How the Freedmen Deal Went Down Part III: Save Your Reciepts

For the last couple of days we’ve been trying to figure out what happened in September when freedmen suddenly became citizens.  Read the intro blog from earlier this week as well as the amazing telepathic communications blog if you haven’t already to catch up.  The short version:  Acting Principal Chief S. Joe Crittenden is hiding SOMETHING, we just don’t know if it’s his ignorance or something more sinister.  He didn’t turn over any documentation of how the decisions were made.

Here are some examples.  On page 12 of the 94-pager, the BIA thanks APCSJC for submitting a letter and the election code to them for review.  WHOOPS!  APCSJC didn’t include that actual letter in the correspondence.  So obviously he was communicating with the BIA, but he won’t tell us what he sent them.  Thanks for being “truthful and transparent” APCSJC!  

On page 82, there is a letter to all employees signed by APCSJC but written and emailed by someone named Sedelta Oosahwee.   There is no reply from him, or nothing saying he got the email, or approved the email.  Maybe this person just had carte blanche to sign APCSJC’s name to any ol’ thing about our sovereignty.  

Finally, were just a few carefully maintained, hand-written documents that APCSJC managed to find that could shed some light on how the freedmen got to be citizens.  Scroll all the way down to page 94… that’s where you see he managed to save his receipts so he could get reimbursed his cab ride and parking for his trip to DC.  You know the one where he single-handedly made the freedmen citizens again, but can’t find any documents or communications to show how it happened.  All we really know is it costs $15 bucks or so to get to the hotel from the airport, and that when it comes to keeping track of pieces of paper so he can get paid, APCSJC is top notch.  When it comes to keeping track of documents that show why he gave away the Cherokee Nation’s sovereignty, he’s not so good.  More tomorrow.

How The Freedmen Deal Went Down Part II: "Transparent and Truthful"

Yesterday we laid out the preview for today’s blog.  If you didn’t read it you need to.  Take some time and click here before continuing.

There.  That’s better.  Because you need that background to understand where we are today:  diving into a 94 page document that is supposed to be a “transparent and truthful” accounting of how the freedmen got to vote in the election.  Aside from the fact that S. Joe Crittenden (APCSJC) wanted them to because they “voted in June and voted in July and they may have helped put me in office. I believe they are entitled to vote again…” for his buddy Bill John Baker.

During this time, on September 13, APCSJC tells us that he is “pursuing political remedies that are in the best interest of the Cherokee Nation.”

The election is coming up on September 24.  There is a federal court hearing on September 20, when a judge is going to rule on whether the election can even happen, since the freedmen aren’t citizens anymore.  But when September 20 rolls around, Crittenden cuts a deal with the BIA and Freedmen that changes the rules of the elections and lets the Freedmen in.  So obviously that was a busy week for him, between the 13^th when he tells us he is ‘pursuing political remedies’ and the 20^th when those remedies come to fruition.  He even tells us that he is involved in the final nitty gritty of the deal making process: “We are still working out the final details, to be agreed upon among all the parties…” 

So when asked for all the documents, notes, emails, etc. about this deal, and given that he has promised to be transparent and truthful, what does APCSJC give us?  A big stinking pile of jack squat.

In the 94 page response seen here, there are emails and notes from all kinds of people, staff members and the attorney general.  But very few from APCSJC himself.  There are no emails from him to the BIA.  There are no notes of any conversations he had with the BIA.  There is no copy of any correspondence whatsoever between him and the BIA.  There is no correspondence between him and the freedmen of any kind, even though APCSJC himself tells us “we are working out the final details to be agreed upon among all parties…”  Did they communicate telepathically?  Use one of those secret languages only twins understand?  Or did APCSJC lie to us and hide documents?  Or did he never actually do anything at all, but only farm out the work to heaven knows who?

