The Comanche Nation Gets It Right, Universities and the NNABA Fail Miserably

The recent exposure by the Comanche Nation of Dr. Raymond Pierotti, Associate Professor of Indigenous Nations Studies and Biological/Environmental Studies at the University of Kansas, should remind us that Ward Churchill’s past dismissal from the University of Colorado did not end the saga of ethnic fraud in university faculties across the land.

Pierotti has continuously claimed to be Comanche during his tenure at the University, which began in 1992. Such a claim gave him an advantage in both hiring and personnel actions within the University. His claim as a member of the Comanche Nation was also made in association with receiving the title of the Tribal College/University Mentor of the Year in 1998, presented by the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). His ethnic ploys while at the University are numerous, including an article published in the Journal of American Indian Education. At one point he was involved in the $400,000 solicitation for a documentary he was involved in, “Powwow for the Planet”. The website soliciting the funds described Poerotti as “a Penateka Band Comanche and one of a very few tenured Native American scientists in U.S. universities.”

Comanche students and teachers from both KU and Haskell first complained about Pierotti’s claims several years ago, but the University ignored the complaints. The Comanche Nation wrote the University in 2006 with their official tribal complaint. Still, the University chose to ignore the fact that they had an Indian imposter in the faculty. The Comanche Nation Business Committee sent another letter to the University on 2 January, 2008. Signed by eight tribal leaders, the letter included the following:

“The Comanche Nation is the only entity that can determine Comanche Nation citizenship. Pierotti’s self-identification as Comanche and the University of Kansas’ lack of effort to substantiate his claims shows disrespect to our tribal sovereignty and is an affront to the legitimate Comanche people. In essence, he is benefiting professionally and financially from unsubstantiated claims of Comanche identity for which the exclusive criterion is tribal enrollment.”

Finally, the University is acknowledging the complaints. As this is still in the initial stages, the final outcome is unknown. I suspect that we will see a re-run of Ward Churchill’s denials and acclamations. Pierotti, as did Churchill, has his own supporters with flawed logic.

Universities nationwide are laden with self-identified “Indian” professors who partake in ethnic fraud. By 2003, the situation had become so all-pervasive that the Association of American Indian and Alaska Native Professors issued a statement to address the problem. The association’s statement includes the recommendation that colleges and universities require documentation of tribal enrollment for those applicant professors claiming to be American Indian, and to include existing American Indian/Alaska Native faculty in the selection process.

After becoming concerned with “box checkers”, in 2007 the National Native Bar Association also made their own resolution concerning individuals lying about being Native American on university applications. Their guidelines are directed toward universities and colleges, which - like the AAIANP’s - are encouraged to require individuals who identify as Native American to provide information that will support their claims. Remember this as you continue to read this comment.

Even after exposure as frauds, many professors continue to rake in a small fortune based on their “tribal” claims. A prime example is the one time psychology professor of Evergreen State College, Terry Tafoya. He continues to rake in thousands of dollars per speaking engagements on mental health issues - complete in costume, with drum, long black (dyed) braids and stories of Indian mythology. This is despite the fact that Tafoya has falsified receiving a PhD (he has a Master’s from the University of Washington), and has lied about being an enrolled member of the Taos Pueblo. After it became known that Tafoya never received a PhD from UW, which he originally claimed, he tried to cover himself by saying that he had an “honorary PhD from the University of Alberta - which university officials there deny

Tafoya during a speaking engagement. Amazingly, legitimate American Indian organizations pay this guy large sums for speaking engagements and to work with tribal members.

While most Native American studies are taught by excellent professors, Indian and non-Indian alike, students would be well advised to thoroughly investigate the professor and the program before spending scarce funds and valuable time. There are some which should be met with great skepticism.

The insertion of concern by the National Native American Bar Association is worthy up to a point. The issue as they present it -Stop Academic Ethnicity Fraud/”Box-Checking” - certainly needs to be addressed. But, the NNABA’s approach to this can be likened to a doctor who is unable to heal himself or herself - yet tries to heal others. The NNABA’s own regular membership and associate membership requirements are sloppy. Both open memberships to: “All persons who are enrolled members of any Indian tribe or band, …….”

