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October 6, 2008

By BOB GIBBINS The Tahlequah Daily Press Mon Oct 06, 2008, 09:34 AM CDT

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS — Part of the theme for the 58th Annual Keetoowah Cherokee Celebration speaks of the tribe being rich in tradition.

That was exemplified in Chief George Wickliffe’s State of the Nation address.

“We are the original Cherokee Nation and the Cherokee people,” Wickliffe said. “We’re traditional people, and we’ve made a lot of gains.”

He said the United Keetoowah Cherokees volunteered to come to Oklahoma after being in Arkansas since 1817.

“We weren’t forced to come here,” he said. “We volunteered.”

Wickliffe, who alternated between Cherokee language and English in his speech, said the Keetoowahs have traditional values, and they take care of the elderly and the children.

“The elderly are where our tradition comes from,” he said. “They help keep our tradition alive, and our young people are our future leaders.”

The UKB worked 58 years to get an Indian Health Services contract, which they received this week. The chief said plans for the future include building a museum on tribal grounds and starting a civil defense group. He said the tribe plans to start education and training programs.

“We know our culture and we preserve our culture and language,” Wickliffe said. “I’d say 70 percent of the [Keetoowah] people speak or understand our Cherokee language.”

He said Keetoowahs should learn Cherokee, if they don’t already know how to speak in their native language. He said it’s a difficult language to learn.

Strides are being made in education. Scholarship funds are increasing, and the UKB has 67 students at NSU, he said.

“We have a plan,” he told tribal members. “We have a good plan. We have some good lawyers and they’re interested in what we’re achieving.”

Wickliffe explained the UKB had to sue IHS this past week because the agency had been ignoring them.

“We wanted them to understand we were being slighted,” he said. “They understand that, and we hope to have more IHS contracts.”

Wickliffe said improved health care for the 13,000 Keetoowahs is a goal of the administration.

Assistant Chief Charles Locust thanked the crowd for being part of the celebration. “It’s a good time to be a Keetoowah,” he said. “We’re proud to be Keetoowahs, and we want our people to be strong and watch the tribe grow.” He said the government is a good one, and there is accountability within it.

Samantha Keen, Miss Keetoowah Cherokee, and Kristy Feather Daugherty, Junior Miss Keetoowah Cherokee, were also introduced to the crowd, as was the United Keetoowah Cherokee Choir, which performed in Cherokee.

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