CHEROKEE --  Calling it an "important milestone," Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Principal Chief Michell Hicks  applauded Gov. Pat McCrory's appointment of tribal member Iva Key to the N.C. Governor's Crime Commission. She is the first member of the tribe to serve on the commission that advises the governor's office on crime and public safety policy. Hicks issued a statement to the media after the announcement.

"Ms. Key has made great strides on behalf of our tribe as manager of the EBCI Domestic Violence program and we are gratified to know she will take her exceptional talent and experience to Raleigh," Hicks said.

Chief Hicks went on to say that appointment also "signals a commitment by our state to address the issue of violence against women which has long been a pressing problem for Native people in America." He cited data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting violence against women in Native American tribes is the highest among any group in the nation.

Ms. Key's appointment follows sweeping expansion of the national Violence Against Women Act in 2013 that gave Indian courts greater jurisdiction in domestic violence cases.

"It is gratifying that Ms. Key can now expand her commitment to saving lives and improving the ways we treat victims of abuse on a statewide level," Hicks said.