By Troy Littledeer | @troylittledeer
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The Council of the Cherokee Nation unanimously approved a resolution on Dec. 16, 2024, to withdraw from the annual Cherokee Tri-Council meeting, which includes the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians based in Cherokee, North Carolina, and the Cherokee Nation. "It’s unfortunate that the Council of the Cherokee Nation has decided to withdraw from the Tri-Council. In their explanation, they made it clear that they refuse to discuss the difficult issues we face between our tribes,” said UKB Assistant Chief and Chief-elect Jeff Wacoche. “As elected leaders of our respective tribes, we have been entrusted with defending the best interests of the Cherokee people, whether they are citizens of the Cherokee Nation or members of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees or EBCI. It's sad to see that they refuse to cooperate with us for the best interest of the Cherokee people, instead choosing to sign cooperative agreements with non-native entities and relinquishing sovereign rights as a federally recognized tribe.”
The annual Tri-Council meetings have allowed the three Cherokee tribes to communicate, cooperate, support, and learn from each other's experiences with current pressing issues. These meetings have been held for nearly 10 years, since 2012, with a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The Tri-Council also serves to demonstrate unity and support for sovereignty and Native American causes.
“Like the scripture says, ‘For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,’” said UKB Treasurer Sonja Gourd. “Tri-Council was the one week where we could join our brothers and sisters in the EBCI and CNO to come together, utilizing our individual functions to benefit the one body: our people. I sincerely believe our ancestors would be proud to see how we bonded in fellowship, expressed our support for each other—like with the Moccasin Bend issue at this year’s meeting—and how we displayed what it means to be Ani'-Yun'wiya [principal people].”
Despite the sense of unity, The Cherokee Phoenix reported on Dec. 20 that Speaker of the Council of the Cherokee Nation, Mike Shambaugh, stated that Tri-Council has become “a platform for attack against” the Cherokee Nation, its sovereignty, and even its name, often cited as “Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma” by the UKB.
Wacoche argued that Cherokee sovereignty should unify rather than divide. “There are few people that remain who know how or why this feud began, but I know where it can end: with us acting like true leaders, sitting down together, and working for the best interest of the Cherokee people moving forward. That's true Cherokee sovereignty,” Wacoche said.
The United Keetoowah Band is scheduled to host the 2025 Cherokee Tri-Council.
The following is the official statement from Joe Bunch, Chief of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians:
From broadband administration and education funding to sending a Cherokee delegate to Congress, there is opportunity after opportunity to work together for the good of the Cherokee people. And yet, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma refuses to work with the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians to tackle these issues common to both federally recognized Indian tribes living side-by-side in Northeastern Oklahoma. The CNO announcement to withdraw from the Tri-Council is another ugly marker on the CNO leadership’s misadventure against the United Keetoowah Band people.
To both CNO citizens and UKB members, I beseech you to listen to what our tribes are saying and gauge for yourselves the sincerity and intentions behind the statements being made by both. Listen to our openness and our honesty, with no hidden agenda and no delusions of dominance over the affairs of our sister Cherokee tribe in Oklahoma. And then listen to the preemptive aggressor, whose noisy and incendiary media apparatus works to revise our shared history and mislead its people. As UKB tribal leaders, we have implored the CNO to join with us and only get attacked for it by the very vocal and camera-loving CNO principal chief.
Instead, Chuck Hoskin stokes division, politicizes issues that should never be political, and works to the erasure of the United Keetoowah Band and its people’s rich history. We know that Chuck Hoskin’s actions are no reflection of what is in the hearts of the people of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Our families live, work, and worship together, and this conflict could end with the stroke of a pen by the elected officials within the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
We will never apologize for the historical fact that the CNO is not the only federally recognized Cherokee tribe and not the only successor in interest in Oklahoma to the Cherokee Treaties.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians remain aligned in our promise to our people and will continue to collaborate productively to ensure the long-term well-being and prosperity of all Cherokee. Our tribes will continue to collaborate through the Tri-Council and welcome the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma to join us—when CNO officials decide to do what is right and just for the Cherokee people.
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