Siyo everyone,
The Echota storm is growing more and more
insidious with each passing day. I have received word from reliable sources that
Millard and myself will be the next targets of Charlotte’s wrath. She is setting
up a meeting in early August to boot both of us out of the Echota tribe. Our
sins are that we openly defy her authority by speaking the truth (usually means
that we disagree with her illegal tactics and aren’t smart enough to keep our
mouths shut) and we are both members of the Alabama Indian Association; I am
President and Millard is Vice-President.
One of the recently passed tribal by-laws
states that, no member of the Echota tribe can also be a member of another
Indian tribe or group. This leaves the door open for Charlotte to get rid of
anyone who wants to be a part of another Indian group for whatever reason. Even
a church gathering of Indian people would fall into this wide-open category. Oh,
well, I’m sure there will be more to come.~~~
Siyo All,
It is final!! Principal
Chief David Sanderson has sent his resignation to the Tribal office this
weekend. Charlotte Hallmark made David’s short term in office unbearable. The
last month was the worst of all.
Hallmark totally
disregarded our by-laws in every way. She called an emergency meeting on the
last day of the Echota Pow Wow, violating two articles of our by-laws One was
that there has to be a 48 hr. notice given and two according to the by-laws she
has no power to call a meeting.
At this meeting the
Enrollment Committee was abolished This Committee was set under our by-laws but
she declared the committee illegal, saying that the Tribal Council never voted
on it, even though all members of the Governing Body had signed the by-laws
before they were issued.
She also claimed that the
view of the enrollment applications by the communities violated the "Privacy
Act", which is nonsense. Hallmark told several untrue statements about David
Sanderson, such as one story of him trying to buy 22 acres of land at the
Oakville Mounds Another untruthful statement Hallmark made was that David
belonged to a group that was in direct competition with the Echota’ s. That is
the Alabama Indian Association that sponsors the Creek Indian Festival in
Tuscumbia each year. Very untrue statement by Hallmark. And there are more
untrue statements that have been made.
Hallmark has also taken the
opportunity to trash the Blue Clan in her bashing statements on more than one
occasion. Her Head Goon, Betsy Holly, supported all of Hallmark’s ravings and
claims.
As a last statement, got
word today from a very reliable source that Betsy Jolly held a "Sundance
Ceremony" this afternoon and had several people attend. This is the caliber of
people that we are dealing with here and from this point I can only see the
Echota’s going downhill further David Sanderson is a good and honorable man and
was trying to do the right thing for our Tribe. But Hallmark did not want anyone
in the Principal Chief’s position that she could not control. SAD DAY for the
good and honorable Cherokee’s that are in our tribe~~~
Siyo,
I have received several
calls concerning this resignation by Dave Sanderson this morning. There is great
sadness and many prayers going up. We can do some things, but it is unfortunate
that Dave turned in his resignation so hurriedly; he could have unseated
Charlotte on the AIAC and notified some other folks of true numbers and so
forth. I understand when you are done, you are done, but I wish he would have
held off on that resignation a few days and handled some overdo business Chief,
It is one thing to deliverer Information during your administrative term verses
after you have jumped ship. I guess that is selfish of me.~~~
Siyo all,
I have bad news from the
Echota Tribe. Principle Chief David Sanderson called me this afternoon to inform
me that he will be resigning as Principal Chief. David is a true full and
honorable person. He is basically being forced out by Charlotte (total control)
Hallmark because he refuses to abide by arid obey Charlotte’s own personal rules
as she continues to disrespect Chief Sanderson and the tribal wishes through her
actions and her actions through her group of cronies. I have several facts now
but will wait for more to become available and will post all at that time.~~~
Siyo,
The evil of Charlotte and
those she surrounds herself with make the mountains cry for our people. We all
know of her lies and the many good people that have been hurt and continue to be
hurt. They deny their own children and destroy those who are older and would
tell the truth.
