Expelling Mixed-Race Black Indians from Indian Tribes.

I read the following Letter to the Editor of the “Indian Country Today” Newspaper, which appeared in the October 25, 2006 edition. I decided to share this letter with my visitors.

This is very interesting because if this practice should spread into other tribes that are only State recognized, especially the ones in the State of North Carolina, they will lose most, if not all, of their elected officials and a very large percentage of their General Enrollment. Free born African Blacks, African Slaves, Mulattos, and indentured Whites shared a social environment with Native American Indians for many years in our History and this has resulted in many of the racial mixes that exist today in American Indian Tribes. 

We will have to wait and see how this interesting development unfolds.  

The Meherrin Indian Tribe leadership held an election on June 10, 2006. The leadership and election committee finally decided that three members should be elected to the tribal council. This was after a series of indecisive announcements on its Web site. Prior to the election, those involved, couldn’t agree on the number to be elected to the council. This was a clear indication and confirmation of the poor management and inept leadership within the tribe.

This said, the tribe showed some improvement in selecting Patrick Riddick and Aaron Winston to the council and not reelecting Douglas Patterson.. However, the reelection of Ernest Poole strongly suggests that the tribe is still not ready for true progress and honest leadership. To reelect this irresponsible and incompetent member back to the council is a major disappointment and mistake. Whether the council can absorb this error and move on to some level of improvement and progress, is yet to be seen.   

THE MEHERRIN INDIAN TRIBE CAN’T DECIDE HOW MANY VACANCIES THEY HAVE ON ITS TRIBAL COUNCIL !!!!!

The Meherrin leadership initially declared there were two vacant seats on the council for election in 2006. Then it was brought to their attention that according to the tribe’s Bylaws, there should be three vacancies up for election, since Douglas Patterson was elected to the council in 2003 to complete the term of Paige Archer, who resigned. There were three years left on Paige’s term to serve on the council and therefore, the seat would be up again for reelection in 2006. This means that three vacancies should be filled in 2006, NOT TWO.

The Meherrin Leadership then changed its mind and posted an announcement to the Meherrin Tribe website that three vacancies would be filled on the council at the June, 2006 General Body meeting and listed the nominated candidates as Ernest Poole, Doug (Douglas) Patterson, Pat Riddick and Aaron Winston. See the post to my web site…www.justsonny.com. It’s on the Longhouse page and dated June 5, 2006.

Apparently the Tribe’s Leadership read my comment, changed its mind again, and decided to keep Doug Patterson on the council and only fill two positions. This announcement was posted to their web site on Thursday, June 8, 2006, as a correction, only two days before the election. Did they feel that Doug Patterson may not be reelected?? Now they only list Ernest Poole, Pat Riddick and Aaron Winston as candidates to fill two council vacancies. What a “YO YO” tribal leadership!!! Remember, this is a 501c3 non-profit corporation!!!

This continues to reveal how inadequate and dishonest the Meherrin Tribe leadership is and how it will ignore the tribe’s Bylaws to achieve its flawed objectives. The Tribe desperately needs a leadership overhaul and needs to replace Denyce Hall in the office.  

The MEHERRIN INDIAN TRIBE general membership will vote to seat three members on the Tribal Council at the June 10, 2006 General Body meeting, according to the Announcement page of the tribe’s Web site. Four tribal members, Ernest Poole, Doug Patterson, Pat Riddick and Aaron Winston were nominated at the May General Body meeting to compete for the three vacant seats. It would be interesting to know how many tribal members were present at the May meeting when these nominations were made. This is particularly important, because I understand there were not enough members present at the April, 2006 meeting to make these nominations for the Tribal Council vacant seats, when it should have been done. This nomination process occurred in violation of the Tribal Bylaws, since Article VIII, Section 5 of the Bylaws states that “Elections for all vacant offices shall be held in May”. It cannot be overemphasized that the Tribal Bylaws should not be suspended to allow changes in the election proceedings. Mismanagement and interest in the affairs of the Meherrin Tribe appear to decline on a daily basis.

Since this tribe is a non-profit 501c3 corporation, with a history of receiving Federal and State funds, tribal members and non-member tax paying citizens should exercise an interest in the quality of this tribe’s leaders and the process by which they are chosen. It is in keeping with this belief that I have chosen to make the following observations and comments about the nominations indicated above.

First of all, I believe that organizational rules should be observed and followed, not ignored or suspended, as is done within the Meherrin Tribe much too often. Nominations for the three vacant Tribal Council seats should have been announced and made prior to May 2006 and elections should have been conducted in May 2006 in accordance with the Tribe’s Bylaws. Current nominee résumé’s should have been submitted and made available to voting members prior to the election so that qualifications could be assessed. I believe this is a requirement in the operational procedures of the Elections Standing committee, if the document can be found in the tribal office. To my knowledge, this hasn’t been done. Members need to know who they are voting into office and what their records are. Too many council members have been “arranged” to be elected, in order to support a pre established agenda created by the office staff, the tribal chief and other council members. When will a sufficient number of tribal voting members become aware of this fact?

Having said this, let us look at the four candidates for a moment. All four, in my opinion, support the agenda of Denyce Hall and Thomas Lewis which should carry an important message to the membership.

                             Ernest Poole….He has served two unproductive terms on the Council and is completing one year as its Chairman. He is well known for his incompetence and frequent arrogance in dealing with tribal issues. He is Ignorant of the tribe’s Bylaws and rules of the Enrollment Standing Committee, which he chairs, (if he hasn’t been replaced). He has no respect for the rules that he is aware of, and has consistently followed the instructions given by Denyce Hall and Thomas Lewis, incompetents in their own right. Ernest Poole is a follower, not a leader, and has no original ideas for improving the tribe. Is he qualified to serve in a leadership position for the next four years?? NO!!!  Where is his résumé’??

                             Douglas Patterson…. He was nominated for a council seat in 2001 and 2002 but wasn’t elected because no one but Denyce Hall and a few others knew of him. He was finally elected to the council in May 2003 to serve the incomplete term of Paige Archer, who resigned from the council. An old résumé’ of his was read to the voting members by Denyce Hall. He admitted,at a subsequent General Body meeting which I attended, to have received money on three occasions for genealogical research connected with the Meherrin petition for Federal Recognition .To my knowledge, he is not a trained or certified Genealogist. The amount of money he received wasn't revealed nor the details of his research. He was recently named to represent the Meherrin tribe on the NC Commission on Indian Affairs, which wasn’t announced to Tribal members and may have been in violation of the Tribal Bylaws. A certain tribal member may have been directly involved with his selection. He has lived outside of the 150 mile radius Bylaws requirement for elected office for at least the last two years and this has been overlooked and accepted by the tribal leaders. His résumé’ that was submitted by the tribel in 2002 for an ANA Federal grant revealed that his employment, up to that date, consisted of short periods with several law enforcement departments, mostly in NC . His poor attendance at tribal meetings in past years suggest to me a lack of interest in the   forward progress of this 501c3 non-profit organization. Is this the type of person needed to lead the Meherrin tribe?? I think there are far better qualified people available. Why aren’t they recruited to serve??  

                             Patrick Riddick….Pat has been around a long time but hasn’t shown much interest in the affairs of the tribe. He is a former tribal chief whose term ended in 1986 when he relocated from the tribal area. I am not knowledgeable of any accomplishments that can be attributed to his leadership during his term as tribal chief. He represented the Meherrin tribe for many years on the NC Commission on Indian Affairs, but I know of no benefits derived by the tribe from his representation. I do know that he is a loyal and dedicated supporter of Denyce Hall, who is an office staff member, and Thomas Lewis, the tribal chief. Therefore, one can expect him to support their seemingly failing ideas and policies. I hope that I am wrong, but if he is chosen, I don’t believe he will propose and support the changes that are so badly needed to restore this tribe to a path of honesty and progress. I regard this candidate as a follower and not one having the potential or interest to move this organization forward. Should he be elected to the council?? In my opinion, he is more qualified, more honest, and more ethical than the two candidates previously mentioned.

