SPOKESPERSON MESSAGE: March 2023 Newsletter
Osiyo nigad! (hello, everyone!)
It was wonderful seeing so many Cherokee friends, neighbors, and relations last month at our in-person meeting and potluck in West Sacramento. Lots of new faces, lots of old friends. I hope to see our turnout continue to grow!
If you missed our last membership meeting, be sure to check out the photos from the event!
And even if you did miss us last month, there’s another opportunity to be in community with fellow Cherokees at next month’s Chief’s Annual Visit and Picnic organized by Cherokee Nation Community & Cultural Outreach. This year it’s returning to Rush Ranch where it’s been in the past! Cherokee Nation Registration will be traveling with the Chief this year to process applications for photo IDs. I know many of you asked about that last year, and I’m pleased that Registration is back for this year’s picnic!
Stay tuned for more details about picnic programming and food, but in the meantime we’ve teamed up with Cherokee Nation and the Cherokee Society of the Greater Bay Area to help organize volunteers, and we need your help! If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up to volunteer during the picnic!
The Cherokee Nation also has an election coming up this spring. The deadline to submit a voter registration form is March 31, and the deadline to submit an absentee ballot request form—required for all at-large voters—is April 10. You can find all relevant forms, dates, and deadlines on the Cherokee Nation Election Commission website. Andrea Hilderbrand, sister to council member Jessica Hilderbrand, is a notary public and has generously offered notary services related to the election to community members. Please contact her through her Jessica at jesshild@gmail.com. Wado, Andrea!
In this month’s newsletter, Mike Webb writes about how Tuolumne Band of Cherokee Indians, a community organization supporting Cherokee people in the Sonora area, has winded down. The TBCI have generously donated their community library to our organization. Mike has also included an obituary for Devearl (Dee) Stanphill, a Cherokee Nation citizen and community leader for TBCI.
Lastly I wanted to let the community know that I will be stepping down as Spokesperson this summer. I have accepted a position as assistant professor in the English department at the University of Washington, Seattle starting this coming fall. It’s been a wonderful 5 plus years serving on the council, and I consider so many of you family. You bet I’m going to display the award pictured above proudly in my new office.
That’s it for now. We hope to see everyone at the picnic next month!
—Jonathan Radocay
