Felix Clary
ICT + Tulsa World
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – While Cherokee citizens moved into their brand new homes behind him, Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. signed a legislation expansion Friday Sept. 27, setting aside millions more in tribal funds for further housing development.
Friday was move-in day for several Cherokee Nation families now living in the 23-acre ᎦᎵᏦᏕ Galitsode (the Cherokee word for “house”) Housing subdivision in Tahlequah. Residents watched as Hoskin and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner signed a Cherokee Nation Housing, Jobs and Sustainable Communities Act expansion that will set aside $40 million every three years in perpetuity, in an effort to provide housing security to citizens living on the reservation.
“And this is on top of those federal housing dollars, which are inadequate,” said Hoskin at the event. “The United States does not meet its obligation when it comes to addressing housing needs across Indian Country. We are the Cherokee Nation. We are not going to wait on the United States to come to the rescue.”
Of that $40 million, Hoskin said $6 million will go to building and improving community buildings for residents of the housing developments to enjoy.
The Galitsode Housing subdivision offers 24 homes, each between 1,745-1,844 square feet. They each have a two-car garage and storm shelter built into closet spaces. The subdivision also houses a playground and plans are in the works for adding a multi-purpose court for basketball, pickleball, or for whatever use residents wish. Todd Enlow, executive director of the Cherokee Nation’s housing programs, said there are 26 more sites across the Cherokee Reservation available for building more subdivisions.
“This hill that will be Tahlequah’s greatest sledding hill in the winter is also going to serve as our stormwater detention area. There are going to be habitats for butterflies and bees, and there will be pollinator gardens with wildflowers,” said Enlow at the signing event.
Catherine Little told ICT and the Tulsa World that before she moved into her new Cherokee Nation home, she was living in trailer houses or apartments with her son and her sister.
“They just were not insulated too well, and sometimes you have gaps, so I would have to find blankets and stuff to cover the doors and windows and everything,” she said.
Little said she is also excited about the yard for her dog to run around, as well as the storm shelter.
“We didn’t have one before. For tornadoes, we would just hope for the best,” she said.
Hoskin said in an ICT and Tulsa World interview that the homes are lease-to-own with a 30-year payoff, upon which the title transfers to the resident.
“This allows people access to a path of home ownership that they might not otherwise be able to access,” he said. “If you just think about what rent costs in anyone’s neighborhood, it’s very expensive, and so in some cases, people are now paying half of what they were paying in rent.”
He said payments are around $600 dollars a month for new residents. The Cherokee Nation recently finished a housing addition in Stilwell and is currently working on subdivisions in Jay and Salisaw.
This story is co-published by the Tulsa World and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Oklahoma area.
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