

Sharon Swepston said the tribe was pleased to make this year’s donations and thanked tribal citizens for buying CN car tags.

“This is very important to our schools, to our students, to our families,” Swepston said. “I most want to thank the administration, the (Tribal) Council, and my commission for enabling us to be able to do this. The tax commission has grown over the last few years, and I thank the citizens for that. Every time a citizen buys a tag, that’s 38 percent going back into our schools.”

In 2015, the Tribal Council approved legislation to allow car tag revenue to be given to schools in the nonjurisdictional areas of the five counties that make up the jurisdictional boundary.

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CHEROKEE PHOENIX • MARCH 15, 2019

Cherokee Phoenix MARCH 15, 2019 Volume 43, No. 6

The Cherokee Phoenix is published monthly by the Cherokee Nation, PO Box 948, Tahlequah, OK 74465.

Application to mail at Periodicals postage rates is pending at Tahlequah, OK 74464.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Cherokee Phoenix, PO Box 948, Tahlequah, OK 74465

Editorial Staff Brandon Scott

Executive Editor brandon-scott@cherokee.org 918-453-5000 ext 7258

Travis Snell

Assistant Editor travis-snell@cherokee.org 918-453-5358

Will Chavez

Assistant Editor will-chavez@cherokee.org 918-207-3961

Mark Dreadfulwater

Multimedia Editor mark-dreadfulwater@cherokee.org 918-453-5087

Reporters D. Sean Rowley

Senior Reporter david-rowley@cherokee.org 918-453-5560

Lindsey Bark

Reporter lindsey-bark@cherokee.org 918-453-5000 ext 4223

Chad Hunter

Reporter chad-hunter@cherokee.org 918-453-5000 ext 7256

Grant Neugin

Reporter grant-neugin@cherokee.org 918-453-5000 ext 7365

Multimedia Staff Roger Graham

Multimedia Producer roger-graham@cherokee.org 918-207-3969

Administrative Staff Dena Tucker

Administrative Officer dena-tucker@cherokee.org 918-453-5324

Joy Rollice

Administrative Assistant joy-rollice@cherokee.org 918-453-5269

Samantha Cochran

Advertising Specialist samantha-cochran@cherokee.org 918-207-3825

Terris Howard

Advertising Representative terris-howard@cherokee.org 918-453-5743

Justin Smith

Distribution Specialist justin-smith@cherokee.org 918-207-4975

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OPINION • ᏃᎵᏍᎬ

ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎴᎯᏌᎤᎯ • AnIl9 15, 2019

Sovereign rights at stake in ICWA case

BY Bill John Baker Principal Chief Native children are removed from their homes at a higher rate than most of their peers. Nonetheless, in the recent Texas v.

Bernhardt case, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that the Indian Child Welfare Act is unconstitutional because it is race based. The ruling stated that ICWA was unenforceable.

Sadly, this is a blatant attempt to once again strike tribes in our most vulnerable but most vital area by misleading the public about the purpose of this important Federal Act. In reality, ICWA has nothing to do with race but rather was enacted to preserve Native families, protect the unique citizenship rights of Native children and defend the sovereignty of tribal governments.

I pray we prevail in the appeal of this legal obstacle course because there is so much at stake.

Aside from the statistics in relation to the removal of Native children, there is a fundamental disconnect when it

comes to the rights of Native children to maintain their connection to their family, their tribe and all that their tribe has to offer.

The violation of ICWA for any reason not only harms the children’s connection with their tribal government but is also detrimental to future generations of Cherokee children. Time and time again, the deep-pocketed entities opposing ICWA cry out discrimination, but in all cases involving the removal of Native children, the bottom line is about human rights. Native children have the inherent right to remain with their family, and all that his or her tribe has to offer.

As we have seen through centuries of broken treaties, our sovereignty as a tribal nation is all too often ignored, the rights of our citizens trampled, compromising our very existence as a tribe. The breach of ICWA in the Texas v. Bernhardt decision is no different.

It targets the very lifeline of tribes: our children.

Somehow, it’s very ironic that those afforded “white privilege” are the first ones to cry discrimination in this

case and others involving ICWA. It’s become an all-too-familiar ploy when a dominant force attempts to control a population.

Even if you cannot take on the responsibility of raising a child, there are always other ways to help. One of the most impactful roles you can take is to be a vocal advocate. Cherokee voices must be heard loud and clear: our children are our hope, our strength and our future. They are not for the taking.

We need all tribal people to stand strong and stand up for our Native children and do it now before the entire ICWA is dismantled. We must be the children’s voices where they have none.

Those Cherokees who have gone on before us are counting on you and me to deliver our sacred promise to the next seven generations. Do not let this generation or the next slip through the cracks.

I vow, as the Principal Chief of Cherokee Nation, that we will continue to devote the necessary resources to defending this most important law, and we will continue to be a leader in Indian Country, fighting for our children to remain with their families and their tribe.

AnIl9 15, 2019 • ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎴᎯᏌᎤᎯ

Community • ᎾᎥ ᏄᎾᏓᎸ

MARCH 15, 2019 • CHEROKEE PHOENIX

5

Reunion, museum planned at Oaks Indian Mission

BY CHAD HUNTER Reporter OAKS – Former “mission kids” are planning to reunite in this small community next month, then open doors to a museum that will highlight nearly 100 years of history of the Oaks Indian Mission.

Mission alumni who attended between the 1940s and 1960s are leading the reunion effort. Sol Mockicin, 76, lived at the mission for 12 years with a host of brothers and sisters from the Bull Hollow community in southeastern Delaware County.

“There were 10 of us children who stayed here,” he said. “We were put here to further our education.”

One of his younger brothers and fellow “mission kid,” Simeon Gipson, 73, noted the children’s home provided “our first indoor bath, our first electricity, our first television.”

Another reunion organizer, Terry Rattlinggourd, 71, of Pryor, also attended the mission as a child.

“Everything I have gone through in life I learned here,” he said. “I was only 6 years old when I came here. In 12 years, I learned to respect, to honor, to trust, all of that.”

Eliza Deere spent the final five years of her school days at Oaks.

“I learned here how to take care of myself out there,” she said.

Oaks Indian Mission cares for abused, abandoned or neglected children from different tribes and tribal backgrounds across Oklahoma.

There are currently 20 children living in cottages on the campus. It takes approximately $20,000 a week to run the mission, Mockicin said. An estimated 90 percent of the mission’s funding originates from individual donations and congregations of the Lutheran church.

The Rev. Don Marshall, the mission’s executive director, has a decades-long relationship with Oaks in varying capacities.

“I think there’s something sacred about these grounds,” he said. “To walk across campus is to feel the Lord’s presence in this place.”

Thousands of Native American youth have lived at the children’s home since it was established in 1926.

CHAD HUNTER/CHEROKEE PHOENIX Oaks Indian Mission alumni and reunion organizers, from left, Sol Mockicin, Eliza Deere, Terry Rattlinggourd, Karen Littledave, Sally Kingfisher and Dale Kingfisher gather March 5 outside a building that will house the first Oaks Indian Mission museum.

CHAD HUNTER/CHEROKEE PHOENIX This turn-of-the-century building near the Oaks Indian Mission is being remodeled to serve as a museum. The Oaks Indian Mission cares for abused, abandoned or neglected children from different tribes and tribal backgrounds.

“Everything I have gone through in life I learned here. I was only 6 years old when I came here. In 12 years, I learned to respect, to honor, to trust, all of that.”

Terry Rattlinggourd, Oaks Indian Mission alumnus

“It was one of the first missions and schools here in Indian territory,” Marshall said.

The mission was established in 1801 in Georgia, according to historical records. The Moravian Church opened New Springplace near present-day Oaks in 1842 following the forced removal of Cherokee people commonly known as the Trail of Tears. In 1902, the Moravian Mission passed its heritage onto the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Eben Ezer Lutheran Church was established in 1903. The mission for children was opened in 1926. Children attend the nearby Oaks Public School.

The alumni reunion is planned for 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., April 6 at the Oaks Indian Mission. A reunion in 2018 attracted an estimated 50 attendees. Between 40 to 60 are expected this year.

Mockicin and Gipson, along with other alumni, are also establishing a museum to collect Oaks’ rich history in one location.

The yet-to-be-named museum will

be housed inside a turn-of-the-century, rock-faced building once used as a parsonage on the mission campus.

Helping pay for indoor remodeling is a $65,000 donation from “a humble Danish couple,” according to the museum board of directors.

However, the museum will not rely heavily upon period-specific artifacts due to limited space.

“The real documentation of history is just that – documents, letters, pictures, policy statements, listings of the children,” Mockicin said. “It’s a wonderful history few people know about.”

Initially, volunteers will likely staff the museum two days a week, Gipson said.

“Then we’ll get the feel of it,” he added.

An opening date is tentatively planned for late April.

The mission is located at 155 Military Road in Oaks. For more information, call 918-868-2196 or visit oaksindianmission.org.

COURTESY A collection of early photographs from the Oaks Indian Mission. Oaks Mission alumni are working to open a museum about its history.

CHAD HUNTER/CHEROKEE PHOENIX Oaks Indian Mission alumnus Sol Mockicin leads a March 5 meeting to fine-tune details of an upcoming Mission Children Alumni Reunion at the mission in southern Delaware County.

Community Events March 18 Neighborhood Association of Chewey Chewey Community Building 7 p.m.

March 21 Tri-County (W.E.B.) Association J.R.’s Country Auction 6 p.m.

Orchard Road Community Outreach (Stilwell) Turning Point Office 6 p.m.

