Assistant Chief Locust Re-elected to NCAI Board

The UnitedKeetoowah Band ofCherokee Indians inOklahoma’s AssistantChief Charles Locustwill serve the next twoyears as the NationalCongress of AmericanIndians (NCAI)Eastern Oklahoma areavice president alternate.Mr. Locust wasre-elected by acclamationby members of theEastern Oklahoma areacaucus during the 64thAnnual Convention ofthe NCAI in Denver,CO.

The NationalCongress for theAmerican Indian is thelargest organization ofAmerican Indian tribeswith over 250 tribesrepresented. Theorganization monitorsand lobbies for legislationaffecting Indiantribes across thenation. Since 1944, theNational Congress ofAmerican Indian hasbeen working toinform the public andCongress on the governmentalrights ofAmerican Indians andAlaska Natives.

Mr. Locust dutiesas NCAI EasternOklahoma area vicepresident alternate,will be working alongwith the EasternOklahoma vice presidentJoe Grayson,attending meetingswith NCAI Board ofDirectors, workingwith assigned committees,projects andissues.

Mr. Locust bringsexperience and qualificationsin performinghis duties of a NCAIboard member. In additionto serving asAssistant Chief of theUnited KeetoowahBand of CherokeeIndians in Oklahoma,he has served asEastern Oklahoma areavice president for thepast two years as wellas other tribal positions.Locust hasserved as ExecutiveDirector for TribalOperations, ExecutiveDirector for HousingAuthority, Director ofGaming, ProgramAccountant, andGaming CommissionChairman with theMiami Tribe ofOklahoma andCherokee Nation ofOklahoma and in theprivate sector asPresident of theGaming Division forRocket Gaming.Locust holds aBachelor’s degree inSocial Science, with anemphasis in BusinessAdministration and hascompleted courseworktoward a Masters’ inBusiness Administration.

The prior two yearsas Eastern Oklahomaarea vice presidentalternate, Mr. Locusthas attended quarterly,annual and mid yearNCAI executive boardmeetings. “Thesemeetings give boardmembers an overviewof what will be discussedin regards toissues that will affectthe tribes during theirannual NCAI convention.Responses to education,legal issues,court issues, IndianChild Welfare,Housing, etc.” statedLocust. “As forchanges, NCAI hasgrown to the pointwhere they are actuallymore involved inassimilating informationto the tribes,where before informationwas not reachingtribes, NCAI was justan organization. TodayNCAI is actuallyadministering workshopsand providinglegal documents fortribes.”

Mr. Locust’s goalsfor the next two yearsas Eastern Oklahomaarea vice presidentalternate are to provideawareness in regards tothe United KeetoowahBand of CherokeeIndians in Oklahoma. To ensuresmaller tribes have a voice inNCAI and throughout IndianCountry. “I think that’s onething that is lacking, the voice ofthe small tribes who are dominatedby tribes with enormousamount of resources, legally,legislatively or financially. Theycannot compete with the largertribes in those areas so they haveto seek other alternatives to supporttheir views such as NCAI.Many of the larger tribes whohave the resources feel theyhave no need for NCAI andbypass the organization. I thinkwe should keep a level playingfield for all tribes, prevent largertribes from dominating alltribes. Many times the largertribes will sign agreements withagencies without the knowledgeof smaller tribes, and in somecases have been drasticallyaffected by that decision. Thesmaller tribe doesn’t have theopportunity to see how thatdecision evolved.”

Concerns were also broughtto attention during the EasternOklahoma Area election inDenver at the NCAIConvention. The question wasbrought up as to how theDelaware Tribe was allowed tovote for the Eastern OklahomaArea vice-president. “It was myunderstanding that you had to bea state or federally recognizedtribe to vote as a tribe. At thispoint the Delaware Tribe is neither,the tribe is not state or federallyrecognized, how did theycarry 180 votes?” stated Locust.

“I received a list from NCAI atthe executive board meeting onSaturday, Nov. 17 where itshowed only four tribes paid inour district, the UnitedKeetoowah Band of CherokeeIndians in Oklahoma,Choctaws, Chickasaws andCherokee Nation. The DelawareTribe attended the EasternOklahoma election meeting andthe Eastern Region Chairmanfrom Cherokee Nation allowedthe Delaware Tribe to vote. Istated that the Delaware Tribeshouldn’t be allowed to vote andasked for a protest, no actionwas taken by the EasternOklahoma committee so theUnited Keetoowah Band hasdecided to write an official letterto the Executive Boardannouncing our protest.”

Another concern was thetiming and change of date forthe Eastern Oklahoma Areaelection. Questions werebrought up as to why the changeof date for the election. It wasfelt that one tribe was trying todominate the election. Becauseof the change other tribes maynot have had the opportunity toproperly register their credentialsfor the voting process orhave the time or resources toreschedule their attendance atthe NCAI convention causingsome tribes to miss the election.

“In the future, meetings shouldhave a quorum before decisionssuch as these types of changesare made! This just demonstrateshow the smaller tribescan be dominated, whenallowed too,” stated Locust.