Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

TAHLEQUAH, OK - Principal Chief Chad Smith announced on Sunday that the Cherokee Nation will plant pine trees at Sequoyah High School, in memory of the four teenagers killed in an automobile accident near Fort Gibson on Friday night. The trees will be the foundation of a memorial garden at Sequoyah.

Two of the four Tahlequah area teenagers, killed in the automobile accident on Friday, August 3, 2001 attended Sequoyah High School and two were students of Tahlequah High School. Smokey Mankiller and Kyle Hutchinson Woolard, were students at Sequoyah High. Chad Craig and Erika Christie attended school at the Tahlequah High School.

Smokey Mankiller

Smokey Mankiller, former Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller's nephew, played basketball for Sequoyah High and played quarterback on the Sequoyah High Schools football team. All four students were just 16 years old.

The funeral services for Smokey Mankiller, Sequoyah High School student, will be held at 2:00 p.m. Monday at the SHS gym, with burial services to follow at New Echota Cemetery, and a dinner at Flint Rock Stomp Grounds. Services for, Kyle Hutchinson Woolard, fellow Sequoyah student, will be held on Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Keys Baptist Church.

The funeral services for Chad Craig, student of Tahlequah High School, are scheduled for Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. at Carter Church at Carter’s Landing. Services for Erika Christie, also a student of Tahlequah High, are scheduled for Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Hart Funeral Home in Tahlequah.

Erika Christie’s twin sister Marla remains in Saint Francis Hospital, Marla is being treated for leg and trunk injuries she sustained in the accident. Christie’s father works at Sequoyah and her mother works for Cherokee Nation Industries.

"Every place you turn in the Cherokee community there is sorrow", Principal Chief Smith said. "We should keep the families of each one of these children in our prayers and thoughts."

Smith canceled out-of-state travel plans in order to visit with the families, to prepare Sequoyah High School facilities for services and to organize counseling services for students, staff, employees and families. He will present a Cherokee Nation flag to the families of the students as an expression of sympathy and support by the Cherokee people.

"These children were well-respected leaders in our community and loved by many", Smith said. "It’s impossible to overstate how many Cherokee people are hurting and mourning with these families."

In an email to the Cherokee Nation's 1800 employees Smith wrote,

"It is in times such as this that we are forced to remember our priorities in life, what is important and what is not. We often get caught in the tangle foot and pettiness of daily life and forget the valuable things we have, such as our children, our health, our future and our ability to make things better for our family, friends and tribe.

"It is in times such as this that we cannot avoid realizing that we often do not give the time and effort to those things truly of value. Each one of these children who have us left so early had tremendous potential and had already touched many lives. Each will be missed and we will grieve at their passing.

"We can now only try to remember the lessons to hug our children, hold our families dear and close, support our friends and community, and enjoy those precious but few moments we have on this earth."