By ROBERT JUMPER
Tutiyi (Snowbird) and Clyde, N.C.
We’ve been trying to follow up and report to you on two significant items of interest to the community. It is our duty to you as laid out in our tribal law. We always salt our coverage with our ethics commitment, which we agree to when we sign on to work for the paper (Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics). We do our best to minimize any harm that might result from the release of information in an article, while ensuring that factual documentation of tribal history is as truthful and without bias as possible.
Two incidents occurred on the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee on or around March 6. Those are facts documented by our tribal government.
One was the concrete mangling at the Whitewater Landing. Partially cured concrete was damaged to the tune of a five-figure amount, and the park was closed to the community for a month, then remained closed as they continued upgrades to the park, extending the closure for several more weeks.
And that is the extent of the facts as we know them based on what has been reported by government officials. We have reached out multiple times to the leadership for updates on the investigation into the damage, but the response continues to be that the investigation is ongoing, and if it is in that state, there will be no information forthcoming.
In the absence of full disclosure, some community members will take the little pieces of fact they may glean and formulate conclusions of their own. They speculate on who the vandal is. They speculate on what type of surveillance is used and whether it failed. They speculate about how much the repairs cost. And they speculate as to why more information isn’t available.
The other incident was a sewage spill near a residence on Big Cove Road. From the March 11 edition of the Cherokee One Feather:
“Untreated Wastewater Discharge reported in Oconaluftee River Basin
Submitted by Cherokee Water & Sewer Program
CHEROKEE, NC – In accordance with North Carolina General Statute 143-215.1C, the Cherokee Water & Sewer Department is reporting an untreated wastewater discharge that occurred on March 5. The incident involved an estimated 5,000 gallons of untreated wastewater, resulting from a discharge at 319 Big Cove Rd. The wastewater entered the Oconaluftee River, located in the Oconaluftee River Basin. The Division of Water Resources was notified of the event on March 5 and is currently reviewing the matter.
For more information regarding this incident, please contact the Cherokee Water & Sewer Programs at (828) 359-6106.”
And after multiple inquiries for further information, that was the last public information received for the sewage spill. No information on environmental impact. No information on mitigation. No assurances (or warnings) for the public using the Oconaluftee River.
And so, the community is left to speculate. On whose property did the spill originate? Is it the tribe’s spill or a tribal member’s spill? How much did it cost to mitigate? Are the river and the people who use it safe? Is it really 5,000 gallons of sewage, or is it more? Have there been other sewage spills?
While I understand the necessity of withholding proprietary information like who might have defaced the concrete at Whitewater Landing (no clear report has been offered, so it has not been confirmed to be vandalism, accident, or act of God) or who owns the sewage spill, I don’t understand the silence. Like it or not, every enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is a stakeholder in every use or misuse of property and capital that the tribe owns or has dominion over.
It would be unthinkable in almost any other government or municipality for the citizens in their communities to be told that they cannot know what is going on with their communal property and assets. Or, worse yet, for the governing authorities to fall silent when the citizenry makes inquiries about any issues involving their stake. Barring information that would be proprietary is one thing; holding public information is another. In fact, laws in other municipalities, some right next door to the Boundary, are such that governments consider it a matter of course to issue press releases, hold press conferences, and address the community whenever there is a question of use of funds, incidents involving communal assets, and concerns of public safety.
In my opinion, this bottlenecking of information is a symptom of a much larger challenge for our people. We have been governed for decades now without a true examination and adjustment of the Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) weighted vote. This has been in front of us for several years as a people. Accuracy of the weighted vote via an every-decade census of the people is one of the few rights discussed in the tribe’s charter and governing document. The assessment is to ensure that every member of the tribe in or attached to every community is equally and fairly represented. So, because we have not had that assessment in the timeframe outlined by the Charter, we violate our law, a law specifically designed to provide equality and fairness in the selection and election of the most powerful seats of government in the tribe.
That should be alarming to us, as, say, a sewage spill. And apparently, it is. Other than the paper making inquiries about this spill, the community and the government remain quiet. So too, other than some general discussion and a resolution or two, the issue of a tribal census and realignment of the weighted vote is still dust in the wind.
While there are 20 elected officials (2 executives, 12 legislators, and 6 Board of Education members), who are elected by the individual communities in which they reside, once elected, they are charged with representing, governing, and reporting to all enrolled members, regardless of individual communities. And yet, the One Feather receives regular reports for the community from only 2 of the 20. If you are doing the math, that is 10 percent of the tribal elected officials. And yes, they may have their own social media or go to community club meetings with reporting, but that is like distributing information with a teaspoon when a fire hose is available. Keep in mind that elected officials do not answer to the One Feather. We are just the conduit for their information, and we have offered that conduit to all.
You may have noted that there was no published report for the scheduled meeting of the Constitutional Convention on May 14. According to one of the members present, only 3 of 15 came in at the appointed 5:30 p.m. start time. Three delegates showed up, anticipating a meeting. The staff charged with attending to document the meeting where there and thought there would be a meeting. The community had been publicly notified that there would be a meeting. According to those in attendance, they cancelled the meeting, 15 minutes after it was supposed to be called to order. There is no explanation on Sgadugi.org (the committee’s official page), no explanation on their social media presence, EBCI Constitution. I even tried to find information on the cancellation on the social media page “EBCI Constitution Discussion Space”. No post or comment has been made there since November 2023.
If there is no appetite in our community for change, then many of us are wasting breath and resources on something our community has no interest in. Going up to the podium and stomping your foot once a month may feel good, but it is accomplishing nothing if we do not use the tools available to us to make a difference. By all means, speak your mind, but don’t let it end there. Someone who is elected and paid should have no issue providing performance information to the entire community on a weekly or monthly basis. If you are on a committee, be it paid or volunteer, step up and move the ball forward for the cause of bettering your community, or resign your seat. Change and enhancement begin with true transparency and adherence to the civil “right” outlined in the Charter and the civil privileges outlined in the Cherokee Code. Silence sometimes speaks to us more than words.
