Chad "Corntassel" Smith
| Chadwick Smith | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation | |
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In office 1999–2011 |
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| Preceded by | Joe Byrd |
| Succeeded by | Bill John Baker |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 17, 1950 Pontiac, Michigan |
| Spouse(s) | Bobbie Gail Scott Smith |
| Residence | Tahlequah, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Alma mater |
University of Georgia, B.S.Ed. University of Wisconsin, MBA University of Tulsa, J.D. |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Website | www |
Chadwick "Corntassel" Smith (Cherokee name Ugista:ᎤᎩᏍᏔ derived from Cherokee word for "Corntassel," Utsitsata:ᎤᏥᏣᏔ; born December 17, 1950 in Pontiac, Michigan) is the former 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. 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 and he lost again to Baker in 2015, receiving a mere 28% of the vote. Prior to being elected Principal Chief, he worked as a lawyer for the tribe and in private practice.
Chad Smith was born in Pontiac, Michigan, where his father had gone for work. 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. He 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 earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Georgia in 1973, a Master of Business Administration degree in Public Administration from the University of Wisconsin in 1975, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law in 1980.
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