WH Hosting First In-Person Tribal Nations Summit In Six Years

Members of the Cherokee Nation are calling on the U.S. government to fulfill a nearly 200-year-old promise to give the tribe a delegate in Congress. I support the Cherokee Nation delegate because it is the right thing to do, it was negotiated in a treaty and that treaty should be honored, that was a promise that was made to the Cherokee Nation in exchange for what they sacrificed and what they lost. It is important that the federal government comply with its treaties. The United States always honors and has honored the part of the treaties from which they obtain our land and obtain resources, but they have rarely fulfilled their role of honoring the other provisions that join us now, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr, will be among those speaking today at the

first

in-

person

Tribal Nation Summit at the White House.

The

first

in six

years

. It's great to have you on the show. I guess first of all, if you could talk about the

summit

and how you plan to approach this topic. Well, the

summit

is very important. It's an opportunity for

tribal

leaders to get involved. with federal officials and that's really the relationship in this country. Sovereign to sovereign. Sovereign Indian

nations

with the United States and it's an important relationship, so we're going to address a number of issues that language preservation is on my mind, but this issue of delegates remains. America to its promise, which is so important because it goes to the core of what the country really is, it is a country of word, I think it is or should be, and here is an opportunity for the United States to fulfill a promise to the Cherokee Nation and what that would mean, uh, throwing out the Cherokee Nation to get that delegate as promised so long ago, well, it's great substance and it's great symbolism.

I mean, think about the tremendous substance that a delegate in the United States House of Representatives has. power, they have the power to introduce legislation to debate it at the committee level and see it through to the end to defend it in the House of Representatives, which does not get to vote on the final passes, but that is a great influence and opportunity to have. a champion of all Indian country, yes she is a delegate of the Cherokee nation, but a champion of all Indian country, Kim teehy is our delegate and is extremely qualified to fill the position in terms of symbolism, although it is a prayer and a treaty for One.

Tribe, but really it is about every treaty in the United States, every treaty that the United States has signed with every Indian nation and we know clearly that the United States has broken every treaty that it has signed with every Indian nation, so here's an operatic opportunity for America to turn the corner in a way that I think would send a message to everyone, not just the tribes of the United States, but it would send a message to the country as well. that promises must be kept, so prior to this Summit today, have there been discussions with the White House or members of Congress on the issue of delegates and have you received any pushback?

We haven't really gotten any rejections. We've had a lot of good questions, you know, from the beginning, when I took over in 2019 and we appointed Kim. One of our first calls was to then-Congresswoman Deb Holland and, of course, she is the Secretary of the Interior of the United States and she is a wonderful cabinet secretary and she has continued to be interested in this issue and is someone we can talk to about it . So I think we've had a great welcome from the White House from the Biden Administration on this issue, but this is really in the hands of the United States House of Representatives and on a bipartisan basis and I think we demonstrated that in a couple of weeks.

Years ago, when I went before the rules committee on a bipartisan basis, there is interest in keeping this promise, there are a lot of questions about the mechanics of it, but no one has said this shouldn't happen, and from my perspective, that's good news. , director of the Cherokee Nation. Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. Thank you very much for coming on the show this morning.