Our Executive Board
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Roseanna Belt
BOARD MEMBER
ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, EBCIMrs. Belt is the former director of the Western Carolina University–Cherokee Center. Born in Cherokee, NC, Roseanna is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI). She received her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she worked for 10 years as a University counselor, and earned her master’s degree in counseling and consulting psychology from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. Upon returning to Cherokee, she received certification in school counseling from WCU. Ms. Belt is also a co-founder of The Center for Native Health and served as Board Chair until 2024.
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Tom Belt
CULTURAL ADVISOR
ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ, Cherokee NationDr. Tom Belt was raised in a Cherokee-speaking family in Rocky Ford, Oklahoma. He later moved to the Eastern homelands in the early 1990s. He continues to live on the Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians where he first worked as a teacher in the Cherokee Central Schools. As a teacher and scholar at Western Carolina University, he developed vital materials for teaching Cherokee language and prepared multiple cohorts of students to read, speak and teach Cherokee language themselves. He is most noted for his written and spoken works, and appearances in widely publicized documentary films that continue to be used by students, scholars and Cherokee community members. He was recognized for this work with an honorary doctorate in 2021. Belt has also worked closely with the American Philosophical Society and the Smithsonian Institution to develop and enact protocols for the treatment of Cherokee archival materials, in particular culturally sensitive materials in the Cherokee language. He also served as a consultant to multiple university programs, providing regular addresses and workshops at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Stanford, Yale, Duke and Wake Forest regarding the importance and significance of indigenous languages and the worldview of Cherokee culture.
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Onita Bush
BOARD MEMBER
ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, EBCIKnown locally as a root doctor, Onita Bush is recognized for her knowledge of community heritage and medicinal plants within the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. As a Community Health Representative in her home community of Tuti Yi (Snowbird) Onita teaches others how to use native plants to complement modern medicine to improve overall health and wellness. As part of this work she conducts informative medicine walks with local health professionals, youth and community members to serve as a bridge between Western-trained health providers and Kituwah (Cherokee) community members. Onita is also the chair of the Mother's Council for CNH.
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Shennelle Feather
BOARD MEMBER
ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, EBCIShennelle Feather matriarchally represents the Diné Nation (Todích'íí'nii, ᎠᏂᎧᏫ, Tł'ízí lání, ᎠᏂᎦᏙᎨᏫ) and is an enrolled citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. She was raised in the Wolftown community on the Qualla Boundary and currently resides in the Elawodi (Yellowhill) community. Shennelle moved back to Cherokee in 2020 after 14 years of living in Illinois, Wyoming, and North Dakota. During her travels, she earned a 4-year degree in Biology from Trinity International University (IL), coached college basketball at her alma mater, and served as Head Varsity Girls Basketball Coach and High School Science Teacher at White Shield High School (ND). She also managed Egg Harbor Café, a breakfast restaurant in the Chicagoland area. Upon returning to the Qualla Boundary, Shennelle worked as the Cultural Coordinator at Kanvwotiyi until January 2022. She now serves as the Manager of Community Programming at the Museum of the Cherokee People. Shennelle is passionate about her Diné, Tsalagi, and Lakota cultures, and enjoys learning and teaching Indigenous concepts and lifeways through her lived experiences. She works tirelessly to challenge misconceptions about Indigenous people in Western North Carolina. In her role, Shennelle and her team educate thousands of visitors annually, confronting deeply rooted stereotypes about American Indians. Through year-round programming, she has advanced the Museum’s mission to dismantle these misconceptions while encouraging her community to reconnect and heal. Shennelle serves as Secretary on the RezHope Board of Directors. She is a member of the Raven Rock Stomp Ground and has been a shell shaker for 27 years. She enjoys beading, jingle dress dancing, and spending time with her niece and nephew. In her free time, she can be found with her Boston Terrier, Lucy.
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Manuel Hernandez
BOARD MEMBER
ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ, Cherokee NationA current resident of the Big Y community, Manuel has dedicated 15+ years with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians: Public Health & Human Services (EBCI:PHHS) in different capacities. Manuel currently serves as a Training Coordinator at the EBCI: PHHS Regulatory & Compliance department where he is tasked with workforce development, professional development and orients new employees on the culture of PHHS and Cherokee health disparities. He is a member of the Patient Family Advisory Council at the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority (CIHA) were he advocates for community input on policies, administration recommendations and building better relations with family and care teams.
