Letter from the Headmen

To the People of the Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri Tribe:

Please understand that your files were stolen from the office in Dover and taken to what the corporation called an office in Conway. You must also understand that the office in Dover is the official office for the Tribe of the Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, the post office box that is on record in Washington is still in Dover and we still receive our mail through that post box. The elected interim council is located at the office in Dover and has made numerous attempts to inform you that you need to contact the Conway office and make arrangements to pick up your files to bring them back to Tribal Headquarters in Dover or replace them. Many of you have responded but there are many who have not.

You need to understand that the office in Conway is nothing more than a corporate office for three corporation members, Cliff Bishop, Curtis Smith and John Brown. It is a fact that the corporation cannot be recognized as an Indian Tribe. The only group with a chance to be federally recognized is the Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri at Dover and no others.

No interim council member has visions of self greatness but are there because we did not want to see this tribe destroyed. We are going away and will continue to work toward federal recognition as long as we are able to do so, both physically and financially. That said to say this, if you do not get your file from Conway or duplicate your file and get it to the Dover office, we cannot include you in the tribal rolls when that time comes, it is as simple as that. It is your responsibility to get this information to the Dover office and to see that the file contains all the necessary forms to meet Tribal membership requirements. All files have to be verified to make sure they contain all of the necessary information required by BIA and to give you the right to vote in any election that will be coming up.

At one time you were asked to sign and fill out a form requesting that your file be returned to the Dover office. This was for us to use in our court case against the corporation. We still need these forms, now more than ever. Please understand the gravity of this plea to you.  We must have these forms from you if you want this tribe to continue to exist. The other option is to turn over control to the corporation at Conway, again, made up of three men.  They would have complete control of your file, your recognition hopes, your money and could even sign away your rights anytime they so desired. Please think about this. Your hope for truth and recognition lies with the Dover office. Fill out the forms, if you don’t have one, call the office in Dover and we will send you one We also will be placing the form on our web site. If you have already filled one out in the past, you do not need to fill out a new one. BIA has already stated they will not resolve our internal conflict for us.

Remember that your interim council of the Lost Cherokee at Dover does not support any other group, including the corporation at Conway or the Heltons. No election held by either of these factions will be participated in by any of the true Governing Body of the Tribe. It seems to us that these factions realize that their actions can do nothing but harm our chances for Federal Recognition.

Before you support any group - including the Council at Dover - ask questions.  Don’t take the answer at face value, but research it for yourself. You will find that your Council has not lied and will not lie to you about anything pertaining to this Tribe.

Again, remember who stole our files in the first place and put some long, hard thought into it before you support any of these groups.

Thank you for reading this and please consider what has been said here as it is the truth.

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© The Lost Cherokee - 2008