UKB Tribal Council approves new comptroller, hears public comments on education and community
Staff Reports | Giduwa Cherokee News
The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council approved the appointment of a new comptroller during executive session Friday, selecting Meosha Rambo, who is relocating from northern Louisiana with her family to accept the position.
Rambo attended the April 4 monthly council meeting. She spoke with media before the session and confirmed she will move to the area with her husband and young family. The comptroller position has seen significant turnover in recent years, with two former comptrollers involved in protective order and stalking proceedings.
In public comments, Larry Studi addressed the council on the need for elected members to engage more directly with UKB members between meetings. Studi, whose wife died recently, asked councilors to raise their hands if they had reached out to support him after her death. He commended those who responded and told the audience that November’s election would give members the opportunity to determine who remains on council.
“Keetoowah tribe is your family, not just your immediate family,” Studi said. “We are all in this together.”
Miss Keetoowah Grayci Spradlin addressed the council on a recent trip to New Mexico facilitated by the UKB Education Department, where she and Junior Miss Keetoowah J’Leeanna Ramsey presented at a conference on disabilities.
“I would like to thank the Keetoowah and Education Department for taking us to New Mexico,” Spradlin said. “The most important part was we got to go to a conference and give presentations about disabilities and how people with disabilities struggle in everyday life.”
Ramsey, an eighth-grade honor student, told the council she has been selected as the 2026 Marietta valedictorian and plans to return to serve the tribe after completing her education.
“I respectfully ask that you continue supporting education and providing funding for opportunities like this,” Ramsey said. “These experiences allow youth within our tribe to share their voices, learn from others and gain knowledge that can help shape their futures.”
Linda Davis thanked the council for supporting a trivia contest that raised $1,700 for Kenwood Public School’s end-of-year trip to Branson, Missouri, and urged councilors to build relationships with tribal youth who would become future UKB workers.
In his Chief’s Report, Wacoche said he traveled to Washington, D.C., on March 18 to testify before the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies on health care funding for the tribe. It was at minimum his second appearance before the subcommittee on the issue — he testified before the same panel on Feb. 25, 2025, urging permanent recurring funding for UKB health programs through the Indian Health Service.
The UKB’s fight for IHS funding spans years. The tribe was historically denied federal health care funding at levels available to other federally recognized tribes, leaving UKB members dependent on Cherokee Nation’s federally funded health programs for specialty and referred care. In August 2024, the UKB signed a 638 Agreement with IHS granting $5.6 million for a Purchased and Referred Care program, effective Jan. 1, 2025. Cherokee Nation publicly opposed the agreement as redundant. Wacoche has told Congress that without inclusion in the New Tribes IHS funding line, UKB health services depend on nonrecurring annual allocations — meaning members’ access to care is uncertain year to year.
Wacoche told the council that the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget, released April 3, names the UKB specifically, pending congressional action. That claim could not be independently confirmed at press time. The FY2027 budget broadly proposes cuts to tribal programs including housing, Native lending and health initiatives, according to Tribal Business News.
Wacoche also reported that Bureau of Indian Affairs representatives were on site March 23 to begin negotiations on Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood functions, with additional sessions scheduled.
Wacoche announced a special council meeting April 24 to address the Election Board. The announcement comes as a question about Illinois District Representative Janelle Adair’s district residency — first raised publicly at the January 3 council meeting by Treasurer Sonja Gourd — remains unresolved.
UKB law requires district representatives to reside in the district they serve and provides for automatic forfeiture of office upon departure. Giduwa Cherokee News has previously reported on that matter.
The council meeting included no public announcement or explanation regarding the departure of Steve Jones, who had worked in a security capacity for the tribe, including alongside Lighthorse and in a role described by sources with direct knowledge as personal security for Chief Wacoche. The District Court of Cherokee Nation issued a Final Protective Order against Jones on March 12, 2026, Case No. CVPO 26-50, finding he represents a credible threat to the physical safety of an intimate partner or child and constituting a finding of domestic abuse and/or stalking.
The order prohibits Jones from any contact with the protected person and from possessing firearms or ammunition. It is valid throughout Cherokee Nation and enforceable in all 50 states under 18 U.S.C. §2265. The order remains in effect until March 12, 2031 unless modified or rescinded by the court. Jones was present in open court when the order was entered.