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SOME QUOTES FROM THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLES AND ITEMS
Below we will print some interesting things from the newspaper articles about the present Oukah, over a period of more than 30 years. Just a few of them. We will add more later.
The first feature article was written by Frank S. Tolbert (dean of southwest historians, syndicated columnist, and chili promotor) which was published November 28, 1962 in the Dallas Morning News and syndicated newspapers. After this, the present Oukah (then Prince Donald of Tsalagi, the Cherokee Nations) became famous all over the southwest. Other feature articles along with photographs, mentions in gossip columns, speeches, personal appearances, TV and radio appearances followed. At this same time there were retaliations against him, efforts to kill him, to prove him insane (he passed the tests), and to destroy his reputation. He lived through it all, somehow, and is still reluctant to remember all of it.
1965. August 5, Thursday, The Dallas Times Herald
Dick Hitt's column "Batter Up at Fed Center"
"....that federal bldg. picket last week--you know, the one in the feathered headdress?-- was none other than local Cherokee royalty, Prince Donald of Tsalagi and Rawlins street. The sign called attention to the red man's plight, and I suppose it's a new civil rights device called a powwow-in".
Dick Hitt had a way of being a supercilious ass. The real story was behind the scenes. Prince Donald was coming out fighting, notifying the federal government that he wasn't going to take any more. The feds had already fired him (with no witnesses) from the government job by which he had earned his living, was monitoring his mail, tapping his telephone, etc. After all, it was the McArthy era, with anyone labelled a communist who even dared criticize the government. Prince Donald couldn't even find a lawyer to defend his rights -- they would have been ruined also by being called a communist. The present Oukah says, "How I ever lived through the early 1960's is beyond my comprehension. I just kept on hanging on, hoping and praying for justice. It will make a few interesting chapters if I ever get around to writing my full autobiography".
But things would get even worse. Within two years, Prince Donald's father would die, and he would become the highest-ranking person in America. This fact was duly recorded, when it happened, in the Society section of the Dallas Times Herald in 1967.
1967, July 22-23, Waco, Texas, Weekend, WACO NEWS CITIZEN
An article in the Waco paper just before a visit there, wrote about Prince Donald (this was a year before he became the Oukah): "The prince has lived in Dallas for seven years, and has been spoken of in the Dallas papers as being 'the most important man in the country today' and one of the 'three men in the world whose names alone evoke glamor and prestige'...the other two being the Aga Khan and the Dalai Lama."
Later, the present Oukah commented: "Very good company, indeed. I remember this short article well. It got everything right--no glaring errors. The visit also brought about another newspaper interview, and a television appearance. The TV interview was seen on the Waco station in certain parts of Dallas. People told me about seeing it."
1965, May 18, Tuesday, the Dallas Times Herald
Dick Hitt column "Mailbasket Turnover"
Louis Gibbons, program chairman of the Texas Poetry Society, wrote: "Prince Donald... held an audience spellbound at the May meeting of the Poetry Society of Texas. From a collection of his unpublished poems, Prince Donald read sonnets, lyrics and light verse. Frequently, his appreciative audience greeted his interpretation of certain poems with spontaneous applause, an honor accorded no other poet in my 12-year experience as a member of the Poetry Society of Texas".
The Oukah remembers: "I had to cancel a date that Saturday night after Louis called me around noon to fill in for a poet who was ill. Within a few hours I 'went on', having not faced an audience for years, and never with my poetry. And I remember the college professors present smiled in delight at some of the remarks I made about writing poetry, about keeping it simple...
It was one of the great unexpected moments of my life, and of course we tape recorded it."
1993, March issue. The Cherokee Observer
"....The shocking news about the CNI and the salaries paid to the executives* is the news we need. Many of us have wondered where the graft was, and why there was so much secrecy and 'cover up'. Now we know a little more. I wonder what will be revealed when another few layers are peeled off?"
OUKAH, Dallas, TX 75241
* Cherokee Nation Industries
* Nearly 1 million dollars in salary to Ross Swimmer the previous year.
