] Wi THE EASTERN
BANO OF
CHEROKEE INOIANS
COUNCIL ^--^HOUS.
JO*l
091ЯЕТ
DkCWy
Jbwoaj di/m
This sign oi Ihc cntronec identities Ihc Council
House in both Ihc English ond Cherokee Ion-
guoges.
There arc IOO counties, some 650
cities and towns, and a wide variety
of districts in North Carolina. Then
there is a "dependent sovereignty."
complete with a Principal Chief.
The sovereignty is the Eastern Band
of Cherokee Indians, proprietors of a
56,000-acre Western North Carolina
wooded realm bordering some of the
world's most beautiful mountains, wa¬
tered by some of the State's loveliest
streams, and embracing one of the most
important entrances to the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park.
The Principal Chief currently is
Walter Jackson, born a Cherokee 45
years ago. raised a Cherokee, and pro¬
moted by his fellow tribesmen in 1967
to the highest distinction an Indian can
attain.
When he puts on his horn-rimmed
eyeglasses and wrinkles his brow, as
when examining a tribal document, he
could be a scientist or a professor.
When lie removes his eyeglasses and
squares his ample shoulders he be¬
comes quite obviously a football coach.
Me is friendly, and he has a sense of
humor; he likes to call a non-Indian
visitor's attention to a plaque on the
wall of his office, reading:
When ihc while man discovered this
country. Indians were running il
No taxes or debt
Women did all ihc work.
While man thought he could improve
on a system like that!
The Principal Chief's office is in the
tribe's Council House, a short stone's
throw from the musical Oconaluftcc
River near the heart of the village of
Cherokee. A block away is the Agency
of the U. S. Interior Department's Bu¬
reau of Indian Affairs, run by a Su¬
perintendent. Theodore C. Kren/kc.
Complex Sovereignly
of Ihe Cherokee
North Carolina's most unusual politi¬
cal entity, and liow it works.
By LEON N. SILER
There's a lot of interchange or recip¬
rocation between the Council House
and the Agency, and between the
Principal Chief and the Superinten¬
dent. That's one thing implied by the
"dependent" description of the Chero¬
kee sovereignty. The description comes
from the tribe's Asheville attorney,
James M. Balcy. Jr.
The description docs not imply that
the Indians arc dependent on Uncle
Sam for support, or arc Government
wards. They do not and arc not. It
applies on the one hand because the
tribal lands are not owned by the
Chcrokccs outright, but are held in
trust for them by the Secretary of the
Interior. It applies also because of some
important obligations to the tribe un¬
der which Congress placed the Gov¬
ernment many years ago.
The Agency Superintendent is more
a consultant than he is a dictator. The
Government quit dictating to the
Chcrokccs long ago. Nowadays, ex¬
plained a tribal official, the Bureau of
Indian Affairs "asks us what we want
and how we want il. with offers to
help us get things our way instead of
telling us what they think is good for
us."
There has been quite a change since
the Government of more than a cen¬
tury ago sent the Army to North Caro¬
lina with orders to escort the Chcro¬
kccs down the "trail of tears."
Complicated Job
In his role as Principal Chief. Wal¬
ter Jackson might be compared to a
mayor or chairman of county commis¬
sioners — but with complications.
He is no more of a dictator than
is Superintendent Krcnzkc; dictation
would be foreign to all Indian tradi¬
tions. In disposing of even minor tribal
questions laid before him. Jackson lets
his tribal associates know his thoughts.
The leadership he exercises is one of
guidance and persuasion.
One of the complications of his job
is the fact that nothing can be done
about Cherokee real estate or its prod¬
ucts without the Agency's approval. A
lease, a transfer of a lease, the estab¬
lishment of a new business, a timber
removal contract, a homesite grant or
a home-building loan — these and all
other land use actions require the
Agency’s consent, under terms of the
trust agreement covering all the tribal
lands.
Ex-Officio
In various other ways tribal mat¬
ters need an approving nod from
the Agency. Superintendent Kronzkc
serves as an ex-officio member of most
of the Council committees to which
procedure questions arc referred.
The Business Committee is one of
the most important of these; others
deal with enrollment of the tribe’s rec¬
ognized members, industrial dcvclop-
Down Ihc street
о
little »oy from the Council
House is the Indion Agency; they colloborote on
Cherokee olloirs.
The Chcrokccs' Council House,
government, is beside the mu
in Cherokee village.
THE STATE. FEORUARY 1. 1969
