"Cherokee Watergate" is behind sweetheart agreements between Keeler and the Cherokee Nation on the one hand, and Swimmer and his bank on the other. They point to the Philmaid Building in which his bank was paid $2500 a month by the Cherokee Nation, while Swimmer had a contract with the Cherokee Historical Society to pay the Tribe $2300 a month for the use of the site. The activists allege an $800,000 loss was sustained by the Cherokee Nation in the last few years of the Construction of business properties and housing projects.
Although, federal funds and Cherokee Nation monies were used to construct Tsa-La-Gi Inn, the Cherokee Nation doesn't actually own it--it is held by a trust known as "Jelanuno" [ bastardization of the Cherokee word -ah-jee-lah nuh-noh-fireroad or railroad] headed by Keeler as "lifetime trustor". Jelanuno also the "trustor" of the property of the Cherokee Nation Historical Society, not the Cherokee Nation itself.
Keeler recently liquidated business property to satisfy Swimmer's bank giving the Cherokee Nation a substantial loss. Swimmer was Tribal Attorney, also, and thus was the one who drew up the contracts.
The Cherokee Activists say they have documented proof that Keeler made personal loans form Tribal funds to his friends, in one case amounting to a $140,000 note.
The loan and the interest have never been paid, but Keeler had disregarded demands of the Cherokee Representatives that the loan payments be brought up to date.
The Cherokee Historical Society is a corporation which owns the Tsa-La-Gi Theater, where the assimilation oriented "Trail of Tears" drama is staged each summer. It also owns the Cherokee Village tourist attraction and the Cherokee Museum.
Most Cherokees and the public have been led to believe the Cherokee Nation itself owns the motel complex and controls the theater, but legal documents show otherwise, Keeler insists the trust was used to cut costs in construction of the motel through tax credits. The documents name Cherokee County, one of Oklahoma's counties, as the beneficiary of the trust, and other trustees are the County Commissioners, who have "the authority to lease, rent, furnish, or provide such property for cultural and educational purposes and for use by industrial and manufacturing firms, businesses or concerns.
Tulsan Ben Hyatt, an Indian activist, obtained the Jelanuno documents through the assistance of the American Indian Movement.
When Keeler was asked about the transaction by Tulsa Tribune reporter Bill Sampson, he said the Jelanuno story began years ago when, shortly after the $12 million Cherokee Outlet Award of 1964, he began searching for a way to best invest the money left after a per-capita payment to the Cherokees.
This is the way Keeler and Swimmer maneuvered the situation, all of it perfectly "legal". A trust indenture dated July 20, 1972 conveyed to Jelanuno all of the Cherokee Nation Historical Society's "property, proceeds, returns, profits, and increases thereof for $1.
On September 12, 1973, the "Cherokee Nation" conveyed to Jelanuno for $10 a warranty deed to the tract of land on which Tsa-La-Gi Inn and other businesses are now located. Keeler signed the deed as principal chief, over to Jelanuno.
The next day, Jelanuno borrowed $1.2 million dollars from the National Bank of Tulsa (Now The Bank of Oklahoma) granting a first mortgage on the tract and improvements upon it, and enough of the rental fees, to secure promissory notes for the loan. Keeler says the money was used to help finance construction of the Tsa-La-Gi Inn.
On the same day, the Cherokee Nation, with Keeler as signer, entered into a base-purchase agreement in which it agreed to pay Jelanuno $11,099 monthly for 15 years to lease the "retail restaurant, arts and crafts shop, club, and motel business" now located on the tract which the
Cherokee Nation conveyed the previous day to Jelanuno for $10.
J.D. Johnson, a candidate for Cherokee chief, Keeler, and Cherokee Leon Daniel, a Tahlequah merchant, now are the trustees of Jelanuno, serving "indefinite terms".
Thus Keeler will continue to play a major role in Tribal affairs because of his trust position, regardless of who would win the election, Keeler also endorsed Swimmer for chief---Swimmer's name appears as notary on one of the Jelanuno documents.
A formal inauguration for Swimmer was scheduled for September 6, 1975, Cherokee Nation Holiday. U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Morris Thompson was scheduled to attend. Swimmer has pledged to continue the programs established by Keeler. "I really believe he got the Tribe going in the right direction," he said.
When asked about the conflict of interest as Chief of the Cherokee Nation and Chairman of the Trust, Keeler said he felt he was acting in the best interest of the Tribe.
Keeler (and now Swimmer) do not have to answer to the Cherokee people---they need answer only to the Secretary of the Interior and the President of the U. S. about tribal administration. He is not legally bound to follow the voted recommendations of a group known as "Community representatives."
Such transactions may not be entirely new to Keeler, he and three other former executives of Phillips Petroleum have been charged by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) in United States District Court in Washington last March with the disbursement "in excess of $2.8 million in Phillips corporate funds to two Swiss corporations by means of false entries on the books and records of Phillips. Said disbursements were converted into cash and in excess of $1.3 million was returned to the United States. Of this latter sum, approximately $600,000 was expended for political contributions, a substantial portion of which was unlawful," says the SEC.
Keeler already paid the maximum fine of $1000 following his December 4, 1973 conviction of making an illegal contribution of $100,000 to Richard
Nixon's 1972 presidential campaign. Despite this conviction, he was allowed by the Secretary of the Interior to remain in office as Cherokee Chief. A criminal investigation of Phillips Petroleum began before a federal grand jury in Tulsa September 3.
Keeler was appointed principal chief in 1949 by US President Harry Truman, and reappointed by successive presidents until 1971, when the first election was held for the office. He is said to be only 1/16th Cherokee.