Note that this does not specify “any federally recognized tribe“, or even include “state” recognized tribes. The requirement of “any Indian tribe or band” leaves the door wide open. The consequences of this is that the NNABA has a questionable membership that includes individuals who are members of so-called “tribes” which are actually non-profit organizations of questionable history or validity as a tribe.

The current membership list on NNABA’s website is under construction, but the names and tribal affiliation of members can be accessed through older lists. This includes inviduals who belong to groups such as the Kispoko Sept of Ohio Shawnee, the Southern Cherokee Nation, and the Northern Cherokee Nation.

Accepting membership of attorneys with no valid tribal connection is no different than Universities which employ fake Indians as part of a faculty. Both actions commit fraud upon the public. As with universities, the NNABA should check their applicants for tribal affiliation, plus the validity of a tribe that a potential member claims to belong to. Hopefully, the NNABA will correct this in the near future. In the meanwhile, those who seek to hire a Native American attorney based on NNABA membership should follow the concept of caveat emptor.

Humor and Pretend Indians

Each school season thousands of public school children nationwide are subjected to the stereotyping of American Indians, along with being taught a mixture of twisted traditions and history. The nationwide general public is often subjected to the same misrepresentations at public library programs, wannabe activities, and events such as diversity fairs. Some of the pretend Indian organizations have gone as far as establish an “American Indian Education Task Force” to help them reach into the public school system. Churches, such as the United Methodist Churches in Ohio, also join in the fray to spread misinformation.

The same misrepresentations can also creep into university and college Native American studies, such as at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.

If a person can stand back for a moment and try to disregard the extreme damage fake tribes, pretend “Indian Chiefs”, and wannabe Indian professors do during their presentations, these can also be quite humorous. Two examples follow.

Pupils at the Ortona Elementary School in Daytona Beach, Florida, were given this entertaining impression of Cherokee Indians that was delivered during a 2004 Thanksgiving program “dispelling myths” that was given by “Chief Little Red Wolf” of the “Indian Creek Band of the Chickamauga Creek and Cherokee" located in Florida.

And……

Perhaps the very best and most endearing photo I have ever seen is this one. This guy is part of Manataka’s “Bear Society of Arkansas“. His costume reminds me of a Teddy Bear I once has as a child. I couldn’t help myself from bursting out in laughter when I first saw it.

As ridiculous as some of the actions and presentations given by pretenders might seem, these folks are dead serious when creating their own brand of Indian traditions and history. School educators and the general public are often ill equipped to be able to discern truth from fiction. While presentations can be quite humorous to those who know better, they also contain an element that is deadly to the American Indian.

A Study Of How Congress Is Manipulated: Conclusion

You might be releasing a sigh of relief that the forgoing comments on S. 514 and it’s companion H.R. 2028 are now completed. However, the posts were important and necessary to give a complete example of the horrendous actions that are taking place in Congress which ultimately add to the destruction of the American Indian.

The misleading statements in the bills also give an indication of how thoroughly organizations such as the Muscogee Nation of Florida can fool individuals and governments into believing that the group is a legitimate historical Indian entity, drawing hundreds into their grasp. The revisionist history created steals the proud history of American Indians everywhere. Not least, such claims made by organizations like the Muscogee Nation cause millions of dollars to be diverted annually from governmental programs designed to provide services to legitimate tribes and Indians nationwide.

House Rules that are established at the beginning of each Congressional session usually require House members to read the Constitution and be able to cite the specific constitutional powers justifying legislation submitted to the full House. The introduction of H.R. 2028 makes it more than apparent that this is not done. It’s understandable that the Florida sponsors and co-sponsors of both bills wish to support their constituents. However, it’s inexcusable that they should do so without adequate research.

House committees have cited Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 (Commerce Clause) and Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 (Treaties) as their source of power to legislate over the American Indian. In reality, the Constitution gives absolutely no power to the House to become involved in Indian affairs. Zilch. This power is given solely to the President, with a Senatorial role of advising the President and voting on a treaty - including recognition of tribes. The only exception to this should be in the appropriation of funding.

