Osiyo,
As federal pandemic relief funding sunsets this year, large and small governments across the country face an important test of their financial strategies. While all were reacting to intense economic turmoil and demand, some governments built ongoing obligations around one-time dollars and must now confront difficult cuts.
Cherokee Nation took a different path, and I’m proud to be part of a government — made up of the executive, legislative and judicial branches — that leaves this fiscal era stronger and more resilient than ever.
From the outset, we treated pandemic funding as exactly what it was: temporary. We used those dollars — from the Trump-era CARES Act to the Biden-era ARPA — to meet extraordinary needs, strengthen our infrastructure, and make strategic investments that would outlast the pandemic. We didn’t build the future of Cherokee Nation on funding we knew would expire.
That is what disciplined fiscal stewardship looks like.
Fiscal stewardship is about more than balanced budgets. It is about keeping promises to Cherokee Nation citizens — not just today, but for generations to come. It means making disciplined decisions that allow us to pursue ambitious goals while protecting the long-term stability of our government.
Because of that approach, Cherokee Nation enters this new chapter from a position of strength. We are not scrambling to replace expiring federal relief dollars. We are not experiencing mass layoffs or the hasty termination of programs or offices. Instead, we are expanding the programs and services our citizens depend on through sustainable, tribally funded investments grounded in self-governance. All of this happens with clean, independent audits and fiscal management national honors.
The foundation for that future is already in place through legislation that is the foundation of the Hoskin/Warner administration. The Public Health and Wellness Fund Act is transforming how we approach health through investments in prevention, behavioral health, and wellness. The Housing, Jobs and Sustainable Communities Act continues to create homeownership opportunities and support economic growth across our reservation in northeast Oklahoma. The Durbin Feeling Language Preservation Act provides permanent funding to protect and revitalize the Cherokee language so future generations will inherit a living and thriving language.
Those commitments are producing measurable results, all without using a penny of federal funding and all on a sustainable basis. An independent analysis of our ARPA investments found that pandemic recovery funding generated significant economic activity across our reservation — supporting jobs, strengthening local businesses, improving infrastructure, and creating lasting community value well beyond the life of those federal dollars.
Our recently released Health Care Economic Impact Report tells a similar story: Cherokee Nation's health system generates more than $2 billion in annual economic activity, supports about 12,000 jobs, and delivers hundreds of millions in labor income, all while ensuring Cherokee families and neighbors have access to high-quality care close to home. The opening of the new W.W. Hastings Hospital stands as the clearest example yet of what long-term planning and disciplined financial management can achieve.
These outcomes did not happen by accident. They are the result of careful budgeting, conservative financial management, and a willingness to think beyond the next fiscal year. This is a credit to a team — including the Council of the Cherokee Nation, my cabinet and Deputy Principal Chief Bryan Warner — that works together and thinks ahead. We are not perfect, but we do put the long-term interests of the Cherokee Nation and the citizens we represent at the center of our work.
Cherokee Nation has always been strongest when we rely on our own vision and our own values. That is the promise of fiscal stewardship, and it is how we honor the trust of Cherokees today while building a stronger Cherokee Nation for the next seven generations.
Wado,
Chuck Hoskin Jr.
Principal Chief
