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Members of the Pine Tree Baptist Church in Sallisaw sing in Cherokee at the June Cherokee Nation Tribal Council Meeting. Principal Chief Chad Smith presented the church with the Cherokee Nation Ga Du Gi Award for helping preserve Cherokee language and culture.

TAHLEQUAH, OK - The Cherokee Nation Tribal Council unanimously passed a resolution during their June meeting authorizing Principal Chief Chad Smith to grant a temporary easement to the state of Oklahoma to continue work at the site of the I-40 bridge collapse in Webbers Falls. The Cherokee Nation owns the Arkansas Riverbed at the point of the bridge collapse.

"We have put aside legal considerations in the interest of serving the good of the entire community, state, and even nation that is affected by this tragedy", said Smith in his State of the Nation address to the council members and attendees.

The Cherokee Nation has made efforts to assist in rescue, recovery and clean up operations at the site of the tragedy since the day of the bridge collapse.

Smith also presented tribal members and employees with the quarterly Ga Du Gi Award for their outstanding efforts of working together in the Cherokee Nation. Honorees included Letecia Flynn and the Pine Tree Baptist Church in Sallisaw and Marie Wadley. Smith also honored members of the Cherokee Nation Payroll and Financial System Evaluation Teams.

Flynn, 14, typed out the lyrics to some of the songs on one of the Cherokee Children’s Choir CD’s and began teaching the songs to the members of the Pine Tree Baptist Church Youth Group. The youth group, now singing in Cherokee, has performed for their church and many other churches in the area.

"Through the efforts of people like Letecia and the Pine Tree Baptist Church, the Cherokee language and culture is reaching another generation", Smith said.

The Pine Tree Baptist Church Youth Group performed two songs in the Cherokee language for the council.

Wadley received the Ga Du Gi Award for her dedication and commitment to serving Native American people. Wadley was the executive secretary of the Cherokee Nation for 24 years and has spent more than 75 years of her life helping Indians in some capacity. Wadley was a co-founding board member of the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee and served as its first President. She served as editor of the museum’s newsletter until 1999.

The Cherokee Nation Payroll and Financial System Evaluation Team were honored for their efforts in working together to make the Cherokee Nation payroll and financial computer systems work better. Payroll team members are TJ Stand, Alana Casteel, Annette King, Treva Fields, and Sharon Walters. Financial System Evaluation Team members are Laura Trammel, Cindy Drake, Freda Ross, Rodney Sumner, Alana Casteel, Penny Norseworthy, Michael Lynn, Regina Christie, Rebecca Mitchell, Margaret Riney, and Melanie Knight.

In other news, the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council voted to establish a Cherokee Nation Color Guard and to grant funding for the Cedar Crest Bridge Project.

The next Cherokee Nation Tribal Council meeting will be held July 15 at 6:00 p.m. at the W.W. Keeler Complex in Tahlequah.