Editing Qualla Boundary (section)

==Government and law==
{{further|Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians|}}
The tribal community functions like most municipalities, operating schools, law enforcement, and rescue services, in addition to their own hospital and gaming casino, known as [[Harrah's Cherokee]]. They have opened a second location of the casino on their land in [[Murphy, North Carolina]]. The tribe has operated a court system since 1987.

[[Indian tribal police|Tribal police]] have exclusive police jurisdiction on Indian lands. The [[FBI]] and other federal agencies have jurisdiction to handle certain major federal criminal offenses. [[North Carolina State Highway Patrol|N.C. State Highway Patrol]], motor vehicle inspectors, wildlife officers, state alcohol agents, [[State bureau of investigation|SBI]] agents, and other state peace officers assigned to counties that overlap with the Qualla Boundary can be called to assist tribal law enforcement officers, and can be commissioned as "special officers" of the [[United States Department of the Interior|Department of the Interior]] to assist in federal investigations. Non-tribal members charged with a crime in Qualla Boundary are referred to county courts.

=== Administrative divisions ===
The Qualla Boundary is divided into seven communities, which are similar to [[Township (United States)|townships]].<ref name=Eastern_Cherokee>{{cite map |author=US Census Bureau, Geography Division |date=June 14, 2021 |title=Eastern Cherokee Reservation (0990) |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/TribalTract/r0990_eastern_cherokee/DC20TT_FR0990.pdf |format=PDF |edition=2020 Census |location=Suitland, MD |publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]] |access-date=August 1, 2021}}</ref>
[[File:Map of Qualla Boundary with subdivisions.jpg|thumb|right|US Census map of Qualla Boundary with subdivisions]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Community
!Overlapping [[North Carolina]] [[List of counties in North Carolina|counties]]
|-
! Big Cove<ref>{{cite map |author=US Census Bureau, Geography Division |date=April 20, 2021 |title=Big Cove Community (050) |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st99_aiannh/tribalsub/ts0990050_big_cove/DC20BLK_TS0990050.pdf |format=PDF |edition=2020 Census |location=Suitland, MD |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=August 1, 2021}}</ref>
| [[Swain County, North Carolina|Swain County]]
|-
! Birdtown<ref>{{cite map |author=US Census Bureau, Geography Division |date=April 20, 2021 |title=Birdtown Community (065) |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st99_aiannh/tribalsub/ts0990065_birdtown/DC20BLK_TS0990065.pdf |format=PDF |edition=2020 Census |location=Suitland, MD |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=August 1, 2021}}</ref>
| [[Jackson County, North Carolina|Jackson County]], Swain County
|-
! Cherokee County<ref>{{cite map |author=US Census Bureau, Geography Division |date=April 20, 2021 |title=Cherokee County Community (120) |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st99_aiannh/tribalsub/ts0990120_cherokee_county/DC20BLK_TS0990120.pdf |format=PDF |edition=2020 Census |location=Suitland, MD |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=August 1, 2021}}</ref>
| [[Cherokee County, North Carolina|Cherokee County]]
|-
! Painttown<ref>{{cite map |author=US Census Bureau, Geography Division |date=April 20, 2021 |title=Painttown Community (600) |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st99_aiannh/tribalsub/ts0990600_painttown/DC20BLK_TS0990600.pdf |format=PDF |edition=2020 Census |location=Suitland, MD |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=August 1, 2021}}</ref>
| Jackson County
|-
! Snowbird<ref>{{cite map |author=US Census Bureau, Geography Division |date=April 20, 2021 |title=Snowbird Community (750) |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st99_aiannh/tribalsub/ts0990750_snowbird/DC20BLK_TS0990750.pdf |format=PDF |edition=2020 Census |location=Suitland, MD |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=August 1, 2021}}</ref>
| [[Graham County, North Carolina|Graham County]]
|-
! Wolftown<ref>{{cite map |author=US Census Bureau, Geography Division |date=April 20, 2021 |title=Wolftown Community (850) |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st99_aiannh/tribalsub/ts0990850_wolftown/DC20BLK_TS0990850.pdf |format=PDF |edition=2020 Census |location=Suitland, MD |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=August 1, 2021}}</ref>
| [[Haywood County, North Carolina|Haywood County]], Jackson County, Swain County
|-
! Yellowhill<ref>{{cite map |author=US Census Bureau, Geography Division |date=April 20, 2021 |title=Yellowhill Community (880) |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st99_aiannh/tribalsub/ts0990880_yellowhill/DC20BLK_TS0990880.pdf |format=PDF |edition=2020 Census |location=Suitland, MD |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=August 1, 2021}}</ref>
| Swain County
|}

There are no municipalities, instead each community elects two representatives to the tribal council; except for Cherokee County and Snowbird, which share two representatives to the tribal council.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://visitcherokeenc.com/eastern-band-of-the-cherokee/ |title=The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians - Cherokee, NC |publisher=[[Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians]] |access-date=August 1, 2021}}</ref> Cherokee, a [[census-designated place]], overlaps most of Painttown and Yellowhill, with a small portion also in Wolftown.<ref name=Eastern_Cherokee/>