By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
CHEROKEE, N.C. – Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) has approved the establishment of a Governmental Affairs Department for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI). During its regular session on Thursday, Nov. 5, Dinilawigi approved Res. No. 341 (2026) establishing that Department.
The legislation, submitted by Dinilawigi as a whole, states, “The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians should have a Governmental Affairs Department that coordinates activities to interact with local, state, and government officials and influence policy, and a Governmental Affairs Department would help the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians anticipate legislation, respond to regulatory proposals, and participate in the policy dialogue.”
It continues, “The Executive Branch has existing Public Relations positions, and the Legislative Public Relations specialist position, which is supervised by the Tribal Council chairperson, is currently a duplication of services; and reclassifying and moving this position is needed for tracking proposed laws, regulations, and administrative actions that could impact operations, conducting risk assessment, impact modeling, and scenario planning to guide strategic decisions as well as communicating positions to lawmakers and agency officials.”
An organization chart was approved with Res. No. 341 with the Governmental Affairs Department reporting to the EBCI Chief of Staff. That Department will consist of three employees including a governmental affairs liaison who will oversee a policy analyst and the currently-named Legislative public relations specialist.
The legislation was approved 8-1 with Kolanvyi (Big Cove) Rep. Venita Wolfe being the lone dissenting vote. Wayohi (Wolftown) Rep. Bo Crowe was absent due to surgery, and Tutiyi nole Tsalagi Gadugi (Snowbird and Cherokee County) Reps. Adam Wachacha and Michael Smoker were absent due to a cultural event in Robbinsville, N.C.
During the Orders of the Day portion of the session. Rep. Wolfe stated her desire that the resolution be killed stating, “This is a day-to-day issue of day-to-day operations. According to our Charter, the Principal Chief and Vice Chief are the ones who hold that power to reassign our workforce and also to create a new org chart. They are over the administration of the day-to-day operations of the Tribe. If you look at the Charter in Section 23, it clearly outlines what our duties are as legislators which is not over day-to-day.”
We took the oath to uphold, defend, and protect our Charter and Governing Document, and I believe that this is an overstep by Tribal Council.”
Once it was brought to the floor, discussion on the resolution began with a closed session which lasted more than an hour.
Rep. Wolfe reiterated her opposition after Dinilawigi came out of the closed session.
Kolanvyi Rep. Lavita Hill supported the resolution stating, “What we are doing is we’re basically revising the job description to better suit the job that is being done.”
Tosh Welch, current Legislative public relations specialist, noted just prior to the passage of the resolution, “I just want to say thank you to Tribal Council for having this discussion on this issue…it can get a little heated back-and-forth, and I think that comes from a lack of communication.”
He added, “If there needs to be discussion down the road about job description and the structure of that office and how legislative is reflected in that office, then I’m completely open and in agreement with that.”
