BIA recommends removal of oversight

Phoenix Staff Reports

July 21, 2007 01:31 am

— TAHLEQUAH — The regional office of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs has recommended approval of the removal of agency oversight over the Cherokee Nation’s constitution and amendments, according to a tribal media release.
A letter from BIA Regional Director Jeanette Hanna to Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith stated that the Region “… has recommended approval of the vote on removal of Secretarial oversight.”
“By removing the BIA from the process we have made our government stronger,” Smith said in the media release.
In the tribe’s recent general election, voters re-affirmed to remove BIA oversight from the tribe’s constitutional issues. The results affirmed a constitutional amendment approved by Cherokee voters in 2003, according to the tribe.