Cherokee diplomat visits
♦ Secretary of State Chuck Hoskins Jr. is in Georgia to formally register members of the tribe.
Cherokee Nation leaders are in Georgia this weekend, formally registering and providing proper photo identification to members of the tribe who live in Georgia and Alabama.
Cherokee Secretary of State Chuck Hoskins Jr. said it is important for the tribe to reach citizens outside of Oklahoma to be able to provide accurate numbers helping the Cherokee with lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C.
Dawni Squirrel, a cultural outreach officer, said this marks the first time the tribe has come to Georgia to issue updated tribal membership identification.
Hoskins and about 15 Cherokee from Oklahoma were guests at a reception at the Major Ridge Home/Chieftains Museum on Friday night.
“We can go to every member of the United States Senate and say there are Cherokee people in your state, and we can go to most members of the House of Representatives and tell them how many Cherokee live in their district,” Hoskins said.
Kevin Stretch, a special projects coordinator for the tribe, said two-thirds of the members of the tribe actually live outside of tribal jurisdiction. He said, all told, the number of Cherokee that are registered numbers approximately 360,000.
Hoskins is in his second term as Cherokee Secretary of State after his initial appointment in 2013. Prior to his appointment Hoskins served on the Tribal Council. In his role as Secretary of State, Hoskins represents the tribe in matters before the federal and state governments, local governments and other tribal governments.
“I do a lot of community outreach back in Cherokee Nation and in various places around the country where we have a presence,” Hoskins said.
The Secretary said keeping an eye on the federal government living up to its historic responsibilities with respect to health care and housing were among his key concerns.
“Budgetary issues and land-in-trust issues are also major concerns,” Hoskins said. “There is a unique law that affects some tribes that was literally designed to erode our Indian land, land that we have exclusive jurisdiction over. That is an issue we have before Congress right now.”
Gaming issues and jobsrelated issues are also high priority items the Cherokee Secretary of State deals with.
“We’re heavily involved in federal contracting, in fact we have businesses in 47 states right now,” Hoskins said. “In the last year we hit the billion dollar mark in contract wins, the value of those contracts, that’s not to mention our gaming, which is the most lucrative part of our business.