Message From Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, 1999-2011

The Cherokee Nation has come a long way since I first took office over twelve years ago. The list of things we’ve been able to do as a Nation is impressive, and all the credit goes to the employees of the Cherokee Nation and our businesses, and fellow community people. These accomplishments are not just about the numbers listed below. They represent real Cherokee people who have worked hard to help provide a better life for themselves and their families. Each accomplishment below represents personal growth, community services and the dignity resulting from self-sufficient lives. As each individual Cherokee and family becomes happier and healthier so does our Nation.” – Chad Smith

Exercising Sovereignty to protect our people

• Passed in 2000, the Independent Press Act provides the Cherokee Phoenix editorial independence and Editor protection from termination. The first by any Indian nation.
• Enacted the Freedom of Information Act and Open Records Act providing transparency in government.
• Published “Where Casino Money Goes” and Annual Report in hard copy and video.
• Opened an office in Washington D.C. to serve as a liaison between the Cherokee people and the U.S. Congress.
• Created the Cherokee Nation Motor Vehicle Registration Division, with more than 100,000 vehicles registered per year with funds going directly to public schools to help Cherokee children and local law enforcement.
• Settled litigation over damages to the Arkansas Riverbed with a $20 million payment after 33 years of litigation. Won in U. S. Supreme Court a judgment of $9 million for unpaid contract support cost.
• Re-established Marshal Service with 30 officers who are cross-deputized with 28 cities, 12 counties, three DAs and four state agencies. There is also a Marshal and Reserve Program specific to Cherokee Nation Entertainment.

Achieving Excellence to be of better service

• Rebuilt broken financial systems and earned awards and recognitions for “Excellence in Financial Reporting” for the past nine years from Government Finance Officers Association.
• Earned an investment grade bond credit rating to support construction and expansion of our health centers. The first for any Indian nation.
• Reduced Cherokee Nation’s employee turnover rate from 31 percent in 1998 to less than 11 percent in 2010.
• Consistently scored 97% – 100% on federal quality audits at Child Welfare, which is higher than any other agency monitored by the federal government. This includes other tribes and all states.
• Received national accreditation for Tahlequah Child Development Center through the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
• Earned a 100% federal quality audit rating for Head Start.

Improving the Health of our people

• Expanded our health system to be the largest tribally-operated health care system in the United States. Provided 3.4 million patient visits.
• Assumed operation of W.W. Hastings Hospital, providing 24-hour patient care and have invested $9 million in improvements.
• Opened new health centers in Bartlesville and Vinita. Expanded health centers in Sallisaw, and Salina. Built new clinics in Nowata, and Muskogee. New clinic in Vinita is under construction.
• Developed emergency medical services and provide training opportunities to our citizens and general public.
• Renovated the Markoma Gymnasium to become the Male Seminary Recreational Center with 10,343 enrolled.

5,936 of the total members are citizens of the Cherokee Nation.

• Provided 264 walks/runs and physical activity opportunities with 30,383 participants.
• Provided 96 Skill Building classes in which 703 participants enrolled.
• Assisted approximately 12,000 Cherokees this past year with diabetes prevention and treatment programs.
• Provided mammograms to 16,110 Cherokees since 2003 with cancer early detection programs.
• Partnered with Tahlequah City Hospital to create Cherokee Healthy Partners which provides for cardio imaging
  and diagnosis.
• Partnered with Tahlequah City Hospital for a dialysis center in Sallisaw.

Creating Jobs so we can support ourselves

• Created more than 5,000 new jobs with 3,500 being from new business.
• Increased the minimum wage to $9 per hour at all tribal entities with full fringe benefits.
• Created Cherokee Nation Businesses in 2004 and expanded business operations into gaming, hospitality, cultural tourism, aerospace, manufacturing, information technology, electronic assembly, communications, environmental protection, security and personnel services.
• Paid a combined payroll from the Cherokee Nation and our entities of more than $241 million last year.
• Currently employ more than 8,500 people.
• Provided 2,938 unemployed participants temporary work through the innovative Day Training Program
• Operated through Cherokee Nation Enterprises, the Hard Rock Casino, seven Cherokee Casinos, four hotels, two golf courses and other retail operations. The Cherokee music venue at Hard Rock, known for its outstanding acoustics, has hosted talent such as Vince Gill, Randy Travis and other international talent.
• Purchased $100 million in goods and services from Indian-owned businesses in 2009.

