Cherokee Campaign Much More Than Politics

From their Westminster home, two sisters are waging a campaign to save the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Along the way, they are forming a new community.

They mail postcards, make phone calls and host fund-raisers in their backyard--anything to persuade California Cherokees to vote for the leader they think can rescue the country’s second-largest tribe from its beleaguered state.

The offices of principal chief and deputy principal chief of the Cherokee Nation may be the prize, but more is at stake, say Terrie Restivo and Kay Cope. The sisters, founders of Cherokees of Westminster, say they hope to use the campaign to remind members of the nation scattered around Southern California of their heritage.

“Through this election process, we’ve met Cherokees who haven’t been interested in the politics of the nation,” Restivo said. “Those who have not been involved are now involved. I think it’s because everybody wants to ensure the sovereignty of our nation.”

The last four years have been tumultuous for the Cherokee Nation. Since Joe Byrd, a former high school guidance counselor and political outsider, became principal chief in 1995, scandals have persisted. The subject of two federal investigations that delved into the tribe’s accounting system, Byrd has developed a reputation for strong-arm tactics.

As the May primary election approached, allegations against Byrd and his aides intensified. The Cherokee National Election Commission asked the Carter Center in Atlanta to observe as a precautionary measure--the first time that organization has been involved in a domestic election.

Because more than 180,000 of the 203,000 Cherokees live outside the reservation in Tahlequah, Okla., Cherokee Nation elections are driven by absentee ballots. About 150,000 Cherokees qualify to vote, but only 30,000 are registered, and less than half of those generally exercise the right, according to the tribe’s voter records.

California is home to 3,000 Cherokees, the largest population outside the Oklahoma reservation. About 1,000 of those Cherokees live in Orange County and have discovered each other while participating in the electoral process.

“We’re all scattered around,” Restivo said. “We are your normal next-door neighbors. You wouldn’t know we were Cherokees unless we told you.”

When Restivo, an accounting supervisor, and Cope, a self-employed medical records consultant, decided to run a campaign from their house, they had no idea their home also would become a cultural center. The sisters regularly host social gatherings and hold weekly Cherokee-language classes in their living room.

It didn’t take much for Ed Carey of Garden Grove to join the political cause and become interested in learning his ancestors’ native tongue.

“I don’t live in Oklahoma, but I can still be involved,” Carey said. “We have to get things turned around and put the tribal people in the forefront again. It is their needs that the government has to serve.”

The elections for principal chief and deputy chief are considered as important as the race for the U.S. presidency.

“This is one of the more important elections they have had since the 1970s,” said G. William Rice, an associate professor of law at the University of Tulsa and a member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. “It’s crucial in the sense that it comes down to whether the old guard gets in or the new guard stays.”

Byrd, 44, took over the reins of a tribe that controls manufacturing plants, bingo halls, convenience and tobacco stores and restaurants. Byrd replaced two-term Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller by default when the tribe’s high court disqualified George Bearpaw, who won the election, because of a 20-year-old felony assault conviction.

Supporters say Byrd has been able to relate to rural tribe members in a way that the past leadership has not.

“Joe Byrd broke a mold,” Rice said. “He was the first full-blooded Cherokee that could talk like the local Indians,” speaking the original tongue.

Chad Smith, who is challenging Byrd in today’s runoff, has held appointed positions in former Cherokee administrations. Though not formally aligned with the old guard that Byrd opposed in 1995, “he’s their candidate,” Rice said.

Smith, a 48-year-old legal scholar and private attorney, has the support of the Westminster sisters because, Restivo said, he is honest and “is a great believer in keeping Cherokee traditions and culture.”

After Byrd became principal chief, the two women decided to make their home a local campaign headquarters for Byrd’s challenger.

With only an incomplete voter list as their guide, Restivo and Cope also relied on Cherokees they had met during social outings and civic events in Orange County to give birth to a grass-roots effort to get Smith elected. They focused on attracting the 2,000 California Cherokees who ignored the May primary.

“People have come together that we’ve never seen come together before,” Cope said.

The sisters believe they have reached 1,000 potential new voters and are hoping the personal contact will drive more Cherokees in California to vote today. About 13,000 votes were cast in the primary. Historically, runoff elections draw fewer voters than primaries.

Explanations for the lack of voter participation vary.

“Indians are different,” Rice said. “We vote no by staying home. Perhaps people aren’t satisfied with either group.”

Candidate Smith’s answer for increasing participation is to begin a tradition of town hall meetings around the country to help Cherokees who live outside Oklahoma keep track of issues that are important to them.

The Carter Center, better known for observing elections in Third World countries, has recommended several changes in Cherokee voting to improve participation. Among them: simplification of the registration process and elimination of notary fees for ballots, which amount to a poll tax, said Gordon Streeb, associate executive director of peace programs for the Carter Center.

Alisa Caldwell of Garden Grove is among those who were moved to get involved in Cherokee politics through the efforts of Restivo and Cope.

“Every Cherokee living on the periphery of the nation has a choice to be fully connected,” Restivo said. “I feel absolutely connected even though I live here. What happens on Saturday is critical.”