There’s a lot of evidence pointing to the fact that ACPSJC didn’t do anything himself.  For instance, there are several all-employee communications about the freedmen issue, (see pages 38, 39 and 40).  They were all sent by someone other than APCSJC, but they are signed with his name.  But there is no correspondence from APCSJC to those people showing that he actually wrote it!  If this is all the correspondence then someone wrote all the letters for APCSJC and then sent them out with his name on it.  There’s not even an email from APCSJC saying, yes, I approve of this draft you wrote!

But regardless, APCSJC is either hiding documents explaining why he decided to single-handedly agree to let freedmen be citizens even though our Constitution and Supreme Court say they can’t, or he didn’t make that decision himself at all and refuses to divulge who did actually make the decision.

To sum up, here's a short version of the TRUTH:  APCSJC was asked for every scrap of information and documentation.  He did not turn over any information or documentation about why he made the decision, even though he vowed to be truthful and transparent.  He did not even explain why he didn't turn over the information. 

Wow.  More on this tomorrow, but if this is “truthful and transparent” we are in for a long four years.

How the Freedmen Deal went Down, Part I

In a September whirlwind, Acting Principal Chief S. Joe Crittenden (APCSJC) was in the middle of a political firestorm that was more than he bargained for.  The CN Supreme Court kicked freedmen out of the tribe on his eighth day as APC.

A couple of weeks later the BIA told him they weren’t going to recognize PC2011 Election 2.0 if the freedmen couldn’t vote.  And they couldn’t, because they weren’t citizens.

APCSJC immediately sprung into action, working with the BIA, freedmen and everyone else to make a deal so the election could happen and he could become DCSJC, which is what he always wanted.  

In the process, he sold out the Cherokee Nation Constitution by single-handedly agreeing that the freedmen could be citizens even though a vote of the Cherokee people and the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court said they couldn’t be citizens.

A lot of us wanted to know what the hell happened.  How did we get here, as a Nation?  Who talked to whom, how was this deal made and was it really necessary? 

Someone was smart enough to request the documents as part of our open government here at Cherokee Nation.  What they actually asked for was this:  “Please provide all written emails, letters and phone call notes, travel, meeting dates and topics Acting Chief Joe Crittenden and ANY of his staff, liaisons, contractors or other types of representatives have had with Larry Echo Hawk, Echo Hawk’s staff, BIA officials, DOI officials, Marilyn Vann, Velie (attorney for Freedmen), any other Freedmen plaintiffs or representatives and DOJ concerning the Freedmen, citizenship for the Freedmen, pending Court cases, Judge Kennedy and anyone else associated with this important case for the past six months.”

This request came less than a week after the federal court agreement by APCSJC, and less than two weeks after APCSJC himself said this about how he was going to fix the freedmen situation:  “I hereby re-pledge to the Cherokee People that I will be transparent and truthful.”

So what did we end up with?  A 94 page document responding to this public records request that is ASPSJC’s version of being “transparent and truthful.”  Surely this will finally tell us how we got non-citizens changed back into citizens just hours before our do-over Principal Chief election.  And for those of you who think this isn’t relevant, just remember: this citizenship compromise that APCSJC came up with in his 67 days as Acting Principal Chief is still with us now and may be for the rest of our lives.  So how did it happen?  Find out what the public record documents show in tomorrow’s Cherokee Truth.

School House Rock Edition

In a lost edition of "School House Rock," 
n animated piece of paper explains Cherokee Blood Law

.

At the last council meeting, they went all School House Rock and showed us how a bill becomes a law.  Importantly, the council decided that, since APCSJC went to federal court and made a deal that was against Cherokee Nation law, the council needed be a little more involved in these sorts of decisions from now on.

So they passed a law that puts the council in the middle of any decision in which the Cherokee Nation lets another tribe put land into trust within our jurisdiction-- which, as we pointed out, is a big deal right now because the UKB is trying to put their illegal casino into trust status and the tribal council wasn’t informed.

