Chuck Hoskin Jr.
Hoskin standing a a podium, speaking into a microphone
Hoskin speaking in 2019
8th Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation
Assumed office
August 14, 2019
Preceded byBill John Baker
Member of the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council
In office
August 14, 2013 – August 21, 2013
Preceded byRedistricting
Succeeded byVictoria Vazquez
Constituency11th district
In office
August 14, 2007 – August 14, 2013
Preceded byChuck Hoskin
Succeeded byRedistricting
Constituency9th district
Personal details
Born1974 or 1975 (age 48–49)
NationalityCherokee Nation
United States
Political partyDemocratic
RelativesChuck Hoskin (father)
EducationUniversity of Oklahoma (BA, JD)

Chuck Hoskin Jr. (born 1974/1975) is a Cherokee Nation politician and attorney currently serving as the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation since 2019. He was re-elected to a second term in the 2023 Cherokee Nation principal chief election.

Hoskin has previously served as a Tribal Councilor for the Cherokee Nation between 2007 and 2013 and as the Secretary of State for the Cherokee Nation between 2013 and 2019.

Early life and education

Chuck Hoskin Jr. was born in 1974/1975.[1] His father is Chuck Hoskin.[2] He graduated from Vinita High School in 1993. He then attended the University of Oklahoma and graduated in 1997 with his Bachelors of Arts. In 2000, he graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law with his Juris Doctor.[3]

He told NPR in 2022 that he was not taught about the freedmen growing up, that the Cherokee owned slaves, nor that the Cherokee sided with the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. He views freedman citizenship in the Cherokee Nation as a treaty right and that the Freedman Controversy happened because the "Cherokee Nation is a large tribe, and so there are Cherokees who, just like the larger society...do not like Black people. And there is some racism."[4]

Career

In 1999, Hoskin served as a delegate at the Cherokee constitutional convention. Prior to elected office, he worked as an agent for the National Labor Relations Board.[3]

In the 2007 Cherokee elections, Hoskins ran for Cherokee Tribal Council in district 9 after his father Chuck Hoskin announced he would not seek reelection.[3] He faced Rodney Lay in the election for a six-year term.[5] On June 23, 2007 Chuck Hoskins Jr. was elected to the Cherokee Tribal Council with 69% of the vote.[6] He was sworn in on August 14, 2007.[7]

In 2011, Hoskins was one of Bill John Baker lawyers during his recount efforts after the 2011 Cherokee Principal Chief election.[8] On February 23, 2012, Hoskins was voted deputy speaker of the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council and served from February 23, 2012 to August 21, 2013.[9] Hoskin ran unopposed for his Tribal Council seat in the 2013 Cherokee elections, which due to redistricting was now district 11, being sworn in on August 14, 2013.[10][11]

In August 2013, Hoskin was nominated and confirmed to be the Cherokee Nation's Secretary of State by Principal Chief Bill John Baker. He resigned his Cherokee Tribal Council seat and was sworn in on August 21, 2013, triggering a special election that was won by Victoria Vazquez.[12]

In March 2016, Hoskin was unanimously reconfirmed to serve as the Cherokee Nation's Secretary of State until March 2020.[13]

Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation

Hoskin resigned as Secretary of State on February 6, 2019, to file run for Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.[14] He was elected on June 1, 2019, having received 57 percent of the vote.[15] Before taking his oath of office, he announced his intent to invest $30 million into repairing homes for Cherokees who have previously been on a waiting list under the tribe's housing rehabilitation program.[16] Hoskin met with more than 100 employees of the Cherokee Nation on August 7, a week before his inauguration, and surprised them by revealing plans to raise the tribe's minimum wage for government employees to $11 per hour, up from the previous minimum wage of $9.50 per hour.[17] He later encouraged the board of directors of the business arm of the tribe, Cherokee Nation Businesses, to follow the government's lead and to also raise its minimum wage.[18]

He was sworn in as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation during a ceremony held in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, on Wednesday, August 14, 2019, alongside newly elected Deputy Principal Chief Bryan Warner.[19] On August 22, Hoskin announced his plan to nominate Cherokee Nation Vice President of Government Relations Kim Teehee as the first Cherokee Nation delegate to Congress. Hoskin said the Cherokee Nation delegate is referenced in both the Treaty of Hopewell from 1785 and the Treaty of New Echota from 1835 between the Cherokee Nation and the federal government. The Treaty of 1866 also reaffirms all previous treaties between the Cherokee Nation and the United States, Hoskin states.[20]

Hoskin and Warner also proposed the creation of the Cherokee Nation's first Secretary of Veterans Affairs, which, upon approval, will be a cabinet-level position. Hoskin has nominated former Deputy Principal Chief Joe Crittenden, a Vietnam-era Navy veteran, to hold this position.[21]

He ran for re-election in the 2023 Cherokee Nation principal chief election and received over 50% of the vote on the first round, avoiding a runoff.[22][23] After his re-election, he is term-limited from running for principal chief again until 2031.[24]

