1971, W.W.Keeler becomes first elected principal chief since statehood, under the terms of the 1970‘s Chiefs Act. Actually selected rather than elected because this is what the Act provided for. He promulgated the rules that provided for his being selected.
1975, Ross O. Swimmer who had been chosen and groomed by Keeler to succeed him, and was selected to serve the first of three terms as principal chief. For the next election he set out to change the rules, he would promulgate a set of rules and call it a Constitution, which he did, and you can see the result here http://www.cornsilks.com/1975constitution.html and the very first Cherokee Tribal Council was elected, but this act did not nullify Cherokee law which was the 1839 Constitution of the Cherokee as Swimmer proclaimed, because it outlined a procedure for doing a new Constitution which Swimmer did not follow. And you can see all this explained by a lawyer here at this Link: http://www.cornsilks.com/Dario1&2.html
1976, Cherokee voters ratify new Constitution outlining tribal government. And the same lawyer went into a second article http://www.cornsilks.com/boguscno.html on the illegality of what Swimmer had done, and an item to note in this one is where the Noted Cherokee Historian Renard Strickland had claimed the 1839 Constitution was a dead issue in the first article, recants his statement of 1972, and further states in 1994, the 1839 Constitution is still in effect.
1987, Wilma Mankiller makes history and draws international attention to the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma as the first woman elected chief; Though she had already serve the remaining of Swimmers term on his resigning to take a BIA position, and though she won her election her slate of council to do her biding did not, I tell the story in this article http://www.jalagi.org/blast.html she set out to change that fact, by hook or crook, as the old saying goes.1989, The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, another big lie, observes 150th anniversary of arrival in Indian Territory. "A New Beginning", once again the New beginning of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma began in 1975. And you can see it is so by Ross Swimmers own words in this excerpt from a paper by a Harvard Law professor and author named Eric Lamont http://www.cornsilks.com/lamontexcerpt.html See the sections I hi-lighted in bold, be sure and read the footnotes as well.
1990, Chief Mankiller signs the historic self-governance agreement, making the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma one of the first six Indian entities to participate in the self-determination project. The project, which ran for three years beginning Oct.1 1990, authorized the nation to assume tribal responsibility for BIA funds which were formerly being spent on the tribe's behalf at the agency, area and central office levels. And part of the mess we as a Cherokee People have is the way Wilma Mankiller set up the process of receiving the Federal funds from the new contracts with the BIA, they were place in the General Fund co-mingled with all other Cherokee funds, easly lost and an become un-accounted for. Mankiller was called on this once but the practice was never pursued and or corrected by the Feds. it is still practiced today this is how Smith is able to waste so much money with little notice by the Feds. It is said the best way to steal money is to loose it first!
1991, In the July tribal election the first council to be elected by districts since statehood, from a petition circulated by David Cornsilk seeking equal representation in all areas of the jusicial boundrys of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and Wilma Mankiller won second elected term as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma to finish an 11 year tenure.
1995, Joe Byrd and Garland Eagle elected principal chief and deputy chief which marks the first time in nearly 200 years that full blood bilingual leaders occupy the top positions of the Cherokee Nation, and sadly only to culminate, into the saddest four years in the modern day Cherokee History, there are numerous accounts all over the internet on the melee called a Constitutional Crisis.
Part 2 to come!
John Cornsilk
Cherokee, CNO Member!
