By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
CHEROKEE, N.C. – The One Feather will now provide regular legislative updates on various pieces of legislation of the Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI). The focus will be on ordinances that change Cherokee Code, but sometimes resolutions of importance to the operation of the tribal government will also be included. The legislation is shown in the order in which they were introduced following the new ones for the week.
New Ordinances
Ord. No. 107 (2026) – This ordinance seeks to amend several portions of Cherokee Code regarding the filing and publishing of ethics reports generated by the EBCI Office of Internal Audit and Ethics.
The whereas section of the legislation states, “These laws were written broadly and, in their current form, sometimes allow a person to file a complaint based on allegations that are false or cannot be substantiated; and these laws have resulted in the publication of reports even when the Office of Internal Audit and Ethics has found that the person against whom the complaint was made did not violate the Code of Ethics, and the publication causes unfair and damaging publicity for the person who did no wrong.”
Following are some of the changes sought in this ordinance:
- Amend Cherokee Code Sec. 96-6(a) to change the time “any covered employee who believes that he or she has been subject to prohibited discrimination found in Cherokee Code Section 96-5” from 180 calendar days to 30 calendar days.
- Amend Cherokee Code Sec. 117-45.1(a)(1) regarding the definition of “Tribal Official” as it relates to appointed positions.
- Amend Cherokee Code Sec. 117-45.3(k) regarding reporting of gifts and donations by tribal officials. Right now, the Code reads, “Tribal officials shall report to the Office of Internal Audit and Ethics, in accordance with that office’s rules of procedure, any gift, donation, or contribution received or provided by the tribal official.” The ordinance seeks to amend that line to insert “in excess of $200 in value” after the word contribution.
- Amend several parts of Cherokee Code Sec. 117-107 regarding reports from both audits and investigations adding that the reports where a violation was found would be distributed. It also seeks to eliminate most of Sec. 117-107(c) regarding the handling of the reports and submission of them to the One Feather for publishing. First off, that subsection would be renamed from Public records to Referral for prosecution. Three entire subsections would be deleted regarding the reports being sent to the Office of the Attorney General for any redactions and then sent to the One Feather for publication. Those processes would be amended, and Sec. 117-107(c) would simply read, “Completed the final audit reports and investigative reports issued by the Office of Internal Audit and Ethics which conclude a violation of the Code of Ethics occurred shall be forward to the Tribal Prosecutor for potential criminal investigation and prosecution.”
Introduced: This ordinance, submitted by EBCI Attorney General Michael McConnell, was deemed read and tabled during the Dinilawigi session on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.
Action: There is no action on this ordinance yet.
Ord. No. 108 (2026) – This ordinance, which has been deemed the William Thomas “Dooley” Saunooke law, would amend Cherokee Code Sec. 113-4 to codify the actions of fishing guides and add an entire section under Sec. 113-4 entitled Fishing guides. That section sets up a licensing process for fishing guides which is defined in the proposed ordinance “as someone who provides knowledge, instruction, or assistance to an angler during a fishing trip for payment or other renumeration from or on behalf of the angler. This term does not include fishing instructors acting on behalf of Cherokee Central Schools or the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.”
Introduced: This ordinance, submitted by Dinilawigi Gahvsgi (Tribal Council Chairman) Jim Owle and Tsisqwohi (Birdtown) Rep. Boyd Owle, was deemed read and tabled during the Dinilawigi session on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.
Action: There is no action on this ordinance yet.
Ord. No. 110 (2026) – This ordinance seeks to amend Cherokee Code Chapter 40 (Eminent Domain) regarding condemnation of land for public purpose, compensation of land holder, and determination of land value.
One part of this ordinance seeks to amend Cherokee Code Sec. 40-1 which now reads, “The Tribe shall have power to condemn land within the Cherokee Indian Reservation whenever such land is deemed by the Tribal Council to be necessary for a public purpose. The exercise of eminent domain shall be initiated by the Tribal Council passing a resolution identifying the land to be taken for a public purpose, the possessory holder and leasehold tenants and the purpose for which the land will be used.”
The ordinance seeks to add the following sentence to the end of the above section, “Eminent domain shall also include inverse condemnation of a possessory holding that may have occurred by any action of the Tribe that restricts, hinders, or otherwise interferes with a possessory holder’s access to or use of a possessory holding.”
Introduced: This ordinance, submitted by Robert Osley Saunooke, was deemed read and tabled during the Dinilawigi regular session on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.