March 25

Christie Call Shelia Rector at 918-778-3423 7 p.m.

March 26 Dry Creek Call Shawna Ballou at 918-457-5023 7 p.m.

Tuesdays Veterans Affairs representatives Cherokee Nation Veterans Center Tahlequah, Okla. 918-772-4166 or 918-4535695 The Veterans Center will host VA reps for all veterans to speak to from 9 a.m. to 3 pm.

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.

First Friday of every month Concho Community Building Concho, Okla. 405-422-7622

The Indian Art Market invites all Indian artists 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 star, writer and humorist from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with nine galleries, three theaters and a special children’s museum. Closed on Monday and Tuesday from Nov. 11 through February.

For the complete list through March 31, go to www.cherokeephoenix.org

6

CHEROKEE PHOENIX • MARCH 15, 2019

House OKs bill to increase doctors in rural areas OKLAHOMA CITY – The House of Representatives on March 4 passed a measure aimed at encouraging more doctors to practice in rural areas of the state.

House Bill 2511 would reduce a doctor’s tax liability by up to $25,000 annually if he or she practices in a rural community for the tax year beginning in 2020. The bill defines rural communities as any municipality with a population of less than 25,000 and that is also located at least 25 miles from the nearest municipality with a population greater than 25,000.

The bill would limit the exemption only to doctors who practice in a rural area as defined and who graduated from a medical or osteopathic school in Oklahoma. The doctor must also reside in the same county where the qualifying income was earned. A doctor could claim the exemption for up to five years.

The exemption would end once a total of $1 million was claimed statewide.

Number of Oklahoma flu deaths at 51 for season OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The number of flu-related deaths in Oklahoma this season now stands at 51.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported March 7 that nearly half of the deaths have come in northeastern Oklahoma with 15 in the region and 10 more in Tulsa County, which is tabulated separately.

The department reports more than 2,000 people hospitalized with influenza since the start of the flu season on Sept. 1.

There have been 34 deaths among people 65 or older, 10 in the 50-64 age group, six who were between 18 and 40 and one who was between 5 and 17 years old.

Health Department spokesman Tony Sellars says 291 people died due to the flu during Oklahoma’s previous flu season, the most since the agency began tracking flu deaths in 2009.

Oklahoma governor asks for Medicaid enrollment audit OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Oklahoma’s new Gov. Kevin Stitt is asking for an audit of the state’s Medicaid enrollment to see if some savings can be realized.

Stitt said he has formally requested an audit by the Auditor and Inspector’s Office for Medicaid enrollment from 2015 to 2018.

He wants to see whether the Oklahoma Health Care Authority is properly determining eligibility and removing from the rolls those who no longer qualify for various Medicaid programs.

Stitt says other states have realized savings after performing similar audits.

A spokeswoman for the Health Care Authority says the agency welcomes the audit.

The Health Care Authority received about $1.1 billion in state appropriations from the Legislature last year.

Health • ᎠᏰᎸ ᏄᏍᏛ

ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎴᎯᏌᎤᎯ • AnIl9 15, 2019

CN leaders say Stilwell mortality figures flawed

Residents are expected to live an average of 56.3 years, 22.5 years lower than the national average, according to the Centers of Disease Control.

BY CHAD HUNTER Reporter STILWELL – Stilwell in Adair County made national headlines in 2018 for having the lowest life expectancy in America, but Cherokee Nation leaders question the accuracy of a study that led to that distinction.

“I think everyone in here would say their district can improve on lifestyle,” Tribal Councilor Shawn Crittenden said in a Feb. 28 Health Committee meeting. His Dist. 8 covers part of the county. “My district can. But the deadliest city in America?”

Dubbed the “Strawberry Capital of the World,” Stilwell serves as the county seat.

Nearly half of its estimated 4,000 residents are Native American, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Residents are expected to live an average of 56.3 years, which is 22.5 years lower than the national average, according to a study released by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

“The report, it did a great disservice to the community,” Tribal Councilor Keith Austin said. “The media grabs hold of it and splashes it all over the place.”

CN health leaders said they have been “digging into” the study’s specifics since its release.

“The study covered six years, 2010 to 2015,” Public Health Medical Director Dr. David Gahn said. “There were 1,408 deaths in Adair County during that six-year period. So they took those deaths and asked the state, give us addresses of all these people and their age

when they passed. Out of that 1,400, there were 196 that they couldn’t code.”

Nationally, Gahn said, the rate of unusable data was less than 1 percent.

“So for Adair County, it was over 10 percent,” he said. “Those were left out. There were also 85 deaths where they had zero records at all. Then, there were 91 deaths attributed to a single address in Stilwell that appears to be a nursing facility. The idea is that people live somewhere else, went to the nursing facility and passed, and that’s where the death certificate said they live.”

The study indicated southern Adair County’s average life expectancy was 70.9 years, Gahn said. But for Stilwell, “They couldn’t run the numbers by removing those 91 deaths from the nursing facility.”

“Ethically, you know, their methods wouldn’t allow them to do that,” Gahn said.

“So I don’t know exactly what to do with that. But for Adair County, their method didn’t work. It’s not CDC’s fault. It’s just the accuracy of the data that they had, and they did the best they could with it.”

Lisa Pivec, CN Public Health senior director, said she did not expect an apology or retraction related to the study.

“These are scientists who took numbers they were given and crunched numbers,” she said. “In their minds, technically they crunched the right numbers they were given and came up with the right numbers. We’re not finished looking into Adair County, and I don’t want to cast a light that everything in all of our communities health-wise is just fine and there’s no work to be done. There’s tons of work to be done.”

CHAD HUNTER/CHEROKEE PHOENIX A Centers of Disease Control and Prevention study released in 2018 stated that Stilwell in Adair County has the lowest life expectancy in the country. Cherokee Nation officials have said that the study was inaccurate.

Within the CN, heart disease is the “leading cause of death and disability,” according to CN health leaders who classify it as a “public health issue.”

“Overall, heart disease in the No. 1 killer in Cherokee Nation,” Gahn said. “It’s also the No. 1 cause of early death.”

CN health officials have undertaken a yearlong heart disease study with the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

“The majority, about 53 percent, of the people who die from heart disease are less than 75 years old,” Gahn said. “It kind of dispels the idea that it’s very old people.

There are people in their 30s and 40s dying from heart disease. So why this is a public health issue is because heart disease is largely preventable.”

Major risk factors, Gahn said, include cigarette smoking, obesity, lack of physical activity and poor nutrition.

CN Diabetes Prevention Program earns CDC recognition Staff REports TAHLEQUAH – The Cherokee Nation Diabetes Prevention Program is receiving national recognition from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for its efforts aimed at preventing type 2 diabetes.

The Diabetes Prevention Program is the first tribal program in Oklahoma and one of only 10 total programs in the state to have received CDC full-recognition status, a designation reserved for programs that have effectively delivered a quality evidencebased program that meets CDC recognition standards.

“Cherokee Nation’s Diabetes Prevention Program has set a national precedent. Other health services often turn to us as a model when developing their own prevention programs to address this epidemic,” Dr. Stephen Jones, CN Health Services acting executive director, said. “We are extremely proud of the progress our program continues to make. We know we are educating our citizens in ways that encourage healthier lifestyles, and as a result we are saving lives. I’m proud of the Diabetes Prevention Program for being a leader on the state and national levels.”

Health Services, which operates W.W. Hastings Hospital and eight health centers, treats about 10,000 diabetes patients per year.

Patients who are diagnosed with prediabetes, who have a high risk for prediabetes or who have a history of gestational prediabetes may be referred to the tribe’s Diabetes Prevention Program.

Since 2017, 293 participants have taken part in Healthy Native classes offered by the Diabetes Prevention Program. The classes encourage participants to focus on weight loss to prevent diabetes and other chronic illnesses. Participants attend weekly, biweekly and monthly sessions at one of nine

WILL CHAVEZ/CHEROKEE PHOENIX People of all ages take part in a walk in this 2012 event at Camp Heart of the Hills in Welling as part of the Cherokee Nation’s annual Diabetes Prevention Program retreat. sites throughout the tribe’s 14-county area.

“The Cherokee Nation is at the forefront of diabetes prevention,” Tonya Wapskineh, Diabetes Prevention Program coordinator, said. “The work we’ve accomplished proves that diabetes prevention programs work.

We’re helping not only smaller tribes but non-Native organizations like YMCAs and hospitals who want to offer similar preventative programs in their own capacities. Being recognized by the CDC shows we’re still doing successful work.

We’ve been told by many participants that we are changing their lives.”

Those participating in the program since 2017 have lost a total of nearly 1,300 pounds, and participants finishing the program have experienced an average weight loss of 6.6 percent after a year.

Ann Albright, CDC director of the Division of Diabetes Translation, said the CN program

is making an invaluable contribution throughout the tribe’s jurisdiction and the nation.

“As the director of the Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program, it is immensely gratifying to see the science of diabetes prevention being implemented to improve the public’s health,” Albright said. “It is programs like yours that are turning the tide in the fight against the epidemic of type 2 diabetes.”

To learn more about Healthy Natives diabetes prevention classes in Muskogee and Stilwell, email kerri-dry@cherokee. org. For details on classes in Jay, Kenwood, Salina, Claremore and Tahlequah, email karen-nofire@cherokee.org. For information on classes in Vinita, call the Vinita Health Center at 918-256-4800.

