I have only ever created stories that are authentic to me and my life experiences. I am not enrolled, I have never claimed to be enrolled or to represent the viewpoint of an enrolled tribal member, as reflected in my stories and statements. I have grown up with family and in a home that shared this experience, which goes back to my Great-Grandfather and extended family, and has been part of our culture and identity.

I have always been transparent about my identity, and our struggle to gather the paperwork necessary to enroll because of bad record keeping and missing and inaccurate documentation. This is not unheard of and is a difficult part of forming family histories.

I am working hard alongside my family to find more documentation, which takes time, but until I can prove my ties beyond a shadow of a doubt and in alignment with the Cherokee Nation’s statement on Sovereignty and Identity, I will no longer be writing Native stories. My team and I have decided to pull “If I Dig You” from publication until further notice and “If I Stopped Haunting You” will be my last Native story. Thank you for your patience as we work through this.