                               Aaron Winston….This tribal member is pretty much an unknown quantity. He has been a member of the tribe for a long time, but only very recently came forward to become involved in tribal issues and matters. I am told he is a cousin to Denyce Hall and supports her actions and ideas. This is scary and is not what the tribe needs for healthy progress. Denyce Hall attends most council meetings and will try and use Aaron to advance her unproductive and unhealthy issues and flawed ideas. For this reason he may not be the desired and needed council member because new leaders are needed to change the direction in which this tribe is moving to ensure a path for progress. The tribe needs leaders with new ideas, honesty, ethical behavior, and who possess the desire to promote issues in the best interest of the Tribe and its members. Does Aaron fit this mold?? He may, if he detaches himself from Denyce Hall and Thomas Lewis. He is a better bet than either Ernest Poole or Doug Patterson, but still “a long shot” to become the effective leader that the council so badly needs. Where is his résumé’??

Finally, my questions are….What has the Standing Election Committee been doing?? This committee is directed by the Bylaws to conduct and ensure a legal and fair election. Why wasn’t there a timelier and better prepared election for year 2006?? Why wasn’t there a better selection of candidates for the council seats?? Why weren’t there more timely announcements of the election on the Tribe’s web site? Why weren’t members, who don’t have computer access, sent letters about the election? Will the absentee ballot procedure be followed, as per the Bylaws, this year?? This procedure was a fiasco in the elections last year. Members, who didn’t request absentee ballots, received them and those that requested them, did not. Why, Why, Why??? On election day last year, the Election committee had to be reminded of the amendment to the Bylaws requiring the count of absentee ballots on election day. Will the election be legal and fair this year?? My suggestion is to replace the members of the Election committee and make sure Denyce doesn’t dip her fingers into the process!!!       

At the April 2004 General Body meeting, after a series of treacherous events were observed including the inaccurate recording of the February 2004 General Body meeting minutes by Dorothy Lee, a discussion followed about valid membership cards for voting. Thomas Lewis announced that the “old membership “cards were invalid and those members with these cards couldn’t vote in tribal business matters. This was to prevent their voting in the tribal elections scheduled for the next month. That assertion wasn’t true because at the 1996 General Body meeting, a motion was adopted to accept all membership cards issued, new and old, as valid cards. But Thomas Lewis couldn’t remember that far back, because he has memory problems.

However, Wayne Brown, a council member, made a motion to delay all elections until the membership question was resolved and to have Thomas Lewis, Chairman of the Council, serve as Acting Tribal Chief, since the election for Chief was scheduled for the following month, May 2004, as required by the Bylaws. The motion was adopted.

Thomas saw this as a golden opportunity to be a Chief, even an Acting Chief, so before any member could remind the group that the action was in violation of the Bylaws, he made a motion to adjourn the meeting before the remainder of the scheduled agenda could be discussed. The motion was passed and Thomas Lewis became Acting Chief of the tribe in May 2004 after the term of Chief Calvin Hall expired. Thomas Lewis is a very self serving person.

YOU GUESSED IT, a whole year passed before the members involved were given new cards and the election for Chief was delayed until May 2005. This was a continuous breach of the Bylaws, but this tribe and Thomas Lewis have had lots of experience violating the tribal Bylaws.

The Chief, the tribal council and the general membership of the Meherrin tribe must take note and remember that the tribal Bylaws cannot be rescinded, but only amended as indicated in “Roberts Rules of Order”, the parliamentary authority for the tribe, as provided in the Meherrin Constitution and Bylaws.

This brings us up to the Elections which occurred in May 2005. This will be my next written comment from the Longhouse.    

Having briefly discussed the misuse of funds associated with a previous federal grant, I must give some attention to the present grant of Federal tax money received by the Meherrin Indian Tribe. May I mention again that the Meherrin Tribe is a 501C3 non-profit State recognized, incorporated tribe. It has a Constitution and Bylaws which has frequently been violated in the past and present by ineffective leaders.

Now having said this, the Tribe received an annual grant, for a period of three years in December of 2003 from the Migrant Benevolent Association, another non-profit organization located in Newton Grove, NC .This non-profit had received a federal grant of about $200,000 per year, for three years, from the Federal HHS Administration to provide and support a program called the” Rural Health Outreach Project”. The Meherrin tribe is one of six Indian tribes in eastern NC receiving this grant money from the non-profit listed above, for participation in the Rural Health Outreach Project. The primary focus is to collect health data on members of the tribes and to identify members in each of these tribes in the eastern areas of NC that have health problems, and then help these people receive the care that they can’t financially afford. This is a worthy idea but in the case of the Meherrin Tribe, there aren’t many members in NC that have this need and those that do have, are not being served by the Rural Health Outreach Worker hired, on a part time salary, by the Meherrin Indian Tribe, using the grant money.

Let’s talk about the money received by the Meherrin tribe through the grant from the non-Profit Migrant Benevolent Association. The Tribe receives $21,700 per year for three years. The Rural Health Outreach Worker, Denyce Hall, a member of the tribe who always seems to get the salary jobs in the Meherrin tribe, receives an annual salary of $15,000 per year for 30 hours of part time work per week. She also receives a cell phone, a Laptop computer and can access annually the remaining $6,700.00 for expenses, travel etc.

The main problem with this grant money, according to my sources, is that the few members in the tribe that need health care help aren’t getting it. I am told that Denyce Hall is either working in the Tribal office with other activities or on the road traveling away from the Tribal area. How does she collect the health data that is provided to the University of NC at Pembroke data bank for the project? I am told that members aren’t aware of any surveys conducted to acquire the information. Have there been any reports to the General Body on this data collection? Could it be bogus data being reported? I have been told by the project coordinator, Dethula Barron-Hall of the Migrant Benevolent Association, that health data on members of the tribe have been provided to the data bank by Denyce. Does each tribal member whose health data was provided to the data bank, know how it was acquired and if it is correct data? What percentage of the Meherrin tribal population was involved in the data collection? Did the collector of the data comply with the Privacy Act ?? These are some of the questions that might be directed to Denyce Hall, the Rural Health Outreach Worker, that is paid to meet the requirements for health data collection within the Meherrin tribe.

The Meherrin tribe is in the second year of the project. Did the General Body receive a report from Denyce on her achievements during the first year of the project and how the extra $6,700.00 for expenses was spent during that year? You might also ask why she hasn’t identified and provided some assistance to the tribal members that can’t afford to purchase the insulin they need for their diabetes. I know of at least one. Isn’t this part of her job description as the Rural Health Outreach Worker?

My sources also indicate that records for the $6,700.00 expense money, for travel etc, received by the Meherrin tribe will be maintained by and the responsibility of the tribe. These records are not required to be provided to the Grantor (Migrant benevolent Association) unless the Grantor is audited. Do tribal members know that additional expense money can be requested from the Migrant Benevolent Association if the Meherrin tribe and Rural Health Project Worker, Denyce Hall, can justify it?? Was there any additional expense money requested and received?? Someone should ask this question.

Finally, Thomas A. Lewis, Chairman of the council at the time, said at the January 2004 General Body meeting that a special bank account would be established for the project grant money and that he and Earnest Poole, another council member, would be named on the account. This was a violation of the tribal Bylaws since the Bylaws require that all funds received by the tribe, are to be placed in the General account of the tribe. But this was just one of the many Bylaws violations that have occurred and probably still occurring. When will the members of the tribe” wake up” and challenge these actions??

 You may wish to believe that some personal benefits are being derived from these special Bank Accounts. Are the Bank statements available to tribal members on request?

Why not ask???  

