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January 23, 2008

Cherokee Nation council adopts arts and crafts act

TAHLEQUAH — The Cherokee Nation Tribal Council has adopted an act requiring truth in advertising for Native American art.

The act requires anyone selling Native American art in the Cherokee Nation to be a citizen or a member of a federally recognized Native American tribe.

“This act has been a long time in coming,” said Tribal Council Member Cara Cowan-Watts, representing Rogers County. “For far too long, non-Native Americans or others claiming to be members of non-recognized tribes have sold art as true Native American art. This act will help to stop some of these sales. Anyone buying Native American art in the Cherokee Nation can be better assured that the piece was created by a true Native American.”

The Council also passed an Indian housing plan which will help the tribe create attainable Cherokee communities. Parts of the plan include land acquisitions for the tribe and for housing needs throughout the 14-county jurisdictional boundary of the Cherokee Nation.

In other business, the Council passed a resolution honoring the accomplishments of Mary Ross, a 100-year-old Cherokee citizen who became one of the first female Native American engineers. Ross worked for the North American Space Administration and assisted with the first lunar moon landing in 1969.

The next regularly scheduled Council meeting will be at 6 p.m. Feb. 11 in the Tribal Council Chambers at the Cherokee Nation complex south of Tahlequah.

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