By BROOKLYN BROWN
One Feather Reporter
CHEROKEE, N.C. – The monthly Editorial Board meeting of the Cherokee One Feather was called to order at 10:01 a.m. by Chairperson Brooklyn Brown. Roll call was also led by Brown. Members present included Brown, Vice Chairperson Dawn Arneach, Subscription Clerk Indica Climbingbear, Editor Robert Jumper, and Assistant Editor Scott McKie Brings Plenty. No guests were in attendance.
The EBCI Executive Committee and Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) are supposed to appoint a member to the Editorial Board but have not done so.
There were four items on the agenda:
The first item, submitted by Brings Plenty, asked if the One Feather should continue to publish arrest reports, since they are similar to complaints from the Office of Internal Audit and Ethics that have not yet been investigated and we do not publish those until a conclusion is made.
Brings Plenty removed the first item for vote but stated for the record that he holds the opinion that arrest reports should be treated the same as uninvestigated ethics complaints, as the arrested individuals are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Jumper said that he finds a difference in that there is some investigation by law enforcement taking place prior to arrests that is not present for an ethics complaint. He said anyone can submit a complaint to Ethics, but law enforcement must have probable cause for an arrest.
The second item, submitted by Brings Plenty, asked if the Editorial Board should livestream meetings, either via the One Feather Facebook and/or YouTube, or via the Dinilawigi chambers. The board decided to first publish meeting minutes to see if the community is interested in meeting content, and then if interest is garnered, to discuss livestreaming.
The third item, submitted by Brings Plenty, is a suggested ordinance change to Cherokee Code Ch. 75-57(e) regarding hiring of One Feather editors. The Editorial Board voted unanimously with a motion by Brings Plenty seconded by Jumper to draft an ordinance that would make the Editorial Board part of the hiring process for the editor.
The fourth item was a language project update given by Brown. The One Feather is currently working on a Cherokee language project with the Kituwah Preservation Education Program (KPEP) to create consistent weekly language videos. The project is being divided into seasons, with each season holding 13 weeks of content. Brown has currently written scripts for two seasons that have been reviewed and approved by Cherokee fluent speaker EBCI Beloved Woman Myrtle Driver Johnson. The next step is for KPEP to assign a speaker and second language learner to be featured in the video, and then for the One Feather to schedule a day and time for filming.
The meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m. Editorial Board meetings occur every third Thursday of every month in the Ginger Lynn Welch Large Conference Room (Poke Salad Room) and are open to the public. The next meeting will be held May 21.
