Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks and EBCI First Lady Marsha Hicks (Photo by Sheyahshe Littledave, Public Information Officer for the Office of the Principal Chief)
By BROOKLYN BROWN
One Feather Reporter
CHEROKEE, N.C. – The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks is now a little over a year into his fourth term. Ugvwiyuhi Hicks and EBCI First Lady Marsha Hicks sat down with the One Feather to reflect on this first year in office and look forward at the overarching goals of the administration.
Both Ugvwiyuhi Hicks and First Lady Hicks emphasized current efforts in Cherokee language revitalization as a highlight of the year. “Where we’re at as a community with the evolving language initiative, if you just think about KPEP [Kituwah Preservation Education Program] and where that started with the nine kids over at Head Start years ago who just graduated here recently,
and to see where it’s evolved to, it’s really amazing,” Ugvwiyuhi Hicks said.
“The tribe is continuing to fuel that energy with 21 new positions that were just approved here by the Tribal Council a little over a month ago.”
Ugvwiyuhi Hicks also highlighted Bo Taylor’s recent recitation of the late Beloved Man Jerry Wolfe’s prayer at the Tsali Care Center ribbon cutting ceremony as emblematic of how he wants to progress as a tribe. “When you think about the prayers and the recent events that we’ve seen, and I’m going to pick out Jerry Wolfe, and part of his prayer was just very unique in regard to how he did it, but it was always about sustaining and wanting the best for our kids as we move forward as a tribe and knowing that we’re making good decisions from that perspective.”
He cited EBCI recovery efforts during the recent tragedy of Hurricane Helene as representative of the Cherokee core values he wants the tribe to continue to practice moving forward. “Another highlight of this year for me is simply seeing how hard the community works for the people of this community. You can take the recent flood as an example. There was so much effort put into it and people were so willing to help.”
First Lady Hicks echoed the Cherokee core values and community togetherness of the past year. “This past year has just felt different, and I don’t think anybody can really relate to what that means other than us having been in this position before and then being back in it now. That was 20 years ago now, and we’ve both grown a lot as individuals since then. It’s hard to put into words because it truly is a feeling for me personally,” she said.
“People reach out to me all the time. It’s really rewarding for me, and it means a lot to me to feel like people have confidence that they can come to me personally for help, even though I’m not a tribal employee or an elected official. I can help them get to the services that they need or the help they need for their families or their kids.”
First Lady Hicks wants the community to know that her position in the administration is one of service, “You should only be in these positions because it’s a position of service. For God to have put me in this position, it’s an honor and it’s something that I’ve always tried to carry myself in that manner and not take for granted.”
In governmental accomplishments, Ugvwiyuhi Hicks is pleased with the progress made in addressing the issues present at the beginning of the year in the Family Safety program.
“If you look at just the number of foster homes and how that’s grown over the last several months, that makes you proud. But bigger than that, we have an experienced Secretary [of Public Health and Human Services] in Sonya Wachacha. We had to make some hard decisions around how things were being managed. We’ve got the board of directors created, we’ve got the subcommittees created, and, so, it was not easy work to get there, but it is somewhat settled now. It’s not perfect, but people are starting to trust it again and have confidence again. I think we’ve made a lot of progress.”
Budgetary concerns were also a major issue for Ugvwiyuhi Hicks heading into the first year. “I knew we had to address the debt concerns as I got a better understanding of what the cash position of the tribe was. And again, it was a struggle. How do we come in and create a plan that solidifies and levels these things?”
“Figuring out the fiscal side, we are sitting on $184 million worth of debt, and interest is significant. How do we rebalance those things to where instead of paying 12 million in interest costs, we’re now shifting that to 12 million in education or health or language, et cetera.”
Ugvwiyuhi Hicks was also invested in addressing tribal employment and hiring practices entering the administration. “If you look at just the overall 1,200 or so employees that the tribe has, how do we get more tribal members in employment pathways? Do we adjust job descriptions that absolutely require certain things and maybe, for the position, really, it’s not necessary? So, those adjustments have been made to give more employment opportunities,” he said.
“I think the initiative with T.E.R.O. [Tribal Employment Rights Office] and Human Resources around internships has been very successful. We’re struggling to get folks in some of these critical EMS slots, police slots, emergency management, just overall emergency services. Are we working hard enough in the schools to address that? I don’t think we are. How do we tie that need into these internships, which could be a small avenue to help us to start getting more tribal members in these positions.”
