Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. breezed through his re-election in the Cherokee Nation over the weekend.
He believes it is an endorsement from the Cherokee people of his fight against threats to tribal sovereignty, and taking the lead during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the next four years of his term, Hoskin says Cherokee Nation will be building out its healthcare system to be even more robust, as well as focus on ways the tribe can help out smaller organizations and communities in a grassroots way.
Chief Hoskin is also ready for a continuing fight over tribal rights, which he does not believe will end anytime soon.
"In the future, I think we're going to see us assert our sovereignty in terms of the existence of our reservation and a lot of other areas," said Chief Hoskin. "And when we did it in hunting and fishing, we've got to look across everything in the day-to-day lives of people and say, what's the role of the Cherokee Nation government? Those assertions of sovereignty are going to be met by opposition. We know that and we've got to be prepared to assert our sovereignty but find ways to work together. At the end of the day, people want to live in a community that has a good economy. That's a safe place and we all have a role in that. That's why working together is so key and so finding ways to work together notwithstanding that we have strong feelings, perhaps about sovereignty."
Chief Hoskin also says he will continue to preserve Cherokee traditions and history in his next term.
He is term-limited, so a new Chief will need to be elected in 2027.