Relationship with Stitt administration

Hoskin has criticized Governor Kevin Stitt for pushing back against the McGirt decision, saying that "that the governor 'is trying to convince the public that there is chaos because of McGirt where there is not chaos"[25] and that Stitt "has been bent on destroying the tribes.”[26] In July 2022, Hoskin issued an executive order that no Oklahoma state flag should be flown on Cherokee property,[27] but later restored the flags due to backlash.[28]

After the fall of Roe, Hoskin said that Stitt, who had gone on FOX News to say that Hoskin's and other tribes were planning to offer abortion services, made “grossly false" statements, and also said that the Cherokee Nation currently doesn’t provide reproductive health services. He also stated he had heard of no other tribe in the state making plans to do so.[29]

After the federal supreme court ruled in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta in favor of Oklahoma, Hoskins wrote that "this decision is a betrayal to our sovereign nations in Oklahoma, and it will have far reaching impacts on all federally-recognized tribes."[30]

Hoskin endorsed Stitt's opponent, Democrat Joy Hofmeister, in the 2022 election.[31]

Personal

Hoskin resides in his hometown of Vinita, Oklahoma, with his wife, January. They have two children. He is a member of the Cherokee Nation and Oklahoma Bar Associations.[32] He is a member of the Democratic Party.[33]

References

  1. ↑ Savage, Tres (December 30, 2019). "Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. Talks Business, Language and Freedmen". NonDoc. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Father, son receive awards from labor council". Tahlequah Daily Press. March 15, 2019. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "Chuck Hoskin, Jr". Cherokee Phoenix. 17 May 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  4. ↑ "Who belongs in the Cherokee Nation?". NPR. 20 July 2022.
  5. ↑ Snell, Travis (12 March 2007). "45 candidates file for 19 seats". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  6. ↑ Chavez, Will (11 July 2007). "Smith wins another term as chief". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  7. ↑ Chavez, Will (16 August 2007). "Elected Cherokee officials sworn". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  8. ↑ Murphy, Jami; Jackson, Tesina (30 June 2011). "DEVELOPING: Cherokees protest election outcome". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  9. ↑ Chavez, Will (24 February 2012). "Council confirms its new officers". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  10. ↑ Murphy, Jami (11 March 2013). "Tribal Council races draw 27 candidates". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  11. ↑ Snell, Travis (19 August 2013). "15-district map in effect for Tribal Council". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  12. ↑ Murphy, Jami (21 August 2013). "Hoskin Jr. nominated as secretary of state". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  13. ↑ "Hoskin reconfirmed by tribal council". Cherokee Phoenix. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  14. ↑ Hunter, Chad (8 February 2019). "36 file for Cherokee Nation government seats". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  15. ↑ World, Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton For the Tulsa. "Chuck Hoskin Jr. elected new Cherokee chief, vows to 'unify Cherokee people' following 'contentious' election moments". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  16. ↑ World, Tim Stanley Tulsa. "Cherokee Nation announces $30 million plan to improve tribal homes, community buildings". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  17. ↑ "Chief-elect Hoskin announces plan to increase tribe's minimum wage - Anadisgoi". anadisgoi.com. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  18. ↑ "Chief Hoskin calls upon CNB board to implement wage increase for business employees - Anadisgoi". www.anadisgoi.com. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  19. ↑ "Gallery: Cherokee Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. sworn in". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  20. ↑ Trotter, Matt (22 August 2019). "Hoskin Moves Forward With Plan to Send Cherokee Nation Delegate to Congress". www.publicradiotulsa.org. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  21. ↑ "Crittenden nominated as first Cherokee Nation Veterans Affairs secretary". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  22. ↑ Krehbiel, Randy (January 15, 2023). "Political notebook: AG Drummond announces chief lieutenants". Tulsa World. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  23. ↑ Hunter, Chad (June 4, 2023). "Unofficial vote points to landslide Hoskin re-election". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  24. ↑ Crumbacher, Katrina (June 4, 2023). "Chuck Hoskin Jr., Bryan Warner reelected as Cherokee Nation principal chief, deputy chief". NonDoc. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  25. ↑ "Chief says Stitt continues campaign against tribal sovereignty". Cherokee Phoenix. 19 May 2022.
  26. ↑ ""[Gov. Stitt] has been bent on destroying the tribes," Cherokee Nation speaks out". Fox23. 20 January 2022.
  27. ↑ "Oklahoma flag won't be flown routinely at Cherokee Nation". Tulsa World. 2022.
  28. ↑ "Cherokee chief rethinks order to cease flying Oklahoma flag". Enid News & Eagle. 2022.
  29. ↑ "Cherokee Chief pushes back at Gov. Stitt's tribal abortion clinic claims". KRMG. 2022.
  30. ↑ "U.S. Supreme Court Breaks Sacred Vow to Oklahoma Tribal Nations". indianz.com. 2022.
  31. ↑ "Oklahoma tribal leaders give Joy Hofmeister historic endorsement".
  32. ↑ "Cherokee Nation Executive Branch". Cherokee Nation Executive Branch. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  33. ↑ Crumbacher, Katrina (May 31, 2023). "Three challenge Hoskin Jr. in race for Cherokee Nation principal chief". NonDoc. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
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