EBCI

A former U.S. Forest Service archaeologist alleges that decades of federal land-management practices in western North Carolina have placed Native American graves, sacred sites, and archaeological artifacts at risk—and that efforts to expose those failures ultimately cost him his career.

The U.S. Department of Energy has named Eric Mahroum as director of its Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, the agency announced. Mahroum most recently served as director of the Department of Energy’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs, a role he assumed in January 2025, according to a DOE press release. In that position, he oversaw programs that made hundreds of millions of dollars available to Indian tribes and Alaska Native corporations.

In a unanimous vote hailed as a powerful act of respect and reconciliation, the Franklin Town Council has approved the return of the sacred Noquisiyi Mound to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, bringing an important Cherokee cultural and spiritual site closer to rightful stewardship by the people to whom it has belonged for centuries. This is about more than land, it’s about honoring a living culture, said Michell Hicks, principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indi

The Cherokee Indian Police Department said officers were notified Saturday afternoon of reports that a person had been shot at an unknown location. Through an investigation, police determined that Thomas Pheasant Jr. sustained multiple gunshot wounds at a residence on Galimore Road within the Qualla Boundary.

Travis Smith, a former member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Tribal Alcohol and Beverage Control Commission, was removed from his position, fined $2,500, and barred from holding any appointed office for five years following an ethics investigation, according to documents released this month.

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Principal Chief Michell Hicks is strongly opposing a congressional move that could grant the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina federal recognition through a national defense spending bill , a process the EBCI says circumvents long-standing federal standards for tribal sovereignty.