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Tara McCoy
BOARD MEMBER
ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, EBCITara McCoy (EBCI), graduated from Cherokee High School and furthered her education at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC. She graduated with a B.S. degree in Sports Medicine. After graduating, she returned to the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee, NC and worked in various programs including Cherokee High School/Coaching, UNITY Treatment Center, Dora Reed Daycare and Women’s Health before settling down into a role at Cherokee Choices, a Diabetes Prevention Program, for 14 years. She currently serves as the Right Path Leadership Specialist at the Ray Kinsland Leadership Institute where her role is to help develop selfless leaders deeply rooted in Cherokee culture identity and leadership through teaching Cherokee values, culture, history, and language. She is a 2011 Right Path Program Alumni, a 2011 Remember the Removal Bike Ride Legacy Rider, founder and supporter of the Cherokee Cancer Support Group, artist member of the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, Inc. and promotes Cherokee art by organizing and teaching art shows and classes in her community.
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Kelly Murphy
BOARD MEMBER
ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, EBCIKelly Murphy "ᎤᏥᏍᏓᎷᎩ" (EBCI) is a resident of the Wolfetown Community, lives with her fiancé, Eric, and three children, ᏥᎩᎵᎵ, ᎠᏥᎳ, and ᏗᏟᎯ. Employed at New Kituwah Academy, she serves as an Elementary Immersion Instructor, assisting in kindergarten, 5th and 6th grade Cherokee Language Arts. Dedicated to Cherokee language revitalization, Kelly actively pursues fluency as a second language learner.
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Ashford Smith
BOARD MEMBER
ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, EBCIAshford Smith (EBCI Enrolled member) is the Sequoyah Fund’s Chief Financial Officer. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science with a concentration in public administration from the University of Tennessee- Knoxville. Prior to joining the Sequoyah fund in 2023, he served as a senior level official at the Cherokee Boys Club before being named the Director of Finance in 2021. Prior to that, he served the Eastern band of Cherokee Indians in an array of positions for 3 years. Ashford brings over 10 years of experience in non-profit/governmental finance and has served on a range of boards in the Cherokee community including the Cherokee Boys Club Board of Directors and EBCI Audit and Ethics Committee. He currently resides in the Birdtown community and is active in the traditional game of stickball.
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Blythe Winchester, MD, MPH, CMD
BOARD SECRETARY
ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, EBCIBlythe Winchester MD, MPH, CMD, is a board-certified Geriatrician and member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in Cherokee, NC. She practices at Cherokee Indian Hospital and is the Certified Medical Director at Tsali Care Center. She received her MD and MPH at UNC-Chapel Hill and did a Family Medicine Residency in Greenville, SC. Her Geriatrics fellowship was completed through the Mountain Area Health Education Center in Asheville, NC. Blythe has served on the Ethnogeriatrics Committee for the American Geriatrics Society since 2011. She recently received Fellow status through the American Geriatrics Society. Her presentations often focus on neurocognitive disorders among Tribal communities and her research focuses on Tribal Elders. Blythe is a retired member of the Smoky Mountain Rollergirls roller derby team and lives with her husband, 5 dogs, and a cat who thinks she is a dog. She loves music, animals, and beekeeping.
Our Staff
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Trey Adcock, PhD
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ, Cherokee NationTrey Adcock, PhD (ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ, Cherokee Nation citizen), is a Full Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and the Director of American Indian & Indigenous Studies at the University of North Carolina Asheville. He was named one of seven national Public Engagement Fellows in 2018-2019 by the Whiting Foundation for his work documenting a Bureau of Indian Affairs run day school in the TutiYi “Snowbird” Cherokee Community. He obtained his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a Sequoyah Dissertation Fellow focusing on technology integration at an American Indian boarding school in Oklahoma. Dr. Adcock’s work has been published in the Journal of American Indian Education, Teaching Tolerance and Readings in Race, Ethnicity and Immigration. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Native Health and sits on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Cherokee Studies.