The Big OOP’s

The U.S. Congress is reported to be considering cutting some federal retirement benefits in order to meet the cost of paying for the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I support this effort providing the government researches to identify other areas where Federal grant money has been and still is mismanaged and misused by some non-profit organizations.

One case in point involves the Meherrin Indian Tribe located in Winton, NC. This Tribe has received over $ 700,000 since 1989 in federal SEDS annual grants from the Administration for Native Americans (ANA), a division of the Federal Health and Human Services Administration, for the purpose of preparing a petition to submit to the BIA for Federal Recognition. The group identified by the BIA, as petitioner 119A, has not yet produced a completed document, after all of these years and money, for submission to the BIA. What was the money spent on and was it effectively used?? This is the big question. I submit that much of it was mismanaged and didn’t support the effort for which it was intended. Some answers should be provided.

I have been told that since 1998 and until the annual grant was discontinued in 2003, the tribe received nearly $400,000 in federal grant funds. I was informed that a Ledger was maintained for the account with recorded receipts and disbursements, by Gloria Long and Denyce Hall, the secretary and the tribal ANA grant Director, respectively, but it never was available to Tribal members that requested to see it. There were always excuses. Only a few members of the Tribal Council had access. Why was the General membership denied? Were there hidden disbursements? There is no doubt that a substantial amount of the money received was not effectively directed toward the petition preparation. Perhaps the Inspector General Office of the HHS Administration might be interested in investigating the use of all that Federal Tax money with the hope of recovering some of it for the Hurricane relief effort. More will be revealed on this subject in a future comment.

Incidentally, Calvin Hall served as tribal Chief and Thomas A. Lewis was Chairman of the tribal Council during the period that Denyce Hall , as the project director, was budgeting and spending all of this grant money.

Douglas A. Patterson has been appointed to the NC Commission on Indian Affairs as the representative from the Meherrin Indian Tribe. His present appointment expires in June, 2008. He replaces Patrick Riddick.

Was this appointment in accordance with Article XIV of the Meherrin Tribe Bylaws??  It would be interesting to know what appointment procedures were involved.

Why was Patrick replaced as the Meherrin representative to the Commission. Did he resign?? Did his appointment expire?? Who decided that this change was needed for the tribe?? This was a very interesting development and change in tribal representation.

Incidentally, I am told that Douglas A. Patterson has never lived in the Meherrin Indian tribal community area. Can a member of the Meherrin Indian tribe confirm this? If he has lived in the Meherrin tribal area in the past, then I apologize for this reference to his residence and will remove it from this web site.    

A Meherrin tribal election was finally held on May 14, 2005 at the tribal grounds. This ended a continuous breach of the tribal Bylaws for the office of Chief that had existed for one whole year.

Absentee ballots were used again after not having been permitted, by the election committee, during at least the previous three elections. Absentee ballots are permitted by the Bylaws and the Elections committee. This Standing committee chaired by Dorothy Melton, a council member, is responsible for ensuring a fair and honest election including the use and processing of absentee ballots. Did this occur!!!! I think NOT.

First of all, there wasn’t sufficient notice given to the General membership about the permission of these ballots. To my knowledge, there wasn’t any official notification, (email, letter, “Muddy Water Review’ flyer, etc) sent to members living outside of the immediate area announcing the use of absentee ballots. A reminder describing the use and requirements of this type of ballot wasn’t provided to all eligible voters. In a “nutshell”, I believe the intent for using these ballots was to ensure that only a selected number of voters loyal to the Election committee, the council members and the acting Chief (Thomas Lewis) would use the absentee ballots. This is known as controlling the ballot box to make sure selected candidates win the election.

To further advance this intent, I am told that amendment III to Article VIII Section 4 of the Bylaws was completely ignored by the Election committee. This required that absentee ballots must arrive in the tribal office by the Friday prior to the election and counted with the results revealed on election day. This procedure would allow winners in the election to be announced on election day. By ignoring this amendment, the Election committee could allow ten more days to receive absentee ballots from their selected tribal members and determine the winners after election day. However, an alert member attending the election, advised the Election committee chairperson, Dorothy Melton, of this monstrous error and the ballots were counted and election winners were announced. What can the Tribe learn from this spectacle? Replace the members on the Standing Election Committee with competent, honest and knowledgeable tribal members. I wonder if the other ballots were counted correctly, given the manner in which the absentee ballots were processed and used. This is another example of flawed tribal operational procedures. Do you think that these officials  are dishonest or just “lacking between the ears”????

Incidentally, One tribal member admitted to have received an absentee ballot without having ask for one. I wonder how many others were selected to be honored????

Who were the winners in the May election? Thomas Nelson Lewis (he likes to call himself two feathers) was elected Chief. Would you be surprised to know that he wasn’t challenged? He planned this all along with his deceitful and dishonest ways.

Dorothy Lee was reelected to the council. God help the council and the Grievance committee that she chairs. She is one of the most dishonest, conspiring, incompetent, immoral and self serving people that I know.

Janet Lewis Chavis, Thomas N. Lewis’ sister, was elected to the council to replace Thomas Lewis, who becomes tribal Chief. I guess he needs another direct channel to the council. She may impart some intelligence to him.

John Cordell was elected to the council. John is a new comer and will be evaluated as he serves the tribe. I think he will be quickly indoctrinated and fall in line to support Thomas’ and Denyce” views and very questionable behavior.

Having briefly discussed the misuse of funds associated with a previous federal grant, I must give some attention to the present grant of Federal tax money received by the Meherrin Indian Tribe. May I mention again that the Meherrin Tribe is a 501C3 non-profit State recognized, incorporated tribe. It has a Constitution and Bylaws which has frequently been violated in the past and present by ineffective leaders.

Now having said this, the Tribe received an annual grant, for a period of three years in December of 2003 from the Migrant Benevolent Association, another non-profit organization located in Newton Grove, NC .This non-profit had received a federal grant of about $200,000 per year, for three years, from the Federal HHS Administration to provide and support a program called the” Rural Health Outreach Project”. The Meherrin tribe is one of six Indian tribes in eastern NC receiving this grant money from the non-profit listed above, for participation in the Rural Health Outreach Project. The primary focus is to collect health data on members of the tribes and to identify members in each of these tribes in the eastern areas of NC that have health problems, and then help these people receive the care that they can’t financially afford. This is a worthy idea but in the case of the Meherrin Tribe, there aren’t many members in NC that have this need and those that do have, are not being served by the Rural Health Outreach Worker hired, on a part time salary, by the Meherrin Indian Tribe, using the grant money.

Let’s talk about the money received by the Meherrin tribe through the grant from the non-Profit Migrant Benevolent Association. The Tribe receives $21,700 per year for three years. The Rural Health Outreach Worker, Denyce Hall, a member of the tribe who always seems to get the salary jobs in the Meherrin tribe, receives an annual salary of $15,000 per year for 30 hours of part time work per week. She also receives a cell phone, a Laptop computer and can access annually the remaining $6,700.00 for expenses, travel etc.

The main problem with this grant money, according to my sources, is that the few members in the tribe that need health care help aren’t getting it. I am told that Denyce Hall is either working in the Tribal office with other activities or on the road traveling away from the Tribal area. How does she collect the health data that is provided to the University of NC at Pembroke data bank for the project? I am told that members aren’t aware of any surveys conducted to acquire the information. Have there been any reports to the General Body on this data collection? Could it be bogus data being reported? I have been told by the project coordinator, Dethula Barron-Hall of the Migrant Benevolent Association, that health data on members of the tribe have been provided to the data bank by Denyce. Does each tribal member whose health data was provided to the data bank, know how it was acquired and if it is correct data? What percentage of the Meherrin tribal population was involved in the data collection? Did the collector of the data comply with the Privacy Act ?? These are some of the questions that might be directed to Denyce Hall, the Rural Health Outreach Worker, that is paid to meet the requirements for health data collection within the Meherrin tribe.

