Historic agreement between Cherokee Nation and state of Oklahoma expands hunting and fishing rights for Cherokees

For millennia, we Cherokees have provided for our families by hunting and fishing the lands. Even before European encroachment, it’s how we fed our communities, clothed our children and crafted tools. Hunting and fishing are not simply honored traditions in our Cherokee culture, it’s what kept us alive and sustained us. It is and was our basic way of life. We had full reign of the land when our ancestors lived in the southeast United States, and we retained those rights by an 1828 treaty with the United States that carried over to our removal...

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Remembering Heroic Claremore Firefighter

We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic death of Capt. Jason Farley, a 20 year veteran of the Claremore Fire Department. This is a very sad reminder of how our first responders and emergency personnel put their lives on the line every day to protect and serve each and every one of us. Our sincere thoughts and prayers are with Capt. Farley's family and loved ones, and we wish them peace and comfort during this very difficult time. On behalf of the entire Cherokee Nation, I'd also like to say thank you to the first responders who continue...

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Honoring code talkers and Cherokee veterans

Like most tribal governments in America, the Cherokee Nation has a longstanding history of serving the military at a higher rate than the general U.S. population. More than 12,000 American Indians served in World War I. That was about 25 percent of the male Indian population at that time. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, an estimated 44,000 Indian men and women served in World War II, when the total tribal population nationwide was...

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A Call to Action...for Cherokee Children & All Native Youth

All Cherokee children have their own special place in the Cherokee Nation – our Cherokee children hold the future of our people in their hands. When a child is removed from her family, her community and her tribe it doesn’t just change her life – it changes the future of her entire Nation. Do you want to help the Cherokee Nation keep our children safe and our families and communities strong? Here’s how you can help! Do you have five minutes? The Bureau of Indian Affairs has taken a bold step: it has proposed the first-ever set of substantive...

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