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 Cherokee Indian Reservation 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 inEducation and military service
Lambert attended Cherokee Indian Reservation School for a short time and also Swain County School. Lambert left high school before graduating and received his GED at the age of 16. Lambert attended school in Sevilla Spain in 1984-1985. In the summer of 1985 he met his current wife, Cyndi and they were married in April 1986. 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. In January 1988, Lambert finished his tour of duty and returned home to serve six years in the Individual Ready Reserve. Returning to Tennessee, Lambert finished his undergraduate work where he earned his dual degrees, BS Sociology and an AS in Criminology, graduating in 1989. In 1990 Lambert was accepted into Law School atPrincipal Chief Campaign
Lambert retired in January 2015 after 22 years as executive director of the Tribal Gaming Commission. As a candidate for chief, Lambert said he would start an office of employee rights, deal with the tribe's drug problem, focus on tourism and its economic benefits, and protect the rights of the people as a sovereign nation. He also 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. As one of five candidates, he received 59 percent of the vote in the June 2015 primary. 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.Internal political strife
Lambert suspected previous tribal administration of misusing tribal funds. In April 2016, Lambert presented results of a forensic audit to the Tribal Council. He asked the FBI to conduct its own investigation. The Tribal Council ordered an investigation of Lambert in August 2016. After the investigation was completed January 18, 2017, the tribal council voted to impeach Lambert. The FBI was also investigating the Qualla Housing Authority, and Lambert stated that he believed this investigation led to the impeachment action. On May 25, 2017, the verdict of theReferences
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Patrick Principal Chiefs of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal chiefs Titles and offices of Native American leaders Living people 1963 births 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native Americans Impeached Native American tribal officials of the United States removed from office