Mvskoke Nation Associate Tribal Liaison Michael Berryhill Faces allegation of Sexual Assault

By: Frances Herrod, MM Reporter

*Editors note: this story contains descriptions of acts of sexual violence and harsh language. 

Okmvlgee, Oklv.-Summer Wesley is many things: Attorney. Writer. Advocate.

One thing she is not: Silent.

After reading a Facebook post by The MCN Tribal Liaison Anne Townsend Gover-Miller on November 27, 2024, announcing Michael Berryhill as the new Associate Tribal Liaison, she knew, as a survivor of an alleged sexual assault by Berryhill, it was time to speak.

On December 1, 2024, Wesley, in a Facebook post on her private account, set to be seen by only a small circle of friends, shared the announcement along with the following caption.

“Please have the decency & respect to not screenshot this post & share it around. If you have even the thought to do that, please just block me; because this is about supporting survivors.

This has caused a lot of strong feelings on many fronts. I’ve seen the public congratulations from people & also have heard the outrage of others, given his prior predatory behavior. This is, obviously, difficult for those who have been his victims & my heart is with them.

If you are one of those people, please know that I am a safe person, if you need to speak about it. He is blocked from this post, so he can’t see any reactions & my inbox is open, if anyone needs to talk.”

THE INVESTIGATION 

Despite Wesley’s plea for privacy a screenshot of the post was shared, where eventually it made its way to Cabinet Secretary of Community & Human Services Carmin Tecumseh-Williams. Tecumseh-Williams has an extensive background in social work and holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice and a Masters in Human Relations-Organizational Development.

A Google search shows a public Facebook page, which allows for messaging, is in the top 3 results for Wesley, giving Tecumseh-Williams an option to contact her with any concerns. 

Instead Tecumseh-Williams reached out via text to a mutual friend and co-worker of Wesley the morning of December 4 at 10:12 AM, asking for contact information for Wesley 

The text reads,”I was informed that summer (sic) Wesley posted this picture on social media of the newer addition to the tribal liaison staff here at Muscogee Creek Nation. She made statements that are not true of this Michael Berry Hill! I am having to go over and have a conversation with our Chief in order to get this addressed! Do you know how I can get in contact with her?”

At 12:19 PM Tecumseh-Williams called and left a message for Wesley, which was immediately returned. In the voicemail Tecumseh-Williams identifies herself twice as being with The Mvskoke (Creek) Nation. 

The conversation, a recording of which has been obtained by Mvskoke Media, is as follows. It has been edited to remove Wesley’s place of employment and references to other alleged survivors who have not yet publicly disclosed. A transcript can be found here. 

The conversation begins friendly enough, with introductions and pleasantries exchanged. The tone shifts with Tecumseh-Williams telling Wesley she is reaching out about the Michael Berryhill post. Wesley makes clear that the post was private, to which Tecumseh-Williams replies that Wesley has the incorrect person and that Chief David Hill will need a report. When Wesley asks for clarification Tecumseh-Williams responds by naming Wesley’s employer and asking if that’s where she works. Wesley once again asks for clarification that she named the wrong person. Tecumseh-Williams once again reiterates Berryhill is not the right person, asking if Wesley had checked the records. 

At this point Wesley discloses that she was allegedly sexually assaulted by Berryhill in 2019.

Tecumseh-Williams asks for documentation of a conviction. As this was the first time Wesley disclosed other than to friends she responds there is no conviction as it was not reported and references other unreported alleged assaults. 

Tecumseh-Williams goes on to mention Chief Hill and states that since this has come out publicly the Mvskoke Nation Attorney General may be in contact with Wesley. While she apologizes to Wesley she again presses for more information. 

Wesley reiterates that she posted privately because the alleged assaults, hers included, were not reported to police. Wesley says she was simply trying to be a safe person for anyone who may have had similar experiences. 

