Patrick Lambert

Patrick Henry Lambert (born September 4, 1963, in Cherokee, North Carolina) is a Native American tribal leader who served as the 27th Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians from 2015 to 2017. He also served as the Executive Director of the Cherokee Tribal Gaming Commission for over twenty years. Lambert was impeached on January 18, 2017, and removed from office on May 25, 2017. Early life and career Lambert, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, was born on September 4, 1963, at the Cherokee Indian Hospital on the Qualla Boundary to Henry Ray Lambert and Patricia Sneed Lambert, both from Cherokee, NC. His 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". He became known as "Chief Henry" and holder of the title as "World's Most Photographed Indian". He was very personable and multi-generations of families came back annually to visit him and have pictures taken with him. He 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. Chief Henry died in 2007 at the age of 72. Lambert has 5 sisters that all live in Cherokee; his oldest sister, Henrietta, died in December 2016. Early in his career, Lambert took a job as a drug and alcohol counselor at Cherokee Indian Hospital in Cherokee, North Carolina