Osiyo,
Across the Cherokee Nation Reservation, we frequently hear the same story from working parents: They want to work and build a future for their children, but they cannot find affordable, quality childcare.
For too many Cherokee families, access to childcare decides whether a parent can take a job or finish a degree. It’s a compromise parent and guardians should not have to make.
This is not just a family issue. It’s also an economic issue. Businesses in northeast Oklahoma need workers, and recruiting new families from out-of-state is ultimately expensive and only worsens the childcare shortage. Our local communities need to enable working families. And Cherokee youth need safe, nurturing places to learn and grow while their parents focus on career goals that improve their livelihood. When childcare is scarce, the entire economy feels it.
Childcare is also about equity. Society continues to place obligations for childcare on disproportionately on women. A lack of childcare is the number one factor in women leaving or deciding not to enter the workforce. Expanding childcare gives families, and therefore women, more choices. Empowering women with opportunities to make choices on all matters impacting them — including the choice to work — uplifts society and the economy.
That is why Deputy Chief Bryan Warner and I are asking the Council of the Cherokee Nation to support an idea I announced during the 2026 State of the Nation: the 21st Century Childcare Initiative. It’s an investment in the infrastructure that Cherokee families deserve.
The plan includes a new $20 million child development center near our health campus in Vinita, a new $20 million center on our main health campus in Tahlequah, and a $10 million expansion and remodel of our existing Tahlequah Child Development Center. These are not arbitrary choices. Earlier this year, Secretary of State Shella Bowlin and our Human Services team studied where childcare needs remain greatest, and their report pointed us toward Tahlequah and Vinita.
We build on real progress. In recent years, Cherokee Nation has opened new child development centers in Pryor, Sallisaw and Catoosa, and we have replaced all of our aging Head Start facilities across our 14-county reservation. However, buildings alone won’t close the childcare gap.
Our proposal also dedicates $1.25 million annually for grants to Cherokee citizens who want to start or grow childcare businesses, so our own entrepreneurs can be part of the solution. We propose $3.5 million annually in childcare subsidies to help working families afford care by restoring a subsidy cut by the federal government. We also took up Councilor Danny Callison’s suggestion, investing $4.1 million annually to expand operating hours at our child development centers and Head Start facilities. Councilor Callison stands alongside all of his Council colleagues in being champions for childcare.
My wife, First Lady January Hoskin, has been a longtime champion of the well-being of Cherokee children, and she reminds me often that investing in a child's earliest years is one of the most powerful investments we can make as a Nation.
Childcare is infrastructure. Just as roads carry people to jobs, dependable childcare is a pathway for parents into the workforce. It helps a mother finish her education, lets a father take a better job, and gives Cherokee youth a strong, loving start in life.
Deputy Chief Warner and I are proud of what we have built together with the Council. Now we have the chance to build further. When we invest in childcare, we invest in our shared future. We can give Cherokee families the freedom to build the life they want.
Wado,
Chuck Hoskin Jr.
Principal Chief
