By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
A long-time legislator with the Tribal Council of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) has passed away. Virginia Lee “Tommye” Bradley Saunooke, who served as a Tribal Council Representative for the Painttown Community since October 1999, died at the age of 82 on Oct. 9, 2022 in the Cherokee Indian Hospital. Funeral services were held for Saunooke at the Chief Joyce Dugan Cultural Arts Center on Friday, Oct. 13, and she was buried the same day at the Campground Cemetery in Whittier.
Rep. Tommye Saunooke, left, receives The Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award from Steve Metcalf during an event at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort on the morning of Monday, March 12, 2018. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photo)
“Tommye loved her job as Painttown Council member,” Principal Chief Richard G. Sneed told the One Feather. “She loved being able to help the citizens of the Tribe, and she genuinely cared about our people and wanted to see them succeed. Thank you, Tommye, for sharing your life with us. Thank you to the family for sharing her with the rest of us. Thank you for being a lady, a leader, a mom, and friend.”
Vice Chief Alan B. Ensley served on Tribal Council with Councilwoman Saunooke for years. “Tommye came to Tribal Council in 1999. I was still a fairly new Council member. Tommye loved her Painttown Community and never failed to remind everybody of that. We sponsored many pieces of legislation together and watched the Tribe grow in our 23 years serving together.”
He added, “Time passed, Tommye became so much more to me and my family that just a fellow Council member. She became a dear friend, a second mother figure. She loved me and wasn’t ashamed to tell whoever asked her. Her kids joke that I’m her favorite. I loved Miss Tommye the same way. She guided me, listened to me, scolded me when I needed it. She loved my family like her own – just like a loving mom would do. I know she meant a lot of things to a lot of people.”
Vice Chief Ensley spoke of her legacy, “She will always be very special to me, and the things I learned from her won’t be forgotten. She will be missed by the Eastern Band. It will never be the same looking at her Council chair with her not in it.”
Over the years, Saunooke became known as the person on Tribal Council to issue the bi-annual announcement of the Tribe’s per capita distribution amount. Twice a year, she would bring the news to tribal members.
One of her favorite sayings was that “Council controls the purse strings” of the Tribe. She took that seriously and frequently questioned spending over the years; always wanting to see a full plan for any monies spent by the Tribe.
Education was always a big part of Rep. Saunooke’s life. After graduating from Sylva High School in 1957, she went on to earn an Associate of Arts Degree from Brevard College in 1959. In the mid-90s, she went back to school and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Western Carolina University (WCU) in 1996. Councilwoman Saunooke followed that up with a Master of Science Degree from WCU in 2006.
WCU Chancellor Kelli Brown said, “We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Cherokee Tribal Council Rep. Tommye Saunooke. In addition to being an engaged and valued Western Carolina University Board of Trustees member from 2009-13, she received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from WCU. She was an instrumental part of the Catamount Community serving on various committees, including a chancellor search committee while also serving during a time of significant enrollment and housing increases on campus.”
Chancellor Brown added, “She led a life of service, and her passion for helping others extended far beyond the Qualla Boundary. She was a passionate advocate for WCU and for the EBCI during her time on the Board. She will be a greatly missed member of the Catamount community. We send our deepest condolences to her family and friends and to our neighbors in Cherokee.”
In March 2018, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper bestowed the honor upon Rep. Saunooke of being a member of The Order of the Long Leaf Pine. Steve Metcalf, who worked with her on the WCU Board of Trustees, presented the award.
During the award ceremony, Metcalf read the criteria from The Order of the Long Leaf Pine Society which states, “It is awarded to persons for exemplary service to the State of North Carolina and their communities that is above and beyond the call of duty and which has made a significant impact and strengthened North Carolina.”
Metcalf added, “By every measure, by that definition, Tommye Saunooke meets the criteria.”
