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All Rights Reserved

District Attorney candidate Richard
Gray speaks to the crowd at a
candidate forum sponsored by the Cherokee Nation, NSU and the Tahlequah Chamber of Commerce.

TAHLEQUAH, OK - Candidates for county, state and federal offices addressed issues important to Native Americans at a candidate forum co-sponsored by the Cherokee Nation, Northeastern State University and the Tahlequah Chamber of Commerce.

As a part of the forum, the two candidates for District Attorney for District 27, which is made up of Adair, Cherokee, Sequoyah and Wagoner counties, strongly disagreed on whether cross-deputization with the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service was a good idea.

"Cross-deputization is not an issue for District Attorneys to deal with," said incumbent D.A. Diane Barker-Harrold, although District Attorney Gene Haynes (Craig, Mayes and Rogers counties) and District Attorney Tom May (Delaware and Ottawa counties) have both entered into cross-deputization agreements with the Cherokee Nation. None of the counties in Barker-Harrold's district currently cross-deputize with the Cherokee Nation.

Her opponent in the Democratic primary, Richard Gray, disagreed with Barker-Harrold's refusal to cross-deputize with the Cherokee Nation. "Today, citizens travel freely through land with state, tribal and federal jurisdiction, but law enforcement officers are unable to do the same thing. I am in full support of cross-deputization with the Cherokee Nation."

Other candidates at the forum were almost unanimously in favor of cross-deputization, including Cherokee County Commissioner candidate Bruce Bardell who called such an agreement "a must" for effective law enforcement in Cherokee County.

U. S. Congressman
Brad Carson

The forum also featured an appearance by U.S. Congressman Brad Carson, a Cherokee Nation tribal member. "I have devoted considerable energy during my two years in Congress to helping the Cherokee Nation obtain more funding for health care, settling the Arkansas Riverbed dispute and reforming the 1947 Land Reform Act."

Carson's main challenger in the August 27 Democratic primary, Mike Mass, did not attend the forum or respond in writing to questions submitted to his campaign.

Only three candidates for the governors race attended the forum, though all the leading candidates submitted answers in writing to questions submitted to their campaigns.

U.S. Senator
Enoch Kelly Haney

Senetor Kelly Haney, a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, was one of the three gubernatorial candidates in attendance and spoke eloquently and knowledgeably on Indian issues.

Senetor Haney stated, "As this country's first full-blood Native American governor, I intend to be a national voice on issues affecting Native Americans. I will do whatever I need to do to encourage our state's Congressional delegation to enact legislation to eliminate the discrepancy in Indian Health Service funding that impacts tribes in Oklahoma."

A videotaped version of the candidate forum will air on Tahlequah Cable channel 99 at 5:30 p.m. on August 8, 15, 22.