Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said the tribe is dedicated to caring for its community amid the SNAP suspension, and will use $6.75 million in emergency relief funding.
"First, for every member of a federally recognized tribe within our reservation who's eligible, we will expedite approval of their application for our food distribution program," Hoskin Jr. said. "Our food distribution program is an alternative to SNAP, where participants get monthly groceries at no cost at one of our eight sites."
He said current SNAP recipients who are Cherokee Nation citizens and live within the reservation will receive a one-time payment of $185 — totaling $4.5 million in direct payments. He also said the tribe will invest $1.25 million toward regional food banks and food security non-profit organizations to support the entire community — not just Cherokees.
"The federal government may be failing at this moment," Hoskin Jr. said. "Cherokee Nation is not."
Hoskin Jr. also called on state leaders in an X post to step up and look after all Oklahomans like the Cherokee Nation is doing for its community.
#Oklahoma has $3.6 billion in savings. Time to follow @CherokeeNation’s lead and extend a lifeline to all Oklahoma #SNAP participants in need. Most, beneficiaries, by the way, are kids. https://t.co/jo8BMnifHV
— Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. (@ChuckHoskin_Jr) October 29, 2025
The Cherokee Nation spans 14 counties, and the average food insecurity rate in those counties is about 19%, according to Feeding America data. In total, about 685,000 Oklahomans utilize the resource to help buy groceries, according to the Department of Human Services.
"Most beneficiaries of SNAP are children; many participants are elders," Hoskin Jr. said. "Some participants have disabilities. Many are working adults. They will have no benefits for the month of November unless the government quickly reopens."
The tribe said it is ready to continue funding the WIC program for another month should the federal government shutdown persist past mid-November. That program, along with Head Start, Jop Corps and the Cherokee Nation's food distribution, is among the most vulnerable if the lapse of federal funding continues, the tribe noted.
The funding is made available under the Emergency Management Act and the Public Health and Wellness Fund Act, both enacted this year, according to a Cherokee Nation press release. If the shutdown ceases, the Cherokee Nation will halt this response and move the money to strategic reserve funds to be tapped into later.
"We cannot bail out the federal government of all its fiscal dysfunction," Hoskin Jr. said in a statement. "But, as a responsible government, we can and we must steer some of our reserve funding immediately to stem the needless hunger this federal shutdown will impose in the coming weeks."
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