A Gathering of Our People

Governor Bill Anoatubby

The transcription of the 2024 State of the Nation address has been edited for readability and clarity.  

Chokma!

Good morning to everyone in attendance today and all who are listening on the radio or streaming online. Welcome to the 64th annual meeting of the unconquered and unconquerable Chickasaw Nation!

You know, we as Chickasaws, we carry on a really important tradition. The tradition of our parents, and grandparents, and generations of Chickasaws who came before us – who gathered just as we are today, to discuss the business of the Chickasaw Nation, past, present and future.  

Each of you are part of the progress of the great unconquered and unconquerable Chickasaw Nation. This nation is united and it’s thriving because of the perseverance of our people.

We’re a nation united by our mission to enhance the overall quality of life of the Chickasaw people. A nation united by the vision of building an even brighter future for our children and for our grandchildren.

In October 1960, more than 100 Chickasaws gathered at Seeley Chapel. That is where the movement began. They were driven by a vision of sovereignty and self-determination. They were emboldened to proudly embrace our past, evaluate our present and plan for a better future. To pursue, with resolve, the reestablishment of our government and the recognition of our sovereignty and to protect and revitalize our language and culture. And from that day to now, we have nurtured that movement and continued this tradition. Together, as generations of Chickasaws, we have accomplished much more than we ever imagined. Working together, the dreams of many have been realized.

Today, I report to you, that the state of the Chickasaw Nation is strong. It’s strong because of years of hard work from thousands of Chickasaw Nation employees and Chickasaw citizens dedicated to our mission.

And because of much forethought, strategic economic planning and financial accountability, the Chickasaw Nation’s financial condition is also strong.

Governmental revenues remain a very strong source of income, accounting for $3.5 billion through August.

Our net assets grew more than 12% from last year and exceed $7 billion. In 1987, our trust funds were a meager $447,000, and today federal trust funds remain a strong and reliable long-term source of stability, totaling nearly $23 million.

Recently, Dr. Kyle Dean, Ph.D., Economist and Director of Oklahoma City University’s Center for Native American and Urban Studies, reported that our nationwide, 50-state, economic impact was $7.9 billion in 2022.

This impact analysis represents the growth of a growing Chickasaw Nation. It includes our entire footprint like at-large programs – all the businesses that operate, not only within Oklahoma but within the United States – and there are all kinds of programs that we operate, and those are education programs, health care, housing. We have entities such as Chickasaw Community Bank, Chickasaw Nation Industries, Remington Park. We have a multitude of businesses that we operate right now. We are really well positioned for the future.

To protect and preserve our past, so that we may understand our collective story, this year we renovated the historic Seeley Chapel. Through this restoration effort, we celebrate a critical moment of unity and inspiration in Chickasaw history.

This honors all Chickasaws, past and present, dedicated to building a better future for generations to come. This is more than a building … it is a vital connection to who we are.

Seeley Chapel continues to symbolize our perseverance and our pursuit of progress. Those gathered at Seeley Chapel could only dream that one day we would possess the resources to restore our historic places and develop new ones that connect and share our heritage – places like our Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur. Two decades ago, we began construction on the cultural center.

Since it was completed in 2010, we have welcomed nearly 1 million visits. This year, we began construction on a Chickasaw Heritage Center in Tupelo, Mississippi.

This new facility is being built to tell our story … the vibrant story of the Chickasaw people, from our perspective and in our historic Homeland.

A new program, the Elders Homeland Tour, began this spring to offer Chickasaw elders a chance to travel to our Homeland and to visit sites of cultural importance. 

The first tour included 18 Chickasaw elders and 12 companions from Oklahoma, Arizona, California and Texas. Our aging division will coordinate two trips each year so our elders can connect with the history and land of our ancestors.

Members of the Chickasaw Cycling Club, recently embarked on a journey much like that of our ancestors during the Removal from our Homeland to Indian Territory. These cyclists completed the 11-day, more than 600-mile ride from Pontotoc, Mississippi, and ended in Tishomingo.