The Meherrin tribe is in the second year of the project. Did the General Body receive a report from Denyce on her achievements during the first year of the project and how the extra $6,700.00 for expenses was spent during that year? You might also ask why she hasn’t identified and provided some assistance to the tribal members that can’t afford to purchase the insulin they need for their diabetes. I know of at least one. Isn’t this part of her job description as the Rural Health Outreach Worker?

My sources also indicate that records for the $6,700.00 expense money, for travel etc, received by the Meherrin tribe will be maintained by and the responsibility of the tribe. These records are not required to be provided to the Grantor (Migrant benevolent Association) unless the Grantor is audited. Do tribal members know that additional expense money can be requested from the Migrant Benevolent Association if the Meherrin tribe and Rural Health Project Worker, Denyce Hall, can justify it?? Was there any additional expense money requested and received?? Someone should ask this question.

Finally, Thomas A. Lewis, Chairman of the council at the time, said at the January 2004 General Body meeting that a special bank account would be established for the project grant money and that he and Earnest Poole, another council member, would be named on the account. This was a violation of the tribal Bylaws since the Bylaws require that all funds received by the tribe, are to be placed in the General account of the tribe. But this was just one of the many Bylaws violations that have occurred and probably still occurring. When will the members of the tribe” wake up” and challenge these actions??

 You may wish to believe that some personal benefits are being derived from these special Bank Accounts. Are the Bank statements available to tribal members on request?

Why not ask???  

The U.S. Congress is reported to be considering cutting some federal retirement benefits in order to meet the cost of paying for the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I support this effort providing the government researches to identify other areas where Federal grant money has been and still is mismanaged and misused by some non-profit organizations.

One case in point involves the Meherrin Indian Tribe located in Winton, NC. This Tribe has received over $ 700,000 since 1989  in federal SEDS annual grants from the Administration for Native Americans (ANA), a division of the Health and Human Services Administration, for the purpose of preparing a petition to submit to the BIA for Federal Recognition. The group identified by the BIA as petitioner 119A as yet to produce and submit this document. What was all of the money spent on and was it effectively used?? This is the big question. I submit that much of it was mismanaged and didn’t support the effort for which it was intended.

I have been told that since 1998 and until the annual grant was discontinued in 2003, the tribe received near $400,000 in federal grant funds. I was informed a Ledger was maintained for the account with recorded receipts and disbursements, by Gloria Long and Denyce Hall, the secretary and the tribal ANA grant Director, respectively, but it never was available to Tribal members that requested to see it. There were always excuses. Only a few members of the Tribal Council had access. Why was the General membership denied? Were there hidden disbursements? There is no doubt that a substantial amount of the money received was not effectively directed toward the petition preparation. Perhaps the Inspector General Office of the HHS Administration might be interested in investigating the use of all that Federal Tax money with the hope of recovering some of it for the Hurricane relief effort. More will be revealed on this subject in a future comment.

Now, having briefly discussed the misuse of funds associated with a previous federal grant, I must give some attention to the present grant of Federal money received by this same Tribe. May I mention that the Meherrin Tribe is a 501C3 non-profit State recognized  Incorporated tribe. It has a Constitution and Bylaws which has frequently been violated in the past and present by ineffective leaders.

Now having said this, the Tribe received an annual grant, for a period of three years,to support in December of 2003 from the Migrant Benevolent Association, another non-profit organization located in                 NC .This non-profit had received a federal grant of about $200,000 per year, for three years, from the HHS Administration to provide and support a program  called the” Rural Health Outreach Project”. Six Indian Tribes in eastern NC are involved and the primary focus is to collect health data on members of the tribes and to identify members of the tribes in eastern and north eastern areas of NC that have health problems and to help these people receive the care that they can’t financially afford . This is a worthy idea but in the case of the Meherrin Tribe, there aren’t many members in NC that have this need and those that do are not being served by the Rural Health Worker assigned, on a part time salary, to the Meherrin Indian Tribe.

Let’s talk about the federal tax money received by the Meherrin tribe through the grant from the non-Profit Migrant Benevolent Association. The Tribe receives $21,700 per year for three years. The Rural Health Worker, Denyce Hall, a member of the tribe who always seems to get the salary jobs in the Meherrin tribe, receives an annual salary of $15,000 per year for 30 hours of part time work per week. She also receives a cell phone, a Lap top computer and can access the remaining $6,700.00 for expenses, travel etc.

The main problem with this grant money, according to my sources, is that the few members in the tribe that need health help aren’t getting it. I am told that Denyce Hall is either working in the Tribal office with other activities or on the road traveling away from the Tribal area. How does she collect the health data that is provided to the University of NC data bank for the project? I am told that members aren’t aware of any surveys conducted to acquire the information. Have there been any reports to the General Body on this data collection? Could it be bogus data being reported. I have been told by the project coordinator, Dethula barron-Hall, that health data on members of the tribe has been provided to the data bank by Denyce. WHAT MEMBER’S health data and how was it acquired and is it correct data? These are questions that Denyce should be asked by members of the tribe.

The Meherrin tribe is in the second year of the project. Did the General Body receive a report from Denyce on her achievements during the first year of the project and how the extra $6,700.00 for expenses was spent during that year? You might also ask why she hasn’t identified the Tribal members that can’t afford to purchase the insulin they need for their diabetes. Isn’t this part of her job description as the Rural Health Outreach Worker?

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The members of the Meherrin tribe should be concerned about the conflict of interest and excessive influence upon the Standing Committees by the Tribal Council because the Standing committees are presently chaired by members of the council. For the last three years the four Standing committees have had council members as chairpersons and the business of each committee appears to have been directed or influenced by the council. With this kind of structure, the committees can’t function and make decisions as an independent group as intended by the Constitution and Bylaws of 1996.

The Constitution and Bylaws adopted in 1996 specifically provided that the chief and Tribal Council members were not allowed to serve on Standing and special committees. But the Council members, seeking more power and influence, initiated and supported an amendment to the Bylaws which was adopted permitting the Council members to serve on Standing and Special committees AS NEEDED. After this action, the Council members invaded the committees and eventually became chairpersons of all four of the Standing committees and even most of the important Special committees.

The Tribal council will present the argument that they” were needed” on the committees because of the lack of interest from other tribal members. But this was only an excuse to take over the committees, in order to enhance and secure their power and influence in tribal matters. By controlling the committees and the majority in attendance at General Body meetings, the tribal Council became a Dictatorship. It proceeded to eliminate all democratic ideas, views, and functions through violations of the Bylaws, improper business decisions, arranging the inaccurate recording of General Body minutes, challenging the validity of tribal membership cards, suspending members without due cause and authority, abusing the chairperson position of Standing committees and other actions which were not in the best interest of the tribe.

Let me give an example of an improper and illegal action of the Council (Thomas A. Lewis was council chairman) when the power of the Tribal Council is challenged. At the General Body meeting in February 2004, a motion was made, seconded and adopted to immediately replace all Council members on the four Standing Committees. This action was in accordance with the Bylaws and amendments thereto. There were enough volunteers present from the general membership to replace the council members. The action was completed. The tribal Chief , with authority given by an adopted motion, appointed a member of each Standing committee to serve temporarily as committee chair and arrange a committee meeting to elect a permanent chairperson as required by the Bylaws. This was necessary because the four committees were chaired by the Council members that were replaced. Council member, Dorothy Lee, recorded the minutes of the meeting.

Guess what happened after this legal challenge to Council power. The member that made the motion to replace the Council members on Standing committees was sent a letter signed by Thomas Lewis (Council chairman) suspending that member on ridiculous and unfounded charges. He nor the Council has the authority within the Tribal Constitution and Bylaws to take such an action. This was followed by the cancellation of the next month (March) General Body meeting. This is a known tactic that is used with the hope that members will forget the events of the previous General Body meeting. This also provides time to change the recorded events of the previous meeting to suit their needs. Inaccurate recording of the events of a meeting is well known and frequently discussed among members of the tribe. This will be a later topic. Now what did they do next??

