2025 A Look Back: Quid Pro Woe Award
Thom Tillis has repeatedly insulted the EBCI.
Cory Vaillancourt photo
“The Eastern Band of the Cherokee is this island … And they sell pot. And I have no problem with that. What I have a problem with is some of their actions or activities that are, I think, concerning me that actually speak to the broader issue here about marijuana and what we ultimately do with it,” said Sen. Thom Tillis at an Oct. 7 Senate Judiciary Committee meeting.
The senator went on to suggest that EBCI marketing tactics were comparative to the tobacco industry’s early predation on young people. He requested that Attorney General Pam Bondi advise the Department of Justice to investigate Qualla Enterprises, LLC, the business growing and distributing cannabis on the Qualla Boundary.
In a written statement, EBCI Principal Chief Michell Hicks described Tillis’ attacks as “ego-driven theatrics” and “petty politics.” He posited that the real motivation behind the Tillis’ request was Cherokee opposition to tribal sovereignty of the Lumbee, whom the senator represents.
The rift between the two parties grew as Tillis’ Lumbee Fairness Act advanced, aiming to grant the Lumbee federal recognition.
Tillis blocked the Wounded Knee Memorial Bill that would preserve the massacre site in mid-November over objections about tribal leadership.
“The act really does need to come into law, just not yet. The reason is I’ve got an issue with their tribal leadership,” he said, adding that a “casino cartel” of multiple tribes led by the EBCI stood in opposition to Lumbee sovereignty.
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In response, Hicks wrote a piece titled “Tillis Owes Tribal Nations an Apology,” arguing that his tribe’s steadfast opposition to the Lumbee was grounded in how recognition might undermine the legitimacy of tribal sovereignty, thus hurting every other nation.
In the end, the LFA passed through the National Defense Authorization Act. Two other bills beneficial to the Cherokee and their allies, one of which would preserve the Wounded Knee site, were pulled from the NDAA in the weeks leading up to its passage.
Throughout 2025, Tillis’ relationship with the Cherokee has been motivated not by a mutually beneficial agreement, as with Trump and the Lumbee, by the senator’s attempts to politically and materially punish the tribe for its opposition to the Lumbee Fairness Act.
