TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Former Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith asked the tribe's Supreme Court on Monday to prevent his opponent from being sworn into office until a federal court decides whether descendants of slaves once owned by the tribe are Cherokee citizens.

Smith's appeal comes nearly a week after longtime tribal councilman Bill John Baker won a special election to lead one of the nation's largest American Indian tribes. The results included ballots cast by an unknown number of the slaves' descendants, known as freedmen.

Freedmen are suing the Cherokee Nation in federal court to be included as citizens of the tribe, citing an 1866 treaty between the tribe and the federal government that recognized freedmen as tribal citizens. The lawsuit is ongoing, but freedmen were allowed to vote in the special election, which was ordered by the tribe's high court after the disputed results of the original June election for chief were invalidated.

“This election was held in direct violation of our tribal law, and tribal law is what should matter in electing the chief of the Cherokee Nation,” Smith said in a statement Monday.

Baker, who defeated Smith by nearly 1,600 votes, said he was disappointed that Smith “has refused to accept the will of the Cherokee people.”

“This is too important for our people, which is why I am not going to let this baseless lawsuit keep me from moving forward,” Baker said in a statement.

The principal chief, similar to a U.S. president, administers a $600 million annual tribal budget, has veto power and sets the tribe's national agenda. The chief also oversees the tribe's casinos, health care facilities and thousands of the nation's employees.

Smith has actively campaigned for the last decade to remove freedmen from the tribe's voter rolls. Baker also backed their removal but not as vocally, and many believe he likely had more freedmen backing.

The tribe voted in 2007 to remove the roughly 2,800 freedmen as Cherokee Nation members, cutting them off from various tribal benefits including voting for chief. The 300,000-member tribe, the largest in Oklahoma, is based at Tahlequah.

The special election results were certified Wednesday by the tribe's election commission and showed that Baker defeated Smith 10,703 to 9,128 in balloting, which began Sept. 24 and ended Oct. 8.

Balloting was initially conducted in June, but the results of that election were reversed several times on recounts – with Smith and Baker each being declared the winner twice. After the fifth count again turned up different numbers, the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court ordered a new election.

Baker and Smith, who was chief until a temporary replacement was named following the June election, dueled for months on the campaign trail, trading barbs over how many jobs the nation was creating for the Cherokee people, spending on health care and even Smith's use of a twin-engine airplane the tribe has owned for years.