Bruce Martin Jr., 51, owner of Long House Funeral Home in Cherokee, N.C., was indicted by a grand jury in Jackson County on Nov. 13, 2023, on six child sex offenses, including one count of statutory sexual offense with a child by an adult, four counts of indecent liberties with a child, and one count of statutory sexual offense with a person who is 15 or younger.

Billy Jack Hicks, 51, was indicted by a grand jury in Jackson County on Oct. 2, 2023, in the murder of his wife, Danielle Davina Brady-Hicks—an offense that occurred in October 2020. Hicks had a recent court appearance on Dec. 4 in Jackson County. The hearing was continued to Jan. 2, 2024.

Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel held a media tour of the $275 million construction site for the 25,000 square foot expanded gaming floor, 296-room hotel tower, and 1,500-space parking deck on the morning of Dec. 11.

The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) announced Friday, Dec. 8 that it will discontinue its development of the Darling 58 American Chestnut due to significant performance limitations that, from TACF’s perspective, make it unsuitable as a restoration tree. Likewise, TACF is also withdrawing its support for several pending regulatory petitions that would authorize distribution of transgenic Darling trees outside permitted research plots.

The Sacred Fire Courtyard, designed to look like a Cherokee Stomp Dance Ground, was dedicated at the Cherokee Indian Hospital on the afternoon of Friday, Dec. 8. 

The following is a transcript of U.S. President Biden’s remarks at the 2023 White House Tribal Nations Summit.

Jean Dennison, a citizen of the Osage Nation and an associate professor of American Indian Studies spoke to the EBCI (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) Constitution Committee on Monday, Nov. 27.

On the afternoon of Nov. 30, Victoria Cabrera-Davis, 17, was located by the Cherokee Indian Police Department (CIPD) after she had been missing since Nov. 16.