“The tribal member employment was about 71 percent coming in. We’ve got it up to over 75 percent. Now, four percent doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you calculate that over 1,200 people, that’s a lot of tribal members that we are trying to find ways to get our folks in the system. And there’s still struggles, like environmental sciences; we struggle with getting folks to test water or to do those things around the environment, and we just aren’t seeing many of our people go into those areas. So, how do we fix these kinds of things? That’s what’s on my plate.”
First Lady Hicks believes education is an avenue for increasing tribal employment, especially in areas like environmental science or emergency services, and she is quickly addressing a recent hardship in education for the EBCI. Appalachian State University’s Gadugi Partnership with Cherokee Central Schools through Director Dr. J. Allen Bryant was dissolved. The partnership, which began in 2013, developed a curriculum for Cherokee High School students to take up to three college-level courses with Dr. Bryant to increase EBCI college readiness and enrollment. First Lady Hicks is concerned for her child, who is a student in Dr. Bryant’s courses, and other students who will be stripped of this direct pathway for education. “Just to all of a sudden not offer this is unacceptable. How can we make sure that our kids are provided the same opportunity?”
First Lady Hicks advocated successfully for Dr. Bryant to continue teaching in the Spring semester, and then the future of the program may move forward at either Southwestern Community College or Western Carolina University.
“There’s so much power in knowledge that nobody can take away from you. I’m really passionate that there’s no reason that if going to college is what you want to do, that anything should get in the way of that happening,” she said.
Looking forward in the administration, Ugvwiyuhi Hicks wants to enhance the tribe’s strategic plan and capital plan. “I think one of the things that we were able to accomplish this year was we’ve got a pretty sound strategic plan in place. The secretary group works hard to make sure that we’re gathering community input, we’re gathering input from the managers, supervisory level, et cetera. We want to continue to tweak that process,” he said.
“Having that defined strategy, which aligns with our Cherokee values, is critical. In addition, it is critical to have a formalized capital plan. So, back in 2018, the administration did an overall pretty good job of saying, ‘Okay, here’s the projects we want.’ The problem is that the capital plan was created, but there was lack of follow-up over the next several years. And so, things got out of balance.”
“Now, we’ve got a renewed capital plan. So, here’s the infrastructure projects we want to do. Mingo Falls, Soco Falls, the campground by Old Hungry Bear, the old high school. There’s a lot of things you’re getting ready to see come out of the ground that are now aligned. They’re not only talked about in a capital plan, but there’s funding set aside as long as things hold with the resources we have. So those are, I think, big plays as we move forward.”
“We will continue to focus on the tribal entities that we created, the for-profit, whether it’s Qualla, whether it’s EBCI holdings, TCGE [Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise] to make sure that we’re maximizing resources when the tribe makes an investment.”
“I said this coming into the election, if I invest a dollar, I expect a certain return on my dollar. Now, if we’re not achieving that expected return, we’ve got to evaluate and maybe, it’s not the right investment.”
Ugvwiyuhi Hicks also sees the need to fight moving forward regarding state and federal recognition issues in D.C.
“It’s a battle. We’re in a war right now, unfortunately. We’re in a war with Thom Tillis, but we’re going to win. We’re going to come out on top. I was recently put on the administrative team for the new governor coming in [Josh Stein]. That’s a relationship that we’ve created over the last several months. I’ve met with him four times during this political process. You have to be at the table to have a conversation,” he said.
“People don’t realize how many millions of dollars state recognized groups are getting out of the federal system. And all it’s doing is taking away from federally recognized tribes. It’s a national problem. The definition of a tribe and sovereignty is being skewed, and it’s not good for federally recognized tribes. That’s where the fight is. We have to protect it.”
As 2024 wraps up and the EBCI heads into the New Year, Ugvwiyuhi Hicks and First Lady Hicks shared their New Year’s resolutions:
“I want to continue to be somebody that people feel that they can come to get the help that they need,” First Lady Hicks shared.
“If I had to set a New Year’s resolution, it would be just work hard for the right reasons, which in this position, is to work for the people,” Ugvwiyuhi Hicks said.
