EVIDENCE                             

These are articles which ran in the Jena Times in Jena, Louisiana pertaining to one more of Gary W. Ridge's "appointed Canadian District judges".  She and many others have sold bogus enrollment cards which to this day are still being sold and used by persons attempting to get Indian medical services, used in divorce and custody cases and even to get onto Army bases.  We receive emails and letters from all over the country requesting information about parties claiming to be Southern Cherokee in numerous instances all over the country.

Jena Times article 1

Jena Times article 2

These are articles pertaining to another Gary W. Ridge con involving the trucking-in of donations to the "Webbers Falls reservation" for disaster relief after a flood and tornadoes that never happened.  Gary W. Ridge and the ex-mayor of Webbers Falls, Jewell Horne, both claimed that the city of Webbers Falls was a Southern Cherokee reservation.  Neither of these parties is a Southern Cherokee.  The donations were unloaded into Webbers Falls city property by city employees as seen in the photos. Scams being run in the name of the Southern Cherokee are multi-million dollar enterprises and are being undertaken in many states all over the US.

North Carolina article 1

North Carolina article 2

North Carolina article 3

Photo 1 of donations truck

Photo 2 of donations truck

The following are two of the documents from the state case here in Oklahoma involving the Southern Cherokee Nation and Dynamic Gaming Solutions pertaining to the land involved in the casino boat venture entered into by Gary Ridge and Dynamic Gaming.  During the course of this case, a quit claim deed was filed by Steve Matthews to supposedly return the property to Dynamic Gaming.  Beyond the fact that Steve Matthews was in no way in a position to do so nor had the authority, you can see in the following documents that this quit claim was actually not taken into consideration in Judge Robinson's ultimate decision in this case. None of the lawyers in these cases have now or ever represented the true Southern Cherokee and many are aware of this fact.  There have also been 22 signed complaints filed in Missouri to the Office of the Attorney General against Steve Matthews and associates on matters involving their actions in the state of Missouri.  None of the numerous groups claiming to be Southern Cherokee have any connection whatsoever to the true Southern Cherokee and the majority of these trace their beginnings back to Gary W. Ridge.

Docket entry from state case

Ruling from state case

The following linked document was filed by Steve Matthews in Muskogee County, Oklahoma.  This document was filed with no legal right or authorization from the Southern Cherokee Nation or its members.  Matthews is not a resident of Oklahoma or more specifically, the Canadian District jurisdiction of the Southern Cherokee Nation.  On the history link on this site, you can go to the Bureau of Ethnolgy Report 1883-84 to see where the jurisdiction of the Southern Cherokee was established under the Treaty of 1866.  This was done after he was allowed to file false evidence and thereby commit perjury in the case involving the Southern Cherokee Nation and Dynamic Gaming in Oklahoma District Court in Muskogee, Oklahoma.  Involved as a party in this illegal transaction is James Robert Wilson, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) and a long-time friend of John H.R. Gray, another of the persons involved with Matthews in Missouri.

Quit Claim deed filed in Muskogee County

Following are several excerpts from the transcription of the audio taped minutes of the Council meeting held on June 10, 2006, more specifically, statements made by Steve Matthews at this meeting. These statements made by Matthews were heard and understood by all present including the other four parties who were subsequently banished from the tribe which was followed shortly thereafter by their resignation from the tribe.

"STEVE MATTHEWS: Under the Constitution, the old Council which was me, Andy (Light), Gilda (Tyler) and Delilah (Gray) appoint Council members until May when we start our new election process. So, if you don't like us, you've got less than a year to put up with us. If you miss two Council meetings, the second time you miss, you're out. If you lie, cheat, steal, we'll bring you up on charges to go before the Peacemaker. The Peacemaker has the option of either removing you from office and never hold office again or he can banish you from the tribe if it's serious enough. Hopefully, that never happens. It's got to be strict. Can't act like Gary Ridge. I guess our next thing, we need, me and Andy and Delilah need to appoint somebody to the three positions on the Council. And Gilda."

"STEVE MATTHEWS: As chairperson, like I said, the next thing is the chairperson. All that is is somebody, at the Council meeting itself, somebody is going to say you have to get up and talk like I'm doing, chairperson don't have no more power than anybody else, neither does the vice-chairperson. I guess we need a motion for chairperson."