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AnIl9 15, 2019 • ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎴᎯᏌᎤᎯ

Education • ᏧᎾᏕᎶᏆᏍᏗ

MARCH 15, 2019 • CHEROKEE PHOENIX

7

College Resources accepting scholarship applications

BY D. SEAN ROWLEY Senior Reporter

COURTESY PHOTOS Railey Eastwood is a Cherokee Nation Teaching Program participant who is attending Northeastern State University to become a Cherokee language teacher.

Teaching program helps keep Cherokee language alive The Cherokee Nation Teaching Program gives future Cherokee speakers a chance to earn an education degree at Northeastern State University.

BY GRANT NEUGIN Reporter TAHLEQUAH – The Cherokee Nation Teaching Program is designed to create certified Cherokee language speakers.

Operated by the CN, it gives students learning the Cherokee language the chance to earn an education degree at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah.

The scholarship pays for tuition, books, required fees for the degree program, a laptop and a housing allowance of $2,100 per semester.

“The scholarship is offered through the language department of education.

It provides a full ride to Northeastern State University,” Raven Bruner, CNTP coordinator, said. “This program is for students who want to become teachers of the Cherokee language, either in the (CN) immersion school or public school system.”

Program criteria include demonstrations of conversations in the Cherokee language, a strong desire to learn Cherokee and having passion for the language. Applicants must have a strong desire to teach and work with children, must be Cherokee and enrolled as a full-time student at NSU in Tahlequah. Applicants also need to reside in the CN jurisdiction. Proof of residency is required. Applicants must understand participation in the program is a contractual, long-term agreement.

They also need to be organized, creative and flexible and cannot participate if they are CN employees or employees of the tribe’s entities.

“I wanted to continue with learning and developing my language skills, while getting the opportunity to take higher education courses,” Larry Carney, CNTP participant, said. “I was raised by my grandfather who was a fluent Cherokee speaker, and when his sister died at the age of 107 years old, I knew they were going to be the last of their language.

Once that happened, I got a sense of urgency to be a fluent Cherokee speaker to keep it alive.”

Once the criteria are met, the application process begins with a 500-to1,000-word essay submission about why the applicant would like to join the program. The application will require one of the three following test scores, ACT or equivalent, Cherokee Language Proficiency Test or certification from a Cherokee Language Program. Applicants must provide official high school and/ or college transcripts, résumé or related

Larry Carney, a Cherokee Nation Teaching Program participant, works on writing in the Cherokee language. The program gives students learning the Cherokee language the chance to earn an education degree at Northeastern State University.

“The Cherokee language is endangered, and we are solely responsible for this language as Cherokee people.”

Railey Eastwood, Cherokee Nation Teaching Program participant

work history and must agree to a full background check.

After these have been turned in and processed, the applicant will interview with a selection committee to demonstrate knowledge of the Cherokee language. Incomplete applications will not be considered. The selection committee will base its decision on a combination of factors, which include knowledge of the Cherokee language, enthusiasm for the Cherokee language and ability to complete long-term goals and experience doing so.

“The Cherokee language is endangered, and we are solely responsible for this language as Cherokee people,” Railey Eastwood, CNTP participant, said. “There is nobody in this world that can take care of it like we can, and we must hold ourselves accountable for preserving our language.”

TAHLEQUAH – Cherokee Nation citizens planning to attend college during the 2019-20 academic year can now complete and submit CN scholarship applications online.

The application period began March 1 and continues to June 15. However, applications for the valedictorian and salutatorian scholarship must be received by March 29.

CN scholarships include the undergraduate, graduate, concurrent enrollment, valedictorian and salutatorian, and Directed Studies scholarships. A completed Free Application for Federal Student Aid should be submitted.

“It is most important that applicants remember to fill out their FAFSA forms,” College Resources Manager Chrissy Marsh said. “Also, we do most of our communication by email, so applicants need to be aware of their emails and what they are getting from us. We are here to help them, so if they have any questions, they should feel free to call us.”

Scholarship applications and submission forms can be done online.

However, the work must be completed in one sitting. A scholarship application cannot be “saved” and revisited later.

“Any required documentation will be uploaded with the application,” Marsh said. “They need to have all documentation while they are doing that and ready to upload so they will be ready to submit. We still have to verify addresses, tribal membership numbers, birth dates, and make sure all of that information is correct.”

Education Services Executive Director Ron Etheridge said thousands of Cherokees receive scholarships each year and that applications are reviewed in the order received. “(Marsh) has four advisers, and they all work the alphabet divided among the four,” Etheridge said. “They each review about 1,250 students. They take care of the first orders first. We take care of them in the order they come in.”

Etheridge said applicants in other time zones should be mindful that the deadlines expire one minute before midnight Central Standard Time.

Students without access to a computer can use a terminal and consult with staff by visiting Education Services in the W.W. Keeler Tribal Complex at 17675 S. Muskogee Ave. High school students can also check their respective school calendars or call the College Resources to see if the office will visit their campuses.

“Students can come by our office and scan their documents,” Jennifer Pigeon

of College Resources said. “We have scanners, printers, and they can ask us for help. We also travel to the high schools, where we are invited, and we will bring a laptop, printer and scanner, and we can set up a mobile office for them to apply.”

College Resources staff say the most common mistake by applicants is failure to submit all necessary forms, particularly the FAFSA. For the fall semester, undergraduate applicants must submit a Student Aid Report, and new applicants need their most recent high school, GED or college transcripts. Graduate applicants need their most recent college transcript and a graduate program acceptance letter.

High school students seeking concurrent enrollment awards must submit their most recent transcripts, college class schedules and approval letters from a parent and school counselor. Those applying for the valedictorian and salutatorian scholarship need approval letters from a parent and counselor, and a completed W-9 form, available as a download on the College Resources site.

CN scholarships are $2,000 per semester. The scholarships are intended for full-time students, and recipients who complete less than 12 hours of coursework will have their awards reduced to $1,000 for the following semester. Those who do not complete at least six hours cannot receive an award the next semester.

Scholarship recipients are also expected to perform volunteer service within their communities, based on award size. A $2,000 scholarship requires 20 hours of service, while a $1,000 requires 10 hours. Funding can be affected if volunteer hours are not completed.

Applications are available at scholarships.cherokee.org.

College Resources also offers the new Stole Program, which is given to CN citizens completing a degree of any level who have at least a 2.0 cumulative grade point average. Students graduating from high school, proprietary schools or a vocational program are not eligible.

Mailing deadline is April 30 for spring graduates. Required documents include a scholarship application, the most recent academic transcript, and a letter from a school official that includes the student’s name, degree type, major and commencement date. A stole can be awarded to a student with each degree attained, and can be worn during the graduation ceremony.

For information about all CN scholarships, call 1-800-256-0671, ext.

5464, email collegeresources@cherokee. org or visit www.cherokee.org/ Services/Education/College-Resources.

D. SEAN ROWLEY/CHEROKEE PHOENIX College Resources Center staff Jennifer Pigeon, left, Manager Chrissy Marsh and Executive Director Ron Etheridge discuss the upcoming rush of applicants for Cherokee Nation scholarships. The application period for most scholarships will remain open until mid-June.

8

CHEROKEE PHOENIX • MARCH 15, 2019

Services • ᎾᎾᏛᏁᎲ

ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎴᎯᏌᎤᎯ • AnIl9 15, 2019

Committee OKs bill to keep vets center in Talihina

Tribal, Sallisaw and Sequoyah County officials worked together to get the center moved to Sallisaw this past fall.

BY STAFF REPORTS

COURTESY Cherokee Nation citizen Elizabeth Toombs and Nissan USA Electric Vehicle Business Development Manager Brian Zelis view a 2019 Nissan LEAF during the tribe’s electric vehicle ride and drive event on March 1.

CN, Nissan announce electric vehicle rebate Cherokee Nation citizens and employees can get up to $11,000 back for buying a LEAF before April 1.

BY STAFF REPORTS TAHLEQUAH – Cherokee Nation and Nissan USA representatives announced a limited-time rebate for CN citizens and employees purchasing a Nissan LEAF. The $3,500 rebate for CN citizens and employees plus the up to $7,500 in federal tax incentives could equal up to $11,000 in savings for purchasing a Nissan LEAF before the rebate offer expires April 1.

The announcement was made March 1 at an electric vehicle ride and drive event the CN Office of the Secretary of Natural Resources hosted at the W.W. Keeler Tribal Complex.

“Protecting and preserving our environment and natural resources is a deeply rooted Cherokee value, and our commitment to upholding that value is as strong today as it was with our ancestors,” Natural Resources Secretary Sara Hill said. “In recent years, the Cherokee Nation and its entities have made concentrated efforts to reduce our carbon emission while also advocating on the protection and preservation of our natural resources. We are thankful that Nissan USA recognizes the tribe’s commitment and is giving our tribal citizens and employees the opportunity to join the effort and tradition of being the good stewards of the environment that our ancestors were.”

To receive the Nissan LEAF rebate, individuals must present a participating Nissan dealer proof of current employment at CN or a copy of the person’s CN citizenship card, and also a

copy of the special rebate flyer, available in the quick links section at www. cherokee.org.

The rebate offer is available to CN citizens and employees living in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The partnership between the CN and Nissan USA is another example of the tribe’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. In 2017, the tribe celebrated the completion of the first tribal solar canopy car charging station built by a tribe in Oklahoma. The canopy, located at the Tribal Complex, is capable of charging up to eight electric vehicles and provides about 58,000 kilowatt hours of electricity to the complex each year. The CN has three electric vehicles in the tribe’s fleet.

Cherokee Nation Businesses brought the first charging stations to northeast Oklahoma through a deal with Tesla Motors. The electric fueling stations located at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa can charge a vehicle in about 15 minutes.

