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News from the Cherokee Nation, OK
Copyright © 2005 CNO
TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA – The Cherokee Nation honored several employees who returned from Iraq at the March council meeting.
Shawnna Eubanks and Anthony Tiger hold their blue star service flags as Jon Ketcher talks about the Cherokee Nation flag he took with him to Iraq. The three received a standing ovation from the crowded Cherokee Nation Tribal Council meeting, where Chief Chad Smith honored them for their military service. 
Principal Chief Chad Smith, Deputy Chief Joe Grayson and members of the council presented the employees with the blue star flags that have been hanging at the tribal complex while they have been serving overseas.
"For more than a year, we've had these flags hanging in our lobby, a blue star flag for each of our employees who has been called up to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan," Smith said. "We've been waiting for this moment a long time, when we can give them their flags back and welcome them home safely."
One of the employees, Jon Ketcher, who works for the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service, presented the chief with a Cherokee Nation flag he took with him to Iraq.
"This flag stayed with me entire time I was in Iraq," Ketcher said. "It's still got Iraqi dirt on it. Every helicopter I got aboard, every truck I was on, I had this flag with me, and I'm proud to present it to the chief and the Cherokee Nation."
Shawnna Eubanks, with the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service, also attended.
"It's good to be home," she said. "Thanks for all the support."
Eubanks, Ketcher and Cherokee Nation Enterprises employee Anthony Tiger received a standing ovation from an overflow crowd for their service.
The Cherokee Nation also honored five brothers for their military service, which stretched from the 1950s until 2004. The Welch brothers, Key, Noah, Charley, Spade and Jimmy, received wooden Cherokee Nation seals and a standing ovation from the audience in appreciation of their patriotism and military service.
The Council also took the time to honor the Sequoyah High School (SHS) girls' basketball team, which won the state tournament over the weekend.
"Sequoyah is a laboratory for leadership and these young women are great ambassadors for the Cherokee Nation and Sequoyah, displaying great sportsmanship and class on and off the court," Smith said.
In other news, the council confirmed Buel Anglen, who represents Tulsa and Washington counties and Don Garvin, who represents Wagoner, Muskogee and McIntosh counties as members of the Tribal Council's Language, History and Culture committee and added Garvin and Jackie Bob Martin, who represents Adair County as members of the Council's employment committee.
The council also confirmed Jeff Limore as a member of the Sequoyah High School board of education and Adolph Lechtenberger as a member of the Cherokee Nation Businesses board of directors.
The council unanimously passed a budget amendment, authorized several grant resolutions, voted to intervene in a federal lawsuit related to the 2003 election, and approved payment to a law firm involved in the Arkansas Riverbed settlement.
| Related Cherokee Nation contact information: |
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Mike Miller, Cherokee Nation Director of Communications Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2210) Fax: 918-458-5580 E-mail: Communications@cherokee.org
Larry Daugherty, Advertising Manager |
Steven Swogger, Agriculture Liaison Natural Resources Department Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2546) FAX: 918-458-7673 E-mail: sswogger@cherokee.org
Bradley D. Peak, Cherokee Nation |