The claims of authority for Congress to create tribes under the Commerce Clause, Treaty Clause, the Plenary Power Doctrine or any other non-enumerated powers are illusions that are made and defended by the government to support it’s long term strategy to solve the “Indian Problem”. These illusions, like the preverbal monster in the closet, become real only if they are accepted as such.
Because the Plenary Power concept is so all pervasive in everything that Congress does, and affects every segment of society, the perfect opportunity exists for groups to join together and expose it for what it is. The illusion needs to be dissipated and Congress should get back to following the Constitution.

Meanwhile, inventing recognized tribes where no tribe existed before has to cease. This is an usurped power that Congress does not have. Congress should be limited to the recognition of tribes that have been terminated, such as the Delaware in Oklahoma, or tribes that had treaties that were never ratified, such as the Gabrielino-Tongva in California or the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa in Montana (not to be confused with Delorme’s infamous Little Shell Pembina group in South Dakota).

To be realistic, Congress will never relinquish any power that has usurped. This leaves us with the only recourse of educating Congressional members about the lies and fallacies contained in many bills introduced before them. This includes a discourse with members of the Senate Committee of Indian Affairs. The invitation and acceptance of the testimony by the chairwoman of the Muscogee Nation in the September 2007 hearing is a prime example of how easily the Committee can be fooled.

This leaves us with two choices. We can either sit back and just hand everything over to the pretend Indians - thereby self-terminating our existence and ending the age old “Indian Problem” - or start putting the pressure on our elected officials to learn more about organizations introduced for federal recognition before creating a tribe out of thin air. We need to become the proverbial “squeaky wheel”.

At this time, S. 514 is in the Committee on Indian Affairs for consideration. H.R. 2028 is in the House Committee on Natural Resources. My personal experience has been, sadly, that members of the Senate Committee of Indian Affairs are not interested in receiving any input from a person unless that person is a member of their congressional district. I’m asking those among you who share my concerns and have members of the Committee who represent their district to please contact your senator about the fallacies contained in the attempt by the Muscogee Nation of Florida to become federally recognized. Those of you have members of the House Committee on Natural Resources representing your district, please contact them also.

You may use information provided in my comments in any correspondence you might have. Neither bill can be allowed to pass out of the respective committee.

A Study Of How Congress Is Manipulated: Chapter 7

Continuing comments addressing Section 2 of S.514 AND H.R. 2028

Misleading Claim:

Sec. 2 (10) (D) maintained a ceremonial area on Bruce Creek that was attended until the late 1920s;

Comment:

The Walton County Historical Society was unable to identify such a ceremonial ground. It would be unusual for a Tribe or Band to abandon a ceremonial ground for other reasons than a death at the ground or the movement of the complete group a large distance away from the area. In the case of a death, the grounds are sometimes shifted only a short distance. Tribes commonly maintain their original ceremonial grounds even if tribal members move far away. It’s not uncommon for tribal members who have moved many states away from a Tribal location to return to those grounds for tribal ceremonies.

If Bruce has been the center of the Muscogee Nation for 150 years, why was the ceremonial ground moved over three hundred miles away (see following)?

Misleading Claim:

Sec. 2 (11) the ceremonial area of the Nation, as in existence on the date of enactment of this Act--
(A) is located in the community of Blountstown, Florida, 1 of the reservations referred to in the Apalachicola Treaty of October 11, 1832; and

Comment:

This is a weak and misleading attempt to link the Muscogee Nation with the reservation at Blountstown.

This reservation was a four square mile reserve that was awarded to John Blunt (Lafarka) under the 1823 Treaty of Moultrie Creek for his services to the U.S. Government in the Creek War of 1813-14, then as a guide for General Andrew Jackson during his invasion of Florida in 1818. This invasion resulted in the purchase of Florida from Spain. Five other Indians loyal to the U.S. also received similar reserves in Middle Florida under the same treaty.

