15 Days Until the New Election-The 2011 Annual Report to the Cherokee People, What Joe Crittenden (and Baker?) Didn't Want You to See

Click here to read the "top secret"
2011 Annual Report to the Cherokee People

We got ahold of the 2011 Cherokee Nation Annual Report and it’s hard to see what the fuss was about.  It looks nice, but it’s pretty non-controversial, considering it was banned/suppressed by Acting Principal Chief S. Joe Crittenden (APCSJC).

So what’s the Cherokee Truth?  Crittenden told the Tahlequah Daily Press that the report had messages from Chad Smith and Joe Grayson in it. Crittenden is right on thing--Smith does have a message on page 4, but the report also says he was chief from 2007-2011.  On page 8, there is a big picture of Grayson, but the ‘message’ is actually a story about how the doctors at Hastings saved his life when he had heart problems.  A ringing endorsement of our health care system by a guy who’s grateful for his life is pretty standard fare.  The fact that it’s a guy who’s been deputy chief for eight years just adds to it.

The document also has the names of all the incoming council members on the back, which looks like it might be a late addition or something, but still references the future leaders.

The rest of the document, like annual reports of previous years, is a look back on the past year.  It seems that Smith, Crittenden and Baker should all be happy for people to see the good things the Cherokee Nation has done.  Afterall, they were all on the council and/or chief last year.  

It’s a mystery to us why keeping this information out of the hands of the Cherokee people is in the interests of the Cherokee people at all.  By withholding the information, it looks like Crittenden and Baker don’t want people to have knowledge about the good things their government has done in the past year.  Why is that?

It’s one thing to find fault with what the Cherokee Nation has done-- every government can do things better, Cherokee Nation no exception.  But certainly they shouldn't mind giving employees credit for their hard work once a year, and letting citizens know what is going on and how their money is spent.

So take a look for yourselves. And if you want a hard copy, send a Freedom of Information Request to APCSJC. Be sure to include your name, mailing address and that you are requesting a copy of the 2011 Annual Report to the Cherokee People, as well as a copy of the video annual report (which we've not yet seen). You can even ask for multiple copies to hand out to your friends if they too would like to see what all the fuss is about. Here's his email address: joe-crittenden@cherokee.org so you won't even need a stamp!