Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
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TAHLEQUAH, OK - A district court judge has ruled that a group that claims to be the real Cherokee Nation has no basis to make such claims and cannot use those claims as a defense in a lawsuit. He also ordered that the leaders of the bogus group, Art Nave and Robin Mayes, must turn over financial records and credit card statements and any other documentation requested by the Cherokee Nation in an ongoing lawsuit related to the bogus group issuing illegal car tags.

District Judge Bruce Sewell granted the Cherokee Nation partial summary judgment in its case against the bogus group, writing that Mayes’ and Nave’s group "is not a federally recognized, sovereign Indian nation," and that the defendants "have no legitimate basis for any claim that they are, or represent, the Cherokee Nation."

Sewell ordered Mayes to turn over his credit card records to the Cherokee Nation, and also ordered Tulsa Teacher’s credit union to release copies of the defendants’ financial records.

"We're just trying to find out where all the money went," said Julian Fite, General Counsel for the Cherokee Nation.

Last August, Sewell shut down the bogus group’s car tag operation in Tahlequah and ordered the defendants not to dispose of any revenues or profits they made from its operations.

"By your actions, the dual citizens of the State of Oklahoma and the Cherokee Nation have been defrauded of money," Judge Sewell told Mayes and Nave in August. "I must give Mr. Mayes and Mr. Nave credit for originality and ingenuity," Sewell added. "But you can’t tell me why you have an exclusive monopoly on calling yourselves the Cherokee Nation any more than anyone else with a (CDIB) card. According to your arguments, anybody could go out and do this (sell bogus car tags)."

Under questioning from Sewell, Mayes and Nave admitted that they had not been elected by the Cherokee people, and claimed that they represented a provisional government. Sewell scoffed at the notion that Mayes’ self-appointed group was a government. "I don’t know how the two of you chose to deify yourselves above other Cherokees," Sewell said.

In a written order, Judge Sewell wrote that the defendants "have no greater authority to claim that 'they' are 'the' Cherokee Nation than any other citizen of the United States of America, or for that matter, the world. The defendants' actions pose a real and substantial danger of eminent harm to the citizens of Oklahoma as well as the citizens of Cherokee heritage."