The October 11, 1832 treaty provided for the surrender of their reservations and an indemnification of $13,000, with $3,000 in cash and the remainder $10,000 once they started their movement. Chiefs Blunt (Blount) and Davy were to continue to draw their $5,000 annuity payment as long as they were in the Territory of Florida, with a proportional final amount paid when they removed. The Indian parties involved were also presented with the opportunity to patent the land, but if they did so they would come under the laws of the territory.

Blount and his band removed from Florida in the spring of 1834 after selling the land to the U.S. government and they settled on the Trinity River in Texas - where Blount became a wealthy cotton planter.

The distance between Blountsville and Bruce is approximately 326 miles. Yet the headquarters of the Muscogee Nation of Florida is given as being at Bruce. While tribal ceremonial grounds are commonly removed a relatively short distance from a tribal headquarters for privacy purposes, this appears to be an excessive distance and is most likely based on the powwows originally being conducted there.

Misleading Claim:

Sec. 2 (11) (B) is the site of continuing ceremonies, such as Green Corn, and traditional events;

Comment:

The group, as the Eastern Creeks, originated their “ceremonies” as powwows. Powwows are public intertribal dances and are not traditional ceremonial events. It should be noted that Dr. Andrew Boggs Ramsey has held both the “Tribal Chairman” position and the “Ceremonial Chief” positions. Yet, tribal ceremonial activities and the regular day-to-day business activities mix together like oil and water. In other words, the two are completely separate in every way. They do not mix freely by the switching from one side to the other.

In a December 12, 1979 letter to Mrs. Alice Grady of the old Boggs Newsletter, Dr. Ramsey claimed to be Cherokee. One of the documents he listed to support his statement was a 1851 Tahlequah (Oklahoma) District Payment of $278.49 to a Polly Boggs Tarsequanyshkee. It’s more than apparent that Dr. Ramsey, as have many others trying to prove an Indian ancestry, merely has gone window shopping for any American Indian with the Boggs name.

Misleading Claim:

Sec. 2 (12) local governments have recognized the community of Bruce as the center of tribal government of the Nation; and

Comment:

This recognition is fairly recent and has no historical precedence. Such recognition is usually at the request of organizations such as the Eastern Creek Nation/Muscogee Nation of Florida and provides communities with potential added income through federal monies and tourism. Most communities, unless they are located in an area with a tribe that has a known historical presence there, have no experience in determining the validity of claims such as made by the Muscogee Nation of Florida.

That the local governments and organizations have no actual knowledge of the Eastern Creek Nation/Muscogee Nation of Florida as a historical tribe in the area is supported by their inability to identify, through correspondence or by telephone, the locations and/or history of the school, church, cemetery, and ceremonial grounds claimed in this resolution as being founded, maintained, or otherwise used by the Muscogee Nation of Florida. This is especially true if even the Walton County Historical Society was not able to identify these items.

If anything, community recognition of the Muscogee Nation of Florida indicates the shrewd publicity campaign conducted by the organization to invent itself as a historical tribe over the past 20 or so years. Similar recognition to recently founded organizations claiming to be tribes has been given by communities in other states.

Misleading Claim:

Sec. 2 (13) during the 30-year period preceding the date of enactment of this Act, the Nation has received Federal, State, and local grants, and entered into contracts, to provide services and benefits to members of the Nation.

Comment:

The “30” year period is given because this encompasses the complete period of the history of this “tribe“, including time spent as part of previous groups attempting to be federally recognized. The majority of grants received were no different than what any other organization is eligible for.

A Manpower Training Grant for $75,000 was received in 1976, which was used as a recruiting tool. Advertisements paid for by this grant read “ If you do not need job training but would like to sign up as a descendant of the American Indian….”

A Vista “mini-grant” was received in 1976, but was withdrawn in 1977. A grant for $85,000 was received in 1976 from the United Southeastern Tribes organization, but was withdrawn the following year after it was discovered that the funds were being misspent.

The group received $30,000 to support “several job fairs to bring employers and Native Americans with disabilities who are seeking jobs together“.

