Rhonda Odom Bennett is the Council Chair of the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee. She has served on the Council for twenty-one years and has served as the Council Chair for nine of those years. She also serves on the Georgia Governor’s Council on Native American Concerns, she was sworn in, in 2024 by Governor Brian Kemp. Ms. Bennett also serves on the Lumpkin County Native American Advisory Board.

She is Co-Founder of the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee Heritage Center, which is currently underway in the Auraria area of Dahlonega, Georgia. This project will depict the history of the Cherokee living in the North Georgia area at the time of the removal in 1839 (The Trail of Tears) and how the discovery of Gold affected the future of the Tribe. It is her goal to reveal the true history of the Tribe that remains in Dahlonega, Georgia, today. She has worked with Georgia Senator Steve Gooch and Georgia State Representative Will Wade of the Senate and House, respectively, on Cherokee Projects in Georgia. She has worked to help create the plans and format for the First Nations “Atohi” Heritage Park in Dahlonega. She has worked on Tribal projects with the Atlanta Braves Team as well as the University of North Georgia. 

Ms. Bennett is a descendant of the Daniel and Rachel Davis Family, the most prominent Cherokee family in the Dahlonega area. Rachael Davis was the daughter of Suzannah Emory Martin, known as the “Matriarch of the Cherokee People”. Rachel’s brother was Chief Justice John Martin, who was one of the Authors of the Cherokee Constitution at New Echota; he later became the first Supreme Court Justice in Oklahoma.

Ms. Bennetts ancestors appear on the Miller, Siler, Chapman, and Hester Rolls, as well as the 1817 Reservation Roll. She is a direct lineal descendant of Chief Corn Tassel. She is of the Long Hair Clan. Her family is written about in many books, including Emmett Starr’s History of the Cherokee People, The History of Lumpkin County, by Andrew Cain, “Auraria” by E. Merton Coulter, and Cherokee Planters in Georgia 1832-1838 by Don P. Shadburn.

Ms. Bennett resides in Dahlonega, Georgia where her family and Tribe has lived for more than 200 years.

Tap below to read about David Petite, the tribes' OFA Liaison and advisor to the Council Chair.