At the next General Body meeting (April 2004) the tribal Chief, the chairman of the meeting, departed from the scheduled agenda and proceeded directly to committee reports, skipping over the reading of the previous meeting minutes. This was another tactic used when the minutes have been inaccurately recorded or changed. This was attempted because the member that made the motion to replace the council members on Standing committees and was illegally suspended from tribal activities, was present at the meeting and they didn’t want this member to be aware of how the recorded events of the meeting had been changed. A point of order was raised and the minutes of the February meeting were reluctantly read for changes and approval. Guess what?? Anyone attending the February meeting knew that severe changes had been made to what should have been recorded. Discussion followed and mass confusion developed among many members.

The next step was to disqualify the member that seconded the motion at the February meeting to replace council members on the Standing committees. A council member, Dorothy Lee, and a former Council member, Andrew Hunter, read some federal document, that I’m told, was provided by Denyce Hall, which indicated that a tribal member can’t belong to two groups. The intent was to disqualify the member, indicated above, from voting in tribal business events and thereby voiding the motion she had seconded to remove Council members from the Standing committees. The sad thing about this effort is that the federal document didn’t apply to the Tribe because it hasn’t petitioned the BIA for federal recognition . The effort reveals just how far the Council will cheat and lie to retain their power positions. The minutes of the February meeting were finally tabled without approval action. I’m sure the minutes died on the table. Several of the Council members screamed out that all business done at the February meeting was null and void. They wanted to keep their committee chairperson positions. This illustrates how far the Council will go to protect its power and individual self serving interest.

More comments on issues such as this will appear periodically on this site.      

Meherrin Indian Tribe Resignation.

I was a member of the Meherrin Indian Tribe from the late 1980s to March of 2005. I chose to resign my membership because of the corrupt and dishonest leadership. This leadership included the tribal Chief, the Tribal council and an employee (also a tribal member) that was permitted to run the Tribal office and establish levels of operational policy without proper supervision and accountability. The power struggle and personal benefit desires among these three elements prevented, in my opinion, the advancement of the Tribe.

There was little,if any, hope of correcting this unfortunate situation because it had existed for several years and only the Tribal General Body, within the provisions of the Tribal Constitution and Bylaws, could take action to remove elected officials. Since the Tribal Council controlled the General Body meetings by having their supporters almost always in the majority when business matters were discussed and acted upon, it has been and still is, virtually impossible to remove or replace undesirable, inefficient and dishonest officials. This also applies to business and policy decisions and general elections as well.

The Meherrin Indian Tribe is a non-profit 501c3 Corporation located in Winton, NC and has been the recipient of Federal funds since 1989. By virtue of this status, it’s my understanding that the tribal business matters are open to public scrutiny. I will be discussing what I view ,as problem areas within this Tribe, in future articles on this site. Hopefully, those members who aren’t aware of the problems and the apparent deceit involved, will be reached and will” wake up”, organize and participate for the GOOD OF THE TRIBE.

My letter of resignation is included below.

February 17, 2005

Meherrin Indian Tribe, INC.

P.O.Box 508

Winton, NC   27986

 Attn: The General Body and Tribal Council

I am resigning my membership in the Meherrin Indian Tribe, INC effective with the date of this letter. Please remove me from the Tribal Roll.

This action is necessary because I find it impossible to continue a relationship with an organization whose leadership (Tribal Council, Acting Chief and Chairpersons of the Standing Committees) is so flawed , self serving and ineffective that I can’t vision any healthy progress for the organization in the foreseeable future. If I thought , for a moment, that my efforts and that of a few others could contribute to the correction of the many problems that presently exist with this non profit 501c3 Tribe , I would reconsider this decision. But I am convinced that this is impossible with  the present leadership and its likely continuance.

I am hoping , that in time, the membership of this Tribe/Corporation will be motivated to choose leaders who are honest , trustworthy, ethical, not self serving and who have the interest and welfare of the Meherrin people in mind. The Tribe cannot survive unless there is greater participation by its members. It cannot survive unless the members make a concerted effort to identify problems and take action in General Body meetings and through the Election process to correct them. The old saying “when you have bad apples in the basket you must remove them” still holds true. The tribe has “bad apples” in its leadership and among those employed in the past and at the present time. If the members wish for healthy progress and survival of the Tribe then there is but one option, GET BUSY AND IDENTIFY THE CURRENT INTERNAL PROBLEMS AND INCREASE  YOUR PARTICIPATION AND VOTING POWER so that you , as a concerned family, can successfully rid yourselves of the “chains that bind you”. Remember that the THREE MINUTE RULE for expressing a member’s view on issues brought to the floor at  General Body meetings, the discontinuance of the monthly communication letter (Muddy Water Review) , the reduction of the number of General Body meetings( a violation of the Bylaws) are all designed  to decrease member participation in Tribal affairs. Tribal members must recognize these tactics and take voting action to counterattack these efforts of the Leadership and its small group of “RUBBER STAMP” supporters The ball is in the members court and I hope you take on the challenge. The name of the game is voter participation !!!

Sincerely,

LCOL Charles R.(Sonny) Reid, Jr. USAF Ret.           Tel # 301-839-3976

P.O.Box 441527                                                           EMAIL   Hyeagle@comcast.net

Fort Washington, MD   20749

y letter of resignation is included below. 

Let me say a few words about my wife Rosie and hope she doesn’t delete them from my web site when she reads them because she is such a private person. We were married forty six years ago and have been happily united since that special day . We have two living wonderful children, a son and daughter, both of whom are married with beautiful and lovely families. This couldn’t have been done without Rosie.

Rosie is a graduate of New York University with BA and MA degrees. She taught in the New York City public education system before marrying me and since that time has been a devoted wife, mother and homemaker. She is a wonderful lady.

She began beading as a young child but became very serious about it, as a hobby, about twelve years ago. After many beading lessons, her skill level has increased tremendously and she has produced a lot of lovely beaded jewelry. She doesn’t sell her beaded pieces but does share some among family members. I had better stop here because she will tell me that I have already said too much. Please enjoy that which she has allowed me to display.

February 17, 2005

Meherrin Indian Tribe, INC.

P.O.Box 508

Winton, NC   27986

 Attn: The General Body and Tribal Council

I am resigning my membership in the Meherrin Indian Tribe, INC effective with the date of this letter. Please remove me from the Tribal Roll.

This action is necessary because I find it impossible to continue a relationship with an organization whose leadership (Tribal Council, Acting Chief and Chairpersons of the Standing Committees) is so flawed , self serving and ineffective that I can’t vision any healthy progress for the organization in the foreseeable future. If I thought , for a moment, that my efforts and that of a few others could contribute to the correction of the many problems that presently exist with this non profit 501c3 Tribe , I would reconsider this decision. But I am convinced that this is impossible with  the present leadership and its likely continuance.

I am hoping , that in time, the membership of this Tribe/Corporation will be motivated to choose leaders who are honest , trustworthy, ethical, not self serving and who have the interest and welfare of the Meherrin people in mind. The Tribe cannot survive unless there is greater participation by its members. It cannot survive unless the members make a concerted effort to identify problems and take action in General Body meetings and through the Election process to correct them. The old saying “when you have bad apples in the basket you must remove them” still holds true. The tribe has “bad apples” in its leadership and among those employed in the past and at the present time. If the members wish for healthy progress and survival of the Tribe then there is but one option, GET BUSY AND IDENTIFY THE CURRENT INTERNAL PROBLEMS AND INCREASE  YOUR PARTICIPATION AND VOTING POWER so that you , as a concerned family, can successfully rid yourselves of the “chains that bind you”. Remember that the THREE MINUTE RULE for expressing a member’s view on issues brought to the floor at  General Body meetings, the discontinuance of the monthly communication letter (Muddy Water Review) , the reduction of the number of General Body meetings( a violation of the Bylaws) are all designed  to decrease member participation in Tribal affairs. Tribal members must recognize these tactics and take voting action to counterattack these efforts of the Leadership and its small group of “RUBBER STAMP” supporters The ball is in the members court and I hope you take on the challenge. The name of the game is voter participation !!!

