By ROBERT JUMPER
One Feather Editor
CHEROKEE, N.C. – The Constitution Committee of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) began their meeting on Thursday, April 9 without a quorum. Gahvsgi (Chairperson) Nancy Pheasant called for a roll call as she opened the meeting at 5:37 p.m. In attendance were EBCI Associate Judge Barbara Parker, Constitution Committee Chairperson Nancy Pheasant, Lloyd Arneach, EBCI Beloved Woman Carmaleta Monteith, and Jack Cooper. Counted absent were Elawodi (Yellowhill) Rep. Shenelle Feather, Aniwodihi (Painttown) Rep. Shannon Swimmer, Pam Straughn, Randall Crowe, EBCI Chief Justice Brad Letts, Dakota Bone, Janet Arch, Peggy Hill, Avery Maples, and Colby Taylor. Jack Cooper announced that Avery Maples was resigning from the committee and Raylen Bark would be replacing Maples.
Gahvsgi Pheasant called for and took a vote on the agenda without the presence of a quorum. Those present “approved” the agenda.
11 minutes into the discussion, Rep. Shannon Swimmer arrived, and that gave the committee enough delegates to have a quorum. Gahvsgi Pheasant stopped all discussion to catch Rep. Swimmer up on what had taken place in the meeting. Gahvsgi Pheasant directed Lloyd Arneach to go back and read the March 26 minutes for the record and for the vote. They did not vote on the minutes because Beloved Woman Monteith requested that the names of those who seconded motions be included in the minutes. So, the minutes vote was put off to the next meeting.
Gahvsgi Pheasant called for discussion on a “timeline review”. Judge Parker stated that the committee should prepare Charter changes just in case the committee cannot get the entirety of the constitution delivered for a referendum consideration by Dinilawigi (Tribal Council). Gahvsgi Pheasant prefers direct meetings with the community to attempt to educate and feedback sessions to print or digital communication. Suggestions ranged from the entire committee meeting with some or all the community to asking for a specific time from each community club to speak. Beloved Woman Monteith stated that the regular business in a community club meeting usually takes a significant amount of time, and it would be difficult to add a constitution discussion to a regular community club meeting. Gahvsgi Pheasant plans to ask community clubs for a separate meeting with their communities for the constitution-specific discussion.
Rep. Swimmer expressed frustration at the process, “I wasn’t a big fan of how the ‘Constitution Convention’ came about; that these particular branches had to be represented, and there needing to be a quorum. And now it is almost 7 o’clock, and we’ve done absolutely nothing because we have to go through all these motions and agreeing on them, when before, we could have just texted Community Club Council chair and asked if that is something we can do. Instead, we have to act as a body with clear and concise language to make a motion and then pass that motion and then send it to the Community Club Council. Folks, we are not going to make a lot of progress this way. I wanted to strongly voice my frustration with how long this is taking us to accomplish anything.”
The “Constitution Convention” was established by resolution in 2023, when a proposed constitution was halted by Dinilawigi because of what EBCI Attorney General Michael McConnell termed “unintended consequences” of the language in the proposal. The same draft constitution from 2023 was voted in by the Constitution Convention as a basis to proceed with this new constitution initiative.
Jack Cooper said he would like to see the community vote redistributed, particularly splitting the Tutiyi (Snowbird) and Tsalagi Gadugi (Cherokee County) voting communities. Judge Parker and Jack Cooper said they had feedback from community members wanting to realign voting to allow the two communities to be separate.
Rep. Swimmer indicated that “people” had been dissatisfied with the weighted vote for a “long time”. Gahvsgi Pheasant added that she thought additional communities like Wayohi (Wolftown) and Widagalinidisgv (Big Y) are not being “fairly” represented. Then discussion wandered to off-Boundary voters. Jack Cooper also wanted to mention the potential for Tribal Council representative pay changing based on any changes to community weights and potential for the number of seats to increase.
Jack Cooper wanted to “still push” the idea of having the “self-identified as a community” areas to have their own representations with a portion of the weighted vote, saying that an area with a community club is a self-identified community, including Tsisqwohi (Birdtown), Tso Iyagayvli Tali Sgohits(v) Sgwa Itsutsiloda (3200-Acre Tract), Wayohi, Widagalinidisgv, Kolanvhi (Big Cove), Toledvyi (Towstring), Elawodi, Tutiyi, Cherokee County. The committee also discussed changes to the minimum age to run for office, the ages mentioned were 18 and 25. The committee discussed being in favor of recommending 25 years old for voting. Judge Parker noted that some community members she had discussed this with felt that 18 year olds should have the opportunity to run. Differences in discussion were how mature individuals are at the ages discussed.
With that, the committee voted to end the session.
