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Students from Dahlonageh watch as their animated Cherokee language video, “How the Red Bird Got It’s Color”, is played for the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council at the Council meeting.

TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA — The Cherokee Nation took time to honor one of its fallen leaders during Monday night’s Tribal Council meeting as the Principal Chief, Deputy Chief and the Tribal Council paused to remember Harold “Jiggs” Phillips, who passed away earlier this month.

At the first meeting without Phillips, fellow Council member Johnny Keener opened with an emotional prayer. Principal Chief Chad Smith honored Phillips during his State of the Nation address, and by placing a basket full of flowers at his spot at the Council table.

“There’s one handshake I miss tonight,” Smith said, after circling the room, greeting each Council member. “Jiggs was an example of what great leadership really is.”

During the meeting, the Tribal Council voted to override two vetoes by Principal Chief Smith, concerning advisory boards for Cherokee Nation Enterprises and the Housing Authority of the Cherokee Nation.

“We agree that the Council should participate, in an advisory capacity, in the meetings of these groups,” Smith said. “But we disagree on the process.”

Smith had vetoed the legislation, citing Constitutional issues. The Council voted to override the vetoes and deal with the Constitutional problems with future legislation.

“I will send this back to Rules Committee to offer the amendments we need,” said Barbara Starr-Scott, a Cherokee Nation Tribal Council Member.

The Council also passed an act which would make the Board of Education of Sequoyah High School a controlling board rather than an advisory board, despite a letter signed by all five school board members saying they preferred things stay the way they are.

“We believe the proposed legislation would be detrimental to the operation of Sequoyah High School,” the board members wrote in their letter.

Smith says the law could place SHS’s funding, which comes from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, in jeopardy.

“The Constitution says that the executive branch is the only branch that can execute contracts on behalf of the Cherokee Nation,” Smith said. “A truly independent board would not be able to contract with the BIA for the funding currently provided to Sequoyah.”

Smith noted that since enrollment and SHS students are achieving more academically and athletically than ever before, that it made little sense to consider changing the structure of the school.

“If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” Smith said, before the Council voted 10-3 to do just that.

The Council also approved the Cherokee Nation Language Preservation Plan and appropriated $8,000 to buy wood stoves for elderly citizens this winter.

The Council also recognized the 6th and 7th grade students at Dahlonageh Public Schools who completed a claymation video telling a traditional Cherokee story “How the Redbird Got It’s Color,” in Cherokee. The children presented a video to the Council, Deputy Chief Hastings Shade and the Tribal Council.

“I’ve taught at an Ivy League school, but I’ve never had students better than these kids,” said Joseph Erb, a Cherokee animator who helped the kids from Dahlonageh with their project.

The meeting was recessed until November 21 at 5 p.m.