Raffle Tickets for Quilt

Raffle tickets are now being sold for the Horse quilt pictured below.  To purchase raffle tickets, please contact Mary Smith at (479) 963-3713.

                 

 

Lawsuit Won Against Lost Cherokee

Arkansas Cherokee Enterprises, Inc., Chickamauga Cherokee Corporation and Harold Helton, Bill Helton, Al McKay and Jennifer Hurst as individuals have been in a lawsuit against the Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, Inc. The Lost Cherokee saw all the names that we were using and decided to file a trademark on all of them through the Secretary of State.  The Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, Inc then turned around and filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against our corporations and us as individuals.  We had to file a counterclaim against them. 

After a long battle and the Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, Inc. and their attorney not cooperating with the court or our attorney, the judge finally ordered that the Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, Inc., Cliff Bishop, Curtis Smith, John Brown and their attorney repay all of our attorney fees and any other expenses. The order also stated that the Secretary of State shall remove all of their trademarks since they were obtained fraudently.  To read the court order click HERE.

 

Voting Ballots Mailed

All ballots have been mailed out for the election.  Make sure that your ballot is postmarked no later than July 31 and received into the Arkansas Cherokee Nation office no later than August 5, 2011.  Ballots will be counted on August 6 so there will not be any exceptions.

 

Native Land Use

A new study by Baylor University geology researchers shows that Native Americans' land use nearly a century ago produced a widespread impact on the eastern North American landscape and floodplain development several hundred years prior to the arrival of major European settlements.

Researchers attribute early colonial land-use practices, such as deforestation, plowing and damming with influencing present-day hydrological systems across eastern North America. Previous studies suggest that Native Americans' land use in eastern North America initially caused the change in hydrological systems, however, little direct evidence has been provided until now.

The Baylor study found that pre-European so-called "natural" floodplains have a history of prehistoric indigenous land use, and thus colonial-era Europeans were not the first people to have an impact on the hydrologic systems of eastern North America. The study also found that prehistoric small-scale agricultural societies caused widespread ecological change and increased sedimentation in hydrologic systems during the Medieval Climate Anomaly-Little Ice Age, which occurred about 700 to 1,000 years ago.

"These are two very important findings," said Gary Stinchcomb, a Baylor doctoral candidate who conducted the study. "The findings conclusively demonstrate that Native Americans in eastern North America impacted their environment well before the arrival of Europeans. Through their agricultural practices, Native Americans increased soil erosion and sediment yields to the Delaware River basin."

For more on this story, subscribe to the Smoke Signal Newsletter by clicking HERE.

 

New Membership Ordinance

The Council of the Arkansas Cherokee Nation have signed a new Membership Ordinance that became effective Monday March 7, 2011. The new Ordinance states "All persons submitting an application and their Cherokee ancestors must be or have been a resident of the noted counties in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma as referenced on the District and Enrollment Map of the Enrollment Ordinance.  Applicants that are unable to prove ancestors living in the noted counties can satisfy this qualification by providing the ancestors ties to the noted counties.  Applicants must be a current resident of the noted counties."  

Any new applications must meet this criteria, even if other family members have received membership cards.