Cherokee Phoenix

1 week ago | cherokeephoenix.org | Chad Hunter

TAHLEQUAH – Instead of a run-off race in District 9, updated tallies from the Cherokee Nation’s June 7 General Election indicate a win after results were recalculated without votes for two candidates who withdrew post-election as required by the tribe’s election law. New results from the CN Election Commission office show Clifton Hughes, of Colcord, with 52.13% of the vote against four other candidates.

1 week ago | cherokeephoenix.org | Chad Hunter

TAHLEQUAH – Oklahoma’s attorney general says the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians “has not entered into a valid gaming compact” with the state, halting the tribe’s plan to reopen its long-shuttered casino in Tahlequah. In his opinion issued June 9, Attorney General Gentner Drummond stated that Oklahoma’s offer to its federally recognized tribes to enter into model gaming compacts – as approved by voters in 2004 – expired before the UKB’s “purported acceptance” on April 29, 2025.

1 week ago | cherokeephoenix.org | Chad Hunter

TAHLEQUAH – The Cherokee Nation’s effort to assume operations of Claremore Indian Hospital and potentially build a new facility took a step forward at the June 16 Tribal Council meeting. In a 15-0 vote with one abstention, the council agreed to ask the Department of Interior and Indian Health Service to transfer title of the hospital to the United States in trust for the Cherokee Nation. Tribal leaders announced the plan in 2024.

2 weeks ago | cherokeephoenix.org | Chad Hunter

TAHLEQUAH – Within the span of a week, the Cherokee Nation’s Talking Leaves Job Corps program was facing closure then temporarily saved by court order along with other contracted centers nationwide. In late May, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the “phased pause in operations at contractor-operated Job Corps centers” across the country by June 30.

2 weeks ago | cherokeephoenix.org | Chad Hunter

OKLAHOMA CITY – A Cherokee Nation citizen who recently graduated from medical school is one step closer to his dream of becoming a reconstructive surgery specialist. Dakota St. Pierre, 26, of Stilwell, graduated in May from the University of Oklahoma’s College of Medicine in Oklahoma City. “Technically, I’m a physician now but I have more training before I can actually practice on my own,” he said, noting that his residency will take place at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.