TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The Cherokee Nation’s Community Organizing Task Force has launched a survey to gather input from Cherokee citizens who live near any of the tribe’s community organizations but are not currently members of the organization. The goal of the survey is to better understand community organization barriers.
The Community Organizing Task Force Non-Member Survey, which can be completed here, asks Cherokee citizens how they can better connect with Cherokee community organizations. The results of the survey will assist the tribe in addressing how to bolster support for the 86 affiliated non-profit organizations while addressing the barriers they may face and helping educate citizens on how to get involved with the organizations.
“The Cherokee Nation Community and Cultural Outreach department already does an outstanding job of supporting our participating CCO organizations, but Deputy Chief Warner and I know there is always room to grow and improve. That’s why we created this task force,” Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. “We want to help connect more Cherokee citizens to our CCO organizations, and this survey is just one more way we can do that.”
Cherokee Nation’s CCO department works with 60 community organizations on the reservation and 26 community organizations off the reservation to provide supportive grants as well as programming to address cultural and quality of life issues.
“Chief Hoskin and I always find transparency and communication with Cherokee citizens to be a high priority,” said Deputy Chief Bryan Warner. “This survey will give us an inside look into how we can connect our citizens to be more involved in these organizations and how we can help those organizations continue their support to their surrounding Cherokee citizens.”
Chief Hoskin and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner established the Community Organizing Task Force in 2025 as part of Chief Hoskin’s executive order to support grassroots work.
The survey was crafted by the tribe’s Cherokee Nation Community Organizing Task Force which is led by Cherokee Nation Deputy Secretary of State Canaan Duncan.
The Cherokee Nation Community Organizing Task Force consists of:
- Canaan Duncan, Deputy Secretary of State (Chair)
- Savannah Smith, Executive Director of Community and Cultural Outreach (Co-Chair)
- Dawni Squirrel, Cultural Advisor to the Principal Chief
- Vince Feeling, CCO Community Outreach Coordinator
- Roger Graham, Communications Media Producer
- Brad Eubanks, CCO Technical Assistance Specialist
- Shawn Crittenden, Director of Gadugi Corps
“This task force is full of hard-working Cherokees who are passionate about connecting and supporting their communities as well as communities across the country,” Deputy Secretary of State Canaan Duncan said. “These community organizations give Cherokee citizens throughout the U.S. an opportunity to learn about their culture and language and connect with fellow Cherokees in their area. In order to continue our support of these organizations, we need to hear from the citizens that live in these communities.”
Learn more about Cherokee Nation’s Community and Cultural Outreach by visiting https://www.facebook.com/CNCCO/. At-large citizens can find a list of Cherokee community groups across the country by visiting https://cherokeesatlarge.org/.