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.
Our Cherokee word for respect is ᎤᏬᎯᏳᎯ, and we are upholding these values by helping prevent the spread of COVID-19, as best we can. The Cherokee Nation is taking steps to keep our community safe!
"We must all act to stay healthy, monitoring our own health and that of our family, limiting travel, if possible, and checking on our elders who are most vulnerable," Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. "The Cherokee Nation has secured federal funding to help us combat and treat any coronavirus cases, ensure our medical staff are trained to identify, treat and respond to patients efficiently and have the ability to do our own testing."
A call center (1-833-528-0063) has been established for tribal citizens who have questions about COVID-19. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. If tribal citizens have symptoms like cough, fever or respiratory problems, they should contact their Cherokee Nation Health center first, before entering. Local meetings and at-large community gatherings are also being postponed for the time being to help keep our employees and tribal citizens safe.
As of March 19th, Cherokee Nation Health Services has 14,966 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
For more information, please visit Health Services.
The 69th Annual Cherokee National Holiday theme is "Cultivating Our Culture: Language. Literacy. Lifeways." The theme and art pays homage to the Cherokee language and 200-year anniversary of the written Cherokee language, the Cherokee syllabary, invented by Sequoyah in 1821.
The Cherokee Nation unveiled its first public, rural eco-friendly electric buses to transport employees and tribal citizens to work and tribal health centers, and its first electric school bus, which is the first of its kind in the state of Oklahoma.
The Cherokee Nation is contributing nearly half a million dollars total to 136 northeast Oklahoma rural fire departments such as the Brushy fire department. The tribe’s annual contribution helps support volunteer fire departments, which otherwise rely on fundraisers, membership dues and the help of their community’s residents to maintain their vital operations.
Four cyclists and two mentor riders from the Cherokee Nation will participate in the 2021 Remember the Removal Bike Ride this June, retracing an estimated 950 miles along the northern route of the Trail of Tears by bicycle.
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner are proposing new legislation that would provide Cherokee citizens with access to substance abuse treatment centers, wellness centers and fitness centers by setting aside a portion of third-party revenues collected by Cherokee Nation Health Services each year.
