Role As Principal Chief
During Milam's tenure as Principal Chief, chiefs were appointed by the US President, but this situation was unsatisfactory to Cherokee citizens. On August 8, 1938 in Fairfield, Oklahoma, a grassroots National Council of Cherokees gathered to choose their own Chief. They elected J. B. Milam. On April 16, 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt confirmed J.B. Milam's appointment as chief. Roosevelt, and later Harry S Truman, reconfirmed his appointment in 1942, 1943, and 1947. Milam served as chief until his death.
As chief, he wanted first and foremost to reconstruct the tribal government and renew tribal claims against the US federal government. He also sought to repatriate culturally and historically significant items to the tribe. To this end, he worked with representatives of the University of Oklahoma, Northeastern State University, and the Carnegie Library of Tahlequah. He placed repatriated items in the care of the Oklahoma Historical Society.
Milam helped create several Cherokee language classes and was instrumental in creating the Cherokee National Historical Society. He started negotiations for the tribe to purchase the site of the original Cherokee National Female Seminary, the tribal college in Park Hill, Oklahoma that had burned down in 1887.
In the interest of intertribal treaty rights, Milam was one of the founding members of the National Congress of American Indians. He participated in their first meeting in Denver, Colorado in 1944.
Shortly afterward, he established elections for a Cherokee tribal council, with an eye towards rebuilding the Cherokee Nation's democratic government. In 1946, Milam began purchasing land to put into trust for the Cherokee Nation. In a year's time, he purchased 21,453 acres (86.82 km2) for the tribe.
With the blessing of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Milam convened a national convention in Tahlequah on July 30, 1948. The convention would pursue Cherokee rights to the Indian Land Claims Commission and elect and Cherokee National assembly. Seven hundred Cherokee men and women participated. Although the goal of the convention was Cherokee unity, it proved fractious. In some participants' views, the convention was dominated by non-Indian attorneys. As a result, the United Keetoowah Society formally expelled J. B. Milam on August 13, 1948. However, the convention did yield some positive results. A standing committee of eleven members was elected, to be led by the Principal Chief. Texas Cherokees were included among those represented.
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