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TAHLEQUAH, OK - The Cherokee Nation Tribal Council approved five resolutions in a short meeting highlighted by the return of Council member Don Crittenden, who had been hospitalized with a stroke last month.

Council member Charles "Chuck" Hoskin formally welcomed Crittenden back just before the Council recessed the meeting. The Council will reconvene with the intention of passing a budget before the new fiscal year begins on October 1.

The Council approved resolutions authorizing financial depositories for the Cherokee Nation, establishing the Cherokee Nation Warriors Memorial and hiring attorney James G. Wilcoxen to assist in tobacco compact negotiations with the State of Oklahoma.

The Council also amended the agenda to include two resolutions passed on from the Council's Resource Committee. The resolutions allow for the negotiation of leases for tribal land and granted a right-of-way over tribal trust lands in Adair County as part of a road project.

All motions passed unanimously.

Council members said the meeting would reconvene after budget hearings, which have been going on over the past two weeks, are concluded. Budget hearings are open to the public and resume today.

The next Tribal Council meeting is scheduled for October 14, at 6:00 p.m., at the W.W. Keeler Tribal Complex.