Originally Published on May 18, 2023
On March 26, 2023, Joshua Rhett Miller, of the New York Post falsely maligned and committed ethnic cleansing against Ms. Heather Rae on the false claims of Lianna Costantino, as self proclaimed, "Citizen and Activist with the Cherokee Nation."
All Mr. Joshua Rhett Miller had to do for himself is to identify the wife of the person in his article to determine the Native American Lineage of Ms. Heather Rae, but he was apparently too inept to do basic journalistic research for himself. If he had taken the time to do a basic research he would have been able to determine that Jane Lassiter’s father, Tobias Lassetter was married to a Chickamauga woman named Sarah Bushyhead (1759 – 1817). The Bushyhead family is historically recognized as Lower Town Chickamauga, which the government called the Lower Town Cherokee. The confusion concerning the Chickamauga and Cherokee exists because the government lumped together all speakers of the Cherokee Trade Language as the same people. It is not the fault of Ms. Heather Rae, that the US government is incompetent lazy, but Mr. Joshua Rhett Miller committed and act of ethnic cleansing when he proclaimed to the world by printing the false claims of Lianna Costantino.
Ms. Heather Rae's lineage does go through the Lower Town "Cherokee" villages which are historically known to be Chickamauga. Even George Washington in his 4th Annual Address to Congress identifies the Chickamauga living in the Lower Town villages on the Tennessee River. The common misconception is that the Chickamauga and the Cherokee are the same people of which they are not. The Chickamauga and Cherokee are ethnically, racially, culturally, socially, and religiously separate people who happened for a time to speak the same Trade Language.
Historically and archaeologically the Chickamauga are part of the Mound Building culture which begun between 600 – 800 CE in the Southeast Woodlands. We are of the same Mound Building history, culture, and religion as the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Natchez. We spoke the Cherokee Trade Language because we were the group located closest to the Cherokee when they invaded the Southeast in the mid to late 1670s from the Lake Huron and Lake Erie areas.
Mr. Joshua Rhett Miller should have known that Lianna Costantino is identified in a 2003 Harvard University Pluralism Project article as, "High Priestess Lianna Costantino-Cardon of the Sylvan Hearth Pagan Temple" and "Costantino-Cardon said she was once a police officer in Los Angeles and has served in the U.S. Army as a chaplain for Wiccan soldiers. 'Dialogue more. If you want to know what a pagan person believes, ask me.'" Costantino-Cardon said the pagan group would continue to meet in Sylva's parks."
Lianna Costantino is the FOUNDER of THE TRIBAL ALLIANCE AGAINST FRAUDS which is incorporated in North Carolina, outside of the boundaries of The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma for which she claims to be an activist. The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds shows "The Registered Agent on file for this company is Costantino- Cardon, Lianna E. and is located at 120 Lickstone Ridge, Cherokee, NC 28719. The company's principal address is Po Box 1691, Cherokee, NC 28719 and its mailing address is Po Box 1691, Cherokee, NC 28719."
It is important to realize Lianna Costantino states publicly that she is an activist for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. The same Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma which Self Terminated in 1902 and was then immediately terminated again in 1906. The same Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma which has never been re-recognized by Congress nor the Bureau of Indian Affairs which states the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) has never filed for Recognition since 1902 or 1906 and has never received a Federal Charter as an Indian Tribe. The Eastern Band of Cherokees of North Carolina Inc (EBC), who also self terminated on June 4, 1924 have never been re-recognized by Congress and has not received a Federal Charter as an Indian Tribe.
On June 23, 2022, the Cherokee Tri-Council consisting of the CNO, EBC, and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee of Oklahoma (UKB) openly declared The Chickamauga Nation to be an "ENEMY" of the Cherokee people, for simply wanting to be placed on the List of Federally Recognized and Serviced Tribes.
Mr. Joshua Rhett Miller, you took the word of a an organization called the Tribal Alliance Against Fraud (TAAF)whose founding member is a political activist for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma which has openly declared The Chickamauga Nation to the the enemies of the Cherokee people. Would you not find it expedient to investigate as to whether TAAF gave you the information about Ms Heather Rae because she was in fact a Chickamauga? By promoting the concept that Ms. Heather Rae is a "pretendian" when in fact she is Chickamauga only demonstrates the ethnic cleansing perpetrated against Ms. Heather Rae by the New York Post, TAAF, and Lianna Costantino.
We would appreciate a public apology to Ms. Heather Rae for the ethnic cleansing perpetrated against her and her family.