For more information on the rebate offer, call Pat Gwin at 918-453-5000, ext.

5704.

Human Services addresses job vacancies

BY CHAD HUNTER Reporter TAHLEQUAH – A Cherokee Nation department with 30-plus job vacancies was discussed during the Feb. 18 Community Services Committee meeting.

In a December report, Human Service’s Office of Child Support was listed as having 32 employees and three vacancies, Family Assistance with 111 employees and eight vacancies and Youth Services & Special Projects with 16 employees and one vacancy.

But 22 vacancies were within Child Care & Development, according to the report, which listed 108 employees.

“If there’s one department that needs to be fully staffed, it should be Human Services,” Tribal Councilor Wanda Hatfield said. “I know you get lots of calls.

I get calls. What can we do to help you?

We have 22 vacancies in the Child Care & Development. Do we just not have people qualified for these jobs?”

Programs within Human Services offer financial assistance for day care, subsidies for licensing of child care centers and homes, help with child-

support issues, elder care services and more. Department representative Jennifer Kirby, the director of youth services and special projects, attributed the vacancies to various reasons.

“I don’t know if you guys have noticed this, but we have a lot of people that work for us in Human Services, and probably across the tribe, that are…caregivers,” she said in the meeting. “We have people that leave because they are having to care for their parents or someone in their family. That takes precedence over their job. We also have a lot of illness, a lot of people that are coming down with illnesses. Sometimes working overnights does not work. At the shelter we have overnight shifts, and that’s not ideal to people who are trying to raise a family.

It’s probably a variety of answers.”

Hatfield said while she understands there is a hiring process, “I just feel like there are people out there.”

“Yes, people quit, people get released, so on and so forth,” she added. “I know the process when we hire at the Cherokee Nation. I’m not being critical. I’m just like, if there’s any way we can help or move the process.”

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Jim Grego, R-Wilburton, announced Feb. 26 his bill that would stop the transfer of an Oklahoma Veterans Center from Talihina passed out of the House Rules Committee.

House Bill 1149 would repeal previous legislation that authorized the transfer of the center. The bill passed 6-2 in committee and is eligible to be heard by the House of Representatives.

“I’m thankful to each of the committee members who voted in support of this bill,” Grego said. “Hopefully we can get this measure heard on the House floor.

House Judiciary Committee Chair, Rep. Chris Kannady, who is a veteran, issued the following statement about the bill: “Representative Grego and I are continuing conversations regarding the future of the Talihina Veterans Center and how our state can best serve our veterans while ensuring rural Oklahoma has access to good jobs.

Representative Grego is a strong leader for District 17, including my family and my hometown, and I appreciate his willingness to address difficult issues.”

It was announced this past fall the Oklahoma Veterans Commission and the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs would move the 175-bed, longterm veterans care center from Talihina to Sallisaw within the next three to five years. The center employees about 275 people. HB 1149 would keep the center in Talihina.

Cherokee Nation and Sallisaw officials, who along with Sequoyah County officials worked together to get the center moved to Sallisaw, recently denounced Grego’s bill in written statements.

“There might be disappointment from areas that weren’t selected as the site for the state’s new veterans center, and we understand that frustration, but at the end of the day what matters most is that our veterans have a modern facility for care and with employees who can provide services they deserve after giving so much to protect our lives and

freedoms,” Principal Chief Bill John Baker said. “The city of Sallisaw, Sequoyah County and Cherokee Nation came to the table months ago to offer the Oklahoma Jim Grego Veterans Commission a location in Sallisaw, just off Interstate 40, so it’s easily accessible. The city has technological infrastructure and an identified strong workforce already in place, with recruitment and training resources available from Cherokee Nation Career Services.

These measures, we feel, will make for a successful new veterans center in Sallisaw that ultimately will help thousands.”

Sallisaw City Manager Keith Skelton echoed Baker’s sentiments saying the city and its partners acted in good faith to relocate the center and that Sallisaw is the best location for it.

“The city of Sallisaw, Cherokee Nation and all of our partners, came together and in good faith prepared responses and presentations to the RFP proposition for relocating the veterans center,” Skelton said. “For the benefit of veterans and their families, we feel Sallisaw is the best location to enhance their care and quality of life. Our proposal and presentation exhibited Sallisaw’s desire to partner with the Veterans Commission in providing our veterans the best possible facility and care. Our community is very excited about the veterans and this facility.”

According to a 2018 press release, the CN has pledged up to $300,000 to help with relocation and startup costs for the new center on a 90-acre campus and support through its Career Services program to secure the center’s workforce.

It also states the CN already offers veterans support programs with its Veterans Center being a place to gather and fellowship as employees assist veterans in accessing Veterans Administration benefits.

AnIl9 15, 2019 • ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎴᎯᏌᎤᎯ

Money • ᎠᏕᎳ

MARCH 15, 2019 • CHEROKEE PHOENIX

Action Floors offers quality The Tahlequah-based operation has endured competition and big box stores for nearly 40 years.

BY MARK DREADFULWATER Multimedia Editor TAHLEQUAH – For nearly 4o years, Action Floors has been family owned. However, it only recently became a Cherokee-owned, Tribal Employment Rights Office-certified business.

“I bought it last January 2018 from my father, but I’ve been in business with him for 25 years and I am Cherokee,” Action Floors owner Jeff McCarty said. “My wife Darla is an owner with me, but I own the majority of it. That’s how I was able to get TERO certified.”

McCarty said he started learning the business and how to install carpet when he was 14 years old and continued for 15 years.

He said he then began as a salesman for a different carpet company. He added that his uncle owned a store as well and it’s always been “a family thing.”

“I did that for a while then my dad brought me back here, and I started selling for him and eventually bought it from him,” he said.

“My uncle also owned a store in Claremore, so it’s always been a family thing.”

Since then, McCarty has remodeled the showroom floor to showcase products such as carpet, tile, glue down and locking wood and waterproof vinyl plank. Action Floors also offers installation for all types of flooring as well as minor carpentry work such as installing baseboards and wood trim.

McCarty said he offers free estimates and personally goes out to measure each job to make a “better connection” with customers.

As a small business, he said that is one of the things that sets him apart from big box stores such as Lowe’s, which opened in 2004.

Another is the quality of work and products.

“If you want quality products that have a good warranty on them, that’s what we’re here for,” he said. “The do-it-yourself cheaper stuff, you can get that at Lowe’s, but it’s lower quality stuff. You’re not getting the quality you can get here.”

He said small businesses such as his need to stay open because it is important to keep Tahlequah’s economy going.

“Whether it’s me, or anybody, the momand-pop stores are the backbone of this town. When they’re gone, what do you have left in the town? If you don’t have the shops downtown that make Tahlequah a unique small town and have only the big box stores, then what do you have then?”

Action Floors is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday. For more information, call 918-456-8192.

PINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) – Backers of a planned casino and resort in Jefferson County say the project will create more than 1,000 permanent jobs in the area.

Officials in Jefferson County have expressed support for Downstream Development Authority of the Oklahoma-based Quapaw Tribe to build the proposed Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff.

According to the Pine Bluff Commercial, Quapaw Chairman John Berrey told local officials that construction costs for the planned casino and resort will be about $210 million to $240 million. Berrey says he’s hopeful construction will begin soon after the state approves a license.

Voters in November approved casinos at four sites, one each in Jefferson County, Pope County, Hot Springs and West Memphis.

Berrey says he’s aiming for an opening date of February 2020, but the timeline is still tentative.

TULSA – The U.S. Department of Defense announced Feb. 26 that Cherokee Nation Technologies, headquartered in Tulsa, won a $39.5 million contract to advise and assist the U.S. Air Force on issues related to base realignment and closure programs.

A total of $9.5 million is obligated for fiscal year 2019. The work, which will be performed at several locations in the United States, is expected to be complete

by April 6, 2023.

Action Floors contracted installer Tony Hayes cuts a piece of wood trim to complete the installation of a flooring job in January.

COURTESY

“If you want quality products that have a good warranty on them, that’s what we’re here for.”

Jeff McCarty, Action Floors owner

MARK DREADFULWATER/CHEROKEE PHOENIX Action Floors in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, has been in business for nearly 40 years. Cherokee Nation citizen Jeff McCarty owns it.

Live thoroughbred racing returns March 25 to WRD

BY STAFF REPORTS CLAREMORE – The trainers, jockeys and equine athletes alike are arriving once again for the 28-day thoroughbred meet returning to Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs on March 25. Track representatives are optimistic about a strong handle and a full field in its 13th year of operation, abandoning the traditional calendar for a later start date, allowing for more simulcast coverage across the country.

Races begin at 1:15 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The schedule drops the Wednesday race day on May 1, replacing it with a Saturday card to finish the meet on May 25 and include the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

“We expect to increase both field size and handle this spring,” said John Lies, racing secretary and track announcer for Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs. “A later start date should work in our favor, and we anticipate more trainers on the grounds this year. We

Plans underway for Ark. casino, resort

CNT secures U.S. govt. contract

MARK DREADFULWATER/CHEROKEE PHOENIX Action Floors owner Jeff McCarty prepares an estimate for a customer. McCarty said he personally measures each job to “better connect” with customers.

COURTESY Action Floors contracted installer Tony Hayes puts the finishing touches on a plank-flooring job. Hayes installed the original flooring in the same house more than 20 years ago.

9

COURTESY Live thoroughbred racing returns March 25 to Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs in Claremore. also greatly value our growing relationship with TVG and strive to enhance our presence, avoiding post-time conflicts.”

