The flag of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Image from Wikipedia
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina streams council meetings online and airs them on local television but that hasn't stopped tribal leaders from barring the media from covering them. The Smoky Mountain News must seek approval every time it wants to send a reporter to a meeting. Even then, the paper has been kicked out twice in recent months. “That sounds like an old story to me,” Tim Giago, the founder and editor emeritus of the Native Sun News, told the paper. “I’ve been thrown out of tribal council meetings many times too.” The tribe enacted a law in 2006 that guarantees freedom of the press. But it didn't help the former editor of The Cherokee One Feather, the tribe's newspaper, who was fired in 2008 after he criticized Chief Michell Hicks. “I’ve gotten death threats here and there,” Joe Martin, a tribal member, told the Smoky Mountain News. “I don’t know how many times I’ve had somebody say they were going to go to the chief or council and make sure that I got fired.” Hicks is leaving office after two terms and two candidates seeking to replace him support freedom of the press. "When it comes to freedom of speech and freedom of the press, I’m 110 percent," write-in candidate Mary Crowe said at a forum earlier this month, the News reported. "I think this is another one of those essential rights that belong to the people and need to be taken out of under reporting to the executive office," said Patrick Lambert. The Cherokee One Feather falls under the executive branch as part of the marketing and promotions department. But the third candidate doesn't believe non-Indians should enjoy the same rights. "I would like to see it set up to where enrolled members were the only ones that had access to our tribal council meetings," Gene "Tunney" Crowe said at the forum, the Smoky Mountain News reported. Eastern Cherokee citizens will choose their next leader on September 4. Get the Story:
Native American journalists face unique issues when it comes to free press (The Smoky Mountain News 8/27)
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