Dugan

Ms. Dugan, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, has an extensive background in education and served for five years as Superintendent of the Cherokee Central Schools. In 1995, she ran for and won the office of Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. She is the first woman to hold this office and to date, the only woman to hold this office. During her tenure as Chief, the tribe recovered the property on which the “mother town” of Kituwah was located. In 2006 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill for her efforts towards cultural preservation.