Tecumseh-Williams responds by again stating that everything will need to be turned into the Mvskoke Nation AG and that Wesley may be contacted. Wesley agrees to speak with the AG should she be contacted. 

Tecumseh-Williams reframes the conversation by stating she called to give Wesley a heads up and that Mvskoke Nation did not have any of this information. She says she is shocked and that she doesn’t doubt Wesley’s disclosure, that she was asked to follow up so that was the intent of the call. 

The call ends with Wesley saying she appreciates Tecumseh-Williams’ call and Tecumseh-Williams thanking Wesley for promptly returning her call. 

It is the policy of the Mvskoke Nation that prior to employment prospective employees must pass a background check. In a phone call with Mvskoke Media Mvskoke Nation Press Secretary Jason Salsman confirmed that a background check of Michael Berryhill was conducted with no issue. 

When asked if Chief David Hill had ordered Carmin Tecumseh-Williams to conduct an investigation that included contacting both Wesley and her co-worker, Salsman was unable to comment at the time. Mvskoke Media has not yet heard back regarding these additional questions about the investigation. 

Mvskoke Media also contacted Mvskoke Nation Attorney General Geri Wisner for clarification on whether the AG Office ordered Carmin Tecumseh-Williams to conduct an investigation into Wesley’s private Facebook post. AG Wisner stated she had not spoken with Tecumseh-Williams and was unaware of any investigation into the allegations leveled against Berryhill.

SUMMER WESLEY SPEAKS

Now, for the first time publicly, Summer Wesley gives her account of what happened January 19, 2019, the night of her alleged assault by Michael Berryhill, in her own words. It has been edited only for clarity. 

“I had went to Okmulgee, my friend Joey (Joe Anderson) was living in Okmulgee at the time and so I went there to hang out with him which was not, you know, an uncommon occurrence for the past dozen or so years. And when I got there, Michael was also there.” 

“This was the first and only time that I’ve met Michael Berryhill in person. They had been drinking before I got there and then they continued drinking throughout the evening. But Michael was basically… he was being a dick to me.” 

“He was refusing to call me by my name. He was referring to me as “woman”, which I find very disrespectful. So I told him he could speak to me respectfully or not at all. And so his excuse was, “I’m sorry, I just can’t remember your name.” Well then, if Summer is too difficult for you, maybe just don’t talk to me.”

“And so, while Joey was in the room that’s the way he was right, just like verbally disrespectful but not physical or anything like that. But Joey, of course it’s his house, so he’s up and doing things like you do at your house on the weekends. Up doing laundry, getting this and that and doing whatever.”

“Every time he left the room Michael’s behavior would escalate. He started with sexual comments and I’m like, no. And he at one point said something about “well, you sleep with him. Why won’t you with me?” I’m like, uh, no, I’m not interested. You need to leave me alone, you know, and then it would like a switch. It would flip the second Joey came back in the room. His behavior would change.”

“So I told Joey what he was doing. And he told me he’s like, okay well I’m not going to leave you alone again and I’ll try to get him to leave. And Michael refused to leave. He asked him to leave several times. He refused to leave. He would make excuses why he couldn’t leave.”

“And so as it I got later, you know, as I said they’d been drinking, and he’s getting tired. I’m like what do we do? Like, I don’t feel comfortable going to sleep with him here and he’s refusing to leave. And (Joey) told me, he’s like, well, you know, I’ve been drinking. So if I pass out, he said, if you need to swing on him, don’t hesitate just because he’s my relative. In fact if you need to stab him is what he told me.”

“I’m like, oh great. Okay. Of course, at this time, I was living in the Oklahoma City metro area and so it was too late for me to safely drive back, right? It was late at night. I had already had the medical cannabis that at that time I was using for chronic pain. I fortunately don’t have the same level of chronic pain. I did at that time, but at that time I needed it just to sleep because of the pain. So, it wasn’t safe for me to drive, so I couldn’t leave and Michael wouldn’t leave.” 