The series offers nearly $500,000 in total for the Oklahoma-Bred Program, and more than $3.7 million in estimated total purses. The

stakes races run a six-week period within the meet, offering eight races and guaranteeing no less than $50,000 per race.

Stakes races open on April 1 with the Wilma Mankiller Stakes for fillies and mares 3 years old and up, going six furlongs for a guaranteed $50,000 purse. The Cinema Stakes on April 22 and Will Rogers Stakes the following day, April 23, are both no longer handicaps and have reduced the distance to 1 mile. The races are now stakes races at equal weights and guarantee $55,000 each.

The More Than Even Stakes for mares and fillies on May 20 and Cherokee Nation Classic Cup on May 21 for colts and geldings have been lengthened to a mile and 1/16th and close out the 2019 thoroughbred stakes races.

For the spring 2018 Will Rogers Downs meet, more than $15 million was wagered on live racing.

Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs is located 3 miles east of Claremore on Highway 20. For more information, visit www. cherokeestarrewards.com or call 918-283-8800.

Lawmakers seek state minimum wage hike OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – State lawmakers are proposing legislative measures to raise Oklahoma’s minimum wage.

The Journal Record reports that one bill filed by Democratic Sen. George Young in February would increase the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.50 an hour. Young says state lawmakers should be prioritizing livable wage options.

Another measure, proposed by Democratic Rep. Cyndi Munson, would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for state employees.

Munson says her bill would apply to public staffers who didn’t receive a pay increase last year.

Republican lawmakers have already rejected several efforts to increase the minimum wage. The Oklahoma Legislature passed a bill in 2014 preventing any city or town from establishing a minimum wage.

Ark. quarry plan tabled over Trail of Tears proximity BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) – Plans for a proposed limestone quarry in northwest Arkansas have been tabled indefinitely because of concerns over the project’s proximity to the Trail of Tears.

The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Benton County’s Planning Board voted 6-1 to table the project indefinitely at a meeting in December. The quarry is proposed for an area that is 900 feet (275 meters) from a section of the trail, which commemorates the forced relocation of the Cherokee Nation from the southeastern United States in the 19th century.

More than 4,000 Cherokee died during the more than 1,000-mile walk to what is now Oklahoma.

The newspaper reports that the Trail of Tears Association and the Cherokee Nation recommended that a cultural resources study be done on the quarry site.

Arvest gives $3.5K to Brushy Center BRUSHY – Arvest Bank recently donated $3,500 to the Brushy Community Center so BCC staff members could purchase food baskets.

According to a BCC press release, more than 40 baskets were purchased for elderly and disabled households.

According to the release, BCC board members and volunteers prepared and delivered the baskets filled with ham and other items needed to prepare meals.

BCC President Gary Bolin said he had a goal of helping the elderly and disabled with food baskets.

“Thanks to Arvest Bank and their donation that goal was able to be reached,” Bolin said.

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CHEROKEE PHOENIX • MARCH 15, 2019

People • ᏴᏫ

ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎴᎯᏌᎤᎯ • AnIl9 15, 2019

CN citizen works lights for big music acts

Patrick Warrington has toured with such acts as Elton John, Green Day and the Smashing Pumpkins.

BY D. SEAN ROWLEY Senior Reporter

TULSA – His work is visible but frequently not noticed by the crowds who see it, and it isn’t what sells the tickets, but it is safe to say Patrick Warrington has “hit it big” in his profession.

And if Warrington didn’t do his work, then audiences would definitely notice – the Cherokee Nation citizen is a touring lighting technician.

Warrington, 26, and a Tulsa native, has worked for some star acts, including Elton John, Green Day, the Smashing Pumpkins and Judas Priest. Because of non-disclosure agreements, he can’t name everyone with whom he has toured, but the list includes other big names in music and even a circus.

“I travel around the world. I’m up to 40-something countries now and 45 states, setting up lighting for concerts, circuses and special events,” Warrington said. “These have ranged from large pop shows in stadiums to nationally televised rodeo finals, Formula One races and even a Netflix comedy special.”

Job responsibilities for Warrington include hanging lighting fixtures, running cables and fixing lights, which he described as “fixing robots.” He occasionally gets to run a light show.

Being a light tech wasn’t what Warrington dreamed about as a child, but his interest was piqued during his days at Union High School.

“I kinda just did it,” he said. “The teachers and theater staff at Union definitely were a huge help. They gave me guidance, but also gave me a lot of room to try out ideas, designs and how to build a lighting rig.”

By 18, Warrington was working “whatever random event” he was assigned at a Tulsa lighting company. He then enrolled in college.

“I made it through three years at Oklahoma City University,” Warrington said. “During that time period I was also working as a local stagehand and as a

COURTESY PHOTOS Cherokee Nation citizen Patrick Warrington can’t name every act he has worked with as a touring lighting technician because of non-disclosure agreements, but the list is long. lighting director for a large church in the OKC area. From there I decided to drop out of college and go on the road.”

Warrington didn’t start in the big time, but gained experience touring with less famous acts.

“I would also be lying if I didn’t say there was just some dumb luck involved,” he said. “I would say my three biggest breaks were all something like knocking on the right door, or calling someone randomly and them needing help at that time, or chance encounters.”

With so much touring under his belt,

Cherokee Nation citizen Patrick Warrington, 26, a Tulsa native, has worked as a lighting technician for acts as such Elton John, Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins and Judas Priest.

Warrington has amassed an array of memories, but not all his favorites involve globetrotting.

“Some of the coolest moments with my job have been the hometown shows at the BOK Center,” he said. “There is just something about being behind the lighting desk and putting on a show for my home team. Another thought that comes to mind was during the Green Day European tour. The last pre-show song was always ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’

Of course, as everyone does, you have to sing along. This happened a few times, but an example would be The Hyde Park Festival in London. The energy you get from a crowd of 50,000 or 80,000 people singing that song while you are on the side of the stage – or possibly fixing

something under a set piece – is almost a little intoxicating.”

Throughout his young career, Warrington has enjoyed the backing of his family. Plenty of his shows have featured dancing, and he has noticed the appeal of dance across cultures.

“From when I was just starting in the theater world at Union High School to now doing these mega-shows, my family has always been supportive,” he said. “I have gone to some powwows, especially during college in which I was studying theater, and there is definitely a lot of correlation between the two arts. Dance is a way to bring people together, and there is just an energy around such events similar to what I see doing my job.”

Retired rodeo clown reflects on 30-year career Cherokee Nation citizen Bobby Clark grew up performing in rodeos and is in the Cowboy Hall of Fame.

BY GRANT NEUGIN Reporter WARNER – Cherokee Nation citizen Bobby Clark was a professional rodeo clown for 30 years.

He started the profession in the 1940s with his brother, Gene. Bobby was born in Seminole and in 1936 moved to Bakersfield, California, with his family.

“We ended up moving from Oklahoma to California due to the Depression. It ended up taking us two weeks to get up there because my dad kept getting lost,” Bobby said.

Bobby and Gene started roping at rodeos. However, Gene got into bull fighting and got Bobby to join him. After graduating high school, Bobby traveled as a bull rider and calf roper with Gene.

Three years later, the brothers worked the biggest rodeo at the time in New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

In 1948, Bobby started working as a rodeo clown. He received his break in Phoenix when rodeo clown George Mills lost an eye because of a bull. Bobby, who was roping calves, was asked to take Mills’ place. Everett Colburn, a stock producer, was impressed with Bobby’s performance and hired him for the rest of his rodeos. Bobby got Gene to join him as a clown to protect cowboys by fighting and distracting the bulls.

During their journeys, the Clark brothers clowned with Slim Pickens before his movie career. Pickens would be the only clown without make-up and would tell jokes while the Clark brothers took care of the bulls. This was the routine until they went to Little Rock, Arkansas, where Pickens worked his last rodeo before leaving to make movies.

“He told us that he had an acting tryout in California and if it worked out we would never see him clowning again,” Bobby said. “That Little Rock rodeo was the last one, and Slim Pickens ended up becoming a western movie star.”

After Pickens left, the Clark brothers kept clowning. They worked rodeos all over the United States, including in California, Texas, New York, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

Bobby said the crowd loved watching him because of his athletic ability.

Standing only 5-feet, 5-inches tall, he said he jumped over bulls going full charge and did acrobatic stunts while riding mules. He said he credits being Cherokee for his athletic abilities.

“I knew I was Cherokee since I was a little kid,” he said. “I always looked a

COURTESY Cherokee Nation citizen Bobby Clark wrestles a bull at a rodeo during his active days as a rodeo clown. He started the profession around 1948 with his brother, Gene.

“Gene and I ended up retiring 30 years after we started rodeo clowning. Most rodeo clowns only last about 15 years in the rodeo business.”

Bobby Clark, Cherokee Nation citizen

GRANT NEUGIN/CHEROKEE PHOENIX Cherokee Nation citizen Bobby Clark, a 92-year-old former rodeo clown, stands in his home in Warner. He started in the rodeo business at roping. little different than everybody else because of my Cherokee blood, but I always took pride in being Cherokee.”

The Clark brothers clowned for 30 years before retiring in 1978.

“Gene and I ended up retiring 30 years after we started rodeo clowning. Most rodeo clowns only last about 15 years in the rodeo business,” Bobby said. “I knew it was time to retire after I saved a cowboy from my last rodeo, and he gave me a hug because I saved his father back in his day, too.”

In 1987, the Clark brothers were inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame at Colorado Springs, Colorado.