The group has also received grant monies from the Administration for American Indians (ANA), which has a long past history of funding anyone who merely says they are Indian. The Department of Agriculture has admitted to granting Indian program funds to anyone who self-identifies as American Indian. The Office of Indian Education provides Title VII grants to schools with no Indian students. Virtually every single similar group calling itself an American Indian “tribe” has received Federal grants for one contrived reason or another. Such grants do not necessarily mean that the receiving organization is American Indian or is recognized as a “tribe“. These grants are, however, symptomatic of a broken and wasteful system.

To be continued.

A Study Of How Congress Is Manipulated: Chapter 6

Continuing comments addressing Section 2 of S.514 AND H.R. 2028

Misleading Claim:

Sec. 2 (10)(B) between 1895 and 1947, maintained a school that was attended by members of the Nation;

Comment:

The school site is land partial number 20-1N-17-04000-002-0010 . The site was donated to the Bruce Women’s Club by the Walton School Board. The Bruce Women’s Club then donated the property to the Muscogee Nation of Florida. According to Walton County records, Sale Book 2733, Sale Page 4584, the deed transfer was on 8/30/2006.

The past president of the Bruce Women’s Club was Mazie (Ward) Rossell, who held major positions in the Muscogee Nation and who is the originator of much of the Nation’s “history”. The school is being used by the Muscogee Nation of Florida as it’s headquarters.

Walton County records also show donated deed transfers of two other land parcels on the same date: 7.2 acres South and adjacent to the above old school site (Parcel No. 20-1N-17-04000-037-0000) and 13.13 acres in the vicinity of Mack Bayou (Parcel No. 24-2S-21-42000-045-0010).

A description of the school appeared in numerous dated Muscogee Nation websites beginning in August of 2001. These websites are now defunct, but can be accessed through the Internet Archives Way-Back Machine. This description included: “South of the building is the stickball field where games are still played by tribal members.” It’s apparent that this description was given with the idea that no one would question it and was an attempt to establish a history of the school that does not exist. There are several problems with the statement:

1. There is no area South of the school that even remotely resembles any type of playing field. It’s all heavily treed. There is an area directly adjacent to the school on the North side that appears to be some type of field or playground.

2. The size of the area directly North to the school is inadequate for stickball. The total perimeter length is approximately 113 feet (or 38 yards), and the perimeter width is approximately 46 feet (or 15 yards). The actual area for usage as a playing area appears to be approximately 92 feet (or 32 yards ) in length and 39 feet (or 13 yards) in width.

3. Stickball, like other Indian football games, has a religious connotation and are commonly played on or adjacent to the tribal ceremonial or stomp dance grounds. It is not merely a “game”. Played to please the Creator, stickball and similar football games are usually played only twice a year, once at the beginning of the ceremonial cycle, and once at the end. It’s doubtful that any traditional tribe would be playing stickball at this location for any reason.

The church claimed by the Muscogee Nation is at the upper left. The school is to the right. Note the lack of any type of playing field to the south of the school, as was claimed by the Muscogee Nation in 2001.

NOTE: According to the Walton County records, the cemetery and school properties mentioned in the Senate and House bills were obtained by the Muscogee Nation of Florida within an eight month period prior to the introduction of these bills. Although they might have had access to these properties for a longer period through members of the organization who owned or had control over the property, it should be questioned why legal transfer was not made until the time that it occurred.

The Walton Clerk’s office states that the dates given in the Sale Books are the dates of sale or deed transfer. This question is especially important since the organization claims historical tribal use of these properties.

Misleading Claim:

Sec. 2 (10)(C) in 1912, established a church that is recognized by the Methodist Conference as a Native American church; and

Comment:

The Bruce United Methodist (Native American Church) is located at 269 Church Rd. Bruce, Fl. 32455 859-2343. The Methodist Archives Center of the Alabama-West Florida Conference has no records on the history of the church except what was provided to them by Mazie (Ward) Rossell. Mrs. Rossell was a “Chief” of the “Choctawhatchee clan” located at Bruce, a member of the “governing council of the Eastern Creeks“, and member of the Northwest Florida Creek Indian Council.

Mrs. Rossell was also a member of the Florida Democratic Committee for over 50 years. As a member of the Florida Silver-Haired Legislature, she was able to draft her own resolutions and send them to the state’s elected officials for consideration.

