MAYETTA ? A 56-year-old leader in the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation in northeast Kansas has died in a motorcycle crash.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says James M. Potter of Delia died in the crash Wednesday evening west of Mayetta after the motorcycle he was driving hit a deer, left the roadway and landed in a ditch. The patrol says someone driving by early Thursday saw Potter and the motorcycle and notified authorities.

Suzanne Heck, editor for the tribe’s newspaper and website, said Thursday that Potter was tribal council secretary. Heck says the tribe is expected to issue a statement later Thursday about Potter’s death.