TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner on Friday officially signed into law the $65 million Sequoyah Schools Capital Plan.
The plan first proposed by Chief Hoskin and Deputy Chief Warner during the Aug. 31 State of the Nation Address calls for the largest capital investment in Sequoyah Schools history.
“Sequoyah Schools sets the standard across Indian Country for education excellence,” Chief Hoskin said. “This capital plan delivers a first-class campus to match the first-class efforts of Sequoyah Schools faculty, staff, administrators and students.”
The Sequoyah Schools Capital Plan, endorsed by the Council at its education and full Council meetings on Sept. 16, builds on recent campus improvements that included a new football field and campus security fencing.
“In 2021 we proposed a historic investment of $20 million for Sequoyah Schools,” said Deputy Chief Warner. “As we refined the Respond, Recover and Rebuild Plan to make generational investments, we knew that a larger vision for improving Sequoyah Schools had to be a priority.”
The $65 million Sequoyah Schools Capital Plan includes:
- Remodeled dorms
- Multi-purpose facility
- Auditorium and performing arts center
- Academic building
- Additional football field improvements
The plan for Sequoyah Schools is part of the tribe’s Respond, Recover and Rebuild Plan, a spending framework of over $1 billion used by the tribe since 2020 for pandemic response and recovery. The most recent version of the framework was adopted in 2023.
“The billion-dollar Respond, Recover and Rebuild Plan is a product of collaboration between the legislative and executive branches and once again delivered for the Cherokee people,” said Council Speaker Mike Shambaugh. “The Sequoyah Capital Plan is a key part of Respond, Recover and Rebuild and it will pay off huge dividends for generations to come.”
The Sequoyah Schools Capital Plan is among approximately $1.17 billion in capital projects funded by various sources, including the American Rescue Plan Act and tribal revenue.
Major projects in the tribe’s overall capital construction portfolio include healthcare, education, housing, language preservation, parks and recreation, first-response capacity and government service facilities.
Cherokee Nation owns and operates Sequoyah High School under a contract with the Bureau of Indian Education on a 90-acre campus in the tribe’s capital of Tahlequah.
The school began as the Cherokee Orphan Asylum in 1871. It was operated as an Indian boarding school for much of the 20th century until the tribe acquired it 1985.
The Council of the Cherokee Nation unanimously endorsed the plan in a resolution approved on Monday.
The tribe expects work on the Sequoyah Schools Capital Plan to be completed by the end of 2026.
*Additional photos will be available on the Cherokee Nation Facebook page.