The only independent record from Mrs. Rossell’s claims about the church is a list of ministers who served the church. This list starts in 1930 with H.W. Chalk. It’s possible that William Joseph Ward, founder of the church, provided services in the early years. It’s said that he had the complete Bible memorized, and many marriage ceremonies took place in the Ward’s homes. However, Mr. Ward died in 1924, which leaves a blank of approximately six years recorded in it’s ministry.

The current minister is Rev. William A. Young, who was appointed to the church in 1998. During a short telephone conversation on 21 August, 2007, he stated that he did not know anything about the history of the church. When asked if there were many Indians who attended the church, he laughed and stated: “It’s kind of ridiculous for anyone to claim to be Indian today“.

According to Mrs. Rossell, the church was supposedly given the designation “Native American Church” by the Methodist Conference in 1991. A research of Conference Journals and minutes for 1991 and 1992 was made by personnel at the Methodist Archives Center in Montgomery, Alabama. There were no records found that indicated the church was recognized as a Native American Church by the Conference during this period, as claimed. There are separate indications that the designation as a Native American Church was initiated during a Ward family reunion, and has taken on that name from common usage by the family. Heavy donations to the church by the Eastern Creek Nation/Muscogee Nation of Florida and yearly Ward family reunion activities at the church have continued to bolster the image of the church as Native American.

An April 1992 church pamphlet authored by Mrs. Rossell, which is on file, describes the dedication of the church:

“It took approximately one-and-a-half years to complete the church building, and when the date was set for dedication, William Joseph Ward (Diamond Joe) sent school children across the dirt road to the one-room school house to locate their History books to follow along as he recited the Declaration of Independence.”

Now, I ask that if the history of the Muskogee Nation is true as given by them, why would they use a document that establishes their worst enemy - the United States - as part of their church dedication?

William Joseph Ward (Diamond Joe), the Bruce Methodist Church Founder who the Muscogee Nation of Florida claims to be Creek Indian.

A farmer in Alabama, he was mustered into Company D of the Fifty-third Alabama Infantry Regiment (Alabama Partisan Rangers, Confederate) at the age of 31 on 1/1/1861. He moved to Walton County sometime after the war, appearing in the 1/1/1870 Walton County Census as a farmer on page 62, Family #406.

His entry from Alabama into CSA service , and moving to Walton County after the Civil War, is an important contrast in reality to the Ward family claims in a lined school composition book diary that: “October 1854: Our people are afraid to get together for any reason” and “October 1859: More than 150 people in this part of Florida was sent West for a bounty…we no longer say the word chief.” (BIA documentation).

A similar attempt to claim a Holmes Valley Church was made by the Eastern Creeks and Ward family, as part of the earlier Lower Muscogee Creek Tribe East of Mississippi BIA petition. This claim was unsubstantiated.

Comments to be continued.

A Study Of How Congress Is Manipulated: Chapter 5

Continuing comments addressing Section 2 of S.514 AND H.R. 2028

Misleading Claim:

Sec. 2 (9) the community of Bruce in Walton County, Florida, has been a governing center for the Nation for more than 150 years;

Comment:

No impartial historical studies or research publications mention the Eastern Creek Nation, by that term or any other term, in Walton County. History of Walton County by John Love McKinnon, 1840- 1911; Published 1911, describes pioneer interaction with Chief Sam Story and the Uchees (Yuchi/Euchee) in several chapters. According to this record, Chief Story had a headquarters on the South bank of Bruce Creek, opposite of what later became Euchee Anna. If the Eastern Creek Nation factually had a historical presence in Walton County and Bruce, it would have been mentioned in the scholarly publications and histories of the county such as written by McKinnon.

While there might be some mixed race descendants of the Uchee remaining in Walton County, they do not equate with any existing tribe or the Eastern Creek Nation. While most modern Uchee are members of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma, many do not consider themselves Creek - but of a separate ethnic group.

