Copyright © 1999 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Recall back in April of 1997 "Nine of nine councilors present in an "illegal" council meeting, vote to ask the BIA to take over the tribe's law for a period of two months.

Did they say the truth?? It has been 19 months and as long as Byrd is in office the BIA will remain here. As long as Byrd remains in office along with his loyalists on the council, we will never have our complete "self-governance" agreement with the feds. restored.

Byrd's eight loyalists who participated in "illegal" council meetings to keep Byrd at ALL COSTS out of court to answer charges filed against him are:

Bill John Baker
Don Crittenden
Harley Terrell
Sam Ed Bush
Mary Flute Cooksey
Barbara Conness
Dora Mae Watie
Charles Hoskin

These people continually approved Bryd's budget without question or justification of fiscal year spending against the protest of our good 6 councilors starting in Dec. 1996. The 6 good councilors were continually outvoted by Byrd's slim majority on the council. After patience, and all legal attempts to force Byrd to justify his expenditures, and after some of the most horrendous acts by an Indian leader with his non-Indian outside forces against our people in our tribe's modern day history, eventually the 6 good councilors had no other recourse in stopping the squandering of the tribe's treasury and lack of accountability but to refuse to attend regular council meetings. This forced business to be done in "special meetings" of the council so that no hidden agenda items could allow Byrd to get by with his continued irresponsible actions that have been completely supported by 8 irresponsible loyalists on the council. Byrd bragged about the fact the 8 councilors would do anything he told them to do. Overstepping executive branch bounds, and legislative branch bounds is a crime.. it is against our laws!

What is the issue here? The issue is the underlying basic principles of a republic called the Cherokee Nation. The core of our constitutional government is the issue. We might have expected outsiders, mainstream people to have no respect for these things, as history has borne out for over 500 years, but when your own people betray their tribe and our people the emotions run deep. I hope this explains at least some of the reasons why thousands of the so-called majority have loudly protested Byrd and his loyalists on the council and the BIA, and Byrd's highpriced, high profile DNC member Washington D.C. attorneys who were paid more than $1million to prop up Byrd's illegal and disgraceful flight from tribal justice.

Is this about "who is wrong", or "who is right"? Is it about people opposed to Byrd? NO!!!!!! It is about saving our nation, and what is left of it's sovereignty, and our self-goverance, and our constitutional republic!!!!

Is there a solution? Yes. After every attempt to bring this to courts, including all the way to the US federal court in D.C., and finding nothing legally could be done outside of our own tribal government which is held hostage by the BIA who refuse to honor our tribal court orders, and in so doing prop up Byrd and his flight from justice... we have coped, and it has been a long and hard road. The solution is to elect leaders and representative that are qualified, and above all else put the Cherokee Nation and our people before political gain. Our new leaders must restore the integrity of our constitutional government, restore our self-goverance agreement with the feds., restore confidence in the tribe's ability to account for and be responsible for justification of fed. program funds, clean up the books, pay off the "illegal" debt, straighten out tribal operations in general, and while doing all this, manage to continue to opearte and deliver ongoing services to our people. Ensure good changes in our laws that will help prevent situations like this in the future, process the constituional amendments that will be voted on. All this along with planning for the future, regarding all the important issues in each of our Cherokee communties.

It is an awesome responsibility that will take people who care, who will cooperate, are fair-minded, skilled and competent enough to smoothly handle all the tasks ahead. People who think more of our people, then of "politics", or their egos. People willing to be part of the solution instead of being part of the problems.

We the people have the power --IT is found in each of our individual respective votes --we can make the changes needed to create a nation of the people, by the people and for the people. VOTE ON MAY 22ND!!!