Offering Education to further ourselves

• Awarded more than 23,000 higher education scholarships to Cherokee students.
• Graduated more than 3,000 students from Talking Leaves Job Corps.
• Helped more than 1,200 students earn their GED.
• Built Sequoyah Schools to become the “School of Choice” among Native American students with a waiting list to enroll. During the past decade, 44 students have earned the Gates Millennium Scholarship. Sequoyah Schools continue to win numerous awards and titles in sports, academics, math, science and leadership.
• Provided more than $24 million to more than 100 public schools with the motor vehicle tax.
• Provided cultural enrichment to 2,575 children and sponsored History and Language competition for 277 students from 16 schools by JOM in 2009.
• Provided summer camps in art, culture, science and sports with 9,155 participants. Sequoyah provided sports camps for an additional 800.
• Sponsored five Science Fairs and Robotics events for Cherokee students and American Indian Science and Engineering Society Conference attendance for 260 students.
• Promoted the “Remember the Removal” bike ride with 13 riders in 2009 including the Principal Chief, 15 riders in 2010 and 10 are preparing for this year’s ride of retracing the Trail of Tears on bicycle.
• Provided youth leadership through Boy Scout Explorer posts, Youth Leadership Council, Miss Cherokee and Ambassadors, Youth Choir to 858 young Cherokees.
• Provided better choices through D.A.R.E safety classes by Marshal Service.

Organizing Communities to help each other

• Worked with 22 Cherokee communities to build more than 122 miles of waterline.
• Drilled 385 water wells, 711 community water connections and installed 948 systems.
• Built more than 650 miles of roadway and numerous bridges with State of Oklahoma and cities and counties.
• Organized nearly 24 communities to join together to build self-help community buildings including: South
  Coffeyville, Four Corners, Rocky Ford, Chewey, Bell, Greasy, Dry Creek, Marble City, Coo-Y-Yah, Snake Creek, Clouds Creek, Kenwood, Bull Hollow, Tailholt, White Oak, Sperry, Muldrow, Eucha, Star of Bethlehem, Christie, Rocky Mountain, and Tahlequah.
• Contributed to various charities including the Special Olympics, Boys & Girls Clubs, CASA, Rural Fire Stations, Domestic Violence Shelters and Food Pantries.
• Worked with 132 community organizations and provided $1,353,471 in sub-awards to community organizations.
• Organized 24 at-large communities such as Central Texas Cherokee Township-Austin, TX, Cherokees of Central Florida-St. Petersburg/Tampa, FL, Central Oklahoma Cherokee Alliance-Oklahoma City, OK, Cherokee At Large Voters League-Houston, TX, Cherokee Community of Central California-Bakersfield, CA, Cherokee Community of the Inland mEmpire-Riverside, CA, Cherokee Community of the Puget Sound- Seattle, WA, Cherokee Community of the Silicon Valley-San Jose, CA, Cherokee Society of the Greater Bay Area-Oakland, CA, Cherokees of Orange County-Anaheim, CA, Cherokees of the Northern Central Valley-Sacramento, CA, Colorado Cherokee Circle-Denver, CO, Cherokee Community of North Texas-Dallas, TX, Heartland Cherokee Community- Kansas City, MO, Mt. Hood Cherokees-Portland, OR, Cherokee Township of San Antonio-San Antonio, TX, San Diego Cherokee Community-San Diego, CA, The Cherokee Southwest Township- Albuquerque, NM, Tsa-La-Gi LA-Los Angeles, CA, Greater Wichita Area Cherokee Community-Wichita, KS, Willamette Tsa-La-Gi Community-Eugene, OR, Desert Cherokees-Tucson, AZ, Valley of the Sun Cherokees-Phoenix, AZ, and San Francisco Bay Area-San Francisco, CA.
• Contributed $1,444,015 to 127 rural volunteer fire departments and instituted Volunteer Fire Department Award Banquet.
• Helped over 100 local communities with organization and development.

