Adair Files Protective Order Against UKB Chief Wacoche After Furlough Meeting Confrontation
By Staff Reports
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — A protective order petition has been filed in Cherokee County District Court following a reported confrontation at a July 13 meeting for United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma employees affected by recent furloughs.
UKB Councilman Donald Adair filed the petition Monday against UKB Chief Jeff Wacoche, according to the filed document and the Oklahoma State Courts Network docket. The case is numbered PO-2026-119, assigned to District Judge Jerry S. Moore. The petition requested an emergency ex parte order; the court did not grant one and instead set a hearing for July 23 at 9 a.m. at the Cherokee County Courthouse in Tahlequah.
Two witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation, said the meeting was called to address employees whose positions were funded through the American Rescue Plan Act. One witness estimated 30 to 31 employees were affected by the furloughs, with about eight still unassigned to new positions at the time of the meeting. This publication has not independently verified those figures.
Both witnesses said Adair told employees, “I’m sorry. The council failed you.”
According to both witnesses, Wacoche then directed profanity at Adair, challenged him to step outside, and continued the confrontation until Lighthorse officers intervened and escorted him from the room. Adair’s own account, contained in a sworn Petition for Protective Order dated July 13 and filed with the court, describes the same sequence.
“Right then, he stood up, started cussing me out, called me a m—–f—–, said he was going to beat the s— out of me, told me to come outside, and kept going,” Adair said.
One witness described the same sequence and said the confrontation cut the meeting short before employees got what they came for. “Lighthorse had to escort Jeff out,” the witness said. “It was sad. We were basically getting laid off and [Chief Wacoche] wanted to end the meeting. I didn’t get any answers or anything. He had to make it about him and council. He robbed us of an explanation for why we were in this situation.”
Both witnesses said the confrontation occurred in front of furloughed employees, tribal directors and other officials attending the meeting.
The category Adair checked on the petition — “Adult Victim of Other Crime” — identifies the parties as colleagues rather than family or household members under Oklahoma’s protective-order statute. The statute permits protective-order filings alleging qualifying crimes between people who are not family or household members. That’s also why no police report was required to file.
Also present at the meeting, according to witnesses, were UKB Secretary Caleb Grimmett-Smith, UKB Treasurer Sonja Gourd and District Representative Janelle Adair.
According to a message reviewed by this publication, at least one UKB Member has requested that a Council representative open a formal investigation into the July 13 meeting. Article IX of the UKB Constitution and By-Laws directs the Tribal Council to prescribe rules for investigating complaints of misconduct in office and for removing any Council member or officer. Removal requires a hearing before the Council and a two-thirds vote. Neither has occurred.
Adair said he enlisted in the Army at 18, while still in high school, and served from 1973 to 1975 — the statutory Vietnam era — according to Adair and his Facebook profile. He is a first-language Cherokee speaker and has been a Member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma his entire life.
“I just want to see our tribe moving forward. Right now it’s not prospering,” Adair said. “Right now we have [leadership] that wants the glory instead of wanting the glory for the people.”
This publication sent Wacoche a comment request at 2:22 p.m. Monday asking whether a verbal exchange with Adair occurred, whether profanity was directed at him, whether he challenged Adair to step outside, whether Lighthorse officers intervened, and whether an incident report was generated. The request set a response deadline of 5 p.m. CDT Tuesday, July 14. That deadline passed without a response.
Judge Moore will hear Adair’s petition at 9 a.m. July 23. The employees who came to that meeting still haven’t gotten the explanation they came for.