WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:03.279
Good morning, good morning, good
morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome.

2
00:00:03.560 --> 00:00:08.279
It is time now to visit with
Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. With the

3
00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:11.640
Cherokee Nation. And good day,
sir, how are you today? Well,

4
00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:13.519
good day to you, Tom.
It is great to be with you.

5
00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:16.480
It is always really nice to be
in studio. I haven't been here

6
00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:20.320
for a number of years, but
here I am. What a great time

7
00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:24.399
that we've had this week in the
great city of Bartlesville. Oh, yet

8
00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:29.559
big event earlier today with the Big
Conversation I call it the Big Conversation because

9
00:00:29.559 --> 00:00:33.520
it was long overdue. Well,
it was wonderful to be hosted by the

10
00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:37.520
Kawanas Club here in Bartlesville. You
know, nationwide Kwanas does great things.

11
00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:42.960
They do great things locally here in
Bartlesville. To share some time also with

12
00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:46.359
Lieutenant Governor the State of Oklahoma,
Matt Panel, that's special. He and

13
00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:53.520
I are interested a great deal in
cultural tourism, the film and TV industry.

14
00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:57.399
That's some of the message that we
shared with the group today. Also

15
00:00:57.479 --> 00:01:02.520
just talking more broadly about the impact
that shared makes here locally. We're proud

16
00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:07.400
of it. It's measured in jobs, it's measured in millions and millions of

17
00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:11.239
dollars in contributions and a lot of
economic impact. And it feels good to

18
00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.719
talk about it. Really, indeed
it is. I understand the folks in

19
00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:22.680
Dewey have really been getting the good
benefit now having that nice building up there,

20
00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:26.040
the Cultural Center in Dewey, and
the folks have just been saying,

21
00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:30.760
what a nice little resource that is. Actually it's a big resource. Last

22
00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:33.400
they saw it. It's good size. It is a good size. You

23
00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:36.359
know that. We really broke the
news here on your program. It's been

24
00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:42.040
more than a year when we acquired
that building and then we remodeled it.

25
00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:45.439
It's located and do it's a former
church, but we've really turned it into

26
00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:52.239
a showcase where the local community organization, Cherokee Cultural Community can host its meeting,

27
00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:55.480
can bring in cultural classes and speakers. They've already been doing that.

28
00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:00.079
The great thing that we did this
week is expanded more services into Washington County.

29
00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:04.920
Tom, I'm talking about career services, I'm talking about human services.

30
00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:09.360
They are now located in that wonderful
building in Dewey. That means Cherokees in

31
00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:15.280
this part of the Cheroke Nation can
have an easier time accessing those really important

32
00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:16.919
services. I mean, you think
about people that are trying to get on

33
00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:21.599
track with their career, get job
training, that's career services. You think

34
00:02:21.639 --> 00:02:25.439
about people that are in a tough
financial situation. The safety net programs that

35
00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:30.479
our Human Services Department provides are really
important and they'll be provided right out of

36
00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:36.759
Dewey. This is an amazing thing. Every time we talk, good things

37
00:02:36.759 --> 00:02:40.879
have been happening. You just signed
into legislation a lot of good things of

38
00:02:40.919 --> 00:02:46.599
the Goadoogi program. It was something
that was brought up by John Weston just

39
00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:51.560
yesterday. He's a Kawanian and also
a vital member of a Cherokee nation.

40
00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:54.639
This is something we talked about on
an earlier episode. But you know,

41
00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:59.120
you're pretty proud of this, proud
of this. This is the Godougie core

42
00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:04.120
and what the vision there is is
to get behind grassroots efforts for Cherokees to

43
00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:07.599
help Cherokee. So think about people
that are in these community organizations, whether

44
00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:13.520
it's Cherokee Cultural Community, the organization
in Dewey or down the road at the

45
00:03:13.639 --> 00:03:20.199
Washington County Cherokee Association which is located
in Osha, Leda. These are places

46
00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:23.879
where Cherokees can solve problems locally.
It might be helping out kids with a

47
00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:29.080
reading camp. It might be responding
to natural disaster when Tom, you and

48
00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:31.639
I both know you if a tornado
hits, or there's flooding, or there's

49
00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:37.639
a power outage or water outage,
the first people on the scene is friends