“So at one point Joey went into another room and he didn’t come back. He went in there to get something. Michael asked him to go get something. I don’t remember what it was. But he didn’t come back and Michael got up after a few minutes and walked back there. He came back and said, “He’ll be right back,” which, as it turns out, Joey was passed out, had passed out and Michael knew this because he went and checked on him.”

“So he knew (Joey) wasn’t coming back and immediately, (Michael) was like right up beside me trying to, which I was sitting on the couch when he came back in, and I got uncomfortable with the way, he was approaching, his body language when he was approaching me.”

“I stood up and he immediately got closer to me. He wrapped one arm around my back to pull me close to him at the same time as he grabs my breast with his other arm and he was leaning towards me with his face.” 

“I have no idea exactly what he intended on doing with that because I immediately put my arm up in a block position and shoved him really hard to get him off of me and I told him to get off of me and if he touched me again, I was going to break his hands.”

“I immediately got my bag with my stuff and I went into the room that Joey was in. That’s when I found out he was passed out in there and so I went and laid down with him because I thought I’m probably in a safer position hopefully for Michael to not come in there, if I was in the same room with (Joey).”

“So I laid down and a few minutes later, I heard the door open. I pretended to be asleep. And I heard the door closed again. And then within a few minutes I hear (Michael) talking to someone and I’m like well that’s interesting. Like who’s he talking to apparently?”

“He had called Joey’s roommate and was telling him that we’ve been messing with stuff in his room and that we were having sex in his bed, none of which were true. And all of this to start a fight between the roommates, right? I would presume as a diversion for what he had just done.”

“And so Joey gets woken up to his roommate screaming at him on the phone. He’s disoriented because of course he just woke up and is being yelled at. He has no idea what just happened.”

“After his roommate gets done ranting at him and he hangs up confused we go to bed and I  told him at the time something general about Michael being creepy or something like that. I didn’t give him all the details, just like, I don’t feel safe with him out there. And so we moved his mattress onto the floor in front of the door so it could not be  opened while we were asleep.”

“By the time we got up the next morning Michael was gone.”

Wesley’s account has been confirmed by Joe Anderson (Mvskoke/Chahta), in whose house the alleged assault occurred, and who was informed of the incident that same night. Additionally, Mvskoke Media has reviewed contemporaneous text messages sent by Summer Wesley to a friend that night. 

SILENCE IS VIOLENCE 

We spoke with Olivia Chissoe-Gray and Olivia Ramirez, advocates from NOISE (Northeastern Oklahoma Indigenous Safety & Education), about disclosures of alleged sexual assaults.

“I feel like it’s really important not only for victims to tell their stories. I feel like it’s more important for the community to support them so that they are safe enough to tell their story,” said Chissoe-Gray.

“It’s that only when the community knows who they have to keep safe from can the community start taking steps to be safe.”

Ramirez agrees. 

“When it comes to like cultural and community backlash towards victims, it’s obviously disappointing to see because it allows perpetrators to keep going into community and creating more victims.”

“But it also pushes the victims away from community because they no longer feel safe. They don’t want to be judged or treated differently and so as a result you’re getting the wrong people pushed out and away from the culture.”

“We do all this talk about protecting women and children and our most vulnerable. In order to do that sometimes we have to speak out against people that we know, or that we’re related to, and it’s very uncomfortable. You have to do the hard work, protecting victims and also making sure that perpetrators are no longer welcomed. The person that needs the community is the victim, not the perpetrator.”

The Tribal Liaison Office was scheduled to be in Florida at an At Large Outreach event Saturday, December 7. Mvskoke Media was unable to verify if Berryhill was in attendance.

Mvskoke Media reached out to Michael Berryhill via email on December 4 for comment. He has yet to respond.

If you or someone you know is the survivor of sexual assault there is help available. The Mvskoke Nation Victims Service 24 Hour Crisis Line is (918) 732-7979. You do not have to be Native to call. NOISE can be found on Facebook.