WARNER - ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ᎨᎳ Bobby Clark ᎠᏏᎾᏏ ᎨᏒᎢ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ ᎠᏛᏁᎵᏍᎩ ᎨᏒᎢ ᏦᏍᎪᎯ ᎢᏧᏕᏘᏴᏓ.

1940s ᎤᎴᏅᎮᎢ ᏚᎸᏫᏍᏓᏁᎲᎢ ᏗᎾᏓᏅᎵ ᎤᎾᎵᏲᏁᎢ, Gene. Bobby Ꮓ ᏏᎻᏃᎵ ᎠᎴ 1936 ᏥᎨᏒᎢ ᎤᎾᏓᏅᏒᎢ Bakersfield, ᎠᏕᎳ ᏧᏢᎢ ᏭᏂᎶᏎᎢ, ᎠᏂᏏᏓᏁᎸᎢ ᏂᎦᏓ. “ᎣᎦᎳᎰᎹ ᎣᎦᏂᎩᏒᎢ ᎠᏕᎳ ᏧᏢᎢ ᏬᎩᎶᏎᎢ ᏂᏗᎦᎵᏍᏙᏗᎲᎢ ᎤᏲ ᎠᏟᎠᎵᏙᎲᎢ. ᏔᎵᏃ ᎢᏳᎾᏙᏓᏩᏍᏘ ᏚᏟᎠᎵᏙᎸᎢ ᎣᎩᏙᏓ ᎤᎴᎾᎢᎲᎢ,” ᎠᏗᏍᎬᎢ Bobby.

Bobby ᎠᎴ SCAN Gene ᎤᎾᎴᏅᎮᎢ CODE ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ ᎥᎿ ᏩᎦ TO SEE ᎠᎴ ᏐᏈᎵ ᏓᏂᎨᎯᏙᎲᎢ, VIDEO Gene Ꮓ ᎤᎴᏅᎲᎢ ᏩᎦ ᏧᎾᎧᏅᏍᏕᎾ ROGER GRAHAM

ᏓᎵᏍᏗᎲᎢ ᎠᎴ Z Bobby ᎤᏖᎳᏗᏍᏗᎢ ᎾᎬᏁᎸᎢ. ᏚᏍᏆᏓ ᏓᏕᎶᏆᏍᎬᎢ, Bobby Ꮓ ᎡᏙᎵᏙᎲᎢ ᏩᎦ ᏧᎾᎧᏅᏍᏕᎾ ᏓᎩᎸᏗᎲᎢ ᎠᎴ ᏩᎦ ᎠᏂᎩᎾ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ Gene ᎤᎾᎵᎪᎯ. ᏦᎢᏃ ᎾᏕᏘᏯ ᏩᎵᏍᏆᏗᏍᎬᎢ, ᎠᎾᏓᏅᏟ ᏚᏂᎸᏫᏍᏓᏁᎸ ᎥᎿ ᏪᏋᎢ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ ᎥᎿ ᏄᏯᎩ ᎦᏚᎲᎢ Madison Square Garden.

1948 ᏥᎨᏒ, Bobby ᎤᎴᏅᎮᎢ ᏚᎸᏫᏍᏓᏁᎲᎢ ᎥᎿ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ ᎤᏬᎵᏗ ᎠᏛᏁᎵᏍᎬᎢ. Phoenix ᎢᏃ ᎩᎳ ᎤᏓᎴᏅᎡᎸᎢ ᎾᎯᏳᎢ ᎠᏛᏁᎵᏍᎬᎢ ᎥᎿ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ ᎾᎯᏳ George Mills’s ᏩᎦ ᏧᎧᏅᏍᏕᎾ ᎤᎨᏩᏛ. Bobby, Z ᏩᎦ Ꮓ ᎠᏂᎩᎾ ᏓᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ, ᎠᎦᏛᏛᏅᎢ ᎾᏍᎩ ᏰᎵᎢ Mills’ ᏥᎾᏛᏁᎯᎢ ᏱᎦᏳᏛᏁᏗ ᏱᎩ. Everett Colburn, ᏩᎦ ᏧᎦᏎᏍᏗ, ᎤᎸᏉᏔᏁᎢ Bobby ᎠᏛᏁᎵᏍᎬᎢ ᎠᎴ ᎠᏥᎾᏢᏅᎢ ᏩᎵᏍᏆᏗᏍᎬᎢ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ.

Bobby Z Gene ᎤᏍᏕᎸᏗ ᎾᎬᏁᎸᎢ ᎠᎾᏛᏁᎵᏍᎬᎢ ᏧᏂᏍᏕᎸᏗᎢ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ ᏓᎾᎵᏍᏗᏍᎬᎢ ᎠᎴ ᏓᏂᏍᎦᏍᏓᏁᎲᎢ ᏩᎦ ᏧᎾᎧᏅᏍᏕᎾ. ᎾᎯᏳᏃ ᏚᏂᎸᏫᏍᏓᏁᎯᎢ, ᎾᏍᎩ ᎠᏂ Clark ᎠᎾᏓᏅᏟ ᎤᏂᏍᏕᎸᎲᎢ Slim Pickens ᎠᏏ ᏄᎴᏅᎲᎾ ᏗᏓᏴᎳᏛᏍᎩ ᎠᏛᏁᎵᏍᎬᎢ.

Pickens Z ᎤᏩᏌ ᎠᏛᏁᎵᏍᎩ ᏄᏓᏅᎵᏰᎥᎾ ᎠᎴ ᎤᏬᎵᏗ ᎧᏃᎮᏢᏍᎬᎢ ᏱᎪᎯᏓ ᎠᏂ Clark ᎠᎾᏓᏅᏟ ᏱᏚᎾᎦᏎᏍᏗ ᏩᎦ ᏧᎾᎧᏅᏍᏕᎾ. ᎯᎠᏃ ᏄᏍᏕᎢ ᏱᎪᎯᏓ ᎩᎳ ᏅᏯ ᏧᎾᏍᏗᎪᎯ, ᏚᏯᏓᏛᎢ ᏭᏂᎷᏣ, ᎥᎿ Pickens ᎣᏂᎢ ᏚᎸᏫᏍᏓᏁᎸᎢ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ ᎠᏏ ᎾᏂᎩᏍᎬᎾ ᏗᏓᏴᎳᏛᏍᎩ ᎠᏛᏁᎵᏍᎬᎢ. “ᎣᎩᏃᎯᏎᎸᎢ ᏛᏁᏟᏔᏂᏒᎢ ᏗᏓᏴᎳᏛᏍᎩ ᎠᏛᏁᎸᏍᎬᎢ ᎥᎿ ᎠᏕᎳ ᏧᏢᎢ ᎠᎴ ᎣᏏᏃ ᏱᏄᎵᏍᏓᏂᏙᎳ ᎥᏝ ᏱᎦᏲᏥᎪᏩᏔ ᎠᏛᏁᎵᏍᎬᎢ ᏩᎦ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ,” ᎠᏗᏍᎬᎢ Bobby. “ᎾᏍᎩᏃ ᏅᏯ

ᏧᎾᏍᏗᎪᎯ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ ᎥᏝ ᎣᏂᎢ ᏱᎨᏎᎢ, ᎠᎴ Slim Pickens Z ᎤᏓᎴᏅᎡᎸᎢ ᏗᏓᏴᎳᏛᏍᎩ ᎠᏛᏁᎵᏍᎬᎢ.”

Pickens Z ᎤᏂᎩᏌ, ᎠᏂ Clark ᎠᎾᏓᏅᏟ ᏂᎬᏂᎯᎵᏒᎢ ᎠᎾᏛᏁᎵᏍᎬᎢ. ᏂᎬᏃ ᎠᎹᏰᎵ ᏚᏂᎸᏫᏍᏓᏁᎸᎢ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ, ᎾᏍᎩᏊ ᎠᏕᎳ ᏧᏢᎢ, ᏅᏓᎩ, ᏄᏯᎩ, ᏔᏅᏏ ᎠᎴ ᎣᎦᎳᎰᎹ.

Bobby Z ᎧᏃᎮᏍᎬᎢ ᎬᏩᎬᏙᏍᏓ ᎤᏂᎸᏉᏛᎢ ᎤᎾᎦᏙᏍᏙᏗᎢ ᏂᏗᎦᎵᏍᏙᏗᎭ ᎣᏍᏓᏃ ᎠᏛᏁᎵᏍᎩ ᎨᏒᎢ. ᎯᏍᎩᏱᎳᏏᏗ, ᎯᏍᎩ ᎢᏯᏏᏔᏗᏍᏗ ᏱᎦᏘ ᎨᏒᎢ, ᎢᎧᏃᎮᏍᎬᎢ ᏁᏯᏄᎳᏃ ᏓᎦᏓᎾᏫᏗᎲᎢ ᏩᎦ ᏧᎧᏅᏍᏕᎾ ᎠᎴ ᏓᏁᏍᏆᏕᏏᏙᎲᎢ ᏱᎪᎯᏓ ᏐᏈᎵᎢ ᎡᏙᎲᎢ. ᎠᏣᎳᎩ Ꮓ ᎨᏒᎢ ᎢᏳᏍᏗ ᎾᏍᎩ ᏱᎬᏩᏛᏁᏗ ᎨᏒᎢ. “ ᏥᏲᏟ Ꮓ ᏂᎨᏒ ᎾᏆᏂᏙᎢ ᏥᏣᎳᎩ ᎨᏒᎢ,” ᎠᏗᏍᎬᎢ. ᏄᏓᎴᏃ ᏨᏆᎧᏃᏗᎢ ᎨᏒ ᎠᏏᏅ ᎠᏂᏐᎢ ᎨᏒ ᏂᏗᎦᎵᏍᏙᏗᎭ ᏥᏣᎳᎩ ᎨᏒᎢ, ᎠᏎᏅ ᏂᎪᎯᎸᎢ ᎣᏍᏓ ᎠᎩᏰᎸᏒᎢ ᏥᏣᎳᎩ ᎨᏒᎢ.” ᎾᏍᎩᏃ ᎠᏂ Clark ᎠᎾᏓᏅᏟ ᎠᎾᏛᏁᎵᏍᎬᎢ ᏦᏍᎪᎯ ᎢᏧᏕᏘᏴᏓ ᎠᏏ ᏄᎾᏣᏪᏐᎸᏍᏔᏅᎾ 1978 ᏥᎨᏒᎢ.