Action: There is no action on this ordinance yet.
Ord. No. 111 (2026) – This ordinance seeks to amend Cherokee Code Chapter 1 (Civil Procedure).
The whereas section states, “Tribal Council has the power and authority to amend the laws of the Tribe to provide a means for recovering damages for the negligent actions of the Tribe, its agents and employees; and since the Supreme Court decision in Campos (Cherokee Supreme Court, Campos vs Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, August 2024), the Tribe has continued to maintain and pay for insurance policies to cover negligent actions of the Tribe, its agents and employees, even though said policies are now invalidated by the Supreme Court decision; and the Tribe has continually maintained and promoted the responsibility for covering damages arising from the negligent and bad actions of the Tribe, its agents and employees, and there is now no mechanism in place that would prevent innocent victims of negligent or bad actions of the Tribe.”
Introduced: This ordinance, submitted by Robert Osley Saunooke, was deemed read and tabled during the Dinilawigi regular session on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.
Action: There is no action on this ordinance yet.
Ord. No. 112 (2026) – This ordinance seeks to amend Cherokee Code Chapter 117 “to provide for the distribution of certain revenues from Qualla Enterprises, LLC to the Tribe and and tribal members”.
The whereas section of this ordinance states in part, “In Res. No. 576 (2025), the Tribe and Qualla Enterprises agreed to reshape their financial relationship, in part to provide that a portion of Qualla Enterprises’ net revenue should be paid to the Tribe for distributions to tribal members; and Qualla Enterprises has sufficient revenue to support making distributions to tribal members.”
This ordinance seeks to add Article VIII to the Cherokee Code entitled Cannabis Revenue Allocation Plan. The proposed changes are outlined in Sec. 17-100 (Purpose) which states in subsection (a), “The purpose of this article is to provide a system by which certain revenues distributed by a Qualified Cannabis Company to the Tribe may, in turn, be distributed by the Tribe to its enrolled members. This article provides parameters for such distributions so that the distributions may be made as per capita or general welfare (GenWell) distributions, in a manner similar to how the Tribe distributes revenues to enrolled members under Cherokee Code Chapter 16C…”
Proposed Sec. 17-106 (Distribution to members) states in subsection (a), “Semi-annual distribution. Distributions of cannabis revenues provided to the Tribe by a Qualified Cannabis Company shall be made two times each year to all competent adult members eligible for the distribution as set forth in this Article. Likewise, an appropriate share shall be set aside twice each year in the Cannabis Trust Fund on behalf of minor and incompetent enrolled members.”
Introduced: This ordinance, submitted by Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks, was deemed read and tabled during the Dinilawigi session on Thursday, Feb. 5.
Action: There is no action on this ordinance yet.
Legislation we’re currently watching
Ord. No. 6 (2025). This ordinance seeks to amend Chapter 7 (Judicial Code) of the Cherokee Code. The whereas section states that section “should be amended to clarify and add provisions controlling matters such as the structure and operation of the courts, the roles and powers of the judicial officers, and the procedures ensuring independent and impartial judicial officers”.
Introduced: This ordinance, submitted by Cherokee Chief Justice Bradley Letts, was deemed read and tabled during Annual Dinilawigi on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025.
Action: A work session was held on this ordinance on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. This ordinance was re-tabled during the Dinilawigi session on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. This ordinance was re-tabled during the Dinilawigi session on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. This ordinance was re-tabled during the Dinilawigi session on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. A work session is planned for Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 1 p.m.
Ord. No. 11 (2025). This ordinance seeks to amend Chapter 113G of the Cherokee Code regarding underground storage tanks. The whereas section states, “Regulation of USTs (underground storage tanks) is an important topic because they often serve as holding containers for gasoline and petroleum products, which can cause environmental damage if leaked into the ground or into a water source; and updating regulation is also important because doing so is needed to maintain the Tribe’s Memorandum of Agreement with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through which UST owners and operators have access to North Carolina’s Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund.”
Introduced: This ordinance, submitted by Michael LaVoie on behalf of the EBCI Natural Resources Dept., was deemed read and tabled during Annual Dinilawigi on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025.
Action: A work session was held on this ordinance on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. This ordinance was re-tabled during the Dinilawigi session on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. This ordinance was re-tabled during the DInilawigi session on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. This ordinance was re-tabled during the Dinilawigi session on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.