* The Cherokee Observer is the independent Cherokee monthly newspaper.
It didn't get better, it got worse.
1993. September; Cherokee Advocate (official monthly newspaper of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma)
Your article about various Cherokee 'tribes' and organizations on page 18 of the July issue, mentions His Royal and Imperial Majesty, the Oukah, Emperor of Tsalagi, the Cherokee Nations. As an assistant to my kinsman, the present Oukah, it has been my pleasure to work with Him on projects involving defranchised peoples in their own homelands, around the world. The Hawaiian people, in particular, have been of particular interest to us for a number of years.
As a great-great-grandson of our most sacred and revered prince (kettagustah), William Shorey Coodey (DAYUNITA), John Ross's eldest nephew and author of the Cherokee Constitutionn and the revision of it in the west (1820-1830 period), the present Oukah is the only person who could possibly have and use this most ancient title and position, for it was reserved for Dayunita and his descendants. As such, it is the oldest Cherokee instution alive, and the only one that has not been bought, sold, destroyed, corrupted, or abolished.The struggle to keep alive something beautiful from the past has never yet been told, and when it is our Cherokee people will be lifted up and encouraged.
Lee MacDonald
Dallas, Texas
Note: Kettagustah is the Cherokee word for "prince". There is none for "princess".
Dayunita is translated as "the little beavers".
1994, September 5, TULSA WORLD, page 18.
DALLAS MAN CLAIMS TO BE CHEROKEES' MONARCH
"...."in the 1950's there was but one male descendant of Oukah so we could keep something old and traditional alive.
After his father died in 1968, the Oukah said, " was determined the title was going to mean something again, but I had no money, so what could I do?
"But what did God give me -- my heritage, that's all."
Later, the Oukah said, "The strange thing is, in a meeting with the richest man in the world in the early 1960's, H. L. Hunt of Dallas, Mr. Hunt asked me if I was aware that with all his money he couldn't buy what I was born with. I looked at him a moment before replying, "Yes, I was aware of it, but I didn't know that you were!
"And, he is the only person so far in my life who has been humble enough to say so. I respected him greatly for having done so."
1995, August 2, The Gilmer Mirror, Gilmer, Texas, page 4a
SIDEGLANCES IN THE MIRROR, by Sarah Greene
In an article about meeting the Oukah, writer and newspaper owner Sarah Greene wrote about meeting the present Oukah at the July memorial to the death of Chief Bowles in Texas. Toward the end she mentioned the Cherokee (Oklahoma) elections which were ongoing, and quoted: "In a story by David Cornsilk in the March, 1995 issue of the Cherokee Observer said, 'We received a very nice letter from the Oukah informing us he will not be a candidate (for elected chief). Good luck, sir, on whatever your plans include'.
"I was so busy listening to the Oukah's stories that I never thought to ask what those plans are."
Actually, the Oukah had decided that no matter what other people wanted him to do, he would NEVER be a candidate for an elected office. He had felt an obligation to see that the Cherokee people have a legally elected government, but the job itself is not for him. Particularly as the slimeballs who have been elected have turned the Cherokee government into a cesspool of corruption.
1996, November 19, Dallas Morning News, page 18a, LETTERS
"I" word
A "Letter From Mexico" captioned 'Mexican rebels seek democracy, by Donald Frischmann and Teresa Marrero, was indeed informative (Viewpoints, Nov. 11).
The discussion of 30 "indigenous groups plus sympathizers", did not make even one mention of 'Indians', a word which is odious to many of us natives as the 'N' word is to others.
Evidently some groups in Mexico have gotten the message that the 'I' word is part of the genocide. There is nothing more prideful, in our opinion, than being a native of America, and I often mention that our Big D area, itself, was a part of Mexico until a very short time ago.
OUKAH,
Executive Director, Cherokees of North Texas, Inc., Dallas.
Later, someone said, "You've probably upset a lot of people". Oukah replied, "I'm glad I haven't lost my touch!"