CATOOSA, Okla. (AP) _ As principal chief of 270,000 Cherokees, Chad Smith presides over an economic powerhouse, administers a $350 million budget and fights perceived threats to his people, including anti-Indian slurs he sees in popular culture.
But he has also become a lightning rod for criticism _ unfairly so, he contends _ over a tribal vote affecting 2,800 descendants of black people the Cherokees once owned as slaves.
Smith, 56, who holds a law degree from the University of Tulsa and once taught at Dartmouth College, easily won re-election on June 23 as principal chief.
His third term picks up where the second left off: deflecting charges of racism and calls by a congresswoman to sever U.S. relations with the Tahlequah-based tribe.
For his part, Smith says his focus remains on creating meaningful jobs and boosting tribal self-reliance.
``Adversity creates opportunity,'' Smith said in an office complex overlooking the expansive Cherokee casino and resort. ``The press has long had stereotypes about the Cherokees and they are creating another stereotype, so what it does is give us an opportunity to actually lay the richness of our history out, and the quality of our people.''
Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., introduced legislation on June 21 to cut millions of dollars in federal funding to the Cherokee Nation over a March 3 election in which the tribe limited Cherokee citizenship to descendants of ``by blood'' tribal members.
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