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Cherokee Nation official dies in car accident

TULSA — The Cherokee Nation's Secretary of State has died in a traffic accident after a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer.

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Published: January 31, 2013

TULSA — The Cherokee Nation's Secretary of State has died in a traffic accident after a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer.

Cherokee Nation spokeswoman Amanda Clinton confirmed that 63-year-old Charles Head had died in the accident in Chouteau on Wednesday.

Chouteau Assistant Police Chief Michael Reese says Head was traveling northbound on U.S. 69 and veered suddenly into the southbound lane, colliding with the tractor-trailer.

Reese said he had no further details on the accident but was expecting to finish a report on the wreck by Monday.

Before taking office, Head worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs for more than a decade, most recently as the interim regional director for the eastern Oklahoma office in Muskogee.

Head has served as secretary of state since January 2012.