The U.S. 1950 census gives the only recorded identifiable Indian descendant group of individuals living in their own communities in Walton and Holmes counties at that time. These are the Dominickers, a pejorative name of given to them around 1860, supposedly from a child custody case. A tri-racial group (White, Black, Indian) of various combinations, there are five different accounts of their origins, one including Euchee Indian ancestors. They are known to have existed in the area of Walton and Holmes counties prior to the Civil War, but have since migrated over the years and become assimilated into the white communities. The 1950 federal census counted only 60 Dominickers remaining in Holmes county.

Since the directive in taking this census was to include all men, women, and children of Indian descent, this census plays an important roll in evaluating the claims of the Muscogee Nation of Florida that they were in existence in the area as a tribe for over 150 years, as Eastern Creek or by any other name.

Pupils and teacher at the Mt. Zion School in the Dominicker settlement of Holmes County, circa 1910. Holmes County is adjacent to Walton County and was included in previous attempts by members of the Muscogee Nation (as the Eastern Creeks) to gain federal recognition.

Misleading Claim:

Sec. 2 (10) in the community of Bruce, the Nation--
(A) beginning in the early 1860s, used and maintained the Antioch Cemetery, which remains in use by members of the Nation as of the date of enactment of this Act;

Comment:

Other than the claim in this Bill, there is no historical documentation that labels this cemetery as originating with, belonging to, or being used by the Eastern Creek Nation as a burial ground. Inquiries about the origin have been unsuccessful. The common opinion is that it was started as a family cemetery.

The earliest identified graves in Antioch Cemetery date to the early 1880’s (Virginia Ward, 1882 -1882, 8c Row 7). Twenty-nine of the cemetery graves belong to the Ward family, which constitutes the largest number belonging to one family. The second largest number of identified graves belonging to one family is of the Bozeman family, with eight.

There are approximately 52 unknown graves in the cemetery. Rather than being in one vicinity or plot, they are scattered throughout the 14 rows of the cemetery among identified graves. This would mean the unlikelihood that they were all the earliest of graves or that they all belonged to older specific American Indian Creek burials.

The cemetery is land parcel number 12-1S-18-14000-001-0020. According to Walton County records, this property was donated to the Muscogee Nation of Florida on 7/10/2006. It is recorded in Sale Book 2727, Page 4198.

Antioch Cemetery, Bruce, Florida

Comments to be continued.

A Study Of How Congress Is Manipulated: Chapter 4

Continuing comments addressing Section 2 of S.514 AND H.R. 2028

Misleading Claim:

Sec. 2 (7)(A) in 1974, the State of Florida established the Northwest Florida Creek Indian Council to manage issues relating to Creek Indians in northwest Florida;

Comment:

The Northwest Florida Creek Indian Council was not established in 1974, but in 1975. It was the Florida Governor's Council on Indian Affairs, Inc. that was established in 1974, under Governor Askew’s Executive Order #74-23.

The statute creating the NW Florida Creek Indian Council, created by House Bill 2306, took effect on 1 July, 1975 without the bill receiving the Governor’s signature. Why the Governor refused to sign the bill is open to conjecture, as he was from NW Florida and interested in Indian affairs. In 2001, the Florida Creek Indian Council in F.S. 285.19 was removed from Chapter 285 and ceased to exist. Source: State of Florida

Misleading Claim:

Sec 2 (7)(B) in 1978, the Council held an election for representatives to the tribal government known as the `Florida Tribe of Eastern Creek Indians', which is now the Muscogee Nation of Florida;

Comment:

First of all, tribes elect their own government and council, not outside local, state, or federal agencies. Claim (3)(A) and this claim are in conflict. Claim (3)(A) states that the organization’s tribal government continued to be through traditional methods. Having tribal government representatives elected by the NW Council is not a traditional process.

The initial election was held on June 19, 1976 and centered around five groups in Pensacola who were fighting each other to be in charge of receiving federal grants. As with other similar organizations in other states, some of these “clans” were recently split from each other. The “Lower Muskogees” had split into a group called the Coweta Clan - which was said to have been dominated by it’s evangelical Baptist leaders. This split is said to have occurred because of disagreements over the scheduling of powwow dance practices. Then the Cowetas split after a bitter schism of their own that involved the management of their dance group, plus charges of favoritism in assigning dance roles and racial discrimination. Tom Crooks split from the Tuckabatchee Clan because of a quarrel with another member and formed the Coosawattie Creek clan. (Crook described his Clan as being composed of local Eagle Scouts and other non-Creeks, as well as Creek descendants.)