50
00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:40.199
and neighbors. And if you can
help friends and neighbors do that kind of

51
00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:44.800
work, that's great. In fact, we had the head of our Goddogie

52
00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:49.560
Corps, who's a guy named Sean
Critten, came to Washington County just last

53
00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:53.639
week and he held kind of a
workshop talking about this concept. We're really

54
00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:55.520
excited about it. It's going to
take a great deal of resources, but

55
00:03:55.599 --> 00:04:00.560
it's the most important resource is going
to be that human talent that desire to

56
00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:03.479
volunteer. We're just starting this program. We'll have more to report down the

57
00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:08.080
road. Oh, very very good. Other things you were talking about,

58
00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:12.080
like a service, housing and just
everything the Cherokee Nation takes care of for

59
00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:15.840
its citizens. Elaborate on some of
these because these are great stories. These

60
00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:18.360
are great stories. I mean,
one of the challenges that everyone living in

61
00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:24.839
Northeast Oklahoma has is really a housing
crisis. We all know people who might

62
00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:28.879
be living on the margins, and
it may be because of rent. Rent

63
00:04:28.920 --> 00:04:32.480
goes up, Tom when housing stock
does not keep up with demand. That's

64
00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:35.120
what we're facing in Northeast Oklahoma.
So what do we do about it?

65
00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:40.040
Well, Cherokee Nation can't completely solve
the problem, but we're doing I think

66
00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:43.000
our part. We're in the midst
of right now, TOM one hundred and

67
00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:46.959
twenty million dollars in housing investment.
It's a law called the Housing, Jobs

68
00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:53.560
and Sustainable Communities Act. We're seeing
the fruits of that legislation in lots of

69
00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:56.800
places. I was in Muskogie last
week with the Deputy Bryan Warner. We

70
00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:01.399
saw great housing addition. Today I
got a chance to stop by Oceanleda and

71
00:05:01.560 --> 00:05:06.199
see the site where we're going to
build three duplexes which will be for elders.

72
00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:13.160
We'll expand beyond that, we're going
to also build some additional units down

73
00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:17.160
the calendar a bit on something called
the one eighty four Skilled Workers Program.

74
00:05:17.240 --> 00:05:21.839
That means that that property, which
is next to the Cherokee Nation Health Center

75
00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:27.000
in the little town of Oceanlada,
will build some additional units that will be

76
00:05:27.079 --> 00:05:31.279
made on an affordable basis available to
people that are in the healthcare field,

77
00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:34.439
among other fields. So we're trying
to take care of elders, we're trying

78
00:05:34.439 --> 00:05:39.079
to take care of working people.
All of that, Tom, is to

79
00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:45.319
say, we're doing our part to
improve and increase housing stock in this area,

80
00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:47.480
because if we don't do that,
we're going to continue, Tom to

81
00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:51.519
see the kind of problems that we
see in lots of communities where people are

82
00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:57.160
struggling to pay rent, they're struggling
to find affordable housing. If they're struggling,

83
00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:00.839
Tom, guess who else is struggling. Employers in the region who need

84
00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:02.759
to hire people that make sure they
have a good place to live. All

85
00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:06.480
of this has a domino effect or
ripple effect. We want to get those

86
00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:11.560
dominoes and ripples going in the right
direction. And so this investment, which

87
00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:15.480
people can see in real terms in
Washington County, I think is very impactful.

88
00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:19.959
Education has always been a big one
for you and for the tribe it

89
00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:23.759
is. I mean, I can
go back, and we won't go down

90
00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:27.360
a history class too far today,
Tom, but we could go back to

91
00:06:27.399 --> 00:06:30.360
a subject that you and I have
talked about before, which is after removal,

92
00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:32.600
what did the Cherokee people do.
We took seventy cents of every dollar

93
00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:36.120
and we put it into education.
So we're just following in the footsteps of

94
00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:40.519
our ancestors when we do things like
we did a couple of weeks ago,

95
00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:45.120
which is we increased spending on higher
education. Now, Tom, we already

96
00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:49.519
spend in any given year about nineteen
million dollars to send folks to college,

97
00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:54.160
send Cherokees to college. We added
some merit scholarships on top of that.

