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Principal Chief Chad Smith, center, hands out awards to the Sequoyah girls basketball team, which advanced to the state tournament for the third year in a row. Sequoyah players Candice Carey and Tara Petit are in the foreground.

TAHLEQUAH, OK - The Cherokee Nation Tribal Council passed a law prescribing how they plan to fill vacancies on the Council during an emotion-filled March meeting.

The act passed by the Council will address the current vacancy created by the death of District Eight Council member Dorothy Jean McIntosh last October. The measure calls for citizens to submit resumes qualification information to the Cherokee Nation Election Commission. The commission will pass on qualified candidates to a public meeting of the Cherokee Nation Rules Committee, during which all candidates will be considered and voted on. The committee then sends one or more candidates to a full Council vote for a final decision.

The Council meeting began on a sad note, as Principal Chief Chad Smith asked for a moment of silence for several prominent Cherokees and friends of the Cherokee Nation. Included in that list were Don Steele, a Cherokee Nation Tax Commission nominee, and J.B. Dreadfulwater, a well-known Cherokee vocalist.

"J.B. sang at my father’s funeral eleven years ago", Smith said. "He had a wonderful talent for helping hurting families heal. I hope we can help his family as much as he has helped so many of ours."

Smith also honored Jennifer Blackfox, the widow of Shelby Blackfox, a Cherokee Nation Marshal who was killed in a motorcycle accident in November.

"Shelby’s passing left a void in the Blackfox family, in our Marshal Service, in our community and in our nation", Smith said. "Tonight we honor a man who protected the Cherokee Nation until the day he died."

Smith also honored the boys and girls basketball teams from Sequoyah for advancing to the state basketball tournament.

"I saw both teams play several times, and what impressed me most was the way they played with integrity and sportsmanship, as well as their teamwork and skill", Smith said. "They are good representatives for Sequoyah High School."

In other news, the Council passed a notice of public hearing to investigate possible violations of law regarding a petition circulated in opposition to the Council’s pay increase.

The Council also authorized the submission of a request to the Indian Health Service to participate in a joint venture project for Muskogee, designated funds from Motor Fuels Tax Funds to be used on roads projects, approved a compact with the State of Oklahoma relating to automobile tags and approved impeachment procedures for elected officials.

The next Tribal Council meeting is set for April 15 at 6 p.m.