Cherokee communities debate representation
A request to change the way tribal members in the westernmost reaches of the Qualla Boundary are represented on Tribal Council led to a heated discussion in Cherokee this month. The legislation was ultimately tabled, but the issue could well return to the floor.
“My community, right now they want to vote for their own councilmember and Cherokee County to vote for their own councilmember but still remain as one township,” said Janell Rattler, a tribal member from the Snowbird community in Graham County.
As it stands now, Cherokee Tribal Council has 12 members, two from each of six townships. Many of those townships include more than just one community, but because Snowbird and Cherokee County are so different and geographically distant, Rattler said, it would make sense for them to each have their own representative instead of jointly voting for two. The communities are about an hour apart.
“Cherokee County and Snowbird is very day and night,” said Louise Reed, a tribal member who lives near Robbinsville. “Our needs and Snowbird’s needs are very different.”
Rattler’s requested that Tribal Council hold a referendum vote on the issue. It’s not the first time such a request has come to the floor. It was brought up in 2006 and then again in 2009 but shot down each time.
Rattler said she didn’t support the split back in 2009, but after running a campaign for Tribal Council last year, she heard from a large number of Snowbird community members who wanted a split. Rattler wound up losing the election, coming in behind councilmembers Brandon Jones and Adam Wachacha. Both live in Snowbird, not Cherokee County.
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Some councilmembers voiced support for the referendum, pointing out that council’s vote wouldn’t actually change any laws — it would simply allow the tribe as a whole to weigh in on the recurring issue.
“We’re not voting on anything. So we need to not use those words,” said Councilmember Teresa McCoy, of Big Cove. “I do not feel bad raising my hand to let the tribe vote on this issue.”
But Rattler’s pitch also resulted in some stiff opposition. Though Jones eventually voted with McCoy’s move to table in favor of a more lengthy discussion with more input from residents of both communities, his initial move was to kill.
Jones felt that Rattler had been insinuating that his leadership doesn’t treat the two communities he represents equally and directly addressed the undercurrent that’s long existed between tribal members in Snowbird and Cherokee County. Cherokee people in Snowbird tend to have a higher percentage Cherokee ancestry than those in Cherokee County, and that fact has sometimes made unity between the two communities difficult. Jones said that splitting the votes would only deepen that rift.
“This drives a wedge between the two communities,” he said. “It’s hard to represent both communities, it truly is, because there is such a difference in the demographic, but you know what? I can do this and I can do it openly and honestly, without bias.”
Jones also took issue with the fact that Rattler was coming to council after having lost her campaign for the seat he now holds. Though she won in the Snowbird community, she lost in Cherokee County during the 2015 elections.
“You win in Snowbird, but you can’t win in Cherokee County, so then you try to come in and change the code to serve your purpose,” Jones said.
“I felt like we all run a good race between all of us, so I’m sorry you feel that way,” Rattler replied, adding that blood quantum was not her motivation for bringing in the resolution.
“When I made that comment, I was upset and angry,” Jones apologized. “It was an unfair statement, but I do feel like a lot of the resentment between the two communities comes from that (blood quantum).”
Wachacha, the other Snowbird representative, also spoke against the proposal. Votes on council are weighted, with the tally between all 12 councilmembers always adding up to 100. Votes from representatives of more populous areas of the Qualla Boundary get more pull than those from representatives of less populous areas. Wolfetown and Birdtown are the most powerful, with their representative getting 12 votes each, while Painttown and Snowbird/Cherokee County are the least powerful, getting only six votes each.
Splitting two communities would “basically tie our hands,” Wachacha said, with tribal members whose representatives used to have 12 votes between them being limited to one representative with six votes.
Add into the equation that population in the township has been trending downward — it’s moved from 1,000 to 900 over the last three years, Jones said — and it’s likely that when the tribe completes a new census the Snowbird/Cherokee County township will have even less weight to its vote.
Split the representation, Jones said, and “Our voice is basically so small you don’t really have a voice.”
On the other hand, proponents of the legislation said that the request to split is the people’s voice and that granting the referendum would be the equivalent of listening to that voice.
“I would just highly encourage and ask you guys to give us a referendum,” said Brenda Norville, a former councilmember. “This has been an issue that I know of the last 15 years. I’m not ever going to run for council again, so it’s nothing pertaining to me.”
“Don’t deny them what they’re asking for,” agreed Amy Walker, a tribal member from the 3200-Acre Tract community. “If the people in Cherokee don’t want this, then they can always vote no. But I bet you there may be some people in Snowbird who don’t want it either.”
“If they say they want something and they want to basically hear the voice of all the people, I think it is my personal opinion that you should hear what they have to say,” concurred tribal member Charles Penick.
Councilmember Bo Crowe, of Wolfetown, voiced his agreement with that perspective.
“I trust our people to make the right choice,” he said.
Council ultimately wound up voting to table the resolution, planning to spend some time hearing from more people in the Snowbird and Cherokee County communities and also to figure out the legalese of any referendum they did approve. The biggest question would be whether enacting it would require a change to the Cherokee Charter and Governing Document.
If it were a charter change, getting the question on the ballot would require a petition signed by 33 percent of registered voters. Then, at least 51 percent of registered voters in all communities would have to show up to the polls and a majority would need to vote in favor of the change. If the referendum were determined to not require a charter change, council could vote to put it on the ballot and passage would require a majority vote in favor with at least 30 percent of registered voters casting a ballot.
For now, however, the issue is on pause.
“If it’s possible for us to hear from other people in the community, both sides, that would be a good thing,” McCoy said.