The people at the center of
the decisions for this tribe don’t know the meaning of the word. You guys know
what I mean. How do you prepare or fight pure evil when you are not pure evil
and if you accomplish being able to do battle with these folks, have you not
become that which you detest. It is more than a disadvantage. There are no rules
and you cannot overcome rules that don’t exist until they are conveniently
created. Maybe I said too much once again, but it looks like the Blue Clan is
being punished for being traditional, spiritual and truthful.~~~
Subject: Cover letter
concerning the "meeting" of 6/15/03
Siyo All,
I have a concern about this
"meeting" held last Sunday. Before the meeting Was held I advised Ms Hallmark
our Tribal Chairman that I was not comfortable with it and that both topics
should be heard and decided at our next scheduled Governing Body meeting. I told
her this on two separate occasions. My advice was not headed in either case.
There were several lies told that
affected the out come of the membership committee being abolished. The "BIG LIE"
that had the most effect was that "WE WERE VIOLATING THE PRIVACY ACT."
The privacy act does not
even apply to us! The lie that the committee was Perry Whites idea, and
was suggested by Millard Shelton is total crap…I am the one who called
for the Enrollment Committee. I can find no evidence that anyone has accused
Peggy Russell of "Signing up Dogs, Cats and Parakeets."
There are a few people on
the GB who want a " YES MAN" for Chief. I am not their yes man, so this whole
thing is about revenge, PURE and SIMPLE.
From the best that I can
tell there were two violations of the Bylaws associated with this "meeting."
ONE: the tow day rule for all of the Governing Body to be notified was broken.
TWO: When they voted to make this impromptu meeting the scheduled June meeting
no agenda was published and I was not allowed to fulfill the one week as
required by the be the Bylaws.
We made the Bylaws and we
are going to live by them. This little Cabal is not going to make up the rules
as they go along. If they are going to play the game this way and break the law
when ever they wish then I am not going to play.~~~
Siyo All,
It is final I! Principal
Chief David Sanderson has sent his resignation to the Tribal office this
weekend. Charlotte Hallmark made David’s short term in office unbearable. The
last month was the worst of all. Hallmark totally disregarded our by-laws in
every way. She called an emergency meeting on the last day of the Echota Pow
Wow, violating two articles of our by-laws one was that there has to be a 48 hr.
notice given and two. According to the by-laws she has no power to call a
meeting. At this meeting the Enrollment Committee was abolished. This Committee
was set under our by-laws but she declared the committee illegal, saying that
the Tribal Council never voted on it, even though all members of the Governing
Body had signed the by-laws before they were issued. She also claimed that the
viewing of the enrollment applications by the committee violated the Privacy
Act, which is nonsense.
Hallmark told several untrue
statements about David Sanderson, such as one story of him trying to buy 22
acres of land at the Oakville Mounds. Another untruthful statement Hallmark made
was that David belonged to a group that was in direct competition with the
Echota’s. That is the Alabama Indian Association that sponsors the Creek Indian
Festival in Tuscumbia each year. Very untrue statement by Hallmark. And there
are more untrue statements that have been made.
Hallmark has also taken the
opportunity to trash the Blue Clan in her bashing statements on more than one
occasion. Her Head Goon, Betsy Jolly, supported all of Hallmark’s ravings and
claims.
As a last statement, I got word
today from a very reliable source that Betsy Jolly held a "Sundance Ceremony"
this afternoon, and had several people attend. This is the caliber of people
that we are dealing with here, and d from this point I can only see the Echota’s
going downhill further.
David Sanderson is a good and
honorable man, and was trying to do the right thing for our Tribe, but Hallmark
did not want anyone in the Principal Chief’s position that she could not
control. SAD DAY for the good and honorable Cherokee’s that are in our tribe.~~~
Siyo,
I am not chief anymore, I
tendered my resignation yesterday 7119/2003. You should be receiving my
letter in a few days. I can trust only a few people on the GB anymore. I have
better things to do with my life than to deal with the lies, innuendo and the
back stabbing that goes on. I hope that you all can find someone that you
respect and can work with.~~~
Sent: Sunday. July 20, 2003 7:42 PM
Subject, June Council Meeting
Please send me and all other council
members a copy of your letter regarding the June meeting of the Governing Body.
