Ernest D. Pheasant Sr., 47, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday, April 3, 2025 for the 2013 murder of Marie Walkingstick Pheasant, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Section 117 Article II of the Cherokee Code of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) deals with the powers and authority of Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) as the Tribe’s Legislative Branch of government.

The name of the third-highest summit east of the Mississippi River was restored to its original name last fall, and now it is completely official – it has a sign.  A sign designating the area in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park known as Kuwohi (mulberry place) was officially unveiled in a ceremony on the morning of Tuesday, April 1. 

As the wind gently blew across the Cherokee Veterans Park, in Cherokee, N.C., on the overcast morning of Saturday, March 29, Warren Dupree’s voice rang out, “There are no noble wars.  There are only noble warriors.”

U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and John Curtis (R-Utah) introduced the Tribal Energy Fairness Act on Thursday, March 27, bipartisan legislation aimed at expanding Tribal access to federal energy programs by removing unnecessary barriers and making technical fixes.

N.C. State Fire Marshal Brian Taylor and the N.C. Forestry Service briefed Governor Josh Stein on Friday, March 28 at the Tryon Equestrian Center in Polk County on ongoing fire activities and response efforts, including the three largest wildfires burning in the county.

Qualla Enterprises, LLC, and Great Smoky Cannabis Company have announced an historic collaboration with the Cherokee Indian Police Department (CIPD) to establish a new K-9 program.

The 6th Annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relative Walk led by the Qualla Boundary MMIW (QBMMIW) grassroots organization is coming up on Saturday, May 3 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., beginning at the Storyteller’s Fire Pit of the Oconaluftee Island Park.