Attorney General Diane Hammons told the Cherokee Phoenix that she was planning on filing a protest to the application.

As speaker of the council Meredith Frailey pointed out, “This is pretty serious stuff when another tribe comes within our jurisdiction and tries to put land in trust.”

Deputy Speaker Cara Cowan-Watts took it upon herself to send the BIA a letter herself, just to make sure they knew that we are “adamantly opposed to any other tribe putting land into trust within the legal and sovereign boundaries of the Cherokee Nation.”

While Baker hasn’t commented on how tough he will be on his buddy George Wickliffe who is trying to carve out a piece of Cherokee Nation for himself and the UKB, Baker's Choctaw aide Kayln Free told the Cherokee Phoenix, “Chief Baker will always protect and defend the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation and will aggressively defend the Nation’s boundaries and any encroachment within those boundaries.”

If so, the council’s vote might be unnecessary.  But it’s not guaranteed, and it’s not a bad idea to make sure that all branches of the Cherokee Nation government involved and someone can’t singlehandedly decide to give our land away.

As some council members pointed out in committee meetings, that kind of thing used to get people killed.  In this day and age, the least our elected officials should do is to follow the lead of Cowan-Watts  and send an angry letter.

Larry E. Hawk is From The Federal Government and He's Here to Help

Larry E. Hawk's motto.

The Cherokee Phoenix is writing a story that quite a few people have been slow to pick up on:  Larry E. Hawk from the BIA (Bossing Indians Around) is not a friend of the Cherokee Nation. 

Will Chavez writes a good story and it seems pretty clear:  The BIA wants to have its cake and eat it too.  Larry E. Hawk sent the Nation a letter a few weeks ago, saying the BIA doesn’t recognize our 1999 Constitution or our 2010 election laws.  Only he sent it to then acting principal chief S. Joe Crittenden (APCSJC), who was elected under the 2010 election laws.  If they didn’t recognize those laws, then why would they recognize APCSJC and send him a letter?  Turns out, they only want to not recognize the Cherokee Nation’s Constitution on days when they feel like it.  In this case, Mr. E. Hawk wanted to make sure non-Indians (freedmen) got to vote, so on that day, he decided the Cherokee Nation’s 1999 Constitution wasn’t in effect.

However, as Chavez pointed out, since the Constitution was implemented, the BIA has recognized us (almost) every single day of every single year.  They recognize our council members and our courts.  They give us buckets of money, which is pretty bad policy if, according to Mr. Larry E. Hawk, we are not operating under a valid Constitution.  So the Cherokee Nation is faced with two options:  Either the BIA is incompetent and has been giving the Cherokee a bunch of money when it shouldn’t, or the BIA is just trying to boss us around, even though they don’t have the right to tell us what our Constitution is or says, because, what the heck, it worked with APCSJC.

So what does Baker think? He tells the Cherokee Phoenix he’ll stand up for our sovereignty, as long as it doesn’t cost us federal funding.  “What I won’t do is risk $500 million dollars in federal funding for our 300-plus thousand Cherokee citizens.”  Which is right in line with what S. John Crittenbaker have done already, for only $30 million in HUD funds.

Baker says he’s ‘weighing the pros and cons of the BIA’s stance,’ though we’re not sure what the pros are, unless having someone telling the Cherokee Nation what to do is a pro because then we wouldn’t have to make any pesky decisions ourselves, we can just rely on the smart and trustworthy folks at the BIA to do it for us.  After all, having the federal government make decisions for us seems to have worked out really well so far. Weren't they the ones who arranged for us to relocate here in the first place?

In the meantime, Larry E. Hawk was at Baker’s inauguration and told us all this:  “I pledge to hold the Cherokee Nation’s sovereignty in high regard.”  We at the Cherokee Truth would hate to see what would happen to us if he started holding Cherokee Nation’s sovereignty in low regard. 

