Bill John Baker taking the oath of office for Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation PHOTO COURTESY CHEROKEE NATION COMMUNICATIONS OFFICETAHLEQUAH, Okla. — As of Oct. 19, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has a new principal chief, ending an election drawn out over four months.

With his wife, Sherry Robertson-Baker holding a Bible and his family behind him, Bill John Baker was sworn in to office last Wednesday night on the back steps of the Cherokee Nation Courthouse by Supreme Court justice James Wilcoxen in front of more than 200 Cherokee citizens.



“The Cherokee people have spoken,” Baker said. “And I am humbled and honored to be elected to lead our great nation.”

The inauguration ceremony came together in less than six hours after the tribe’s Supreme Court dismissed an appeal from former chief Chad Smith Wednesday afternoon for lack of sufficient cause.

“The court further finds that irrespective of the Freedmen vote…the special election of the Cherokee Nation to elect a principal chief can be determined with mathematical certainty,” Chief Justice Darell Matlock, Jr., wrote in the order.

As part of his appeal, filed Monday, Smith had claimed the election was invalid because 1,200 freedmen voters were allowed to participate due to an agreement brokered in federal district court last month. That agreement was later deemed unconstitutional by the Cherokee Supreme Court.

Along with Joe Byrd, Smith was one of two former Cherokee chiefs present at Wednesday’s ceremony. Also in attendance were Deputy Chief S. Joe Crittenden, about a dozen current and former Tribal Council members and George Wickliffe, chief of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.

Baker will participate in a formal inauguration ceremony on Nov. 6 at Sequoyah High School’s The-Place-Where-They-Play activity center.

Since taking office Wednesday night, Baker has moved into the principal chief’s office at the tribe’s W.W. Keeler complex and named former Tribal Council member and Oklahoma state Rep. Chuck Hoskin, Sr. (D-Vinita) his interim chief of staff.

Due to the abrupt end of the election and quick inauguration, Baker is still forming his transition and management teams.

The tribe has about 300,000 enrolled members and employs 8,500 people across northeastern Oklahoma, making it responsible for an annual economic impact of about $1 billion.

“Any organization can be improved and it’s our goal to not lose any time in getting a handle on the daily workings of the nation,” Baker said. “We have a lot to do and the clock is ticking.”           

The election’s conclusion means former Acting Principal Chief Crittenden, from Stilwell, Okla., assumes the duties of deputy chief and former Acting Deputy Chief Meredith Frailey resumes her duties as Speaker of the Tribal Council. Crittenden, who was elected deputy chief in a July 23 run-off, had stepped into the office of acting principal chief upon inauguration while the election was unresolved.