May 20, 2010 - Eastern Band of Cherokee

OPINIONS & LETTERSLeers to the EditorThank YouOn behalf of William C “Bill” Jordan, I wouldike to say thank you to Chief Hicks, the Council, espeiallyTommye, the military men and all others involvedn the presentation to him on May 6, 2010. He was exremelyproud of this honor.He has been in the VA hospital since May 8,010. Please keep him in your prayers.Thank YouThank You,Sandy JordanThe Ko La Nv Yi Swagga Boys NAYO teamould like to thank the following for their support andontributions that helped get us to the NAYO tournamentn Mississippi last month. Tribal Council, QHA, Tribalaming Commission, Cherokee Museum, Talkingeaves, Jesse Welch, Teresa McCoy, Perry Shell; All parnts,grandparents and friends that helped out with theinners, bingo, turkey shoot and sold raffles. Also to all ofhe supporters who came out and participated in theundraisers or bought raffle tickets, we greatly appreciateou. Although we didn't bring the trophy home, we got toplay 4 games and enjoyed the experience to competegainst the other nations.Sgi!Census: Thank you CherokeeThank you to all who welcomed a Census Enueratorinto their homes to fill out the questionnaire…weurpassed the 2000 Census participation rates but weren’t finished yet. We still don’t have a complete countn the Qualla Boundary.On May 1st the Non Response Follow Up phasebegan when census takers continued going door-to-dooron the Boundary. They will also verify that housing unitsindicated as "unoccupied" to us by the postal service orothers are indeed unoccupied and vacant. This only marksthe half way point for the 2010 Census. We need to continueto have the public’s cooperation to reach our finalgoal of a complete and accurate count of every person onLetters PolicyThe Cherokee One Feather is available as a forum for anyopinion or point of view concerning issues of general interest.Letters should be typed, exclusive to the OneFeather. Letters must be signed and should include aname, address and phone number. Only the name andtown (if writer resides outside of Cherokee) will beprinted. Letters critical of specifically-named minor childrenwill not be published. Unsigned letters will not beconsidered for publication at all. The One Feather willnot accept poetry submissions as a letter or requests forpen pals.Disclaimer: the opinions expressed on the Opinionspages do not necessarily reflect the views of the CherokeeOne Feather, the Principal Chief, the Vice Chiefor Tribal Council of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.the Boundary; both U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizensalike. It is not too late to be counted in the 2010 census— please just open your door to the local census taker andanswer the 7-10 questions…it’s just a few minutes of yourtime.What is a Census Partner?2010 Census Partners are government, nonprofit,corporate or community organizations that haveformally pledged their commitment to share the 2010Census message and mobilize their constituents in supportof the Census Bureau's goal of achieving a completecount.By being counted you are standing up for whatyour community's needs are. That's why census takers areso important. A census taker is a person from your communitywho is hired by the Census Bureau to make surethat your neighborhood gets represented as accurately aspossible. The census taker's primary responsibility is tocollect census information from residences. Some ofthese residences have not sent back their 2010 Censusform.• The Census Bureau provides the census taker with abinder containing all of the addresses that didn't send backa filled out census form.• The census taker then visits all of those addresses andrecords the answers to the questions on the form.• If no one answers at a particular residence, a census takerwill visit a home up to three times and attempt to reach thehousehold by phone three times. The census worker willleave a double-sided (English and Spanish) NOTICE ofVISIT in the doorway that includes a phone number forthe resident to schedule an appointmenAppreciating our local “Partners & Volunteers”The U.S. Census Bureau’s findings show that thelocal partners and volunteers in Cherokee who got out themessage to their neighbors and customers, and who alsoparticipated in the pubic relations campaign greatly increasedawareness and participation of the census.Tribal officials and Partners have sponsored censusfairs, supported teaching the census in schools, donatedtime and support, and displayed informationalmaterials. Tribal officials have given support and madeaccommodations for Census events to occur here. Manyaccepted free promotional and informational materials,tote bags and backpacks to be distributed to their students,day care children and employees to take home to their parentsand caregivers to advertise the census. They are thetrue heroes of the 2010 census. They’re not being paid.They’re not visibly honored by their community, andthey’re not becoming famous. They’re working their communitiesand customers because they believe that a faircount of the Qualla Boundary will provide the desired politicalrepresentation and federal funding.Thank you to all my Partners in Cherokee...youmade a difference on the Qualla Boundary for the 2010Census!ThanksLisa Crowe,Partnership Specialist,US Census BureauThe Cherokee Senior Citizens Programs: TsaliManor, Snowbird and John Welch Senior Centers, wouldlike to express our most sincere “Thank You” to the followingindividuals and programs in assisting with the 6thAnnual Elder’s Walk on Friday May 14th. This was ourlargest turn out to date; approximately 220 people joinedus in honoring our elders. Mary Barker & Staff- AreaAgency on Aging, Principal Chief Michell Hicks, Vice-Chief Larry Blythe, Executive Office Staff, Tribal CouncilMembers, Cherokee Police Department, Cherokee FireDepartment, Tribal EMS, Kathi Littlejohn-Transit, Bureauof Indian Affairs, Travel & Promotion, Harrah’s CherokeeCasino, Vengeance Creek Baptist Church, All Tribal Programsand volunteers.Just some thoughts aboutthe Enrollment AuditAs I understand the enrollment issue, when thepeople who are not eligible to be on the roll, after all waysof proving their eligibility has been exhausted, then any ofbenefits that come with being an enrolled member of TheEastern Band of The Cherokee Indians should be stoppedimmediately. Although when it comes to the children thatare involved, any of the money that has been placed intheir account should remain as of the date that they are removed,but should not have any more added to their accounts.But not be taken from them either. They arevictims of circumstances.They should be allowed to keep any interest thatthey gain stay in their accounts. We should allow applicationsto be taken, but not approve any more until this issueis resolved. The only true way to find out who should beeligible is to have a DNA. This takes out any personal involvementsor any political involvements.We must understand the devastation that is goingto take place in the people’s lives. It will effect medication,housing, education and any other program that theymay be involved with, even the disabled to the retired.Although, allow the children that are born to beadded to the roll only if there are no issues. As for the 18year olds, let them decide what they want be. I don’tknow anyone who doesn’t want to be a Cherokee Indian.I meet more people who want to be Cherokee, then peoplewho don’t. I am proud of being a member of The EasternBand of the Cherokee Indians. I would hope that this isdone not for the greed of people but for the right reasons.May the Lord have mercy on us.Thank youRespectfullyTony BernhiselI would like to thank God for all the wonderfulblessings bestowed upon myself, my family who attendedmy graduation. I would like to thank the Education Department,Jones-Bowman and IHS Scholarship programs.A special thank you to all who prayed for me and haveencouraged me along the way .Thanks,Lucretia HicksOne FeatherdeadlineTuesday at 12noon8 cherokee one feather THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2010