Giduwa Cherokee News moves to Substack to preserve independence and continuity of coverage
Staff Reports | Giduwa Cherokee News | May 23, 2025
Giduwa Cherokee News announced Friday it is moving its publishing operations to Substack, citing administrative changes within the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians that have made continued publication through previous channels untenable.
Troy Littledeer, managing member of Candy Mink Springs Media LLC, said the move is intended to protect the editorial independence of the publication and ensure uninterrupted access to its archives and reporting.
“The Giduwa Cherokee News is more than a department,” Littledeer said. “It is a commitment to transparency.”
The publication stated that internal matters affecting its previous publishing arrangement are being addressed through legal and procedural channels, but that the work of community journalism could not wait for those processes to conclude.
Candy Mink Springs Media LLC holds trademark protection on the Giduwa Cherokee News name, registered with the Oklahoma Secretary of State. Continued publication on Substack maintains active use of the trademark while preserving the outlet’s mission of accountability journalism for the Keetoowah people and Indian Country as well as our surrounding communities.
Littledeer said the move establishes a firewall between the publication and the tribal administration it covers.
“Accountability journalism requires a firewall between the reporter and the reported,” he said. “This move ensures that our editorial voice is governed by the people, not by the shifting tides of the administration.”
Giduwa Cherokee News said readers can expect continued weekly coverage through the new platform.
Giduwa Cherokee News takes its name from Giduwa — the ancient Cherokee mother town from which all Cherokee people trace their origins. The name is not a brand. It is a declaration. This publication operates in that spirit: that the Keetoowah people, the Cherokee Nation, and the Eastern Band all draw from the same fire, and that journalism in service of any one of them is journalism in service of all. The press does not belong to any government. It belongs to the people who came before every government that exists today. And all of our neighbors as well.