CHIEF CHAT: Back to school means investing in our future. * By Chuck Hoskin Jr. * 3 hrs ago Before children across Northeast Oklahoma walk through the school doors on the first day of a new year, Cherokee Nation has already been at work investing in their future - whether that child is Cherokee or not. That is how I have always understood education should be. It does not begin when the first bell rings. It begins long before that, when we make sure kids are healthy, prepared and surrounded by people who believe in them. It continues with strong schools, dedicated teachers, access to language and Cherokee culture, and the kinds of opportunities that help young people figure out who they are and what direction they want to go. Investing in education is one of the most important things a government can do. As the school year commences across the Cherokee Nation reservation, I am proud of what our Nation has built and will keep building when it comes to nurturing and developing our young people at every stage of their life. Just days before classrooms are reopening, Cherokee Nation welcomed educators from across Oklahoma to our annual Teachers of Successful Students Conference. More than 200 teachers and school staff came together to share ideas, sharpen their skills and prepare for the students who will soon fill their rooms. When we invest in teachers, we invest in and support every child they teach. We also continue one of our most meaningful partnerships with public education - sharing Cherokee Nation motor vehicle tag revenue with schools throughout the reservation. Since 2002, that investment has contributed more than $107 million to public schools in Northeast Oklahoma, including $7.26 million distributed this past year. Those dollars go directly to school districts, allowing them to fill critical gaps. The partnerships reinforce a core belief: when public schools succeed, our communities succeed as well. Our direct cash assistance to public schools does not end there. For the second consecutive year we have provided over $1.8 million in Public Health and Wellness Fund Act grants, a number of which went to help schools with wellness, health and safety infrastructure needs from ball courts to outdoor classrooms to improved water systems. At the same time, we are expanding educational opportunities for Cherokee families directly. The Cherokee Immersion School is entering a new era, strengthened by legislation that secures its independence and long-term future. Construction will soon be complete on the new immersion middle school campus, so more Cherokee children will have the chance to learn their language every day. At Sequoyah High School, our $65 million capital improvement plan is transforming the SHS campus and creating modern facilities so that our students have a learning environment that matches their potential. Our youngest learners also remain a priority. Cherokee Nation has completed a historic Head Start capital plan through the Verna D. Thompson Early Childhood Education Act, modernizing early childhood facilities across our 14-county reservation. Soon, we will celebrate the opening of the newest Child Development Center brought online under the Hoskin-Warner administration, this one in Catoosa. It will ensure access to quality early learning for more working families. Education, of course, does not stop when school is out. Cherokee Nation's Education Services brings Cherokee history and language into classrooms through cultural enrichment programs. During school breaks, our cultural tourism programs offer students and families hands-on learning at historical sites, museums and cultural locations. And this fall, first lady January Hoskin's Youth Public Service Career Program will once again introduce Cherokee youth to careers dedicated to serving others. Some of the work we do outside of school addresses a need even more basic than education: hunger. Hungry kids cannot reach their potential, in school and otherwise. That's why, year after year, we bring home millions of federal "Summer EBT" dollars for ALL eligible low-income students across the reservation. The Cherokee Nation's partner nonprofit, the Cherokee Nation Foundation, also offers K-12 programs and opportunities, including Junior Achievement of Oklahoma's BizTown and college-readiness workshops. All of this comes back to a belief I hold firmly: Education is one of the most powerful expressions of sovereignty we have as Cherokee people. Every scholarship awarded, every classroom improved, every teacher supported and every child introduced to the Cherokee language is an investment, not just in one individual, but in the future of our tribe. As students head back to school this year, I want them and their families to know that the Cherokee Nation is already in their corner. We are investing today so that tomorrow's leaders are prepared to succeed. Chuck Hoskin Jr. is principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.

Cherokee Nation, City of Tulsa Office of Health and Wellbeing sign agreement to advance community health initiatives. * 8 hrs ago TULSA - Leaders from the Cherokee Nation and the city of Tulsa Office of Health and Wellbeing signed a strategic partnership agreement Wednesday, July 15 to collaborate on improving health outcomes in Tulsa. Under the agreement, Cherokee Nation Health Services will provide $375,000 over three years, with $125,000 allocated annually, to support the Office of Health and Wellbeing's community health programs. The partnership aims to improve health outcomes such as maternal health, mental health access and chronic disease prevention for residents of Tulsa. Cherokee Nation has 28,000 Cherokee Nation citizens who live in the city of Tulsa and 54,000 who live in Metro Tulsa. "Cherokee Nation has always believed that healthy communities extend beyond our reservation boundaries," said Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. "By partnering with the city of Tulsa's Office of Health and Wellbeing, we are investing in the wellbeing of all the people who call this region home, including the many Cherokee citizens who live and work in Tulsa." As part of the agreement, Cherokee Nation Health Services and the Office of Health and Wellbeing will collaborate to launch a culturally relevant lung cancer screening initiative. Cherokee Nation Health Services will also provide leadership engagement, input and data to help define program priorities, and subject matter experts on Cherokee language and culture to support co-branding, signage and displays. "This partnership represents what's possible when we come together to improve health outcomes in our city," Mayor Monroe Nichols said. "By working alongside Cherokee Nation, we're expanding access to preventive health care and addressing longstanding disparities across Tulsa. I'm grateful for Cherokee Nation's partnership as we continue building a city where every resident has the opportunity to thrive." The Office of Health and Wellbeing will use the funding to support salaries for program operations, a Community Health Worker for outreach, education and navigation, program implementation, and marketing and outreach through culturally tailored materials, among other uses. The Office of Health and Wellbeing was created to improve health outcomes across Tulsa by aligning resources, sharing data and fostering collaboration