2025 A Look Back: Trailblazer award
Four women — Shennelle Feather, Lavita Hill, Shannon Swimmer and Venita Wolfe — were elected to a previously all-male Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians tribal council this fall, and they’re ready to make things happen.
Compassionate visions, courageous leadership: Meet the women of tribal council 2025
Lavita Hill has dreamed of joining tribal council since high school.
Painttown’s Shannon Swimmer feels less like she’s taking on responsibility with her new role — and more that she’s “stepping into it.”
Shennelle Feather of Yellowhilll took the leap because she saw the right opportunity.
For Qualla Boundary advocates, domestic violence and MMIW/P are intertwined
Maggie Jackson doesn’t plan to stop spreading awareness about domestic violence in her community come November. Instead, the Qualla Boundary Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s group co-chair knows it to be a timeless issue.
Shannon Swimmer named director of WCU Cherokee Center
Shannon Swimmer received a master’s degree in human resource management from Western Carolina University in 2007. After several years working in tribal law, Swimmer has returned to WCU in a new capacity, as director of the Cherokee Center.
