Chad Smith (politician)
Chadwick Smith | |
|---|---|
| File:Chadsmith.jpg | |
| Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation | |
| In office 1999–present | |
| Preceded by | Joe Byrd |
| Born | thumb Chad Smith, 2007 |
| Died | thumb Chad Smith, 2007 |
| Resting place | thumb Chad Smith, 2007 |
| Parent |
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Chadwick "Corntassel" Smith (Cherokee name ugista:ᎤᎩᏍᏔ derived from Cherokee word for corntassel utsitsata:ᎤᏥᏣᏔ) was elected as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1999. Smith holds a Bachelor's degree in education from the University of Georgia, a Master's degree in public administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Juris Doctor from the University of Tulsa. Smith was re-elected to a second term as Chief in 2003 and a third term in June 2007 with 59% of the vote.[1] Prior to being elected Principal Chief, he worked as a lawyer for the tribe and privately.
Family Background
Chad Smith is the great-grandson of Redbird Smith, a Cherokee Nation Senator and a traditionalist who founded the Nighthawk Keetoowah Society, a religious, cultural, and political organization dedicated to reviving the Cherokee way of life. He fought the U. S. government allotment policy under which the U.S. took more than 7,000,000 acres (28,000 km²) of land from the Cherokees.
Rachel Quinton, Chad Smith’s grandmother, was a life-long advocate for the Cherokee people and the treasurer for the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (UKB). Smith’s father, the late Nelson Smith, was a respected industrial manager, and his mother, Pauline Smith, still lives in Oklahoma. Smith’s late uncle, William Lee Smith, led the Keetoowah Society at the Stokes Stomp Grounds since the 1950s.
Education
Chad Smith earned his Bachelors of Arts in Education from the University of Georgia in 1973, his Masters of Business Administration degree in Public Administration from the University of Wisconsin in 1975, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Tulsa in 1980. Early in life, Smith served as an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America in Nashville, Tennessee.
Family
Smith is married to Bobbie Gail Scott Smith, a full blood Cherokee from the Rocky Mountain community of Adair County, Oklahoma. Bobbie Gail, chosen as Miss Cherokee in 1975, is the daughter of the late Lincoln and Martha Scott. She has taken a leadership role in culture and language preservation. The Smiths have three children, Kiah, Chris, and Anaweg. Smith also has three children from a previous marriage.
Professional Life
Prior to his service as Principal Chief, Smith taught Indian law for at Dartmouth College, Northeastern State University, and Rogers State University.
From 1979 to 1980, Smith served a consultant in Indian Law and Tribal Management to the Cherokee Nation’s Tribal Operations. He then served as Assistance District Attorney in Creek County, Oklahoma. In two separate occasions, Smith served as the Estate Tax Attorney of the United States Department of Treasury, from 1980 to 1982 and from 1987 to 1989. From 1989 to 1995 and from 1997-1999, he operated his private law practice out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, representing clients in civil right litigation and appeals, criminal defense, and general civil litigation, with a focus on Indian law. Smith served as an Assistant Public Defender and served as council to economically deprived defendants in the District Court of Tulsa County.
Political career
Chief Smith is serving in his third term as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. The Principal Chief is the head of the executive branch of the tribal government. The position is responsible for the execution of the laws of the Cherokee Nation, establishment of tribal policy and delegation of authority as necessary for the day-to-day operations.[2] Before his election to this position, Smith served under two Cherokee Nation Chiefs as Director of Tribal Planning, Legal Historian, Attorney, Cherokee Nation Prosecutor, Director of Justice and adviser to the tribal tax commission.
Smith was elected into office after the Byrd Administration in 1999, running against eight other candidates. During his first term, Hastings Shade, a Cherokee traditionalist, language teacher, artist, and author, served as Deputy Chief.
Smith was re-elected to subsequent terms in 2003 and 2007, with Joe Grayson, a bilingual, full-blood community organizer and veteran, serving as Deputy Chief.
During his tenure as Principal Chief, Smith has focused on three stated initiatives: economic-self-reliance for the tribe, Cherokee language and cultural revitalization, and community development in Northeastern Oklahoma. He has also popularized the term ‘’gadugi,’’ which in Cherokee refers to the spontaneous work crews that communities formed as needs arose, but has evolved to mean coming together to work for the good of all Cherokees.
The modern Cherokee Nation has experienced steady economic growth. During Chad Smith's tenure, agricultural growth, and business, corporate, real estate expansion occurred, including numerous casino operations. The Cherokee Nation now controls Cherokee Nation Enterprises, a gaming and hospitality company with several thousand employees in Eastern Oklahoma, as well as Cherokee Nation Industries, a defense contractor. In addition, language immersion programs for Cherokee children and youth have been established.
Since 1992 the Nation has served as the lead for the Inter-Tribal Environmental Council.[3] The mission of ITEC is to protect the health of Native Americans, their natural resources, and their environment as it relates to air, land, and water. To accomplish this mission ITEC provides technical support, training and environmental services in a variety of environmental disciplines. There are thirty-nine (39) ITEC member tribes in Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas.
Quote
"The Cherokee people have a rich history of rising above all forms of adversity and if each of us would respect and serve our nation with integrity and honor, we will continue to prevail."[4]
Controversy
Smith's administration is not without controversy, with the largest on-going litigation regarding Smith's encouragement for the ouster of the Cherokee Freedmen. After the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court ruled that the Freedmen were unjustly kept from enrollment for over twenty years, Smith tried to call a special election as the Principal Chief but did not have the power based on the Cherokee constitution. Smith feared retaliation from the Freedmen Cherokee for his work to keep them excluded from enrollment during his career working for the Cherokee Nation. Subsequently Smith called for a petition that was circulated by his close political allies which was ratified, and culminating in an ouster of the Freedmen. Currenlty the case is on-going. Smith appealed and cited sovereign immunity, and the Appeals Court ruled that the Cherokee Nation could not be sued. The Court also ruled tha officers of the Cherokee Nation could be sued, including Smith, for working outside the boundaries of their office by violating the treaty of 1866, and the 13th amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The case is currently in Federal district court.[5]
Smith recently filed a similar case in federal court in Denver against individual Freedmen descendents. The Freedmen Attorney stated that Smith is "venue shopping" while the Vann court case is still on-going, as is another similar case filed in Cherokee Nation court.[6]
Smith is currently under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the FBI due to his dealings with GEG through Cherokee Nation Enterprises. The investigation is on-going, and he is represented personally by the Attorney General for the Cherokee Nation, Ms. Diane Hammonds. Allegations include the misuse of federal loan monies, and backdating. [7]
References
- ^ Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma Election Commission. Cherokee Nation General Election Results, June 23, 2007.
- ^ "Executive Branch". Cherokee Nation official site. Retrieved 2006-09-08.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "ITEC History". Inter-Tribal Environmental Council. Retrieved 2006-09-08.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Chavez, Will. "Cooweescoowee Association Grows, seeks new members." Cherokee Phoenix. (April 2004):5.
- ^ Sadler, Aron. "Cherokee Freedmen claim legal victory" The Morning News. (July 2008):6.
- ^ Chavez, Will. "CN Files Freedmen Lawsuit in U.S. District Court" Cherokee Phoenix. (March 2009):7.
- ^ Hales, Donna. "Tribal Business CFO Resigns" Muskogee Phoenix. (Aug 15, 2006): http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/local/local_story_228002309.html