Governing Documents Review Committee Report 6-2-11

GoverningDocumentsReviewCommitteeReport & RecommendationsProject OverviewA long-standing controversy has troubled theEastern Band of Cherokee Indians community foralmost twenty-five years regarding the validity ofthe Tribe’s Charter and Governing document (the“Charter”). Although addressed by a 1993 TribalCouncil-authorized investigation by a committeemade up of Tribal Council and communitymembers, criticism of the Charter as invalidcontinues to persistently arise in Tribal Councilproceedings.Tribal Council authorized the examination of theGoverning Documents in Resolution No. 271(2010) through the Committee convened “toresearch the governing documents of the Tribe,to clarify the role and function of the branches ofour tribal government, and to make suchrecommendations to Tribal Council that will effectthe goals of the findings.” The present projectundertook to examine the texts and origins of thetribe’s governing documents, their history, andthe development and approval of the 1986Charter. The Committee was charged to presentan informed report to Tribal Council as to anydefects in the Tribe’s current organizationalintegrity.“. . . I havestudied and laboredfor the past ten yearsof my life, to secureto my brothers equalJustice from theirbrothers of the westand the UnitedStates, and that youwould no longer behewers of wood anddrawers of water, butassume that proudposition among thecivilized nations ofthe earth intended bythe Creator that weshould occupy, andwhich in the futureyou will take or beexterminated.”Farewell Address,1880, LloydWelch, PrincipalChief, EasternBand CherokeeIndiansGoverning Documents Review Committee3