FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith will visit the University of Arkansas on Monday, Nov. 8, in honor of Native American Heritage Month. Two events during the visit will be open to the public:

• Forum with Smith with opening introduction by Brad Choate, vice chancellor for university advancement, Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development, 3-4 p.m.

• Reception honoring Smith at the Ashworth Collection of Native American and Western Art, Helen Walton Reading Room, David W. Mullins Library, 5:30-7 p.m.

During Smith’s day-long visit, several conversations will take place with faculty members and university administrators, including Chancellor G. David Gearhart, on topics of interest to the Cherokee Nation including sustainable agriculture curriculum, sustainable community development, Native American studies, diversity initiatives and Native American language, arts and culture.

On display during the evening reception honoring Smith will be the Ashworth Collection of Native American and Western Art. The Ashworth Collection includes pieces on loan from Chris Ashworth of Fort Smith, Ark., a large-animal veterinarian and owner of New Frontier Angus Ranches. The Ashworth Collection includes watercolors, lithographs, pencil sketches, bronzes and other three-dimensional art depicting the Native American history and lifestyle.

The citizens of the Cherokee Nation elected Chadwick "Corntassel" Smith as principal chief in 1999. Smith has brought unprecedented growth in the Cherokee Nation budgets, bringing in more money from both federal agencies and tribal enterprises. The Cherokee Nation now employs more than 8,200 people (most of whom are Cherokees), while providing more services to its citizens than ever before.

Prior to his service as principal chief, Smith taught Indian law at Dartmouth College, Northeastern State University at Tahlequah, Okla., and Rogers State University at Claremore, Okla. He has written college curriculum in tribal operations and authored a 600-page course book on Cherokee legal history. Smith holds a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Georgia, a master's degree in public administration from the University of Wisconsin, a master’s degree in hospitality management from the University of Nevada and a juris doctorate from the University of Tulsa. In addition to his academic endeavors, Smith also served with two previous Cherokee Nation administrations as director of tribal planning, legal historian, attorney, tribal prosecutor, director of justice and adviser to the tribal tax commission. Smith has also worked as a prosecutor in Creek County, a public defender in Tulsa County and operated his own law practice.

The Cherokee Nation is the second largest Indian tribe in the United States. There are more than 300,000 tribal citizens. Almost 115,000 of these Cherokees reside in the nearly 7,000-square-mile area of the Cherokee Nation, which is not a reservation but a jurisdictional service area that includes all of eight counties and portions of six in northeastern Oklahoma.

Today, the Cherokee Nation is a leader in education, housing, vocational training, business and economic development. As a federally recognized Indian tribe, the Cherokee Nation has both the opportunity and the sovereign right to exercise control and development over tribal assets, which include 66,000 acres of land, as well as 96 miles of the Arkansas River bed.