Osyio.
I would like to thank all Cherokee
Nation citizens who participated in the recent election and look forward to
serving Cherokee people for another four years. To those voters, I say wado.
Whether you supported me or not,
you expressed your voice and participated in our democratic process, which is
critical to our future success. I thank God, my family, my friend Deputy Chief
S. Joe Crittenden and our supporters for the opportunity to serve another term.
The election is over, and we now
can focus our attention on what truly matters: Cherokee people. We can continue
the progress we’ve made the last four years for Cherokee Nation. We have
multiple projects in motion that will be game-changing endeavors for our
future. Over the next four years, we will continue to focus on building a
brighter future for all Cherokees.
The most important issue for our
future, bar none, is access to quality health care. Four years ago, people
agreed our tribal health care was at a crisis point, so we invested $100
million dollars from casino profits into health care expansion and
improvements. Our record-breaking gaming profits should be utilized to benefit
Cherokee citizens. That is the reason we pursued gaming in the first place 25
years ago.
We’ve built new clinics in Jay and
Ochelata, expanded health centers in Stilwell and Sallisaw and soon will break
ground on a 450,000 square foot facility at the W.W. Hastings health campus in
Tahlequah. That new facility will provide space for 1,200 new employees that
will, in turn, provide quality care for our people.
Once the facility is built, we can
launch our own medical school, where we will partner with Oklahoma State
University to provide hands-on education at our own facility. Growing our own
health-care providers is critical for our future wellness. We will be able to
educate and train health-care professionals that one day will staff our clinics
and new hospital.
Other projects include the
implementation of statewide hunting and fishing licenses for all Cherokee
citizens, the major renovation and facelift of the tribal complex, a project
that has been ignored for almost 40 years, and the refurbishing of our historic
Cherokee capital building in downtown Tahlequah, our tribe’s most iconic
structure.
We will keep advancing job
development and driving the economy of northeast Oklahoma. We have a talented
staff that is adept at securing federal grants to create jobs, programs and
services for Cherokee people. Additionally, increased diversification of our
Cherokee Nation Businesses efforts around the 14 counties will continue to
create cash flow for our tribe and increase self-sufficiency for our citizens.
We want to convince even more
Cherokee Nation children that a college education is possible with our tribal
scholarships. No child who applied and was qualified last year was turned down.
We supported almost 4,000 Cherokees in college, and we can do even more in the
future. That record number of scholarships honors our ancestors’ deep
commitment to education.
We want more Cherokees to enjoy
the American dream of homeownership, and put our Cherokee tradespeople to work
building these homes. We’ve had hundreds of folks take advantage of our housing
program and thousands of Cherokees employed building those homes, including
cement finishers, carpenters, bricklayers, roofers and plumbers.
Over the next four years, we will
keep up that momentum and continue building on this successful foundation.
We will continue looking for
partnerships that create opportunities for our people, like the Macy’s
expansion in Owasso that is creating thousands of good jobs for Cherokees and
non-Cherokees alike.
I look forward to announcing updates
and more exciting news during the Cherokee National Holiday State of the Nation
address. I cordially invite you all to join us for this annual event on Labor
Day weekend.
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