"STEVE MATTHEWS: I guess for this meeting, I'm chairperson. Next meeting, it might be somebody else. The next thing we're going to talk about is the election, to be held the first Monday (of August) 2007. If you want to run for office and you are an enrolled member, you got this new card, and it says enrolled member by the Council, you can run for office. You have to have your name in writing, send it to the tribal clerk at tribal headquarters on or before the May meeting this coming May. If you want to run for office, you put your name in writing and submit it; you are a candidate to run for office. If you can't come here to vote the first Monday in August (2007), you can request an absentee ballot by writing the tribal clerk by July 1st and say hey, I ain't gonna make it, I need an absentee ballot and the ballot will be sent to you with all candidates for office. You go through there and pick out who you want. The top seven vote-getters will be the elected Council."

The following is an excerpt of the Constitution of the Southern Cherokee Nation:

"The members of Council, Principal Chief, assistant Principal Chief and all civil officers under this nation shall be liable to impeachments for any misdemeanor in office, and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit under this Nation and/or banishment from this tribe."

DOCUMENTS PERTAINING TO BANISHMENT AND RESIGNATION: [1] [[2] [[3]

These same five people tried to withdraw the opposition by our tribe to the attempted trademark of our tribal name by Michael Buley of Kentucky in return for their use of the name if Mr. Buley was successful. Below find their withdrawal documents and our response thereto. This trademark attempt by Buley was ultimately unsuccessful. Below find links to documents filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, specifically their Withdrawal of Opposition and our Response to Withdrawal of Opposition. All documents filed on Michael Buley's trademark attempt and our opposition to same can be reviewed online through the USPTO website under original filing serial # 78758494 and TTAB Proceeding # 91173635.

WITHDRAWAL OF OPPOSITION:

http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=91173635&pty=OPP&eno=6

RESPONSE TO WITHDRAWAL OF OPPOSITION:

http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=91173635&pty=OPP&eno=7

The following document is a writ of investigation filed for and received from then-Judge Shirley Taylor. This investigation was conducted by Andrew Light over the objections of Matthews and Gray who at the time refused to believe the mounting evidence against Ridge. During the state case involving the tribe and Dynamic Gaming, Mr. Howell, attorney for Matthews, stated that they were the persons who had conducted the investigations which is a blatant lie.

WRIT OF INVESTIGATION

The elected government of the Southern Cherokee Nation has since recognized Principal Chief Andrew D. Light as the legal representative of the Southern Cherokee Nation. This document was filed in the state case in Muskogee, Oklahoma but Mr. Light was not permitted by Judge Robinson to represent our tribe in this case. Also filed with this document in the state case was a partial list of city, county, state and federal agents and agencies with whom Mr. Light has worked since starting this investigation in 2004.

LETTER OF INTRODUCTION: [1] [2]

Oklahoma District Court Judge A. Carl Robinson, who made the final ruling in the state case involving Dynamic Gaming and overturned the property to Dynamic Gaming, is the same Judge who in December 2004 refused to rule on an eviction filed by the tribe against Gary W. Ridge and associates on the same property involved in the Dynamic case. The Judge cited lack of jurisdiction. Somehow this property in question has now become his jurisdiction.

DISMISSAL IN 2004 BY JUDGE A. CARL ROBINSON

Dynamic Gaming did not give the money for the land that was involved in the state case in Muskogee, Oklahoma. L&R Resources did and brought a federal law suit against Dynamic for $200,000. The suit was dropped before it went to court based on an alleged out-of-court settlement. All improvements made on the riverfront property in Webbers Falls were not paid for by Dynamic either. These improvements were made and paid for by Dockside Entertainment in preparation for the casino boat which arrived in January 2003 and was removed shortly thereafter. This was one of three casino boats involving Ridge, one in Santee Cooper, South Carolina, the other two here in Oklahoma. C.J. Perme, one of the parties in the Muskogee case, was told about Gray and Matthews and that they did not represent the Southern Cherokee. Upon contacting C.J. Perme and Linda Morgan of Grand Crowne Resorts of Branson, Missouri, I was sent an email by Morgan in which Perme's involvement in any of these transactions was denied, a statement proved false by the filings in the L & R case.

DOCUMENTS PERTAINING TO L & R CASE: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Within the sworn federal testimony of Gary W. Ridge in Federal Court in Muskogee, Oklahoma in February 2006, you will find statements pertaining to the fact that he is not a Southern Cherokee and furthermore, is not enrolled in the tribe in which he claims the position of Chief. Additionally, as per the Constitution he claims to follow, it is stated in Article IV, Section 2 that "No person, except a natural born citizen, shall be eligible to the office of the Principal Chief". As this document is to be the Constitution of the Southern Cherokee Nation, one must be a natural born citizen of the Southern Cherokee Nation itself. Due to his statements made under oath in Federal Court, he can in no way be recognized as such.

