Clement Calhoun, an EBCI tribal member, pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court in Asheville, N.C., to federal charges for unlawfully trafficking in bear gall bladders, the Justice Department announced.

After several years of absence, the Little Miss Cherokee, Junior Miss Cherokee, and Teen Miss Cherokee pageants were included in the Cherokee Indian Fair in October.

Cherokee Tribal Court Report – week of Dec. 8

Defendants Danielle Victoria Bigwitch, 21, of Cherokee; Dwayne Mitchell Littlejohn, 30, of Cherokee; and Daniel Lee Reed, 35, of Sylva, were sentenced in U.S. District Court Friday, Dec. 4 for their roles in a murder which occurred on the Cherokee Indian Reservation on November 7, 2008.

Information from the National Institutes of Health states that American Indians are 200 percent more likely to die from diabetes than other groups. The Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 2009 was written to help combat that disparity.

Thirty-six talented young men and women pledged to become Beta Club members on Friday, Nov. 18 in the Cultural Arts Center of Cherokee Central Schools – the largest group of 8th grade Beta Club inductees ever for Cherokee Middle School.

The Oconaluftee Institute for Cultural Arts is gaining steam, and its students and instructors showed that spirit off last week as they hosted a Christmas Art Show on Wednesday, Dec. 2.

A federal bill of information has been filed charging Clyde L. Grubbs, 74, of Cincinnati, Ohio, with two criminal counts in connection with the August 19, 2009 motor vehicle accident.