Three Catawbas misrepresented themselves as acting on behalf of the tribe’s general council in letters sent to BIA and others, a judge has ruled. Deborah Crisco, Rodrick Beck and Jack Canty lead a dissident faction of the tribe that has called for elections and financial accountability from the executive council. Circuit Judge J. Buford Grier on April 26 issued a permanent injunction barring the three members from saying they represent the general council or are acting as a committee of the council. Canty said he and the others agreed in a 1997 hearing they would no longer use that title on correspondence. The three sent a letter to the BIA earlier in 1997 that read, “We represent the General Council of the Catawba Nation” and are “… acting on behalf of the General Council,” court documents said. They also sent correspondence to Catawba Chief Gilbert Blue and the North Myrtle Beach City Council with a letterhead calling themselves the “Catawba Indian General Council Petition Committee,” court records said. Grier said the statements were misleading because the general council exists only when the tribe’s members meet as the governing body.
