By ROBERT JUMPER
Tutiyi (Snowbird) and Clyde, N.C.
Does expressing yourself need to mean imposing yourself on others? What does it say about a person or people who must vandalize and mutilate people or property to achieve acceptance or acclaim with a group?
I mean, if it were done to gain recognition from the community for artistic or demolition ability, that would be one thing. It wouldn’t be right, but it would make more sense than just doing it to impress friends. People who vandalize property with graffiti and destruction rarely “sign” their work, so if the goal is to get acclaim for their abilities, that acclaim only comes from accomplices.
As shown in this photo taken Thursday, March 18, Whitewater Landing, located off of Whitewater Dr. in Cherokee, N.C., is currently closed due to vandalism to the new concrete walkway. (ROBERT JUMPER/One Feather photo)
And, just in case the vandalism is being done by our EBCI (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) enrolled members, we need to look at why one of our own might choose to destroy our nice things. We might think that it was just a childish impulse brought on by frustration or a rant because life just isn’t going the way someone wanted it to, but maybe it is that and something much deeper. What if the reason our people destroy our property is that they think we have deep pockets, and it’s just fun to deface and destroy things? What if it is that some of us have become so spoiled and entitled that they believe that they can destroy property that was built for the common good?
I can remember as a boy living in homes that didn’t have indoor plumbing. I, indeed, have used an outhouse before. In fact, I have used a “three-hole” outhouse, but never with anyone in that same outhouse. I was even once chastised by my uncle for leaving the door to the house open after walking in. He said, “What’s the matter with you? Were you raised in a barn?
As I work in the Ginger Lynn Welch Building, I need to visit the restroom a time or two each day. Now I don’t mean to be gross or insensitive, but there is no polite way to say this. Every day, almost to the day, there will be messes in the restrooms: toilets left unflushed, used paper strewn around the room, people coming in and leaving the remains of a quick “bird” bath they have taken in a public restroom. Remnants of previous users litter the toilet seats, urinals, and wash basins to some extent every day of the work week. And while the building’s excellent staff of housekeepers work diligently to maintain cleanliness, they have a hard time maintaining cleanliness and sanitation when it would be an around-the-clock job just to flush toilets for those who apparently have not the inclination or potty training to take care of it themselves. As I watched that restroom behavior, I remembered what my uncle said to me about being raised in a barn.
We didn’t have much materially when we were growing up. In addition to hygiene concerns, we were also concerned with trying to make sure things we had would last us as long as it could. So, we took care of our things: our clothes, our school supplies, our rooms, our homes. We were grateful to get and have what we had.
Our people have been very blessed. With some estimates of our annual income topping $150 million (CompWorth), the 16,000-plus enrolled membership has benefits unequalled in the municipalities that surround the Qualla Boundary. We have every program imaginable to the benefit of our children, our elders, and everyone in between. Per capita and GenWell payouts at or near 5-digit figures are paid out to each tribal member annually. Food and wellness services are provided. Higher education is provided. Programs to assist in home ownership are provided. And our tribe is continually building and providing nice things for us.
During the week of March 6, two separate news stories kind of flew under the radar, partially because, as a tribe, we were focused on watching our Cherokee high school athletes make their mark at the state level. Certainly, worthy of our attention, these young people are a source of Cherokee pride.
Which makes some of the news feel a bit awkward and out of place. Someone decided it would be a good idea to vandalize the Whitewater Landing recreation area by marking up the uncured concrete. I have reached out to the relevant Secretaries to try to determine if it is known who might have done this, why they might have done this, and what repercussions might come from this, but information is not available as I write this piece. I won’t speculate about whether it was a local or a tourist. I don’t know. What I do know, based on the Planning Board session where it was discussed, is that repairs to the park will be $15,000 plus (probably a lot higher than that), and the park had to be completely shut down while the repairs are made. My understanding is that there will be an event there on March 28 and that while the repairs might be finished, those areas that were vandalized will likely be roped off because the concrete will not have had time to cure (finish hardening).
That same week, the EBCI Water and Sewer Department issued an advisory (as required by law) that a significant untreated water leak had let 5,000 gallons or more of wastewater enter the Oconaluftee River. Again, I reached out to the relevant Secretary concerning this incident to ask how it happened and whether it was tribal property or individual tribal member property that produced the leak. But, as of this writing, no information has been forwarded. All we know is that a large wastewater release has occurred in our river. No other notification or public direction was shared regarding the release or what folks could do or should do to mitigate it downstream.
Why make a big deal out of it? Some might even say, “Hey,15-grand is chump-change to the tribe. Just let it go,” or “Hey, it’s a big river. It can handle a little wastewater.” But people who have that mentality are spoiled. They have lost their moral compass. Because principle also follows those actions in addition to the material damage inflicted. It is why we think it is okay to blow through town, where the speed limit is clearly marked 20 mph, at speeds double that or more. It is why we see picnic tables at our Oconaluftee Island Park covered in trash-used drink cups, plates, and uneaten food- when there is a trash can 15 feet from the picnic table. It is why we must have designated river clean-up days to rid our beautiful streams and river of waste left by local and tourists alike. Shells of once-used buildings, old hotels, restaurants, shops, and homes sit on the roadsides like monuments to poverty, leading to our casino, business and historic districts. From graffiti to kicking over gravestones, we show our childishness and wastefulness on a daily basis.
And, increasingly, the next generations look at all that behavior and what it produces, and say to themselves, “Well, they don’t care, why should I?”
Side note: We had our first baby announcement published in the One Feather in several months, maybe years, recently. Just so you know, One Feather will happily publish your birth announcement free of charge. It doesn’t matter to us where you are or who you are. Just send them to us. What a joy it was for me to see that! Newspapers used to receive tons of birth announcements from local hospitals (not ours, because we don’t deliver babies in our hospital). Privacy regulations prevent hospitals from sharing those anymore so it is up to the family to make the announcement. To me, it was a ray of sunshine in a many-times-dark world. So…Happy Birthday, Sawyer! Thank you, your Mom, and your Dad, for sharing a ray of hope and joy with us at your birth! You, Sawyer, and your generation are why we should clean up our act now, so that you may have nice things to pass on to your sons and daughters.