Bitter fighting between the groups escalated when Governor Askew announced his appointments to the eleven member Council. Pensacola 's fifth clan was established around this time by Perloca Linton. She claimed that her group would conduct the election. The Pensacola News-Journal, along with area non-Indians, joined the fray. The newspaper supported the legislature's council over Mrs. Linton's group.

Fewer that 400 people voted in the election, which was won by TV wrestling narrator Leroy Morris. Morris announced that he would head a council of representatives from seven panhandle counties-over which he will be chief. Subcouncils were also to be formed in each county will also be formed. Morris’s own Creek blood was questioned by other Clans, which claimed that Morris had
announced at a Creek powwow he emceed in the fall of 1975 that he wasn't an Indian and became an honorary tribe member at the weekend affair.

Morris then orchestrated a recruiting campaign to increase Eastern Creek members. According to Jack Bridges, a spokesperson for the Escambia County School Board, school children were even signed up by Eastern Creek leaders during class hours. Morris is reportedly to have explained this enrollment campaign by the statement: "The more people we represent the more federal funds we can qualify for."

Source: Extracts from a Tampa Times series on the Eastern Creeks and the NW Florida Creek Indian Council by Jim Seale.

A similar situation of enrolling school students and families occurred more recently by the “Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri in their scam with Arkansas School Districts to receive Office of Indian Education Title VII grants and increase their enrollment base.

Misleading Claim:

Sec. 2 (8) in 1986, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Florida passed resolutions recognizing the Muscogee Nation of Florida as an Indian tribe;

Comment:

The 1986 resolution (Senate Concurrent Resolution 657) recognized Creek history and presence in Florida in general. It did not provide state recognition as a tribe to the organization.

When the Florida Tribe of Eastern Creeks attempted to establish a bingo hall in 1988 (the group had hired a Pensacola management firm to build and operate a 50,000-square-foot bingo parlor on 26 acres in south Walton County), Senator Childers inquired about the legality of the organization being a state recognized tribe. As a result, the Florida Attorney General issued Advisory Legal Opinion Number: AGO 88-18, dated May 6, 1988, which makes it perfectly clear that the 1986 resolution “does not, in my opinion, grant any additional rights to the Eastern Creek Indians but merely acknowledges their presence in Florida. Moreover, the resolution, which merely expresses the will or opinion of the Legislature does not have the force of law.”

The 1988 opinion provides the following references:

FN1 See, Black's Law Dictionary, Resolution 1474 (4th rev. ed. 1968) ("the adoption of a motion, the subject-matter of which would not properly constitute a statute; such as a mere _expression of opinion; ...a vote of thanks...."). Cf., 62 C.J.S. Municipal Corporations s. 411, stating: “A resolution has also been distinguished from an ordinance in that an ordinance is a continuing regulation, a permanent rule of conduct or government, while a resolution ordinarily is an act of a special or temporary character, not prescribing a permanent rule of government, but is merely declaratory of the will or opinion of a municipal corporation in a given matter, and in the nature of a ministerial or administrative act, and is not a law.”

FN2 658 F.2d 310 (5th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 1020 (1982).

FN3 107 S.Ct. 1083 (1987).

The State of Florida does not have any state recognized tribes. It only recognizes tribes that are Federally recognized.

A similar claim was made in the earlier BIA petition that included the “Creek Nation East”. It was asserted that The Creek Nation East was recognized as an Indian Tribe by Florida under Florida Statute F.S. 1979, Chapter 285, Indian Reservations. However, the statute actually referred to the Muscogee or Cow Creek bands of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. (F.S.: Ch 285:06(2) and Ch 285:07(1).

Note that it is common for organizations such as this to claim to be state recognized, when they are not. The URB and it’s involvement with the Lewis and Clark Mint pouches is but one example.

To be continued.