Sincerely,

LCOL Charles R.(Sonny) Reid, Jr. USAF Ret.           Tel # 301-839-3976

P.O.Box 441527                                                           EMAIL   Hyeagle@comcast.net

Fort Washington, MD   20749

What will be the flow and accounting of the money raised by the Meherrin Indian Tribe to construct a building on its property?? This is a good question considering the people involved in the project. 

I have been told that the campaign has been launched to raise money and the main thrust will be directed at the general membership for personal donations over an extended period of time. Please remember that Ronald Robins and Mary Dunham will not be involved this time with the accounting of the contributions, as they were with the previous “money raiser” to pay off the mortgage on the tribal property. They did a good job. But this time, there probably won’t be much financial accountability, given those involved in this money raising event. 

I offer the following probable scenario.

1.      Contribution Checks sent to Meherrin P.O.Box, payable to the Tribe.

2.      Mail will be picked up by the usual designated tribal members.

3.      No ledger entries for financial auditing or accountability.

4.      Some funds probably not acknowledged as having been received.

5.      Some contributions laundered through the several Bank Accounts maintained by the Tribe.

6.      You may suspect or guess to whom some contribution money may flow and benefit.

Remember that those handling and processing the money received are one and the same, and are known to have conspired together in the past to achieve illegal results. They are all very dedicated to each other in the achievement of personal benefits. 

So the Bottom Line and Message to Meherrin Tribal members, who decide to contribute to this “fund raiser”, is to make sure your hard earned money is properly accounted for, and is put to the use for which it is solicited. Remember, the Meherrin Tribe is a 501c3 non- profit organization, and by law, anyone can view its financial records at any time upon request. 

I promised to comment further on the Meherrintribe.com website and this is my next observation. 

Gee!! I could hardly believe my eyes when I focused again on the squatting Chief…Thomas N. Lewis….on the “Meet the Chief” page of the website. I asked myself…Is that really the Stars and Stripes dragging the ground as a part of the Regalia that he was wearing? It couldn’t be!!! Thomas is advertised on this website page as an Army Veteran and he should know better than to put the Symbol of our Great Country on The Ground. But there it is on the ground for all eyes to see.

Shame on you Thomas and all the others that participated in this disgraceful display of the good old Stars and Stripes. This great symbol of the USA, our great country, deserves to be displayed properly and patriotically and NOT ON THE GROUND as a part of dancing Regalia. Thomas, didn’t you learn of this respect way back in secondary school??

But I’m really not surprised. Thomas N. Lewis, the present Meherrin Chief, is simply maintaining his consistency. It has been my experience that he has had this “Respect Problem” for many things for a long time and that includes the Tribal Constitution and Bylaws and other rules of tribal governance. He has consistently violated the tribal Bylaws by intent and ignorance. He needs to be repaired, if that is possible.

God save the Meherrin Tribe!!! Save the Tribe from those members that do wrong, because of ignorance and misunderstanding and who, too frequently, add greed to the mix.  

I have been told that the Meherrin Indian Tribe gathered on December 10, 2005, at the C. S. Brown School Cafeteria, in Winton, NC, to celebrate the tribe’s year of UNITY. I have been told also that many members of the tribe that reside in the tribal area of Hertford, Gates and Bertie counties of North Carolina, as well as many members who reside elsewhere, WERE NOT NOTIFIED OF THIS UNITY CELEBRATION EVENT. Why were these members excluded?? Is this the correct way to celebrate UNITY within the tribe?? It appears that this celebration was by invitation ONLY……to selected members of the tribe.

How can this tribe expect to progress socially and economically with exclusion behavior of this magnitude? More importantly, with this kind of Leadership attitude, what will happen to “TRUE UNITY WITHIN THE MEHERRIN TRIBE”??

I recently had an opportunity to view a new Meherrin Indian website and will comment on some of the information observed on the site, which by the way is still under construction.

I first wish to say that I am very proud of my Native American Indian heritage and culture, and honor that of other Native Indians. At the same time, it would be irresponsible not to expose those that I know who pretend to have Native American Indian ancestry and who practice this fraud for personal recognition and financial gain. This applies to some members of the Meherrin Tribe and is shameful and dishonorable.

The “Meet the Chief” page of the Meherrin website featured Thomas N. Lewis as Chief of the Tribe. After reading some of the text and observing him in Regalia and squatting on the ground, I decided that it would be painful but interesting to continue through the website even in the midst of inaccuracies and fakery on this page.

Why was Thomas squatting there on the ground in all of that Regalia? Was he practicing for an event with the Red Crooked Sky troupe? Was he pretending to know something about the significance of “Mother Earth” and its role in Indian heritage and tradition? Was he simply squatting to attract the camera? I couldn’t quite understand his dress or posture, except to conclude that he looked stupid. This wasn’t the best way, in my opinion, to introduce a serious website that represents an Indian Tribe , since he is one of these “wannabe Indians”, that will have difficulty proving his Indian heritage, from what I’ve been told.

Thomas cited his record as tribal councilman and acting chief. What were his achievements? What has he done in the interest of the Tribe? Please give us some specific accomplishments. I know him as someone who has gained lots of experience in violating the tribal Bylaws for personal recognition and gain. He is definitely not a “hero” of the tribe and is, in my opinion, highly responsible for the Tribe progressing backwards.

Thomas speaks of Federal Recognition as a goal under his leadership. Does he think the BIA is stupid? Please give this Federal Agency some credit for intelligence and the assurance that its requirements for Federal acknowledgement will be met. Thomas, obviously, is not a very smart person and has a tendency toward illusionism.

Let me end this comment with the following phrase…..”If we know who you walk with then we know who you are”.

Now that the mortgage on the Meherrin tribal property has been paid off, I am told that a new money raising campaign has begun to finance the construction of a building on the property. This is very interesting since I learned that Marie Taylor is in charge of the money raising activity.

Marie Taylor is a relative of Denyce Hall and a dear friend of Thomas N. Lewis. She is a member of the tribe that lives in northern Virginia with her husband, Cyril Taylor, who has no Indian ancestry. Cyril also is a very good friend of Thomas Lewis and has frequently invited and entertained Thomas at his home in Virginia.

After establishing the relationship between the Taylor’s, Thomas Lewis and Denyce Hall, I have begun to understand the reason that Marie Taylor was chosen to head the money raising campaign. There are many enrolled in the tribe that are more capable for leading this effort and probably would be more successful, but Marie was selected. I can think of only one reason for this decision. It’s because Denyce and Thomas feel that Marie can be better manipulated and that she will follow their instructions in the collection and management of the funds received from member donations. Why else was Marie chosen to supervise this money raising campaign? She is neither an effective organizer nor one with financial expertise. My answer is that Denyce Hall and Thomas Lewis feel that the “blind” Should continue to lead the “blind” in tribal financial matters. And most of this “leading” has resulted in financial unaccountability in the past.

Remember that it was Thomas Lewis, as Chairman of the tribal council and then as Acting Chief of the Meherrin Tribe, that allowed Marie Taylor’s husband, a non- member of the tribe with no Indian ancestry, to attend many tribal General Body meetings and participate in business discussions AND VOTE on motions brought to the Floor. Thomas subsequently used this “so called plant” to declare ”null and void” the business transactions of the February 2004 General Body meeting, because Marie Taylor’s husband ,  Cyril Taylor, had voted at that meeting. CYRIL’S COVER WAS FINALLY EXPOSED. Most know now that he isn’t a member of the Meherrin Tribe, but Marie, Thomas, Cyril, and Denyce KNEW!!!

