Tribes get $24.1M for high-speed internet, education

Felix Clary
ICT + Tulsa World

The Choctaw Nation, Cherokee Nation and College of the Muscogee Nation received a total of $24.1 million in federal assistance grants for education initiatives and high-speed internet.

The awards issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture were announced Tuesday by Kenneth Corn, state director for the USDA’s Rural Development agency.

Most of the funding, $22.3 million, will help deliver high-speed internet throughout the Choctaw Nation.

Smaller awards will go toward education initiatives, including $558,000 for free Choctaw language courses. The online courses are open to the public through Chahta Anumpa Aiikhvna — the School of Choctaw Language.

Cherokee Nation STEM and languages courses received $1 million to assist the Cherokee ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ ᎠᏂᏫᏒᏍᎩ (language department) with its classes and programs.

The College of the Muscogee Nation in Okmulgee, serving tribal and nontribal students while emphasizing Native culture, received $334,000.

“Recently, President Biden reaffirmed his commitment to our Tribal Nations in Oklahoma and across the nation, that the administration is prepared to deliver historic executive action to strengthen the understanding and respect for tribal sovereignty,” Corn said in a Dec. 18 announcement.

He encouraged tribes to partner with the USDA to assist in meeting their needs.

“Contact (the) state office at 405-742-1070 to sign up for our upcoming Oklahoma Tribal Opportunity Partnership Summit. I want every tribal nation in Oklahoma to have the opportunity to share in this historic level of investment and opportunities of economic growth, as well,” Corn said.

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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