The National Defense Authorization Act cleared the House with bipartisan support last week, prompting the Senate’s Dec. 15 procedural vote — which all but guarantees that the $901 billion spending bill will be at the president’s desk before the holidays. This year, the “must-pass” annual legislation will represent the largest single sum of funds devoted military programs in the nation’s history. And yet, those appropriations have nothing to do with the strong opposition voiced by a community in Western North Carolina. 

Travis Smith began his career with the Tribal Alcohol and Beverage Control Commission on Feb. 27, 2024. He was guaranteed a four-year term until a fellow TABCC member submitted a grievance to the Eastern Band of Cherokee’s Office of Internal Audit and Ethics Aug. 14 of this year. 

When Patrick Lambert won the 2015 race for principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, he saw the victory as a direct mandate from voters. 

Patrick Lambert was removed from office following a controversial impeachment process in 2017, but with the 2019 election season underway he’s saying that the impeachment shouldn’t stop him from running again. 

While the federal marriage fraud case that’s been the topic of much discussion on the Qualla Boundary over the past year is winding down, FBI activity in Cherokee is likely to continue. 

An investigation into the legality of a lawsuit settlement in which Principal Chief Richard Sneed agreed to pay seven former tribal employees a total $698,000 has been completed, with a May 15 press release summarizing the investigation’s results identifying no wrongdoing. 

Nine months after arguments concluded in a dispute over the process used to impeach then-Principal Chief Patrick Lambert, the Cherokee Supreme Court issued a full, 22-page opinion on the matter. 

While nearly a year has passed since former Principal Chief Patrick Lambert was removed from office, a court hearing March 29 showed that debate over the legality of the process is not dead. 

Seven tribal employees who were fired or demoted when former Principal Chief Patrick Lambert took office in 2015 have received a combined $698,000 in settlement payouts following a November agreement that Lambert made public this week.

Cherokee elders will no longer have power, water or sewer bills to worry about following a divided Tribal Council vote July 6 to pass legislation that former Principal Chief Patrick Lambert had put forward during his term.