98
00:06:54.199 --> 00:06:56.920
In other words, the top performers
that are coming out of high school might

99
00:06:56.920 --> 00:07:00.000
be Bartlesville High School on their way
to Miama Mater, University of Oklahoma,

100
00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:04.079
or Northeastern State University, or closer
to home, Rogers State. Any college

101
00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:08.600
that they want to attend, We're
going to give them extra help to go

102
00:07:08.680 --> 00:07:12.600
there, with about a ninety five
thousand dollars annual investment on top of that

103
00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:15.360
nineteen million. All of that is
for this reason, Tom, we want

104
00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:17.199
to get behind our people getting an
education. We want them to come to

105
00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:23.240
work for us. Now, Tom, we employ nationwide about eleven thousand plus

106
00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:26.480
employees. That number grows all the
time. We've got people working here in

107
00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:30.040
this area. Tom, you and
I are going to retire someday, surely,

108
00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:31.759
and who's going to take our place. A lot of these kids coming

109
00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:34.360
out of high school, we've got
to get behind them. So we're working

110
00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:39.240
on higher education. Public education,
though, is really important to us.

111
00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:41.560
And I'll tell you what, I'm
proud of what we do year in and

112
00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:45.160
year out for public education. Well
you should be. That's a lot of

113
00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:49.079
good work. You know. You
talk about the true being a job provider.

114
00:07:49.800 --> 00:07:54.839
You've got a lot of businesses and
it's more than just a casino or

115
00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:59.079
in the hospitality business. You're into
Aaron Audis and a few other things.

116
00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:03.560
We're into a really wide array of
things. One thing that I like people

117
00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:07.680
to understand is a couple of things
have happened in the last six or seven

118
00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:13.240
years. One is we've doubled the
dividend coming out of our businesses paid to

119
00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:18.199
the Cherokee Nation that we turn into
those scholarships I just told you about that

120
00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:20.439
we turn into jobs, we turn
into housing. We've doubled that. So

121
00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:24.439
in other words, that shows that
our businesses are very profitable. But if

122
00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:28.600
you look behind that top line number, where we've doubled the profits that come

123
00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:33.799
to the Cherokee Nation. What you
see is a business enterprise, Tom,

124
00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:37.159
that is mostly not gaming. Now, when we go down the highway and

125
00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:39.399
we see the hard rock, that's
impressive. I'm impressed by it, and

126
00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:43.519
it tells a story that that's a
big part of Cherokee Nation businesses. But

127
00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:46.639
if you look at the spreadsheets,
Tom, what you find is that's actually

128
00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:50.639
a minority anymore of our business portfolio. You mentioned what we're in. We're

129
00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:54.399
in aeronautics, We're in IT security, we're in construction. We're in a

130
00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:58.960
lot of things that serve the federal
government in terms of contracting. We work

131
00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:05.039
with the Department of Health and Human
Services as they're dealing with housing people who

132
00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:09.200
are displaced because of various international crises. We're in fifty states, We're in

133
00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:13.279
more than a dozen countries around the
world. All of that does this though,

134
00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:16.919
Tom, and this is what I
want listeners to understand. No matter

135
00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:20.279
what we do, no matter where
we go, every penny comes back home.

136
00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:24.440
Where's our home Northeast Oklahoma. Our
home is Bartlesville and all the other

137
00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:28.960
communities that people call home here.
And it ends up in the form Tom

138
00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:33.519
of millions of dollars, lifting people
up, individuals up that need help,

139
00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:37.159
Individuals that need to go get an
education, communities that need to say build

140
00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:41.559
a road or supportive boys and girls
club. You can go through this town,

141
00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:43.440
Tom and you may not see Cherokee
Nations name on it, but you

142
00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:48.159
can feel it. All of those
dollars in this multi billion dollar enterprise.

143
00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:50.759
It's all coming back home. Very
good, very good on you, as

144
00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:56.399
they say, this is our community
connection. And we're talking with Principal Chief

145
00:09:56.440 --> 00:10:01.120
of Cherokee Nation, Chuck Hoskin Jr. So much to catch up on.