among health care providers, public health agencies and community organizations. The office has grown from a single staff member to what will be a team of eight by the end of the summer. "This partnership reflects the kind of intergovernmental cooperation that produces real results for the people we serve," said Deputy Principal Chief Bryan Warner. "When tribal and city governments work together with a shared purpose, we can reach families and communities who need these health services the most." The office is led by Dr. Jabraan Pasha, a Cherokee Nation citizen who also oversees the Mayor's Health Coalition, a partnership between the city of Tulsa and the Office of Health and Wellbeing that brings together health care leaders, community organizations and residents to improve the overall health and quality of life for all Tulsans. Cherokee Nation Health Services has been an active participant in the coalition, which is intended to coordinate health efforts across the city and create a space where advocacy, collaboration and community voices guide how Tulsa organizes its health strategies and funding. Since standing up the coalition, the Office of Health and Wellbeing has set mental health, housing and maternal and child health outcomes as its priorities. The office is also working with the city's planning office and data partners to build a neighborhood conditions index, a neighborhood-based data system to track health outcomes at the neighborhood level. The Office of Health and Wellbeing has also been awarded a $17.3 million grant from the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust to fund community health work in North Tulsa, including health care access, mental health services, a sports complex, a biking and hiking trail, an urban farm and a teaching kitchen. - Cherokee Nation

Cherokee Nation holds annual CCO Conference. * Jun 16, 2026 Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin speaks to the crowd at the 2026 CCO Conference at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tulsa. Cherokee Nation presents awards to several community groups and community organizations for their efforts. CATOOSA - The Cherokee Nation recently held its annual Community & Cultural Outreach Conference at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tulsa, with nearly 900 attendees representing more than 75 CCO participating organizations from across the Cherokee Nation reservation and the country. Throughout the two-day conference, attendees enjoyed cultural and informative breakout sessions, presentations, keynote remarks from Cherokee Nation leadership, panels, networking opportunities, an awards banquet to recognize community groups and community organizers and more. "Our history tells us that Cherokees have always organized at the grassroots level, before our government was nationalized in the 1800's, we operated exclusively in tight-knit communities, even with an estimated population of two million," said Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin. "We ought to invest into the grassroots community efforts and not administer our government and culture from the top down. Organizing through CCO groups and providing a formal structure to historic lifeways tells the Cherokee government where we need to invest and share in the joy of being Cherokee." Deputy Secretary of State Canaan Duncan provided keynote remarks on the first day of the conference. "If we imagine what Cherokee communities may look like in the future everyone might have a different answer, but at the core of that is something we have always done, taking care of one another and holding responsibility to others," said Duncan. "Organizing communities isn't a new idea within the Cherokee Nation now or from our predecessors in the 18th and 19th centuries. For centuries we have been taught that every Cherokee has a place in Cherokee society. Community isn't a physical place, it's a collective that brings all of us together." Community and Cultural Outreach's overall mission is to assist Cherokee community organizations' ability to increase their effectiveness, enhance essential services to those most in need, build upon the organizational capacity of each community, diversify resources and create collaborations to serve those in Cherokee communities. The program was designed to facilitate opportunities for partnerships and to provide educational and technical assistance, empowering communities to utilize their own abilities in securing and administering general and federal funding opportunities. Sabrina McKinney, chairperson of the Cherokees of Northern Central Valley, based out of Sacramento, California, attended with fellow board members to bring fresh ideas and professional development to Cherokees in California. "We attended some wonderful leadership capacity building sessions and cultural enrichment sessions, we want to bring back all of this information to our community," said McKenny. "This is my fourth year visiting and we've learned so much like how to play traditional games and resources for scholarships and volunteer opportunities like Gadugi Corps. We want to bring a deeper connection to our culture, history, and government back home." Steven Sands, president of the Neighborhood Association of Chewey, praised the tribe for continuing the annual conference. "We've learned a lot of information on leadership, how to be a better leader," said Sands. "And we are learning how to better fill out grants for our community of Chewy." On the final night of the conference, Cherokee Nation honored several community groups and community organizations for their efforts as well. The tribe continues to support participating organizations through Public Health and Wellness grants, cultural and language classes, community gardens, health events, walking trails, nutritional improvement, cooking classes and more. There are a number of other grants CCO organizations can also qualify for. The CCO fiscal year budget has continued to grow exponentially to support these efforts. In the 2018 fiscal year the budget added up to around $2.7 million - the proposed 2027 fiscal year budget will be over $10 million. Since 2019, under the Hoskin administration's Housing, Jobs and Sustainable Communities Act, Cherokee Nation has constructed 10 new community buildings, expanded or remodeled more than 20 others and has ongoing plans for more community center construction across the reservation. Last year, the Cherokee Nation empaneled a task force on community organizing with Duncan at its head. This task force continues to identify and address various community needs. The Hoskin administration has begun implementing some of the task force recommendations, including increasing grants, creating new grants and adding new field technical assistant staff members to assist at-large and on-reservation organizations. Since the announcement of the nearly $1.3 million grant to install power generators in the tribe's community buildings, the tribe has installed 15 generators over the last year. The tribe currently has 89 CCO participating organization in the reservation and at-large. To learn more about Cherokee Nation's Community and Cultural Outreach, visit https://www.facebook.com/CNCCO/. At-large citizens can find a list of Cherokee community groups across the county by visiting https://cherokeesatlarge.org. - Cherokee Nation