Cherokees battle in N.C. over bloodlines -- and casino money

BY PAUL NOWELL
Associated Press Writer | Sunday, March 28, 2004

CHEROKEE, N.C. -- After decades in poverty, one of the nation's most storied tribes has turned against itself in a battle over bloodlines and who can be considered a real Cherokee. Underlying the struggle: newfound casino riches.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians -- a 13,000-member tribe rooted for centuries in what is now the Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina -- is considering DNA tests to weed through its many "absentee" members and determine who will be allowed to control, and share in, the casino millions.

"We're at a critical time in this tribe and we need the resources here for revitalization efforts," said Roseanna Belt, a tribe member who heads the Cherokee Center at nearby Western Carolina University. "I feel a lot of people started coming out of the woodwork once we started getting bigger per-capita payments."

At the heart of the conflict is the 60,000-square-foot Harrah's Cherokee Casino that seven years ago transformed the tribe's chronically depressed reservation into the only place in North Carolina where people can legally gamble.

Rows of slots, video poker and blackjack machines currently give the tribe an annual payout from Harrah's of $155 million, enough for each member to get a $6,000 check every year.

But during last year's tribal election season, a simmering power struggle erupted between the 8,000 tribe members who live and work in Cherokee, and the 5,000 who live outside the reservation and long exercised absentee voting rights.

Principal Chief Leon Jones and council member Bob Blankenship were impeached for using the tribe's enrollment list to mail a campaign letter -- not a violation of tribal law but an ethical breach, some council members felt.

Blankenship and Jones both ended up keeping their offices, but voters later approved a proposal to bar tribe members who live off the reservation from voting in future elections.

They also approved an audit of the tribe's enrollment list, which could lead to some members being removed -- and losing their annual casino payouts. Tribal leaders are still debating how the audit will be conducted, but said DNA tests are being considered to resolve specific cases.

At one contentious tribal council meeting last year, speakers who supported barring absentee voters and auditing the enrollment list challenged Blankenship and Jones to take DNA tests to prove they were truly Indian.

Blankenship said he believes that all Cherokees -- no matter where they live -- should be allowed to vote in local elections.

"Everyone owns all of this place," he said.

Former chief Joyce Dugan, who now serves as the casino's director of external relations, is among those torn over the issue because many absentee members take an active role in what's going on in Cherokee.

"The problem is with the people who have no connection to Cherokee," she said. "They still want their check." On the Net
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians: www.cherokee-nc.com