Patrick Lambert served as the Executive Director of the Cherokee Tribal Gaming Commission for over twenty years.
21 Facts About Patrick Lambert
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Patrick Lambert's father, Henry, was a police officer for the Cherokee Indian Police Department for a short time and he worked as a "tribal ambassador", working in full regalia, known as "chiefing".
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Patrick Lambert became known as "Chief Henry" and holder of the title as "World's Most Photographed Indian".
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Patrick Lambert was very personable and multi-generations of families came back annually to visit him and have pictures taken with him.
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Patrick Lambert continued working as "Chief Henry" for over 35 years and became famous appearing on TV shows, postcards, and was the subject of an article in National Geographic.
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Patrick Lambert has 5 sisters that all live in Cherokee; his oldest sister, Henrietta, died in December 2016.
7.
Early in his career, Patrick Lambert took a job as a drug and alcohol counselor at Cherokee Indian Hospital in Cherokee, North Carolina.
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Patrick Lambert attended Cherokee Indian Reservation School for a short time and Swain County School.
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Patrick Lambert left high school before graduating and received his GED at the age of 16.
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Patrick Lambert joined the Army at the age of 23 and attended boot camp at Fort Dix, NJ and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Lee, Virginia, and was stationed in Anchorage, AK.
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In January 1988, Patrick Lambert finished his tour of duty and returned home to serve six years in the Individual Ready Reserve.
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In 1990 Patrick Lambert was accepted into Law School at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
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Patrick Lambert graduated from the University of North Carolina, School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1993.
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Patrick Lambert returned to the Qualla Boundary following graduation and upon passing the Bar exam he began work for the Tribe as the Tribal Attorney, precursor to the position now titled as the Attorney General.
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Patrick Lambert led the Tribe as legal counsel from in 1994 to 1996 and during his tenure was able to complete the first Tribal State Gaming Compact and the first contract negotiations with a major gaming company to finance and manage a new casino that has proven to be worth billions to his Tribe.
16.
Patrick Lambert retired in January 2015 after 22 years as executive director of the Tribal Gaming Commission.
17.
Patrick Lambert said the government-owned local newspaper, the Cherokee One Feather, was not truly independent despite the free press act, and he intended to make changes to ensure its independence.
18.
Patrick Lambert won the general election in September 2015 with 71 percent of the vote; the highest vote total ever garnered by a Principal Chief candidate.
19.
Patrick Lambert asked the FBI to conduct its own investigation.
20.
The FBI was investigating the Qualla Housing Authority, and Patrick Lambert stated that he believed this investigation led to the impeachment action.
21.
On May 25,2017, the verdict of the impeachment trial was delivered, with Patrick Lambert being found guilty of eight of the twelve articles of impeachment and being removed from office.