The episode described above was engineered by Thomas Lewis, Denyce Hall and the Taylors because they didn’t approve of the tribal business adopted at that February meeting. This is an example of the “crazy stuff” that goes on within the Meherrin Tribe. Do you really want these people involved in a money raising activity???

I estimate that over 90 percent of the enrolled members of the Meherrin Indian tribe do not have, in their possession, a copy of the current Tribal Constitution and Bylaws adopted in May 1996, with the amendments thereto. Neither do they have access to this important document. This probably includes some members of the present council. I know that some members of past councils did not own or have access to the Bylaws.

Why has this happened and why does this currently exist?? It’s because Denyce Hall, directing the office staff, and Thomas N. Lewis, former council chairman and now tribal chief, with other elected leaders, have denied this document to the general membership. The idea and thought being that if one doesn’t know what the present rules are, then how can he or she question the actions of the tribal office, the tribal leadership and their small support group. This accounts for many actions taken in the tribal office and by the tribal leadership that have not been in the best interest of the tribe. Plain and simple, if you don’t know what the official rules are, you have a tendency to comply with and accept what is written to you or what you are told by tribal officials.

I have provided a copy of the current Bylaws with the nine amendments thereto, to several members of the Meherrin tribe. If there are other members who wish to be better informed about the tribal Bylaws, please contact me using the e-mail address on the “contact page” of this site. If you know of a member that does not own a computer, please guide them to the nearest local library, where a computer is available, or e-mail me their telephone number and/or name and mailing address, and I will arrange to provide a copy to that member. I am only trying to provide information to tribal members that should have been given to them, by the tribal office, a long time ago.

Incidentally, Calvin Hall, Chief of the Meherrin tribe From 1996 to May 2004 ask me for a copy of the Meherrin Bylaws near the end of 2003 and I was surprised that he didn’t own a copy. It did explain some of his actions and inactions of the past.    

The 2005 Meherrin Powwow was held on October 21-23, 2005 at their tribal grounds in Winton, NC. According to the local newspaper in Ahoskie, NC, it was a successful event.

How successful was it as a financial event?? This is the primary objective of the Meherrin tribe. What were the total receipts?? What were the cost disbursements?? In other words, how much money was received and how much was paid out as legitimate expenses. Were all transactions fully recorded?? What was the net profit for the event?? Was all the money properly accounted for and finally deposited in the proper bank account as required by the tribal Bylaws?? These are reasonable questions that should be asked by members of this non-profit organization. The committee responsible for the planning and execution of the event should provide the honest answers.

It is well known that accountability for receipts and disbursements for previous Meherrin powwows has been questionable. I hope a better job was done this time. It should be a simple matter of recording money received and money paid out, but those in charge of previous Powwows have found ways to complicate this procedure. Hopefully, honesty and accuracy were given a high priority this time.

I might mention that for previous Powwows, the money has been deposited in a special bank account, managed by Dorothy Melton, a tribal council member. This is a violation of the tribal Bylaws, which requires that such funds be deposited in the Tribal General Bank Account and managed by the Treasurer of the Meherrin tribe, who is supposed to be bonded for the account. I hope this error was corrected for the 2005 Powwow event. It is the responsibility of the members of this 501c3 non-profit Corporation to insure proper accountability and compliance of the tribal Bylaws. I hope, this time, the tribe is successful in this area of operation.

If I am successful in learning what the net profit is from the 2005 Meherrin Powwow and what the Tribe proposes to do with it, I will share this in a future comment.

I truly wish the very best for the Meherrin Indian tribe and hope that it achieves the high level of success that its potential promises. However, to accomplish this, the tribe must be repaired. Much of the present leadership must be replaced and the office staff must be better supervised and controlled. It is absolutely necessary that elected officials be honest and dedicated to serve in the interest of the tribe. This can be done with greater participation by its members and with full compliance of the tribe’s Bylaws. I suggest that this be seriously considered by interested tribal members before it becomes too late.

Having said this, I suppose you wonder why I refer to Thomas Nelson Lewis, Chief of the Meherrin Tribe, as the 500 dollar man. Well, it’s because of two deals he negotiated illegally in which tribal property was involved and one of these was a clear violation of the tribal Constitution and Bylaws. So far, he has escaped tribal charges because either those who are aware of his wrong doings don’t care or have elected not to take any action against him because they may have approved his decisions “off the record”.

Event number ONE involved the illegal lease of tribal property. The tribal Bylaws require the approval of the General Body to sell or lease tribal property. Yet, Thomas Lewis while serving as Chairman of the tribal Council, leased a part of the tribal property to a local restaurant chain (owns one restaurant in Ahoskie, NC and another in Murfreesboro, NC) for $500.00 a year for a period of five years for the purpose of erecting a large sign to advertise its restaurants. After the deal was made and completed, he appeared at a General Body meeting with a $500.00 check for the first year lease and informed the General Body members of the property lease that had been completed without their approval, which was required by the Bylaws. He insisted that the money be placed in the administration account, to which he had access.

This action by Thomas was either due to his ignorance of the Bylaws or his complete disrespect and disregard of the General Body members and the tribal Bylaws. Either reason should be considered unacceptable. We don’t know if there were some benefits received other than those announced, but the transaction does raise some interesting questions. Also the large advertisement sign, in my opinion, detracts from the appearance of the property.

Incidentally, Dr. Terry Hall, chairman of the Bylaws committee, when asked about the Bylaws violation at a subsequent General Body meeting, answered that since the deal only involved a small area of the property, he felt it was okay. Was this interpretation of the tribal Bylaws acceptable?? I think not!!! Another reasonable question would be, did Dr. Hall know of the lease deal and when did he know it??

Event number TWO involved the sale of the backup tractor with the” bushhog”,(a grass cutter), for $500.00. Thomas Lewis seems to enjoy making these $500.00 deals involving tribal property, especially when these transactions appear to have been completed for an amount below the value of the property involved. I wonder why???

This transaction was further complicated with another violation by Thomas Lewis. A motion was adopted at a previous General Body meeting, not to sell the tractor, but instead, to keep it as a backup to the new tractor. This was done after Thomas had requested permission to sell it for $500.00. Thomas was chairman of the tribal council at the time. However, after he became Acting Chief of the tribe in May of 2004, he assembled his supporters at the May 2004 General Body meeting and asked the group to adopt another motion to permit him to sell the tractor with the "bushhog”(grass cutter). This was done and then Thomas sold the tractor for $500.00. He was determined to close the tractor sale even though; tribal members had made a decision, at a previous meeting, NOT to sell this tractor. My question is, to whom did he sell the tractor and why was it sold far below its value?? Were there any other benefits derived from this transaction??? Very interesting, eh???? This, my friends, is the tribal Chief that you elected in May 2005.

Therefore, this is why I call Thomas Lewis the $500 dollar man. For some reason he likes the $500 dollar deal. My advice to the tribe is to be on alert for future deals of this type and to closely monitor transactions involving the sale of tribal property. Keep an eye on the TREES that surround the tribal grounds!!!  Be careful of any deals that he may propose involving the building of new structures on the tribal property!!!  

I must comment further on the interview of Mr. Aaron Winston by Mr. Patrick Campbell, a reporter for the Roanoke-Chowan News Herald in Ahoskie NC, for the article about the Meherrin Powwow, which appeared in the October 20, 2005 edition of their newspaper.