The Price of Sovereignty: Part "Tali" (That's Cherokee for "2")

In the discussion about the HUD funding being restored, we neglected one more retroactive and inaccurate statement.

While Baker was busy taking credit for selling our sovereignty for roughly $40 million pieces of silver, he also took a shot at Smith, by saying he was getting the money restored that was “withheld from the Nation and the previous administration.”

Either Baker is taking a shot at APCSJC, or he forgot that Smith wasn’t Chief when the ruling came down on August 22.

August 22 is the day that the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court issued the ruling saying the freedmen weren’t citizens any more, and threw everything sideways.  Until that happened, HUD was giving us our money.

Remember--Smith left office on August 14th, and Joe Crittenden was sworn in as Acting Principal Chief, a week before all this hit the fan.

Baker was there; he ought to know that his buddy Joe Crittenden was in office when the Supreme Court issued their ruling and got the ball rolling on this.

Not that its Crittenden’s fault… the Chief doesn’t control the timing or the content of Supreme Court decisions. That goes for Chief Smith, Chief Crittenden and now, Chief Baker.

So, if Baker wants someone to blame for HUD withholding housing funding, he really should start with HUD.  They withheld the money even though there was no law that said they should.  Or he could start with the Cherokee people, for changing the Constitution.

Baker should learn that he doesn’t necessarily look better when he tries to make Smith look worse, especially when he does so by ignoring the Truth.

Bill John Baker, The First Day

As we noted last night, there was an abrupt transition of power yesterday, as APCSJC moved down a spot on the pecking order and Baker was sworn in about 6 hours after the Supreme Court cleared the path for him to do so.

The abrupt transition apparently continued today.   Baker sent out an email today saying that he has appointed Chuck Hoskin, Sr. as his Chief of Staff and let six group leaders go, while putting three other “senior level employees” were put on administrative leave. 

It stands to reason that Baker will want to bring in some of his own people.  It also stands to reason that he’s seen the Cherokee Nation up close as a council member for the last eight years, and he even acknowledges that the folks Smith has had running the various departments have done a “good” (but not “great”) job. 

We hope that, in the interest of transparency, he'll tell us who he's putting on leave and who he's letting go, and maybe even why.  It would make sense for people who are doing a "good" job to keep doing it, right?

But Baker also told the Cherokee Phoenix last night that he was looking for a “‘world-class team of leaders’ to help guide the nation and said he needs suggestions from the Cherokee citizenry.”  So it looks like resumes are going to be accepted.

With Baker’s emphasis on Cherokee hiring, we assume that he’ll bring in Cherokees with better resumes and experience to replace any Cherokees who-- he says-- aren't "world-class."  Regardless, we hope that he’s treating Cherokee citizens and employees with courtesy, respect, and maybe some of those hugs he has left over from last night.

Election Limbo Part Two, Day THE LAST: Baker Swears, Hugs

Photo Courtesy KTUL: Baker takes the oath on the Courthouse steps

Bill John Baker is Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.  

The Cherokee Nation Supreme Court threw out the election appeal filed by Smith, and Baker hurried down to the courthouse tonight, where he was sworn in by Justice Jim Wilcoxen.

Baker told the Daily Oklahoman:

“It is time to bring our Cherokee family together and move our nation from good to great. I deeply appreciate the Cherokee people for placing their faith in my leadership.”

Channel 8’s online story included a statement from Smith as well, which read in part:  “I acknowledge that Bill John Baker has been elected to the Office of Principal Chief and offer him any help I may provide in building the Nation I so love, and have been honored to serve for the past 12 years.”

Fox 23 already has video of Baker up on their web site, and he declares his first order of business is to hug every single person he possibly can.

So election limbo is over.  APCSJC gets to ease into his preferred job of Deputy Chief, Meredith Frailey heads back over to the Council House and Bill John Baker is Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

Election Limbo Part II, Day 19: Freedmen Say They Want this to “All be Over.”

