Cherokee – With tribal elections approaching, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council candidates representing the Snowbird and Cherokee County communities were able to express their views in a debate.
The June 24 event was hosted by the Cherokee One Feather, and moderated by the outlet’s editor, Robert Jumper. Similar debates were held for all tribal candidates, and were livestreamed on the tribe’s website.
Of the four candidates running for the two Cherokee County and Snowbird seats on the tribal council, only incumbents Bucky Brown and Adam Wachacha participated in the debate. Candidate Janell Rattler sent a letter stating that she had to work that evening and couldn’t call out.
“I apologize for not being able to attend this debate series, but I will not be able to attend due to my work schedule and the staff shortage at my second job,” read a portion of Rattler’s letter.
The fourth candidate seeking the office is William A. “Billy” Brown.
Throughout the debate, Wachacha and Bucky remained civil, seldom disagreeing on any of the issues brought forth in the debate.
Both incumbents spoke in support of increasing healthcare support at Cherokee Indian Hospital.
“We’ve got two satellite clinics in Snowbird and in Cherokee County, and I’d like to see that fulfilled,” Brown said. “Like I said, we’ve got a state-of-the-art (hospital) and I think we could budget to fill every position we need there.”
Wachacha lauded the tribe’s healthcare workers for their work through the COVID-19 pandemic. He also discussed the possibility of returning labor and delivery to Cherokee Indian Hospital.
“I know I was born there,” Wachacha said. “I don’t know if it’s possible, or if they’d even look at it. I think if we could provide as many services as possible to our Cherokee Indian Hospital and our clinics, I would hope at least that they would have that on their map.”
He also said he would like to see and increase in long-term care for members of the tribe struggling with drug addiction.
Both Bucky Brown and Wachacha spoke in support of the tribe’s recent purchase of the Caesar’s Southern Indiana Resort and Casino operations in a $250 million deal. The purchase is expected to be finalized in fall 2021, pending approval of the Indiana Gaming Control Commission.
“My four years on the council, we’ve not done anything to diversify,” Bucky Brown said. “We’ve got the new complex up here, but as far as moving in any economy way, we haven’t done it, so I was eager to do this, and right now, I’m just going to say that I fully support diversification, and I think it’s going to benefit us.”
Like Brown, Wachacha said the purchase would help the tribe diversify its assets and break into the commercial gaming industry.
“It allows us to set up our EBCI holdings and look at other properties around the country,” Wachacha said. “I know since we’ve established the EBCI Holdings that we’ve actually had a lot of phone calls from other tribes wanting to partner on other opportunities within the state.”
Another issue discussed was the possibility of the tribe entering the cannabis business at the medical or recreational levels. In March, the council voted to allow the possession up to one ounce of medical marijuana on tribal land.
“I’ve been around community members that are battling cancer or diabetes and different things, and cannabis actually helps them a lot more than the opioids did,” Wachacha said.
However, he stopped short of supporting recreational marijuana on tribal land.
“I do support medical marijuana, and I think that’s the route that the tribe should look at, and if it helps our agricultural industry on the boundary, as well as creating a dispensary for our own people to be able to consume and use, those would be the things that I would support,” Wachacha added.
“Just being more educated about this is what we really need, but that will be coming a little later,” Bucky Brown echoed.