Cherokee Chief Hoskin to speak at White House Tribal Nations Summit
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. is speaking as a panelist at the White House on Wednesday.
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (KFOR) - Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. is speaking as a panelist at the White House on Wednesday.
The White House Tribal Nations Summit is being held at the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, November 30. According to officials, this will be the first in-person White House Tribal Summit of the Biden-Harris Administration.
Federal leaders will be working with tribal leaders in order to engage on ways to reinforce and invest in Indian Country, including language revitalization.
“As difficult as it is, I think it’s important to have a conversation during the panel about the federal government’s role in Native language loss during the boarding school era and other anti-Indian policies put in place decades ago. I do appreciate the leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration and Department of the Interior wanting to collaborate with tribal leaders and make decisions on ways they can help save our languages today,” Chief Hoskin said. “Deputy Chief Warner and I are unwavering in our commitment to preserving and perpetuating the Cherokee language. We are making historic strides in the Cherokee Nation Reservation to teach our language to future generations of Cherokees in part because we have this support and focus.”
The Cherokee Nation says there are around 2,000 first-language Cherokee Speakers with an average age of 70 years old.
Chief Hoskin is to speak on the panel regarding the tribe's largest investment in language and innovative programs in place to save and produce speakers which use many federal programs and grants as part of the Cherokee Nation.
Earlier this year, a new Speaker Services program began to make sure that elder Speakers' housing, health care and basic needs are taken care of.
Chief Hoskin will speak at 9:10 a.m. ET on the Native Languages and Education panel, following opening remarks from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
To watch the White House Tribal Nations Summit, it will be livestreamed here.