Now that Bill John Baker has been certified the winner, his supporters appear to be lining up.  Notably, the freedmen, who told reporters now that Baker is elected they are “confident in him until he shows me different…. I’m just hoping and praying this will all be over with.”

When they say “all be over with,” we get the unsettling feeling that they are talking about our Constitutional amendment.  As we pointed out yesterday, APCSJC did what he could to make this “all over with,” by single-handedly reversing the Cherokee Nation’s Supreme Court, much to their dismay.  Should we expect the same flagrant disregard for the Constitution from Baker?

The freedmen seem to think so.  Their attorney, Ralph Keen, said, “The freedmen remain in a good position to continue to assert their rights.  My hope is the freedmen and the Cherokee Nation will meet and reconcile.”

There certainly are ways for the Cherokee Nation and the freedmen to reconcile:  we could have a new constitutional amendment to allow them to have citizenship.  Or a court, somewhere, (the federal Nash case maybe) could rule that the Cherokee Nation is currently in violation of the treaty of 1866 in relation to the freedmen.  If a court has ever done so (and not been overturned when the Cherokee Nation fought for its rights), we don’t know about it.

Otherwise, the Chief can’t ‘reconcile’ our Constitution.  The Tribal Council can’t ‘reconcile’ our Constitution.  Only the Cherokee people can do it.  

Or we could lose in federal court.  And don’t get us started on Cherokees who want the Cherokee Nation to lose in federal court!  Remember, the freedmen have asked repeatedly to have the Cherokee Nation terminated as a tribe.  So if you are a Cherokee who thinks the freedmen cause is just, by all means talk to your council member or start a petition to change the Constitution.  Because only Cherokees should decide who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.

So what does Baker say about all this?  "I'm pleased it's now in an Oklahoma court…and I will simply wait and see what the ruling is."

We hope he does, rather than try to ‘reconcile’ our Constitution.  But that’s not what the freedmen think.  They are “upbeat about Baker as chief.  ‘Bill John Baker has got a new regime and hopefully he'll start off in a better direction... I believe we will get a better shake.’”

You can get a better shake from your favorite old-timey malt shop.  We just hope that Baker, unlike Crittenden, remembers he is not a soda jerk.

Election Limbo Part II, Day 18: Supreme Court Flips the Bird

Lots happening in the last couple of days, so there is a lot to analyze.  Initially, we thought it would be 48 hours before the election commission certified the results, and we could talk about the CN’s Supreme Court ruling.  But the Election Commission finished up today instead, and the results look a lot like they did before.  The totals ended up being 10,703 to 9128.  No big surprise there.  

The Cherokee Nation also released information about timelines for appeals, and it looks like October 24 would bethe earliest date for an inauguration. That would be after the timelines for recount and appeal.  If there is an appeal, it would be after that.

Why would there be an appeal?  Well, as we alluded to yesterday, the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court gave a big middle finger to APCSJC by issuing an order saying Crittenden “entered into an agreement… that contained terms that were in direct violation of the Constitution and an order of this court….”.  The order also said that APCSJC “had no authority under the Constitution to bind the Cherokee People to an agreement without their consent when such agreement would violate a provision of the Cherokee Nation Constitution.” 

That agreement, FYI, was the agreement that made Freedmen citizens again, right before the federal judge was about to rule that they weren’t.

  

The Justices are basically telling everyone that the election, where hundreds of Freedmen voted and hundreds of late votes were counted in Baker’s home town, should have ended on September 24, because that is what Cherokee Nation’s laws said to do.  But it’s not what S. John Crittenbaker wanted, so it’s not the deal they made with the freedmen and BIA.  The deal they made broke tribal law, and the Supreme Court sat up, took notice, and made said metaphorical gesture.

 

So how will this all shake out? Baker will want the freedmen votes to count, because he won.  Smith would probably want the election thrown out, because it was done in violation of tribal law (and he lost).  The Cherokee people probably just want it all to be over.