Tribal Council District 3
Janelle Lattimore Fullbright
Rt. 1 Box 104
Sallisaw, OK 74955
Home: 918-775-3377
Cell: 918-315-0583
Janelle Lattimore Fullbright has lived all her life on her grandfather’s Cherokee allotment in Sequoyah County. Janelle holds a masters Degree from NSU, Tahlequah. She is a life long educator and currently an adjunct instructor at Carl Albert State College in Sallisaw.
She served eight years on the Cherokee Nation Gaming Commission. As a gaming regulator she also attended seminars and workshops including those offered at the National Judicial College at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Janelle has seen the industry grow from small bingo halls to a multi-million dollar industry with thousands of good jobs for Cherokee people. Having served under two different Cherokee Nation administrations she has the knowledge and experience of working together to accomplish a common goal in making the tribe self-sufficient.
Janelle’s late parents Loyd and Juanita (Garvin) Lattimore taught many years at Central High and Belfonte. She and her husband Alfred Fullbright have two children. Their daughter Natalie is a graduate of NSU and their son Cody is a sophomore at NSU.
The Cherokee Phoenix asked Tribal Council candidates to respond to seven questions of concern to Cherokee citizens. Read the questions and responses below.
- Why do you want to serve on the Tribal Council?
My passion is to help Cherokee people. My father, Loyd Lattimore instilled in me his legacy to serve and help others. As his epitaph reads on his tombstone, "A gentle man with gentle ways, who loved his friends and asked no praise." I am determined to follow in his footsteps of helping others.
- What is the greatest priority in your district and how will you address it as a legislator?
Although the Cherokee Nation has made a good start with regard to bringing jobs to Sequoyah County, jobs remain one of the districts greatest priorities. Most people want to work to provide for their families but can't if jobs are simply not there. I will work to increase employment opportunities in Sequoyah District by helping the Cherokee Nation take a leadership role in the State of Oklahoma in bringing economic development and jobs to Sequoyah County.
- Cherokee Nation-owned businesses return 25 percent of profits to the Cherokee Nation as a dividend. Is that amount appropriate or should it be changed and why?
As Cherokee Nation Enterprises grow and produce more revenues the amount of dollars within the 30% stipend will grow as well. If we cripple our Cherokee businesses by demanding higher percentages of profits then good business practices allow, we undermine our economic goals for
self-sufficiency. If it cost the Cherokee Nation thousands of dollars to provide services to an individual citizen, then for every job that the Cherokee Nation can provide for our people it will free up more and more funding that can used for those who can't help themselves and who depend on the Cherokee Nation for assistance. This means better health care programs, more senior citizen housing, and educational funds and services for all Cherokee citizens.
- Should the Cherokee Nation make campaign contributions to local, state and federal candidates and why?
Absolutely! We need to make political contributions to both parties. Anti-sovereignty groups give thousands of dollars to candidates trying to persuade them to legislate us out of existence. We need to support candidates who support Native American issues and tribal sovereignty.
- If a constituent asked about the recent amendment to remove non-Indians from Cherokee citizenship rolls and the public backlash, how would you explain the issue to them?
This is a highly emotional issue on both sides. Without great study of the issue one could easily say that removal of the Freedman is a racist issue. However, if one looks back into the history of the Cherokee Nation, one will see that policies change as laws are passed. For instance, my great-great-grandfather, Judge Franklin Faulkner, was a high ranking official within the Cherokee Nation. He was a white man married to a Cherokee woman. At that time when an Cherokee citizen married a white
person, the white person became a full member of the tribe. But as time went by and laws were changed, whites who were married to Cherokee citizens could no longer be tribal members. This change came about by due process of law. The Cherokee Nation as a sovereign entity has every right to hold legal elections changing the law.
- The Cherokee Nation received a letter from the Department of Interior stating that it did not recognize the 2003 Constitution approved by Cherokee Nation citizens. Do you agree or disagree with that opinion and why?
Cherokee citizens voted to include an article in our 1975 Constitution requiring BIA approval of our constitution. In 2003 the Cherokee people excluded that article. After waiting for over two years for
the BIA to recognize the new constitution without response, the Cherokee Nation asked the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court to determine if BIA approval was required. The court ruled that the 2003 Constitution no longer needed BIA approval based on the majority vote of the Cherokee people. Shortly
after the court's decision in 2006 the Cherokee Nation adopted and implemented the Cherokee people's new 2003 Constitution.
- A Cherokee Nation District Court judge ruled that due to the separation of powers clause only the attorney general can file suit on behalf of the Cherokee Nation. Do you agree or disagree with that ruling and why?
Yes, I do agree with that. In order for any legal system or organization to function effectively, its members must abide by the rule of law. The Cherokee Nation Justice Department resides within the Executive Branch of Government just as it does in the U.S. Government as well as state governments. The Cherokee Nation Attorney General is appointed by the Chief and approved by majority vote of the Full Council. The Attorney General, under Cherokee Nation Constitutional law, has the sole authority to file lawsuits on behalf of both the Legislative and Executive Branches of Government in the name of the Cherokee Nation. If any elected official within the respective Executive and Legislative branches of government could all independently file lawsuits on behalf of and in the name of the Cherokee Nation it would put our sovereignty and constitutional government at risk and in harms way.