Article II. community CHAPTERS (aka Local)
The Community Chapter shall operate in accordance with the guidlines as put forth in the ## Section: Government, in the Handbook of the Constitutional Cherokee.
The membership of a local community shall consist of all who have been organized as a community by those authorized so to do and who have been publicly received by those having proper authority, after having met all the requirements for membership. All members submitting an application for membership are understood to completely and thoroughly agree to be governed fully by the Constitution and by laws of the national organization. The Community Chapter is the first step toward membership. This group is where the applicant meets in order to participate in the culture. This is the first group that will examine the documentation of the applicant before it is sent to national membership committee.
The fully active community chapter is composed of the seven traditional Cherokee clans. Each clan selects its own Clan Chief, clan mother, healer or Adawehi and other officers as needed. The seven clans come together and fro among all of them they select a community Chief, A principal clan mother, a community Adawehi, a groundskeeper, a fire keeper, a fire keepers assistant, and other officers as needed.
We affirm that during the dispersal after the removal era, family units fulfilled the functions of the clan officers. It has been the custom of families to have a matrilineal leader, in some cases it was a grandmother or aunt who served the function of clan mother and in some cases, principal clan mother. Family histories also record that healers were active during this time period as well. Families still felt they were connected to all other Cherokee people despite the fragmentation of government on the national level but they did not believe that ended their right to govern themselves in the traditional way. In an act of passive resistance, these family unit governments co existed with the invading governments of towns, cities, states, and the United States and although those governments failed to recognize these surviving subunits, still they remained in the homeland.
The Community Chapter’s primary responsibilities include the preservation of the Cherokee language, culture and festivals as well as to research and discover all those Cherokees who are descended from the common ancestors of the Community Chapter’s present day members, to contact them and to welcome them to join.
Those who have not yet documented their descent but who do have DNA evidence of a Cherokee bloodline are welcome to participate in community events but may not vote or hold office and they are not recognized as members. However, they are to be regarded as prospective members and a roll is to be kept of them, and the community chapter is enjoined to work with them to help them in whatever way possible to help them to actually document their ancestry and to research the line that has the DNA link to Cherokee heritage. We must reiterate that these who have DNA but no documentation otherwise are not voting members and may not hold office but these are prospective members who are to be welcomed into as many cultural activities as allowed by the bylaws and constitution with the hope that one day, the documentation that the DNA evidence indicates will be uncovered by future researchers.
The first order of business for an active community group (active means Cherokee descendants who have verified each other’s documentation and records and who are meeting at least once a month for a prayer circle, potluck or other cultural event) is to organize and incorporate in the state wherein they reside under the Constitution and Bylaws of the Handbook of the Constitutional Cherokee.
They are then enjoined to actively engage in both establishing a second community group within their state of active Cherokee descendants for the purpose of uniting and establishing a state chapter, and also to enter into negotiations with other state recognized Cherokee (if any are in existence) for the purpose of helping them to reorganize as Constitutional Cherokee under the Constitution and Bylaws of the Handbook of the Constitutional Cherokee, for the purpose of establishing unity and a state chapter of the Constitutional Cherokee within that state.
This is so that we may fulfil our goal: To unite all Cherokee descendants into one self governing organization.
The primary repository of records is the local or community group. These groups meet for prayer circles and potlucks. Once they begin meeting, they are to incorporate as a non profit organization under the Constitution and Bylaws in this handbook. They are responsible to verify all documentation of members and to preserve not only original applications but also to produce electronic documents that may be sent to the state chapter for archival purposes.
Once there are 2 (two) or more local chapters, they are to work together to unite and organize and incorporate as a non profit state chapter and hold a state assembly annually thereafter.
The state assembly is to be responsible for annual auditing of financial statements and of membership applications.
A LOCAL COMMUNITY THAT IS IN ACTIVE STATUS IS ONE THAT:
-has been incorporated in accord with current laws and procedures for at least 30 days
-has at least 21 adult members by blood over the age of 21
-has been meeting monthly for at least one year
COMMUNITY:
There will be a community council. THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL is comprised of ONE representative from the Council of elders (the Council of Elders is composed of those 77 years and older and they select their representative) who will be known as the principal elder, the elected community chief, the appointed grounds chief (this person was appointed by the clan mothers), the fire keeper (Selected by a joint session of the Clan mothers and the Council of Elders), the fire keepers assistant (Selected by the fire keeper), a clan mother from each of the active clans if there are not a full 7 clans, or ONLY the principal clan mother (Selected by the clan mothers themselves) if there IS a full set of 7 active clans. In addition, if one has been selected and is a member of the local chapter, a GhiGua (Beloved Woman selected in keeping with the Article ## of the Handbook of the Constitutional Cherokee).These are to meet at least once monthly or more often as deemed necessary for the conducting of business.
There will be a community assembly of all the active members of the local membership that shall convene annually.
Whenever possible, there are also to be community assemblies on at least a bi-weekly basis for the purpose of ceremony and prayer.