You can go to the archives link below to see just who was and still is with the Ridge con and when Ridge brought in Rodger Dale Griggs, James Conway and gave them the federal tribal tax number to futher the con. Johnny Gray, W. Brent Gill and Nelson Hermilla all joined Ridge in 1999. Carl Hudson was a five-digit cardholder from the Ridge con and now, like Michael Buley in Kentucky, claims to be chief. Buley received his card from Ridge in 2003, prior to which he claimed to be with the "Green River Band" and he was the only member. Buley is also found at the link below in his concocted position under Ridge, all the more interesting since he now claims to have been Chief of the Southern Cherokee since 1995. CNO Chief Chad Smith claims our people, the Southern Cherokee, do not exist so why do you find hundreds of the CNO's members involved in setting up and joining these cons all over the U.S.? Why would officials in the US BIA and Department of the Interior help set up or even consider recognizing these cons located in states where there is no tribal govermental jurisdiction for the Southern Cherokee? When you make laws that contradict other laws such as if two or more tribes file for federal recognition, neither one will be recognized and there are persons from city, county, state and the federal goverment helping to set up these phony tribes that will get on the Federal Register so they can continue to run their cons. There was a federal document filed by the Freedmen pertaining to the Canadian District but this district was not for the Freedmen, rather it was for our people, the Southern Cherokee, and only the Freedmen listed in our jurisdiction on the 1867 Tompkins roll which was conducted to establish the parties to the Treaty of 1866.  There are US Supreme Court rulings that upheld our peoples' treaties from 1834 to 1866.  The big con using the made-up term of "Southern Cherokee/Treaty Party" (with Treaty Party referring to the Treaty of 1834) has even been presented in federal court in South Bend, IN in the Rodger Dale Griggs and associates case where W. Brent Gill was appointed to offer legal opinions on a case coming out of the very con he helped set up. The full evolution of these cons can be seen throughout the link below.

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://southern-cherokee.com

Also found within this testimony are statements by Gary W. Ridge which are directly contradicted within the sworn deposition of Jewell Horne, past Mayor of Webbers Falls, taken for the same court proceedings. These statements in particular involve Rodger D. Griggs, convicted in federal criminal proceedings in South Bend, Indiana and sentenced to 19 years 7 months, and the "Prince of Ethiopia".

PAGES FROM THE SWORN FEDERAL TESTIMONY OF GARY W. RIDGE: [1] [2] [8] [39] [40] [74] [75] [76] [77] [78]

Within the sworn deposition of Jewell Horne, past Mayor of Webbers Falls, taken for use in federal court in February 2006, there can be found many instances wherein she contradicts statements made by Gary W. Ridge.

PAGES FROM THE SWORN FEDERAL DEPOSITION OF JEWELL HORNE: [5] [26] [27] [28] [29]

On page 78 of Mr. Ridge's testimony, he makes claims to have had no involvement in the actions involving the casino boat in South Carolina other than its removal. As you can see by the news article, dated July 4, 2000 (from Ridge's own website) which can be found at

http://web.petabox.bibalex.org/web/20010425105105/www.southern-cherokee.com/archives/newsarticle.htm

Gary W. Ridge had everything to do with the boat in South Carolina, as did Dynamic Gaming, C.J Perme and Jim Monahan.

On page 40 of the federal testimony of Gary W. Ridge, he swears that he has never made claim to familial relationship to Major Ridge or Stand Watie. In a Special Edition (commissioned by Gary Ridge) of the "Indian Warrior", a newspaper put out by the Tribal Indian Land Rights Association and which was hand-delivered to members of Congress in early 2003, Gary W. Ridge claimed his ancestry "is the same as Stand Watie". These claims by Ridge can also be found on several chat groups on the web, including but not limited to the two pages from the geocities.com chat we have included herein. Please note that these emails are from Gary w. Ridge's personal email account to the group. These claims were even refuted in a "Letter to the Editor" from Nancy Brown, President of the Descendants of Major Ridge Association which ran in the Sequoyah Times newspaper of Sallisaw, Oklahoma in the fall of 2004. Below you will find the afore-mentioned documents.

Claims of Descent:

Pages from the indictment of Rodger D. Griggs in federal criminal case in South Bend, Indiana

Testimony of Shirley Taylor during federal civil case in February 2006 - Pages: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Ridge Statement On Website and Response Thereto