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Bonnie Claxton
DEPUTY DIRECTOR
Chickasaw NationBonnie (enrolled Chickasaw Nation), is The Center for Native Health’s Deputy Director. Before joining CNH, Bonnie worked for 10 years as a practicing attorney in Cherokee and Sylva, North Carolina. She worked for more than seven years for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians as the founding Program Manager for the Legal Assistance Office, which provided direct legal services to enrolled tribal members. During her time with the EBCI, Bonnie worked to make the justice system more accessible and trauma-informed, especially in the areas of advancing collaborative approaches to serving victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, trauma-informed policing, and protecting the rights of children and elders. Bonnie earned her Juris Doctor degree in 2013 from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota (now Mitchell Hamline), where she focused on federal Indian law and tribal law.
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Emily T Herzog
EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
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Kristina Hyatt
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Maternal & Child Health
ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, EBCIKristina Hyatt is a mother, dental hygienist, former Miss Native American USA, and an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management from the University of North Carolina Asheville and an Associates in Applied Science degree from Asheville Buncombe Technical Community College to become a registered dental hygienist. She has traveled across Indian Country as the Native American Tooth Fairy, educating Native youth about the importance of oral health.
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Madison Leatherwood
PROGRAM COORDINATOR
Education & Training
ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, EBCIMadison graduated from Western Carolina University in May of 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in Integrated Health Science and a concentration in healthcare management. She hopes to return to school to obtain her Masters degree in Business Administration and bring her knowledge back to her community. As an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians she hopes to be a positive influence and role model for upcoming youth and college students. In her free time she can be found spending time with her husband and three dogs on their family farm in Sevierville Tennessee.
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Kilyne Oocumma
DIGITAL MEDIA COORDINATOR
ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, EBCIKilyne grew up in the Birdtown community. She graduated UNC Asheville in May of 2023, having studied New Media.
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Chelsea Rangel
MedCaT MENTORSHIP COORDINATOR
Navajo NationChelsea Rangel is a tribal member of the Navajo people from the Four Corners area of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. Chelsea has had the privilege to be a part of many Native American programs geared towards the betterment of young native people, as well as volunteering for children’s programs and drug addiction recovery programs. She has most recently worked with tribal programs aimed at higher education for Native students. She is currently a Student Success Advisor at Western Carolina University in the School of Nursing, and has been with the Center for Native Health since June 2023. She obtained a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Antelope Valley in California, and a degree in Health System’s Management from the University of Baltimore in Maryland.
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Katie Tiger
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Land & Wellness
Choctaw Nation of OklahomaKatie Tiger, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, serves as the Director for Land and Wellness at The Center for Native Health. In this capacity, she facilitates community-based initiatives that underscore the intrinsic relationship between environmental health and human well-being. Prior to her tenure at CNH, Mrs. Tiger was employed in the Air Quality Program of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Natural Resources Department for 17 years. During that time, she successfully administered numerous grants from diverse funding agencies. Notably, in 2021, Mrs. Tiger authored and secured a grant to implement the electric school bus (ESB) initiative, which facilitated the replacement of a diesel school bus with the first electric school bus (ESB) in the state of North Carolina. Subsequently, she procured two additional grants to replace the entire diesel school bus fleet of the Cherokee Boys Club with ESBs. Mrs. Tiger demonstrates a profound commitment to introducing alternative energy and fuel solutions to the Cherokee community, thereby promoting a healthier environment for Cherokee families and natural resources. Mrs. Tiger has actively participated in national organizations and committees, such as the National Tribal Air Association and the Tribal Air Monitoring Support Center steering committee, where she held the position of tribal chairperson. She also served as the Region 4 tribal representative on the EPA National Tribal Science Council for 15 years. In her spare time, Mrs. Tiger enjoys watching her two boys compete in sports, running outside, and taking care of the Tiger family animals (dogs, chickens, guinea pig, bees, snake and bearded dragon).
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Trista Welch
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, EBCITrista Welch, (EBCI Enrolled Member) lives in the Paint Town Community with her daughter Macie. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and a Master of Business Administration degree from Florida State University. Ms. Welch is employed by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians as a Magistrate in the Cherokee Tribal Court. Trista has served as a Tribal Employment Rights Commissioner since 2017. She has served as a Mentor for the Jones Bowman Leadership Award Program and is a Right Path Adult Leadership Program graduate. She also serves in a support position for the Earth Keepers, a partnership between the Center for Native Health and the Natural Resource Department.