“Gene ᎠᎴ ᎠᏯ ᎣᎦᎾᏣᏪᏐᎸᏍᏔᏅᎢ ᎣᎦᏂᏍᏆᏓ ᏦᏍᎪᎯ ᎢᏧᏕᏘᏴᏓ ᎣᏍᏓᏛᏁᎸᏍᎬᎢ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ. ᏭᏂᎪᏛᎢ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ ᎠᎾᏛᏁᎵᏍᎩ ᏍᎩᎦᏚᎢ ᎢᏧᏕᏘᏴᏓ ᏱᎪᎯᏓ ᏓᎾᎵᏍᎨᏛᏍᎬᎢ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ ᏚᏂᎸᏫᏍᏓᏁᎲᎢ,” ᎠᏗᏍᎬᎢ Bobby. “ᎠᏆᏅᏛᎢ ᎠᏎᎢ ᏙᎢ ᎢᏯᏆᏛᏁᏗ ᎨᏒ ᎾᎯᏳ ᏥᏥᏍᏕᎸᎲᎢ ᏗᏍᎳᏗᏍᎩ ᎾᎯᏳ ᎣᏂᎢ ᏓᏂᏍᎳᏗᏍᎬᎢ, ᎠᎴ ᎠᏆᏄᎩᏢᏅᎢ ᏂᏗᎦᎵᏍᏙᏗᎭ ᎤᏙᏓᏃ ᏥᏥᏍᏕᎸᎲᎢ ᎾᎯᏳᎢ ᏥᏚᎸᏫᏍᏓᏁᎯᎢ, ᎾᏍᎩ.” ᎾᎯᏳᏃ 1987 ᏥᎨᏒᎢ, ᎾᏍᎩ ᎠᏂ Clark ᎠᎾᏓᏅᏟ ᎨᎦᏖᎳᏛᎢ ᎥᎿ Cowboy Hall of Fame ᎥᎿ ᎧᎶᏩᏓ ᏗᎦᏄᎪᎬᎢ ᎧᎶᏩᏓ.

– TRANSLATED BY DAVID CRAWLER

Culture • ᎢᏳᎾᏛᏁᎵᏓᏍᏗ

AnIl9 15, 2019 • ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎴᎯᏌᎤᎯ

MARCH 15, 2019 • CHEROKEE PHOENIX

Capitol’s renovation into history museum nearly finished The history museum is being developed to use both floors of the building.

BY WILL CHAVEZ Assistant Editor

TAHLEQUAH – The Cherokee National Capitol Building is a downtown landmark and will continue to be as the tribe’s Cultural Tourism department readies the 152-year-old building to be a history museum.

“We’re getting ready to open this summer as a Cherokee National History Museum.

We’ve been working over this past year to renovate this site,” Cultural Tourism Director Travis Owens said.

“We’ve been working several years to restore the exterior of the building. About a year ago we started on the interior, and now we’re getting ready to start on the actual exhibit installation.”

He said the museum is being developed to use both floors of the historic building.

The first floor will contain a gift shop, some gathering space and nearly 1,000 square feet of exhibit space that will periodically change. The museum’s upstairs will have a full story of Cherokee history from ancient times to present day.

He added that the museum would be “a one-stop shop” for Cherokee Nation history.

“We’re actually going to tell the Cherokee story from time immemorial to present day. So we’ll have a lot of exciting exhibits, a lot of artifacts from institutions like the National Museum of the American Indian, Gilcrease Museum and the Oklahoma Historical Society,” he said.

Plans are still being made for the opening ceremony in June, Owens said.

Construction on the building began in 1867 two years after the American Civil War ended. Most of Tahlequah’s public buildings had been destroyed during the war. After the building was completed in 1869, Cherokee leaders used it for a courtroom and to hold council meetings.

“It was the first building that independently housed all three branches

COURTESY The first floor of the Cherokee Nation’s history museum will consist of a gift shop, some gathering space and nearly 1,000 square feet of exhibit space that will constantly change. of Cherokee Nation government, post removal (Trail of Tears). It was used by the Cherokee Nation to house the executive, legislative and the court system right up until statehood,” Owens said. “After that… it was owned by the county, and it operated as a county courthouse until the late 70s. The Cherokee Nation gained ownership of it after that time and then used it as its own courthouse until just very recently.”

Before Oklahoma statehood in 1907, an act of Congress abolished the tribe’s

SCAN CODE TO SEE VIDEO ROGER GRAHAM

government. The CN regained its government in 1975 after it elected a chief and formed a constitution that was ratified in 1976. The tribe now operates under a constitution that was written in 1999, ratified in 2003 and implemented in 2006.

The Capitol Building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961.

In 2013, the CN began a restoration project to preserve the building’s original appearance, including roof repairs with historical-era shingles, new decking, new doors and windows and added a cupola to the roof. The project also includes adding a new back porch.

CHC to host Indian Territory Days March 28-29 Students are invited to experience Cherokee culture firsthand.

BY STAFF REPORTS

ARCHIVE Barbara McAlister, Cherokee Nation citizen and CN Vocal Class instructor, performs a “welcome” at the Vocal Class’s spring recital in 2016 in Tahlequah. McAlister has been named a 2019 Governor’s Art Award honoree for being an acclaimed mezzo-soprano and vocal teacher.

McAlister earns 2019 Governor’s Arts Award After retiring from an international opera career, McAlister returned to Oklahoma where she has taught vocal performance to youth and adults.

BY STAFF REPORTS

OKLAHOMA CITY – Cherokee Nation citizen and internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Barbara McAlister has been named one of 17 people to earn a 2019 Governor’s Arts Award, according to an Oklahoma Art Council press release.

After retiring from a long and distinguished international opera career, McAlister, of Muskogee, returned to Oklahoma where for years she has invested her time in teaching vocal performance to youth and adults in northeast Oklahoma, the release states.

According to the press release, as an adjunct professor at Northeastern State University, McAlister has raised funds for student recitals and master classes, and has helped students audition successfully for professional operas and obtain full scholarships to Oklahoma City University and the University of Central Oklahoma, among others.

“It rendered me speechless when I was notified from Okla. Arts Council. It was such a surprise, and also humbling to me.

I am so happy,” McAlister said. “By the way, I am very proud of them as fine arts instructor. I love what I am doing and feel blessed every day by my wonderful and talented students. Very blessed.”

The Oklahoma Arts Council will recognize the 17 honorees during the 43rd Governor’s Arts Awards on April 16 in Oklahoma City.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, also a CN citizen, will present the awards during a ceremony beginning at 4 p.m. in the fourth floor rotunda at the Oklahoma State Capitol.

A reception will follow in the first floor rotunda outside the Betty Price Gallery.

The event is free and open to the public.

“I am pleased to congratulate the 2019 Governor’s Arts Award honorees who come from all across our great state,” Stitt said. “I look forward to celebrating our honorees’ contributions to the arts in Oklahoma and recognizing their role in fostering a robust and impactful arts industry in our state.”

Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Amber Sharples said the 2019 honorees reflect the qualities that define Oklahomans.

“Hard working, selfless and devoted to causes greater than themselves, honorees deserve our thanks for their efforts in making the arts one of Oklahoma’s most robust assets,” Sharples said.

“Those selected for awards have shown exemplary commitment to impacting lives through the arts in communities and schools across our state.”

PARK HILL – Area students who visit the Cherokee Heritage Center during its Indian Territory Days on March 28-29 will have the opportunity to interactively learn about the Cherokee arts, language and lifestyles of the 1890s.

The annual educational event features various hands-on learning activities for public, private and home-schooled children grades kindergarten to 12. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m., and the event concludes at 2 p.m. each day.

The museum and villages are open for selfdirected tours, with demonstrations highlighting the many unique aspects of the time period held throughout the day.

Cultural stations are located throughout the grounds to introduce students to the art of Cherokee pottery making, basket weaving, finger weaving and more. Students are also encouraged to try their hand at cultural games such as blowgun shooting, stickball, marbles and chunkey.

Admission is $7 per student and accompanying adults are $2. School personnel accompanying students are free. Payment can be made to the CHC with cash, check, purchase order or credit card. Pre-registration is encouraged.

For more information or to register, call Tonia Weavel at 918-456-6007, ext. 6161, or email tonia-weavel@cherokee.org.

The CHC is the Cherokee Nation’s cultural center for Cherokee tribal history, culture and arts. It is located at 21192 S. Keeler Drive.

COURTESY Students get a firsthand experience with cultural arts such as basket weaving at the Cherokee Heritage Center during Indian Territory Days.

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Funds preserve parts of 5 Tennessee Civil War battlefields NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Five Civil War battlefields are receiving nearly $2.5 million in preservation funding from two Tennessee commissions.

