New VA center in Sequoyah County expands health care capabilities in northeast Oklahoma

America’s veterans, including many Cherokee men and women, committed a portion of their lives to preserving our collective freedoms. They deserve the best possible health care we, as a country, can provide. I am proud the Oklahoma Veterans Commission recently selected the city of Sallisaw, a community in the heart of the Cherokee Nation, for a new state veterans center in Oklahoma. The planned veterans center in Sequoyah County will be located on a 90-acre plot on Sallisaw’s south side for easy accessibility. It will be a great complement to our...

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Saving our Cherokee language by identifying fluent speakers

Cherokee Nation is embarking on a huge undertaking: surveying our citizens for an accurate number of fluent Cherokee speakers. Knowing our baseline number of speakers is essential as we continue our aggressive work in Cherokee language revitalization. As of today, our Community & Cultural Outreach department has identified nearly 2,000 fluent speakers. Just a few years back, we estimated that number at about 4,000. We are losing our speakers at an incredibly rapid rate. Our Cherokee language is sacred, and we have an obligation to save it....

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Cherokee Nation Angel Project: A brighter holiday for children in need

All children deserve the joy of a bountiful Christmas morning and the experience of tearing open a gift especially selected and wrapped for them. As a father, grandfather and now great-grandfather, it is a tradition I never grow tired of watching. At the Cherokee Nation, we are blessed to have a wonderful program in place for low-income children that ensures they don’t miss out on that magical feeling on Christmas morning.   Cherokee Nation’s Angel Project is gearing up to serve thousands of children in need, allowing them the special...

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