The Cherokee Nation is a sovereign tribal government. Upon settling in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) after the Indian Removal Act, the Cherokee people established a new government in what is now the city of Tahlequah, Oklahoma. A constitution was adopted on September 6, 1839, 68 years prior to Oklahoma’s statehood.
Today, the Cherokee Nation is the largest tribe in the United States with more than 390,000 tribal citizens worldwide. More than 141,000 Cherokee Nation citizens reside within the tribe’s reservation boundaries in northeastern Oklahoma. Services provided include health and human services, education, employment, housing, economic and infrastructure development, environmental protection and more. With approximately 11,000 employees, Cherokee Nation and its subsidiaries are one of the largest employers in northeastern Oklahoma. The tribe had a more than $2.16 billion economic impact on the Oklahoma economy in fiscal year 2018.
MISSION:
The Cherokee Nation is committed to protecting our inherent sovereignty, preserving and promoting Cherokee culture, language and values, and improving the quality of life for the next seven generations of Cherokee Nation citizens.
Cherokee Nation will launch a comprehensive study of its government workforce pay and target a gradual minimum wage increase to $15 per hour by 2025, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner announced Monday.
Cherokee Nation leaders gathered with leaders from Dahlonegah Public Schools and Greasy School on Oct. 29 after the tribe finalized its acquisition of the Greasy School campus in southern Adair County. Cherokee Nation will repurpose the site, which is currently operated by the Dahlonegah school system, into the tribe’s second Cherokee language immersion school starting with the 2022-2023 school year.
The Cherokee Nation is investing an additional $29 million in the next three years to help Cherokee citizens negatively impacted by the COVID-19 receive vocational training in skilled trades such as health care, construction, child care, information technology and more.
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. announced the initiative as part of the second anniversary of the Cherokee Nation Career Readiness Act, which he and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner proposed in 2019 and later signed into law with support of the Council of the Cherokee Nation.
