Rob Saunooke announces campaign for chief

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER

Robert Osley Saunooke, an attorney who has argued cases in state, tribal and federal jurisdictions across the country, has announced his candidacy in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ 2023 principal chief election.

“If elected I will bring with me to the office of Principal Chief a working knowledge of economic development, cultural sensitivity and unity to bring our tribe together and work for a stronger future,” Saunooke wrote in a letter announcing his candidacy. “Investing in Cherokee, its people, elders, youth and economy should be our primary goal.”

Saunooke, a resident of Yellowhill, is a graduate of Brigham Young University and the law school at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. He has practiced law since 1992, in 1997 opening the first law office on the Qualla Boundary. He represented baseball star Jose Canseco during his 2005 testimony before the U.S. Congress, and in 2014 he received national recognition from the National Women Bar Association for his program on missing and murdered indigenous women. Among other appointments, Saunooke co-chairs the American Bar Association’s Minority Judicial Clerkship Program and is a past president of the National Native American Bar Association.

“For the past 30 years I have advised tribes around the country on legal and economic issues,” he wrote. “I have served on

national, state and local governmental organizations. I have built relationships with major industry, economic and political leaders throughout the country. When our tribe has needed assistance on legal issues I have stepped up to help and often been the only person available. “ Saunooke is admitted to practice in many courts and jurisdictions, ranging from the U.S. Supreme Court to four different Circuit Courts of Appeals to the Seminole Tribal Court to the Florida Bar, among others. However, Saunooke is not currently licensed in North Carolina and was banned from practicing on the Qualla Boundary in 2018 after a tribal judge found he had improperly represented a client despite not being licensed in North Carolina, as tribal law requires. During the 2017 impeachment hearing that resulted in the controversial removal of former Principal Chief Patrick Lambert, Saunooke represented Tribal Council in arguing that charges in the articles of impeachment warranted removal. Saunooke will face competition from incumbent Chief Richard Sneed and Robert Saunooke. Wolfetown Rep. Bo Crowe in his quest to fill the tribe’s top executive office. While Sneed and Crowe have both won multiple tribal elections in past years, this would be Saunooke’s first elected position. The next chief will serve a four-year term extending to October 2027. The 2023 election will also seat a vice chief, 12 Tribal Council members and three school board members. Voters will weigh in on referendum questions seeking to institute term limits for Tribal Council members and to shift the current two-year terms to staggered fouryear terms. Candidate filing begins March 6, 2023. A Primary Election Thursday, June 1, 2023, will whittle the list of candidates down to two per seat, with a General Election Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023, determining the winners.

Vecinos awarded grant from Hispanic Federation

Recently, Vecinos, serving a large Hispanic/Latino community in the six western counties of North Carolina, was granted $25,000 by The Hispanic Federation. The grant will be used to assist low-income, uninsured Hispanic people in Western North Carolina who have been impacted by COVID-19.

The Hispanic Federation is a premier Hispanic nonprofit that seeks to empower and advance the Hispanic community, support Hispanic families, and strengthen Hispanic institutions. They support the Hispanic communities by partnering with other nonprofits that serve these communities. Over $4.2 million has helped with a wide range of social services from food to healthcare, to cash and housing assistance.

Vecinos is a bilingual, nonprofit, free clinic based in Cullowhee that serves the uninsured, low-income population in Western North Carolina with out-patient and mobile primary and mental health clinical and supportive services. Many patients are Hispanic and have been impacted by COVID-19, from health impact to job insecurity. To assist the community in need and to meet the goals of the grant, Vecinos’ outreach staff identifies individuals in need of food, helps with rent and utilities, and provides access to COVID testing and safety kits for the community.

For more information regarding Vecinos’ work in WNC, email info@vecinosinc.org.