I am also requesting that a meeting of the Governing Body be convened as soon as
Council Members are available to do so, to address possible misgivings and
miscommunications.~~~
Sincerely,
Siyo all,
Well said, Dave!!! You
speak the truth when others would cower and slither away like a whipped dog.
Charlotte has once again launched an attack on members of the Blue Clan for no
apparent reason other than her disdain for us and that for which we stand.
Everything you stated is a matter of public record nor those who wish to see the
truth rather than be led blindly by those who desire to totally control the
Echota’s. The first thing this little cabal always does when they feel that
their power base is being threatened is to spread lies and demean those who are
trying to do things in an ethical manner; then. They either browbeat or whine
and cry until the governing body capitulates and goes along with them. Control
(i.e., power) is the key factor here! That is why Charlotte always demands a
council voting position for the various secretaries she appoints; it is one more
vote she can count on without tail. These appointees would not dare oppose her
because she gave them a position of power and she could just as easily take it
away. Considering this group? Past his~, it amazes me that any self-respecting
councilperson would believe any in these people said. Throughout the history of
mankind there has been only one known reason why one individual would seek total
dominion over other individuals: power - - total. Unadulterated.
Un-equivocal. Power.
There are members of the
governing body who do not want the Enrollment Committee to succeed because too
much light could be shed on their past actions, it will be much mare difficult
for them to retain total control of memberships in the future, and questions
will certainly be asked if impropriety is suspected concerning membership
application approvals.
Dave, as you initially envisioned, the Enrollment
Committee can be a valuable tribal tool not only to help clean up some of the
mess created by those who insist on total control and secrecy but also to avoid
any future appearance to impropriety that could be alleged with a single person
controlling the applications. Secrecy is the nemesis of an open society. Our
tribal members must be confident that the governing body is acting in an open
and ethical manner it the tribe is to survive and prosper. Right now, that s not
the case for the majority of us because of past meetings that have been held
where no one was allowed to attend and instances of hastily called meetings such
as the one Dave is now addressing. What Charlotte and her cabal really want is a
social club that they can control; NOT a tribe. Of what are these individuals
afraid? Why all the secrecy? Why all the back stabbing of those individuals
serving on the Enrollment Committee and members of the Blue Clan in particular?
The five Clans selected their representatives to serve on the Enrollment
Committee per the direction of the tribal governing body.
Everyone on that
committee is dedicated and determined to be fair, consistent, and professional
when reviewing the membership applications. At the last Enrollment Committee
meeting, we were made aware of one recent instance involving a person who
offered $500 to several tribal members in an overt attempt to Buy? An enrollment
card because he needed it for business purposes.(TO MAKE A BUCK OFF BEING?
INDIAN?). DISGRACEFULL! To their credit, they refused to help this jerk.
However, with total
disregard of the aforementioned bribery attempts our tribal Chairman (Charlotte
Hallmark) saw fit to direct the Membership Secretary to issue this
person a membership card. His membership application did not appear
before the Enrollment Committee for review and was obviously handled in the same
old secretive manner as before.
Will Charlotte ever understand
that this type of unethical behavior only provides more fuel for the detractors
of the Echota’s? What gives Charlotte the authority to issue such a directive?
Since neither the legally recorded Articles of Incorporation nor the most recent
signed version of the tribal by-laws grants her this power. Her directive is
clearly a flagrant abuse of authority. The Membership Secretary, being fully
aware of the circumstances beforehand, should have refused to issue the
membership card as directed and proceeded to bring the issue before the tribal
governing body for resolution.
By not doing so. The Membership
Secretary failed to properly execute her duties. Again, this only ~y opinion but
I believe that when a person accepts a tribal position they must be held
responsible lot their actions and they should have enough character to resist
being cajoled or coaxed into doing otherwise. Intelligent people can and will
draw their own conclusions as to why issuance of a membership card for this
person was cl~t~c1 by our Tribal Chairman. I make no accusations that Charlotte
accepted the $500 in exchange for tribal membership because I can’t prove
anything; YET’
In closing, if sending this
message means that Charlotte will eventually expel me from the Echota Tribe for
speaking my mind, then so be it. The truth must be voiced regardless of the
consequences and I, like many others, am sick and tired of her and her cabal
controlling every aspect of the Echota’s. In my opinion, the Echota Tribe
desperately needs to be governed in a traditional Cherokee manner rather than
following the dictates and whims of Charlotte.