Developing Housing for our people

• Helped 3,348 Cherokee families help themselves to build or purchase their own homes.
• Provided housing repairs including renovations, handicap accessibility, emergency repairs, and replacement homes to 4,411 families.
• Provided rental assistance for 9,008 Cherokees.

Providing Services to help our people help themselves

• Established the Office of Child Support Services in July 2007 which has recovered $12,709,234 in new money for support of children, through February 2011.
• Provided child care subsidy to more than 3,700 children annually.
• Provided child welfare services to more than 1,400 children annually.
• Prepared 1806 tax returns in 2009 and recovered over $2,163,978 in refunds.
• Provided $3,739,195 of heating/cooling assistance to 12,317 elders/disabled clients since 2002.
• Provided $1,749,814 in school clothing support since 2006 to 17,911 Cherokee students.
• Sheltered 1,983 young people in the John A. Ketcher Youth Services Center.
• Supported 14,000 ICWA cases, including 500 adoptions and 1,200 foster care placements.
• Provided food distribution services with 1,261,264 individual visits since 2002.
• Provided free tax services to Cherokee citizens for last 30 years. In the last three years, 5,220 citizens have been served through the VITA Program.

Preserving Culture for our future

• Developed the Cherokee Nation Immersion School where more than 100 students speak and write in Cherokee every day.
• Started piloting an Immersion Child Care Classroom in 2011. This extends the Immersion program from 6-weeks of age to 6th grade across Human Services and Education Services.
• Implemented language programs in Head Start, where 3 year olds were taught preschool lessons in the Cherokee language.
• Established the Cherokee National Youth Choir in 2000 that has represented the Cherokee Nation at the White House, Ground Zero and Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and since recorded 10 CDs in Cherokee. Received the Governor’s Award from The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2008. Established district children’s choirs that allow Cherokee children grades three through six to sing in the Cherokee language within their tribal district.
• Taught a 40-hour Cherokee Nation history course offering a formal review of the Nation’s history with over 10,000 people graduating, including Cherokee Nation employees.
• Worked with Apple, Inc. to include the Cherokee syllabary on iPhone, MacPro and iPad.
• Established heirloom seed bank and distributed for planting more than 6,000 packets of heirloom seeds to Cherokee Citizens and officials from other tribes for cultural and genetic preservation.
• Restored the Cherokee National Supreme Court building and the Springhouse at the Saline Courthouse. The Cherokee National Prison is being renovated and the Cherokee National Capitol building restoration has begun.
• Developed themed architecture and art in each town within the Cherokee Nation that reflects historic time periods to promote cultural tourism and understanding of our history
• Dedicated 1% of new construction and renovation cost for Cherokee art.
• Began a metalsmithing class to renew a Cherokee art style.
• Published “Building One Fire” with Dr. Rennard Strickland and Benny Smith which visually tells the story of Cherokee culture.
• Established a Cherokee translation department of fluent and literate Cherokees to provide translation for Immersion School, newspaper and other publications of the Cherokee Nation.
• Provided educational tours to more than 2,400 students.
• Developed Cherokee radio program and live internet Cherokee language instruction.
• Provided 200 Cherokee language community classes.
  Dedicated Saline Courthouse as first Cherokee National park.
  Organized Cherokee Speakers bureau with 300 participants who develop new Cherokee words and methods of teaching.
• Promoted National Treasures program with 42 new inductees.
• Contributed over $10 million to Cherokee Historical Society.

Helping our Elderly enjoy their lives

• Served more than 384,000 meals at Cherokee Nation’s elder nutrition sites.
• Operated Cherokee Elder Care, a Program for All-Inclusive Care which increases the quality and longevity of life for elders. This is an alternative to nursing homes.
• Built three elderly housing centers with forty apartments each located in Jay, Tahlequah and Stilwell.

Honoring our Veterans and their contributions

• Established first Veterans office funded with tribal funds.
• Built Cherokee Veteran Memorial in Tahlequah.
• Instituted the Cherokee Medal of Honor Award.
• Building Cherokee Veterans center.