146
00:10:01.399 --> 00:10:03.240
We see each other every now and
then, but we don't see each other

147
00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:07.600
in the studio. And it is
one of these things that I just don't

148
00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:11.360
want to leave anything behind because we
have so much information what happened we covered

149
00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:13.519
that we really need to put a
spotlight. Well, there's a great deal

150
00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:16.120
to cover. Let me circle back
to education. Do that. Let me

151
00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:20.000
circle back to education, because if
you have a child in Bartsville Public School

152
00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:24.840
or a public school in this area, or if you're somebody that believes in

153
00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:28.399
public education, you should be excited
about what we're going to do here in

154
00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:31.360
about a month, because we're going
to issue another set of checks to public

155
00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:37.159
schools. We take our compact,
our Vehicle Tribal Tag Compact with the State

156
00:10:37.159 --> 00:10:39.960
of Oklahoma. We take the revenue
we get from there, and we put

157
00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:43.240
it into a lot of good things. Tom, thirty eight percent of what

158
00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:48.200
we get selling car tags goes into
everyone's public school that's listening to me right

159
00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:52.879
now, and about one hundred and
nine school districts total, that's millions of

160
00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:56.960
dollars. Last year is about seven
point five million in Washington County overall,

161
00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:01.679
since the compact began, we've given
about two point nine million that since two

162
00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:05.039
thousand and two. We're going to
give another set of checks to Washington County

163
00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:07.679
public schools and all the public schools
here in about a month. Here's what

164
00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:11.759
I want people to understand. We
do that because we've reached in a historic

165
00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:16.080
agreement with the state of Oklahoma in
two thousand and two. We've updated that

166
00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:18.399
over the years. Right now,
though, Tom, as you know,

167
00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:24.279
we've been in a bit of a
back and forth with the governor over compact.

168
00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:28.039
I think it's not just us,
it's multiple tribes. Our compact has

169
00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:31.399
been extended for one year by the
legislature. If at the end of this

170
00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:35.360
year, we don't reach a renewed
compact. What happens we keep selling car

171
00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:39.600
tax, Tom, but the legal
structure of the compact, which sends money

172
00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:46.159
to police and fire and public schools
and roads one point seven million dollars I

173
00:11:46.200 --> 00:11:50.759
think to TSSA public schools every year
that vanishes and we don't want to see

174
00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:52.080
that. We want to keep this
going. And so what you'll hear me

175
00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:56.519
talk about over the course of the
next few months is making sure we get

176
00:11:56.559 --> 00:11:58.759
an extension on the compact. Be
glad to come back here and talk about

177
00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:03.320
that as it develops. All that
though, goes to education. We got

178
00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:05.799
to keep that going. Tom,
very good. I'll just show we've got

179
00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:07.919
a big thing in Dewey. What's
the big announcement. Well, in Dewey,

180
00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:13.200
we had such a great time with
the local Cherokee organization at our community

181
00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:18.159
building and we announced that Human Services
and Career Services too, great program for

182
00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:22.759
the Cherokey Nation will operate out of
that wonderful facility in Dewey. That means

183
00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:26.679
Tom, that if you're a Cherokee
living in this area and you previously had

184
00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:30.039
to drive to Talaqua or clam or
any number of other places, you can

185
00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:31.919
stay close to home. And I'm
going to tell you if you're struggling and

186
00:12:31.960 --> 00:12:35.600
you need human services, stay close
to home is really important. If you're

187
00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:39.679
struggling trying to get your career on
track and you need career services, you

188
00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:43.600
don't want to have to drive an
hour away. Close to home. Dewey

189
00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:48.360
is a great community right here next
to great Bartlesville already, and we do

190
00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:52.120
have our council woman here, Dorian
Smith Batkowski, who's been a very good

191
00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:58.080
advocate for our community up here,
for Cherokee Nation and also for pretty much

192
00:12:58.120 --> 00:13:01.679
anyone who has a U you're concerned. She really listens. Well. She's

193
00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:05.000
a champion. You know. She
sponsored the legislation that put all of those

194
00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:09.559
new dollars into scholarships. I'd be
remiss if I didn't, and she'd get

195
00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:13.840
after me, Tom if I didn't
tell you that right now, thanks to

196
00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:18.000
her, you can go to Cherokeefoundation
dot org. We'll put that up on

197
00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:20.519
our website or in our social media
and you can look at some of these

198
00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:26.559
new scholarships. You can thank Counselor
Patzkowski for that. She's always a blessing,

199
00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:26.120
haven't you here