Chad Smith (politician)
Chadwick "Corntassel" Smith (Cherokee name Ugista:ᎤᎩᏍᏔ derived from Cherokee word for "Corntassel", Utsitsata:ᎤᏥᏣᏔ; born December 17, 1950, in Pontiac, Michigan)[1] is a Native American (Cherokee Nation) politician and attorney who served as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. He was first elected in 1999. Smith was re-elected to a second term as Chief in 2003 and a third term in June 2007 with 59% of the vote.[2] He was defeated in his attempt to get elected to a fourth term in office by Bill John Baker 54% to 46% in the 2011 election[3] and he lost again to Baker in 2015, receiving 28% of the vote.[4] Prior to being elected Principal Chief, he worked as a lawyer for the tribe and in private practice.
For other people named Chad Smith, see Chad Smith (disambiguation).
Chad Smith
Early life and education[edit]
Chad Smith was born in Pontiac, Michigan, where his father had gone for work. His parents were Nelson Smith, a Cherokee, and Pauline Smith, (western European ancestry).[1] He grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. As a boy, Smith achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts in Nashville.
He grew up with stories of his Cherokee ancestors. He is the great-grandson of Redbird Smith, a Cherokee Nation Senator and a traditionalist who founded the Nighthawk Keetoowah Society, a religious, cultural, and political organization dedicated to reviving the Cherokee way of life. Redbird Smith fought the allotment policy, under which the United States government took more than 7,000,000 acres (28,000 km²) of land from the Cherokee. Rachel Quinton, Chad Smith's grandmother, was a lifelong advocate for the Cherokee people and the treasurer for the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.
Smith received a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Georgia in 1973, a master's degree in public administration from the University of Wisconsin in 1975, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tulsa in 1980, and an MBA in Hospitality Management from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in 2008.[1][5]
Professional life[edit]
From 1979 to 1980, Smith served a consultant in Indian Law and Tribal Management to the Cherokee Nation's Tribal Operations. From 1982 to 1986, he served as Assistant District Attorney in Creek County, Oklahoma.[1] On two separate occasions, Smith served as the Estate Tax Attorney of the United States Department of Treasury, from 1980 to 1982 and from 1987 to 1989. He was a prosecutor for the Cherokee Nation during 1985–1995 (during the Wilma Mankiller administration).[1]
From 1989 to 1995 and from 1997 to 1999, he operated a private law practice out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, representing clients in civil rights litigation and appeals, criminal defense, and general civil litigation, with a focus on Indian law. Smith served as an Assistant Public Defender and served as counsel to economically deprived defendants in the District Court of Tulsa County.
Prior to his service as Principal Chief, Smith taught Indian law at Northeastern State University, Rogers State University, and for a semester at Dartmouth College while he was a visiting fellow.
From 1999 to 2011,[6] Smith served as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, the second largest Indian tribe in the United States with more than 285,000 citizens.
Before becoming Principal Chief, Smith taught Indian law at Dartmouth College, Northeastern State University and Rogers State University. He served two previous Cherokee Nation chiefs as Director of Tribal Planning, Legal Historian, Cherokee Nation Prosecutor, Director of Justice and Advisor to the Tribal Tax Commission. He also successfully operated his own law practice, served Tulsa County as an assistant public defender and worked as an assistant district attorney in Creek County.[7]
Family[edit]
Smith is married to Bobbie Gail Smith,[11] a full-blooded Cherokee from the Rocky Mountain community of Adair County, Oklahoma.
Media related to Chad "Corntassel" Smith at Wikimedia Commons