Troy Wayne Poteete was appointed to the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court by Chief Chad Smith in 2007. He maintains law offices in his home town of Webbers Falls. He and his wife Elizabeth live on a hill overlooking Deep Branch and the Cherokee Old Settler Capitol, Tahlonteeskee. Together they created a modern day version of the Cherokee turban worn by the Cherokee genius Sequoyah. Elizabeth is the daughter of the late Rev. Charley Carey. She grew up in the Lost City Community.
In 1991, Poteete was elected to the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council to represent the Three Rivers District, the southernmost of the nine Cherokee Nation districts, in the first election of tribal councilors by district since Oklahoma statehood. After serving as a Tribal Councilman two consecutive terms, Councilman Poteete did not seek re-election. In June 2000 he was appointed Executive Director of the Arkansas Riverbed Authority, a tribal entity jointly created by the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Cherokee Nations to administer their interests in the 96 mile section of the Arkansas River between Muskogee, Oklahoma and Fort Smith, Arkansas. He graduated from the University of Tulsa Law School in 2001, and entered private practice.
Justice Poteete founded the Historical Society in Webbers Falls; was a founding member and current Vice President of the National Trail of Tears Association; served as Executive Director of the Cherokee Nation Historical Society; and was a delegate to the Cherokee Nation Constitutional Convention in 1999. He represents the Cherokee Nation on the Five Civilized Tribes Museum Board, and regularly speaks and lectures about Cherokee History.