Mr Aaron Winston stated that all Indians don’t look like the “Lakota Indians that appear in John Wayne movies”. This is probably true, but was this statement appropriate in an attempt to describe those that might attend the Powwow in dance regalia or otherwise, for the purpose of educating the public on Indian culture and customs?? I think the statement might be regarded by some as an undeserved degrading of the Lakota Indian people. After all, the “Lakota” are genuine and historical Native American Indians, unlike most of the Meherrin tribal population and many others who attend the Powwow and dance and celebrate as Indian” WANABEES” (want to be Indians). These “wanabees” know who they are and know that their credentials don’t support their claim to Native American ancestry and culture. Therefore, one must be careful with his/her choice of words when discussing legitimate Native American Indians and culture. In my opinion, there isn’t much of either in the “Meherrin Indian Tribe”.

The 17^th Meherrin Powwow was held this weekend (21-23 Oct, 2005) and the Roanoke-Chowannewsherald newspaper provided FREE advertisement for the event through an interview of Aaron Winston by Patrick Campbell, a reporter from the newspaper. I believe that Aaron Winston is from Ashland, Va (near Richmond) and a member of the Meherrin Tribe and the Powwow article indicates that he is the “event coordinator”.

I have a few problems with some of the information contained in the newspaper article and will comment on some of these.

The Powwow is referred to in the article as a “cultural festival “ . I would prefer to regard the Meherrin Powwow as a Money making activity. It is the only source of income for the Tribe with the exception of Grant money from NC State groups, federal grant funds and donations from tribal members. This is the only economic money producing event sponsored by the tribe and Money is the main priority and NOT the demonstration and education of Indian culture and customs. Infact, from my observations over the years, there has been very little practice of Indian culture or customs by this group of, so called, Indians. They know very little about Indian culture and customs and what they do know about it, comes from books, the internet, movies and television. To suggest that the Meherrin Powwow is a “cultural festival” is absurd to say the least.

The article quotes Mr. Aaron Winston as saying,”The Meherrin tribe is a strong, vibrant part of the community” and “We have maintained our heritage for over 400 years”. To what heritage is he referring?? The present Meherrin tribe was founded in the early 1970s after an author from Murfreesboro, NC wrote in a book of his, that a local citizen, Sally M.Lewis was a Meherrin Indian. Some descendants of Mrs. Lewis then formed the tribe, as we know it today. I might add that there is no other documentary evidence, to my knowledge, to support that Mrs. Lewis was Meherrin. I understand that research was done but Mrs. Lewis’( her married surname) maiden name nor Indian heritage could be confirmed.

State recognition was given to the Meherrin tribe in 1986, based on the presence of descendants of this mysterious Indian lady, Sally M. Lewis. Therefore, how can Mr. Aaron Winston relate that “We have maintained our heritage for over 400 years”? To what Indian heritage is he referring??

In regards to the Meherrin tribe being a strong, vibrant part of the community, I think that is a major exaggeration. What has the tribe done in the community for the community?? What community accomplishments can be attributed to the participation of the tribe? Can Mr. Winston give us some examples??

I think from my experience in the tribe, the feeling I have gotten from tribal members is, “What can the community do for the Tribe, and not, what can the Tribe do for the community”? Perhaps Mr. Aaron Winston, A relatively recent newcomer to tribal activities, is not qualified to be interviewed concerning Meherrin tribal affairs!!!

I have other comments concerning this newspaper article and the Meherrin Powwow which will appear soon on this page.

Incidentally, I sent an email message to the Herald about the article that appeared in the October 20, 2005 edition of the newspaper.

Thomas Nelson Lewis (two feathers) dances or performs with a dance troupe located in the Norfolk, VA area, called the RED CROOKED SKY American Indian Dance Troupe. The group performs at Powwows and other events and, according to my sources, demands a substantial amount of money for their services. This suggests that the performing dancers receive a respectable sum of money for each of the performances in which they participate. After all, I am told that this is a business group, even if it does(and I don't know that it does) provide some charitable performances from time to time.

Having said this, can we assume that this is another source of income for Thomas Nelson Lewis?? If so, does the IRS know about it? In other words, does Thomas include this income on his personal income tax return to the IRS??? Only Thomas can answer this, but it does raise some interesting thoughts. To my knowledge, he never mentioned this “extracurricular activity” while he was serving as the Chairman of the Meherrin Tribal Council.

There were times in the past when he, as Chairman of the tribal council, was unable to substitute, for the Tribal Chief at General Body meetings, as required by the Bylaws, and such meetings were cancelled as a result. Was he dancing with the RED CROOKED SKY group on those occasions?? Another good question, eh?? This certainly is a possibility. He has, from reliable sources, been with this dance troupe for several years. It was a surprise to me!!!

You can go to the dance group’s website, if you have access to a computer, at www.redcrookedsky.com. By the way, you will see a picture of Thomas Lewis on its Home page as well as other locations on the site.  Is this group performing at the Meherrin Powwow this weekend???

Speaking of the Meherrin Powwow, my wife and children, members of the Meherrin tribe, didn’t receive a copy of the “News Flyer” sent to, apparently selected, tribal members announcing the Meherrin Powwow……I wonder why not????? -J

Unless one was started very recently, a financial Ledger for the Meherrin Tribal General Account has not been in existence and maintained since at least year 2000 and probably before. The Bylaws adopted in 1996 states that a Ledger will be maintained for the Tribe’s General Account. I asked Dr. Hall, the tribal Treasurer, in 2002 and again in 2003 if there was a Ledger for the General Account for money received and disbursements, and both times his answer was NO. I understand that others received the same answer, when they asked about a General Account Ledger. How can the account be properly audited without a Ledger? Perhaps it hasn’t been audited in recent years. This would be a good question for a member to ask at a General Body meeting. Why doesn’t someone do it??  There doesn’t appear to be any acceptable and proper financial accountability in the Meherrin Tribe (a 501c3 non-profit corporation). Is this the manner in which Dr. Hall does the finances in his Dental practice?? This is another good question.

Dr. Terry Hall, local Dentist and Spouse to Denyce Hall, was elected to the Meherrin Tribal Council in May 2003 by hand count from that same loyal group of Thomas Lewis and Denyce Hall supporters described in previous Longhouse comments. This was not a SECRET BALLOT election as required by the Constitution and Bylaws. Furthermore, prior notice of the election was not given to the membership of the tribe. Isn’t this election violation  regarded by Robert’s Rule of Order as a “continuous breach of the Bylaws”, because it failed to provide the voting members attending the General Body meeting an opportunity to cast a secret ballot or vote??? Perhaps a second election should be arranged to legitimately fill this Tribal Council position. What do you think???

I personally believe that an organization, and especially a 501c3 non- profit corporation, should observe and comply with its Bylaws. Incidentally, Dr. Hall was then and still is, unless recently replaced, the Chairman of the Standing Bylaws Committee.

But don’t let the Meherrin tribal membership FORGET that the Standing Election Committee is directed by the Tribal Bylaws to ensure a Fair and Honest Election and it failed again to follow established procedures. Dorothy Melton, Council member, was the Chairperson of the Election Committee then and still is. When will she become familiar with and follow the Tribe's Bylaws and the Committee's Operation Procedures with respect to Elections?? WHO KNOWS??

1. Denyce Hall has been listed on the NC Commission of Indian Affairs website as the EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of the Meherrin Indian Tribe for at least the last three years. How did she get this title? Did she appoint herself? The only title that she has, to my knowledge, is that of “Rural Health Outreach Worker”. Can someone explain the title of “Executive Director”? My sources quote her as once saying: “The NC Commission on Indian Affairs gives this title to anyone that works in a Tribal office”. Is this true?

I recall the Director of the NC Commission on Indian Affairs saying that information identifying a person as Executive Director of a Tribe, is provided to the Commission by the Tribe indicated on the website. I believe the Director of the Commission. Who do you believe??

   I might add that to my knowledge, the Tribal Bylaws, the General Body and the Tribal Council, have not established such a titled position. Please correct me if I am wrong.

    A series of “DO YOU KNOW THAT” will follow on this Web page.