By BROOKLYN BROWN
Tsisgwohi (Birdtown)
On the morning of April 11, the Office of the Principal Chief released the following press release:
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) is set to host the 2024 NCAI Mid-Year Convention & Marketplace from June 1-6 at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee, N.C. The Local Planning Committee (LPC), consisting of more than 20 EBCI members representing various entities and groups across the Qualla Boundary, has been actively involved in planning for several weeks. Their efforts have ranged from vetting and approving the NCAI recommended logo and fine-tuning details for a culture night.
Andrew Oocumma, who chairs the committee and serves as the director of EBCI Destination Marketing, is thrilled about the chance to connect with NCAI and Indian Country. “Our tribe boasts a wealth of history and culture, and we’re eager to showcase what makes the Cherokee so distinct to all Indian Country.”
NCAI, which stands for National Congress of American Indians, was founded in 1944 to serve as a unified voice for American Indian and Alaska Native issues.
“The NCAI is an organization created on the core principle of fostering unity in Indian Country by working to protect Tribal interests and sovereignty through advocacy, educational efforts, events, and various initiatives,” said Principal Chief Michell Hicks in a statement. “We hope to continue to strengthen the relationships we’ve established within NCAI, to ensure that the protection of genuine Tribal sovereignty remains a priority. It is imperative that we continue to build our alliances in Indian Country and what a better way to do this than on our Qualla Boundary.”
In November 2023, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), the Shawnee Tribe, and the Ute Indian Tribe proposed two amendment changes for NCAI’s membership eligibility requirements, which would restrict voting and individual membership to federally recognized tribes. This effort by the EBCI was taken primarily to exclude fraudulent “Cherokee” tribes with state recognition who currently have membership and voting power in NCAI. The amendments were voted on at NCAI’s 80th Annual Conference and denied.
Though the amendments raised debates over state versus federal recognition, my deep concern was, and still is, the continued membership and power of those Cherokee tribes who make a mockery of what it means to be Cherokee.
There are over 200 fake Cherokee tribes. There are six fake Cherokee tribes who are members of NCAI:
Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama (Pinson, Ala.)
Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama (Falkville, Ala.)
Four Winds Tribes, Louisiana Cherokee (Rosepine, La.)
Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee (Cumming, Ga.)
United Cherokee Ani-Yun-Wiya Nation (Guntersville, Ala.)
Cherokees of Southeast Alabama (Dothan, Ala.)
NCAI was founded in 1944 with the intent of serving the broad interests of Indian Country in unity. It is the oldest and largest organization of its kind. NCAI has been and can continue to be a powerful agent for change in Indian Country, but it stands amiss in allowing six fraudulent Cherokee tribes to be dues paying and voting members. This is an issue that the Office of the Principal Chief and the EBCI are currently discussing in depth with the organization, and it will take an extended effort to ensure a resolution is found. For now, what I find troublesome is that those six groups will have an open invitation to the NCAI Mid-Year Convention & Marketplace held in Cherokee in June.
I understand and appreciate the decision to invite NCAI to the Qualla Boundary for discussion on moving towards resolution and respect of the three Cherokee tribal nations in their rich culture and history, but I am extremely wary of the six “tribes” who may come in June to take pictures, sell art in the marketplace, learn our sacred histories, and perceive, though deluded, a stamp of approval for their authenticity as real Cherokees in the Cherokee homeland.
The fact remains that there are only three Cherokee tribes, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (UKB), the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), and the Cherokee Nation. What sets these tribal nations apart as “real” is an act of sovereignty rooted in sacred history, kinship, language, culture, historical record, and a set of ancient mountains with graves, pottery fragments, mounds, footprint-indented trailheads from the Trail of Tears, village post holes, a boarding school site, caverns that hid the Cherokees resisting removal, and the Cherokee people descended from these mountains.
I urge the community to show up in full force at the NCAI Mid-Year Convention & Marketplace to let our voice be heard and our representation be felt, but I also urge you to be cautious and aware of the cultural appropriation that may take place. Ask to whom you are speaking with when you share knowledge, or when you take pictures, or engage in debates over the contemporary issues of Indian Country. Let your voice be heard, but do not let them steal it.
