Cherokee Nation

The state of Oklahoma and three Native American tribes have signalled cooperation after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma raised concerns about jurisdiction for enforcement of criminal laws. Details still have to be worked out, but the move is a step toward a negotiated settlement. The news was not so encouraging regarding COVID-19 in the state. As schools work toward opening in the fall, coronavirus cases surge and the state's economic "re-opening" is called into question. KGOU's Dick Pryor and eCapitol's Shawn Ashley discuss the latest developments. 

Most states don't discover gifted Native American students but Oklahoma has been able to buck that trend.

Tribal gaming continues across the state, even as Governor Kevin Stitt argues the practice became illegal on January 1st. KGOU's Dick Pryor and eCapitol news director Shawn Ashley discuss the latest developments in the ongoing dispute.

Cherokee Nation announced its intention to send a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 17, 2019. Since then, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. says he has met with a handful of lawmakers in Washington D.C., including Oklahoma Representatives Tom Cole and Markwayne Mullin and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

Cherokee Nation Businesses announced that it will raise its workers' minimum wage to $11 an hour, effective Oct. 1. The announcement comes after pay raises were approved last month for Cherokee Nation government workers. Journal Record editor Russell Ray discusses the specifics of these raises and how profits from Cherokee Nation Businesses help the tribe. 

This time last week Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren campaigned in Iowa after announcing her presidential bid. Her announcement came a few months after the Oklahoma-native released DNA test results to back up claims of Native American ancestry. The test was taken as an affront to many Native Americans, especially Cherokee citizens, one of the tribes Warren claims ties to.

Congress is updating the Stigler Act, the federal law governing the transfer of lands allotted to citizens of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muskogee (Creek), and Seminole Nations, also known as the Five Tribes, before statehood. Amendments sponsored by Rep. Tom Cole passed the House and Senate, and are expected to be signed into law by the President.

Speaking at an event in Oklahoma City on Oct 8, Stephanie Hudson held a piece of paper that read “#DefendICWA.” ICWA is the Indian Child Welfare Act, and Hudson, who runs Oklahoma Indian Legal Services, said the law's future was jeopardized by a recent Texas court decision.

In this episode of Capitol Insider, KGOU’s Dick Pryor and eCapitol’s Shawn Ashley speak with Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. of the Cherokee Nation. Hoskin discusses Cherokee Nation’s investments in health and education, the tribe’s perspective on renegotiating gaming compacts, and more.

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

Though gaming operations continue to be a large economic focus for Oklahoma’s tribes, they are continuing to reach out into other endeavors. These projects include healthcare, retail, manufacturing, agriculture and more.

Catherine Gray walks up to a big, grey stone monument, standing tall under a lush magnolia tree on the grounds of the Cherokee Nation Courthouse in Tahlequah.

It’s monument to General Stand Watie, the last Confederate general to surrender at the end of the Civil War.

Moving to a rural Oklahoma town can be hard selling point for the state’s tribes, especially for high-demand, skilled professions like doctors and chefs.

The Journal Record newspaper released a special issue this week, Building Bridges, that looks at the tribal impact on Oklahoma’s economy. As part of the issue, reporter Catherine Sweeny noted that tribal healthcare facilities have to compete with metropolitan areas to attract doctors.

Before the Cherokee people were forced from their lands in the eastern U.S. along the Trail of Tears, the tribe grew varieties of crops now nearly lost. But at the Cherokee Nation Seed Bank in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, a vital part of the tribe’s history is kept frozen.

Deep underground on a Norwegian island in the remote arctic, the Global Seed Vault shelters seeds from around the globe, protecting them from natural disaster, nuclear catastrophe or any apocalypse that might bring humans to the brink.