Local or community councils and or groups will meet at least monthly for business transactions and monthly for celebrations and ceremonies including but not limited to Gatiyo, potluck, and prayer circles. Each local community will have its own council. THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL is comprised of ONE representative from the Council of elders (the Council of Elders is composed of those 77 years and older and they select their representative), the elected community chief, the appointed grounds chief (appointed by the clan mothers), the fire keeper (Selected by a joint session of the Clan mothers and the Council of Elders), the fire keepers assistant (Selected by the fire keeper), a clan mother from each of the active clans if there are not a full 7 clans, or ONLY the principal clan mother (Selected by the clan mothers themselves) if there IS a full set of 7 active clans. In addition, if one has been selected and is a member of the local chapter, a GhiGua (Beloved Woman selected in keeping with the Article ## of the Handbook of the Constitutional Cherokee). The Fire keeper and assistant are to be trained by the Clan mothers.
{NOTE: In some cases, with written permission of the state chief, the council may be comprised of the members of the seven (7) traditional clans of the Cherokee with a chief selected from within any existing clans and a clan mother from within her own clan and this local council is to be led by three (3) principal officers: a groundskeeper or community chief, a principal chief and a principal clan mother. In addition, there should also be a Fire keeper and a Fire keepers assistant. The Fire keeper and Fire keepers assistant shall also be entitled to vote and serve on the local council and to attend the state convention or assembly as a full voting delegate the same as any other member of the Community Chapter Council.
All of these leaders are ex officio representatives to the State Chapter yearly assemblies. In addition, the local community group shall hold an annual assembly for the purpose of conducting business. This assembly is to be open to all active members of the local community and any active member over the age of 21 will be entitled to speak freely at the group (in accordance with protocol) and to vote on any action presented to the local community. One of the purposes of the Annual community assembly is to select representatives to attend the state convention or assembly. All duly elected and appointed local community chiefs, beloved women, and clan women are automatic delegates to the state assembly.
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We are agreed on the necessity of authority that shall complement and assist the local community groups in the fulfilling of their mission and objectives. The leadership at every level shall build morale, provide motivation, supply management and method assistance, and organize and encourage organization of prayer circles and potlucks within communities throughout the original, historic homeland.
We are agreed that authority given to state, regional or national leadership shall not interfere with the independent action of a locally organized community. Each community shall enjoy the right to select its own community chiefs, subject to such approval as the state, regional and National Councils of Constitutional Cherokee shall find wise to institute. Each community shall also elect delegates to the various regional or state chapters within which it is physically located and to the National Constitutional Cherokee Councils, each local community shall manage its own finances, and have charge of all other matters pertaining to its local life and work. All property held by deed and conveyance is to be held by the National Government.
No local or state organization may hold title or deed to any property and all owners of any property are to be named as the Constitutional Cherokee. The National Council and assemblies of the Constitutional Cherokee may not dispose of any property [i.e. land or structures] without the full approval of the local and or state chapter within which such property resides and such requests to sell, dispose of or transfer ownership of any property currently owned must be submitted to the local and state chapters in accord with local policies and procedures prior to any action regarding those properties.
A simplified sketch of our government would look like this:
Local: A community chief and a community council composed of 1 clan chief and 1 clan representative from each known clan and the groundskeeper or peace chief of the gatiyo and any beloved woman in keeping with their proper appointment under the direction of the Constitution. There will also be elected within each clan a council for that clan. There will also be selected from that community, delegates to represent the local government at the state level.
Local communities meet regularly as needed but at least 1 (one) time per month for ceremony and at least 1 time per quarter for business meetings.
Local communities are also to hold an annual business meeting at least 30 days prior to the first day of the state convention or assembly.
Local communities are encouraged to revive the seven spiritual ceremonies and practices that Cherokee historically celebrated.
It was the family unit within local communities that kept the oral history of our presence within our homeland.
We thank those families and small groups and do hereby officially recognise their efforts as heroic and we extend the gratitude of a nation to them.
Therefore we acknowledge that a local community may be recognized as existing with only a few individuals as members or a few hundred as members and that a local community is primarily recognizable by its location and proximity of members to one another.
An active voting and ceremonial community however must contain at least 21 adults and their families as this is the smallest unit that can maintain the structure required for ceremonies and political activities.
A local community may be composed of those who live in a particular geographical area, or who are descendants of Cherokees who were documented as such as a result of a specific roll or treaty. {e.g., all descendants of Nancy Ward could form their own local community, or all descendants of the Baker Roll could form their own community, or all descendants of an ancestor who was sent to Carlisle Indian School or other such institutions could form their own community; however one may not be considered an active, voting member of more than one community, but they may be, if that organizations charter allows it, recognized as an “Associate Member” of more than one local community group}
ALTHOUGH a STATE CHAPTER may NEVER restrict membership to a particular quantum, a local chapter that is based on descendants of a particular historic roll (such as old settlers or 1924 Baker) may restrict their membership to a blood quantum of 1/4 or more.
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