By ROBERT JUMPER
Tutiyi (Snowbird) and Clyde, N.C.
I worked on the Qualla Boundary long before I worked for the tribe. For 13 years, I worked for a consumer product company, purchasing retail space in stores for company displays and product placement. The Qualla Boundary was part of my sales territory. I would visit individual stores, assess their sales volume, and offer them monetary contracts for in-store advertising space, in addition to renting the best locations in the store for my product.
In a store on the Boundary that I serviced (part of my job was to make sure the displays were in good repair and were well-stocked), I routinely dealt with a lady at the counter who I assumed was management. She, too, I realized, was making assumptions about me. You see, while I do have indigenous physical traits, I am what many people in Cherokee would call “light-skinned”. I didn’t look “Cherokee” to her. When we first met and for several encounters afterward, I would try to make polite conversation with this lady, and she would barely speak or interact. Unless it had to do with business, she didn’t really want to have anything to do with me.
That is, until one day, while I was at the counter purchasing a snack for the road. As I opened my wallet at the counter, my enrollment card fell out onto the counter. I will never forget the look of surprise on her face. She looked up and said, “You’re Cherokee?” I nodded. From that moment on, there was always a smile and a greeting when I would come to the store. She would come to me as I did my work and ask about my kin and share stories about hers. She wanted to talk about culture, family, and government. In other words, seeing that enrollment card, she welcomed me into the tribe, her tribe, now our tribe.
Now, some of what was going on is the generational hurt that all indigenous people feel when encountering “outsiders”. We have either felt that pain in our family relationships, or we have been indoctrinated through the various tribal members we encounter. Most times, the thought is legitimate. Sometimes it is a part of the entitlement mentality that has held us down and back for many years. Either way, perceived pain is pain, nonetheless. And among Cherokees, when one feels pain, it affects the entire community.
Which makes the way some of us think about off-Boundary tribal members so very hard to swallow.
When per capita was establish, I mean really established after the tribe got into the adult gaming business (before that, per capita distributions were pretty few and far-between), it was written into law that the monetary dissemination of the per capita would be equal to any enrolled members of the tribe, inferring that all Cherokees, regardless of blood degree, were equal in the eyes of tribal law and the community. We claim that we are just as Eastern Band Cherokee in California as we are in Graham County.
But, if we really do believe that, why is it that there is no direct representation for off-Boundary Cherokee people? According to tribal law, each tribal member who votes is assigned to a voting district or community. For me, that is Snowbird, even though I do not live there. According to tribal law, my affiliation with Snowbird comes from my ancestry, particularly my father. And I don’t know it for sure, but I imagine those who live in Snowbird have very different wants and needs than someone who lives off-Boundary.
There is a mentality among some of us that if you are a tribal member and you live off-Boundary, you shouldn’t really have a say in who governs our tribe. Some have even advocated in the past for doing away with the voting rights of off-Boundary Cherokees. Even some of those who live off-Boundary feel like it isn’t right for them to vote in tribal elections because they believe that those who live on the land should choose leadership.
I believe that stems at least in part from a false assumption. Some believe our government only makes decisions on the infrastructure of our community within the geographic bounds of the territorial trust lands of our people. Our tribal leaders may make universal decisions that impact every member of our tribe, including health care, education, individual income, and even, to some extent, how you might be buried. And not just for off-Boundary Cherokee people, for even those living in Los Angeles or Amsterdam.
Roughly half of our people live off-boundary. As our tribal population grows faster than our land mass, that percentage will only grow. And yet there is no formal representation in the form of an at-large (or two) seat in our legislative branch. In fact, the law is written to say that your residence must be on the boundary within the community seat that you intend to run for if you want to be elected into our government. There is no provision for off-boundary candidacy. Period. Even if you argue that they are represented by a candidate in the community they are attached to by law, it is highly unlikely that the candidate will have a clue how to address the needs of their out-of-boundary constituents.
And yet, off-boundary tribal members are a voting group of fifty percent, higher than any other community of Eastern Band Cherokee people. If they were not separated by community boundaries, they would be able to sway any election for a legislative seat.
There is little difference between a satisfied constituency and an apathetic one in the outcome of elections. Satisfied constituents have what they feel they need and maybe a little of what they want. An apathetic constituent may not have what they need or want but assumes they can do no better and are afraid to “rock the boat”, not informing themselves enough to take a risk on making things better.
My message, especially for any off-boundary tribal voter, is to please never consider yourself less than someone who happens to live on the Qualla Boundary. No matter where you are, you are a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. In that, you carry a proud and noble heritage. Our ancestors were incredible people, and you are a descendant of those storied elders of our nation, whether you live in Snowbird or Amsterdam. You should educate yourself on tribal law and those running for tribal offices as much as you learn about language, culture, and history. Then vote. Cherokee is in your blood. Don’t take that for granted. Don’t accept being content or apathetic. Our ancestors strived as a community, as a family, for more and better for our people. We should do no less.
