Letter: Change in leadership for the Cherokee Nation

Tuesday, June 12, 2007  

"Cherokee Nation Chief Chad Smith once again wants the tribal members to vote yes on the amendment to keep the Bureau of Indian Affairs from interfering with his personal agenda.

What he is not telling the tribal members is vote for the amendment and you vote away all the U.S. federal protections the U.S. Constitution affords everyone in the Cherokee Nation (CN).

The 1975 Cherokee Constitution gives CN employees a right to redress wrongful actions by the CN or its agents as does the Treaty of 1866, which states, “The U.S. Constitution will be the supreme law of the land.”

I challenge any veteran of the Cherokee Nation who has served in the U.S. military, who has fought and defended the rights afforded to every American by the U.S. Constitution, to stop and think before voting for who will lead the Cherokee Nation the next four years — a leader who doesn’t uphold, defend and protect the Constitution of the United States or the Cherokee Nation? A leader who follows his own agenda and not the will of the people? A leader who only serves himself and not the Cherokee citizens?"

Get the Story:
Billy R. McCoy: Vote for change at top of Cherokee leadership (The Muskogee Phoenix 6/11)

BIA Letters:
May 21, 2007 | March 28, 2007 | August 30, 2006

Sovereign Immunity Court Decision:
Vann v. Kempthorne (December 19, 2006)

Cherokee Nation Judicial Appeals Tribunal Decision in Freedmen Case:
Allen v. Cherokee Nation (March 7, 2006)

Relevant Links:
Cherokee Nation - http://www.cherokee.org
Freedmen Of The Five Civilized Tribes - http://www.freedmen5tribes.com
Freedmen Conference - http://www.freedmenconference.com

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