Dave, Your decisions and
judgment are both morally and ethically sound. I applaud your stance and greatly
respect you on a personal level for attempting to correct an obvious wrong. I
sincerely hope that you will be able to find enough council members with
sufficient backbone to support your position. The members of the various Clans
need to be vigilant concerning how their representative is voting on tribal
issues and ensure that he/she clearly understands their wishes. If a Clan’s
council representative is not voting consistent with the Clan’s wishes, then the
Clan should recall that representative and replace them with someone who will.
The individual representative’s personal Feelings are of absolutely no
consequence; they should vote as their Clan wishes or be replaced.~~~
Subject: Echota Tribal
Meeting Disaster
Someone requested that I send you a
brief synopsis of the actions that
Ms. Charlotte Stewart orchestrated
at the Echota Cherokee Tribe’s state meeting held February 3, 2001 in Warrior,
Alabama. Ms. Stewart holds the Title of Tribal Chairman and Mr. Perry White is
our Principal Chief. During the entire meeting, Ms. Stewart continually
interrupted whoever was speaking and would not wait to be recognized by the
Chair (Perry) per Robert’s Rules of Order. The membership secretary and Stewart
crony (Rachel Sykes) turned in her resignation. Coincidentally, she and Ms.
Stewart had arranged for a mutual friend (Betsy Holly) to attend this meeting as
a visitor.
They proceeded to elect Ms.
Holly to replace Ms. Sykes. To their total surprise, I ran against Ms. Holly for
this office. The importance of this move is that Ms. Stewart not only retains
control of this vote on the Board of Directors but also of the membership
records that desperately need to be removed from her influence. Ms. Stewart
manipulates those records to control that can vote in tribal as well as clan
Elections and thereby the very outcome of those elections.
Once again, it was pointed
out to the council that two tribal members who own a software company had
offered to take the membership records (29,604 members per Ms. Sykes) and
computerize them for the tribe within 30 days at no cost.
Ms. Stewart was adamant that the
records were currently being Computerized and this process would continue. What
she failed to say was that it has taken the current process at least four years
to computerize Approximately 7,000 records. This is their estimation; I
seriously doubt that they are that far along.
Her next move was really
interesting. The current treasurer (Katherine Sloan) resigned her office
effective in two weeks. By postponing
The effective date, she retained her
vote on the council until the next meeting. Ms. Stewart then had another hand
picked crony (Dianne DeLoche) elected to replace Ms. Sloan. I also ran against
Ms. DeLoche for this office. At one point before this meeting, I had offered to
combine the two Separate offices of membership secretary and treasurer into one
office and Do both jobs for them.
Finally, Ms. Stewart demanded, over
Perry’s objections. That a new Office on the tribal council is created for a
Records Keeper. She also demanded that this office must have voting privileges
on the council and Then proceeded to elect the resigned Ms. Sloan into this new
office. I pointed out that the office could be created without adding another
vote to the council. To this. Ms. Sloan stated that she would not perform the
job without receiving council voting privileges. Ms. Stewart now controls eight
(including herself) votes on the tribal Council. This leaves only two members
and Perry that could possibly vote against her. Believe me, when I say that she
totally controls these people; It’s not an exaggeration. To my knowledge, none
of them have ever voted against her wishes.
In closing, 1 would like to
say that Ms. Stewart’s treatment of Chief White was totally disrespectful and
callous. She was obviously there to solidify her control over the tribal council
and therefore the Echota Tribe as a whole.
I will forward this message to
Millard Shelton and Wolfe. Millard may have some additional input. How about it
Millard, anything significant that I missed? Pat, Wolfe said that I should
request that you send me a copy of a Fax that you received recently concerning
the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua. If you wish to get in touch with me, I can be
reached at home by calling Hope to see you in early March.~
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