The Tennessee Historical Commission and Tennessee Wars Commission said Wednesday that about 180 acres of land will be preserved through the state’s Civil War Sites Preservation Fund.

More than $1.8 million helps acquire 42 acres of the Stones River Battlefield. More than $367,000 will help preserve 120 acres of the Jackson, or Salem Cemetery, battlefield.

About $232,000 will preserve 9 acres of the Wauhatchie battlefield in Chattanooga. That grant will preserve Brown’s Tavern, a 212-year-old structure used during the Trail of Tears and owned by John Brown, a Cherokee man who received special dispensation from the U.S. government to avoid removal.

Two projects will add previously preserved areas at the Shiloh and Franklin battlefields.

Nominations for Cherokee National Treasure sought TAHLEQUAH – In preparation for the annual Cherokee National Holiday, the Cherokee Nation is seeking nominations for its Cherokee National Treasure distinction.

The deadline for nominations is 5 p.m. on May 14.

The honor of Cherokee National Treasure is bestowed upon CN citizens who have shown exceptional knowledge of Cherokee art and culture. Those selected work to preserve and revive traditional cultural practices that are in danger of being lost from generation to generation.

Nominations are accepted in the categories of traditional foods, bow making, beadwork, basketry, painting, pottery, wood and stone carving, gig making, turtle shell making and flint knapping.

Categories also include Cherokee language, blowgun making, flute making, textiles, graphic arts and quilting. For more information or to download a nomination form, visit www.cherokee.org.

Cherokee Art Market seeking art for youth competition PARK HILL – Native American youth are invited to participate in the 2019 Cherokee Art Market Youth Competition and Show, scheduled for April 6 through May 4.

All artists must be citizens of a federally recognized tribe, in grades 6-12, and are limited to one entry per person. There is no fee to participate.

Entries will be received between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on March 28-29 at the Cherokee Heritage Center, located at 21192 S. Keeler Drive.

A submission must include an entry form attached to the artwork, an artist agreement form and a copy of the artist’s Certified Degree of Indian Blood card or tribal citizenship card.

Artwork is evaluated by division and grade level. Awards include Best in Show - $250; first place $150; second place - $125; third place - $100; and Bill Rabbit Art Legacy Award - $100.

Applications are available at www.CherokeeArtMarket.com.

3 Doors Down Acoustic to play Hard Rock Tulsa March 28 CATOOSA – 3 Doors Down is bringing its “Back Porch Jam” tour, an acoustic interpretation of the band’s hits, fan favorites and deep album cuts, to The Joint inside Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa on March 28.

Tickets start at $39 and are on sale.

Everything kicked off with the band’s 2000 debut “The Better Life.” The album went platinum six times and introduced the world to their classic, “Kryptonite.” The band’s fan base grew with 2002’s triple-platinum album “Away from the Sun,” which yielded the smash hits “When I’m Gone” and “Here Without You.” Both 2005’s platinum-certified “Seventeen Days” and 2008’s “3 Doors Down” bowed at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 followed by the No. 3 “Time of My Life” debut in 2011.

Ticket prices and information on upcoming shows are available online in The Joint section of www. hardrockcasinotulsa.com or by calling 918-384-ROCK.

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CHEROKEE PHOENIX • MARCH 15, 2019

Culture • ᎢᏳᎾᏛᏁᎵᏓᏍᏗ

Entertainment Center

ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎴᎯᏌᎤᎯ • AnIl9 15, 2019

Merchandise by, about and including Cherokees CHEROKEE SHAMANISM AND TRADITIONS (James Mooney, Blurb, 230 pages, paperback – $14.08) The sacred formulas and rituals here are selected from a collection of about 600, obtained on the Cherokee boundary in North Carolina in 1887 and 1888, and covering every subject pertaining to the daily life and thought of the Indian, including medicine, love, hunting, fishing, war, self-protection, destruction of enemies, witchcraft, the crops, the council, the ball play, etc., and, in fact, embodying almost the whole of the ancient religion of the Cherokees. The original manuscripts, now in the possession of the Bureau of Ethnology, were written by the shamans of the tribe, for their own use, in the Cherokee characters invented by Sequoyah in 1821, and were obtained, with explanations, either from the writers themselves or from their surviving relatives.

CHEROKEE FEAST OF DAYS, VOLUME III: Daily Meditations (Joyce Sequichie Hifler, Council Oak Books, 412 pages, hardback – $19.95) Joyce Sequichie Hifler offers this beloved collection of daily meditation books drawn form her own rich Cherokee heritage and that of other tribes. She presents reading for each day of the year from Una la ta nee’ the cold month January, to U Ski’ Ya, the snow month of December.

Each reading provides insights in both English and Cherokee, and gems of wisdom recorded in the words of native speakers. This little treasure is for readers of all faiths, and for those seeking faith.

QUATIE ROSS: First Lay of the Cherokee Nation. (Dorothy Audrey Simpson, Heritage Books, 88 pages, $15.99 – paperback) Elizabeth Brown, “Quatie,” a full-blood Cherokee of the Bird Clan, was born in 1791 in the southern Appalachian Mountains of what is now Tennessee. Quatie became a wife, a mother, a helper to her husband – John Ross, chief of the Cherokees, and first lady of the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Nation of her time was the largest and most progressive of all the Native

American tribes. The Cherokees had their own schools, postal system and newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix (established in 1828). They built Christian churches, schools and houses; planted fields and orchards, kept herds of beef cattle, manufactured cloth, built roads and operated taverns and ferries.

Quatie was born in a world where the Cherokee culture and white culture met and lived in peace together for a time. Unfortunately, the newcomers lusted for the Cherokee’s land, which caused the peace between the two cultures to be short lived.

CHEROKEE MEDICINE, COLONIAL GERMS: An Indigenous Nation’s Fight against Smallpox, 1518-1824.

(Paul Kelton, University of Oklahoma Press, 296 pages, $24.95 – paperback) How smallpox, or Variola, caused widespread devastation during the European colonization of the Americas is a well-known story. But as historian Paul Kelton informs us, that’s precisely what it is: a convenient story.

In CHEROKEE MEDICINE, COLONIAL GERMS Kelton challenges the “virgin soil thesis,” or the widely held belief that Natives’ lack of immunities and their inept healers were responsible for their downfall. Eschewing the metaphors and hyperbole routinely associated with the impact of smallpox, he firmly shifts the focus to the root cause of Indigenous suffering and depopulation – colonialism writ large; not disease.

Kelton’s account begins with the long, false dawn between 1518 and the mid-17th century, when sporadic encounters with Europeans did little to bring Cherokees into the wider circulation of guns, goods and germs that had begun to transform Native worlds. By the 1690s English-inspired slave raids had triggered a massive smallpox epidemic that struck the Cherokees for the first time.

Through the 18th century, Cherokees repeatedly responded to real and threatened epidemics – and they did so effectively by drawing on their own medicine. Yet they also faced terribly destructive physical violence from the British during the Anglo-Cherokee War (1759–61) and from American militias during the Revolutionary War. Having suffered much more from the scourge of war than from smallpox, the Cherokee population rebounded during the 19th century and, without abandoning Native medical practices and beliefs, Cherokees took part in the nascent global effort to eradicate Variola by embracing vaccination.

A far more complex and nuanced history of Variola among American Indians emerges from these pages, one that privileges the lived experiences of the Cherokees over the story of

their supposedly ill-equipped immune systems and counterproductive responses. CHEROKEE MEDICINE, COLONIAL GERMS shows us how Europeans and their American descendants have obscured the past with the stories they left behind, and how these stories have perpetuated a simplistic understanding of colonialism.

NED CHRISTIE: The Creation of an Outlaw and Cherokee Hero. (Devon A. Miheusuah, University of Oklahoma Press, 272 page, $29.95 – hardcover) Who was Ned Wade Christie?

Was he a violent criminal guilty of murdering a federal officer?

Or a Cherokee statesman who suffered a martyr’s death for a crime he did not commit?

For more than a century, journalists, pulp fiction authors and even serious historians have produced largely fictitious accounts of “Ned” Christie’s life. Now, in a tour de force of investigative scholarship, Devon A. Mihesuah offers a far more accurate depiction of Christie and the times in which he lived.

In 1887 Deputy U.S. Marshal Dan Maples was shot and killed in Tahlequah, Indian Territory. As Mihesuah recounts in unsurpassed detail, any of the criminals in the vicinity at the time could have committed the crime.

Yet the federal court at Fort Smith, Arkansas, focused on Christie, a Cherokee Nation councilman and adviser to the tribal chief. Christie evaded capture for five years. His life ended when a posse dynamited his home – knowing he was inside –and shot him as he emerged from the burning building.

The posse took Christie’s body to Fort Smith, where it lay for three days on display for photographers and gawkers. Ned’s family suffered as well. His teenage cousin Arch Wolfe was sentenced to prison and ultimately perished in the Canton Asylum for “insane” Indians – a travesty that, Mihesuah shows, may even surpass the injustice of Ned’s fate.

Placing Christie’s story within the rich context of Cherokee governance and 19th-century American political and social conditions, Mihesuah draws on hundreds of newspaper accounts, oral histories, court documents and family testimonies to assemble the most accurate portrayal of Christie’s life possible. Yet the author admits that for all this information, we may never know the full story, because Christie’s own voice is largely missing from the written record.

In addition, she spotlights our fascination with villains and martyrs, murder and mayhem, and our dangerous tendency to glorify the “Old West.”

More than a biography, NED CHRISTIE traces the making of an American myth.