By BROOKLYN BROWN BIGMEAT
One Feather Reporter
CHEROKEE, N.C. – On the morning of Thursday, Sept. 2, Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) assembled for their monthly council session. The first item on the agenda was a protest of Ord. 184(26) ‘An ordinance amending Chapter 19 regarding caging bears on Tribal Lands,’ that passed during the last council session on Aug. 6. Collette Coggins and Katherine Ella Taylor, both members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), submitted the protest. The protest was subsequently removed from the agenda by unanimous decision of Dinilawigi.
The protest read, “Requested outcome: Allow Cherokee Bear Zoo to keep its existing bears beyond September 1, 2028, while continuing appropriate animal-welfare and regulatory oversight.”
Aniwodihi (Painttown) Rep. Shannon Swimmer read a memo stating her opinion that it was illegal for Dinilawigi to hear the protest based on Cherokee Code Sec. 117-40 Protest and rehearing of tribal council decisions. The memo read in part, “The first question Tribal Council should decide is whether it is legally proper to hear this protest. My answer to that question is ‘no’ based on Cherokee Code Sec. 117-40(c), which states in relevant part that ‘protests shall not serve to delay the implementation of legislation passed by Tribal Council.’ And further adds in section ‘f’ that ‘The protest remedy described in this section shall not be used to repeal or amend ordinances that establish the codified law of the Tribe expressed in the Cherokee Code. Repeal or amendment of ordinances may only be performed by a subsequent ordinance.’ Allowing this protest to be heard or scheduling a hearing for the protesting parties is contradictory to the plain and clear language of the Cherokee Code.”
Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks has not yet ratified Ord. 184(26) stating, “In regard to the prior month package, this ordinance was not part of that package, so I haven’t seen the ordinance from TOP [Tribal Operations Program] yet. So, everything else was signed off on except for this particular ordinance.”
Kelly Long-Sampson, manager of TOP, said she was told by EBCI Attorney General Michael McConnell to hold the ordinance.
McConnell stated, “When the protest was submitted, I think Chief was out of town. I did not want any confusion about the process for this. So, Kelly did contact me and I did tell Kelly, ‘To be safe, bring that back to TOP.’ Chief Hicks is still within his time to either veto or ratify or to not. So, that’s where we are.”
Kolanvyi (Big Cove) Rep. Venita Wolfe stated that she believes McConnell overstepped in holding the ordinance, “I don’t think it is within your realm to decide to withhold an ordinance that should have gone to Chief with the rest of the packet. I think it should have gone to Chief, and he has the decision whether or not he should sign it within the 30 days. So, by withholding that, I believe you overstepped…We decided to send it forward. It was passed. So, it should have gone to the Chief so he could decide whether or not he was going to ratify it or veto it. It should not have been a decision that you made, Mike.”
McConnell responded, “Right, and I accept that. I was not trying to put myself into the position of decision maker; I was trying to assist TOP with a question. My goal with that was to resolve that issue after Chief came back, I think on that Monday, and I apologize because I did not get back to it in time. I take your criticism very carefully and seriously and thank you for that.”
Gahvsgi (Chairperson) and Tsisqwohi (Birdtown) Rep. Jim Owle said, “Mike, my question to you is: From what Shannon has read, does this meet the protest guidelines that we should vote on this today?”
McConnell responded, “No, it does not.”
Mary “Missy” Crowe, an EBCI tribal elder from Elawodi (Yellowhill), stated in part, “I ask that Tribal Council deny this protest hearing based on the fact that in last month’s Aug. 6 tribal council session, the scenario was Mrs. Coggins had seen Tribal Attorney General down at her business and asked him some questions, and during that time Mr. McConnell, the tribal attorney general, said that he and Ryan Clayton from the Attorney General’s office had went down to visit that place. And while he said that it was clean and the bears looked somewhat healthy, he said they watched the bears and I quote, ‘Ryan and I, as we were walking away, came to the idea that this practice shouldn’t be happening anymore.’ He then went on to say that there is a lease. He said that the lease calls for an animal park and does not specifically identify bears. It would not affect her lease at all. She can continue to have a lease and an animal park.”
Coggins asked a series of questions including, “This [memo] is just Shannon’s opinion, right? This isn’t legal?”
Owle responded that it was Shannon’s opinion based on her reading of the Cherokee Code.
Coggins then asked, “You’re not going to hear [the protest], and so I’ve exhausted my options?”
Taline Gahvsgi (Vice Chairperson) and Elawodi (Yellowhill) Rep. David Wolfe responded that Coggins has the option to submit another ordinance.
Coggins then asked Ugvwiyuhi Hicks to clarify if he had ratified the Ord. 184(26) as she did not hear his previous statement. Ugvwiyuhi Hicks addressed Dinilawigi, stating in part, “I’m not going to speak to Collette at this point. She has me personally sued, so I’m not going to have that conversation. At this point, I have taken no action on this ordinance because it has not been forwarded from TOP to my office.”
Coggins said, “I’m definitely going to need clarification now on this. So, because of a situation in a different matter we’re going to drag it all into one? Because I feel like that’s what just happened to me, when I just asked a simple question. The Chief just clarified it and it made it very clear that he’s not going to speak to me because I have him personally sued on a different issue. I’m still a tribal member. He’s still obligated to talk to me. Maybe not about that issue, but he’s obligated to talk to me. And what happens up here doesn’t necessarily affect what’s happening over there.”
Referencing earlier discussions regarding the Tribal Bingo Project, Coggins continued, “Because that’s why we’re here really anyway. What happened up there trickled down to here, because six months ago, nobody cared, not one of you. You drove by [Cherokee Bear Zoo] every day 30 some years and nobody cared about it, then all of a sudden with a situation up the street, now we all care about it.”
The protest was removed from the agenda on the grounds that it did not meet the protest guidelines to be heard by Dinilawigi.