This was a grueling journey, and like some trips that have been made, required teamwork… They supported one another and worked together to ensure everybody would complete the ride. They wanted to make sure everyone who started would finish and that’s great.

Another way we preserve our past and honor the memory of our ancestors is through repatriation, which is interpreted as returning someone or something to their home.

Over a number of years, the remains of many of our ancestors and their funerary objects were excavated and often times displayed in museums, or in private collections or maybe in other places of study. 

In 1990, Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, NAGPRA, to rectify this situation. Utilizing the authority granted by this legislation, Chickasaw Nation team members work to ensure that our ancestors are returned to their rightful resting places. This year alone, this team has recovered and reburied nearly 11,000 ancestors and more than 2,700 funerary objects ... a total that has risen to nearly 20,000 ancestors and almost 83,000 of the funerary objects were returned and reburied.  

On July 12, the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes announced the Five Tribe Wildlife Management Agreement.

This agreement allows Chickasaw hunting and fishing licenses to be recognized by the other tribes within that council, and that includes Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole Nations. Their respective tribal licenses will be valid in our treaty territory, and ours will be good in their territory.

The Seminole Nation is in support of that agreement, and it will include their treaty territory when they have a system in place.Through collaboration, this agreement will ensure the most effective management on our lands. To meet our obligation, to protect the wildlife in our treaty territory, we have already established a code that mirrors the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation code.

We will continue to work together to protect and preserve our natural resources and wildlife.

In 2016, we worked closely with the city of Oklahoma City, the Choctaw Nation, and the state of Oklahoma, to reach an historic agreement to ensure the protection and preservation of water resources for the long-term environmental health and economic growth of our region.

This year, the United States Department of the Interior published this agreement in the Federal Register ... confirming this agreement as enforceable under federal law.

This final step effectively affirms regulatory authority over the waters of the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations’ entire treaty territories and ensures our tribes have a meaningful and active voice in the management of water resources on our lands.

Collaboration is also key in ensuring resources are available in times of need. Of course, in April, we had a large number of tornadoes that not only impacted Oklahoma but several states.

Following the storm, Chickasaw Nation representatives immediately began gathering information and contacting citizens in the pathways of these storms to ensure their safety and their recovery needs.

Here within the Chickasaw Nation, obviously the residents of Sulphur and Marietta were most adversely affected. Following the storms, our response was swift, decisive and coordinated.  We have a great group of people in our emergency management team. They and other Chickasaw Nation first responders were on-site in both communities assisting with search and rescue efforts, assessing damage and providing traffic control.

Our teams collaborated with county, state and national emergency management officials and made numerous tribal resources available to affected communities and individuals, which included a significant number of Chickasaw citizens and tribal employees.

To aid in restoration efforts, we recently announced a new fundraising initiative aimed at rebuilding businesses and strengthening economic recovery in Sulphur and Marietta.

Downtown Sulphur was especially impacted, including extensive damage to historic buildings and many businesses. The Business Rebuild and Recovery Campaign fund will help ensure those affected have an opportunity to rebuild and reopen as soon as possible, while maintaining the historic character of these structures, which are critical to the area’s tourism and economic development efforts.

We are immensely thankful for the Chickasaw Nation Emergency Management team and other first responders as well as the many volunteers who devoted time and effort to assist these communities.

There are weather related events every year, and when they happen, we do our best to reach our fellow Chickasaws in those impacted areas. We, the Chickasaw Nation, extend our deepest condolences to the victims of the recent Hurricane Helene along the East Coast. We understand many Chickasaw citizens and families have been impacted by that storm. And we will keep you in our thoughts and our prayers as we continue to assist and provide any support that we may be able to provide.  

We also lift our veterans up, and we do that every day. Thank you for your commitment and service to our country.

We are pleased to announce that we completed our first homes specifically for Chickasaw veterans. We have six new homes that offer a sense of purpose, community and camaraderie with fellow veteran-neighbors. This is the beginning. Thank you to our housing team for implementing a community-minded strategy that honors our veterans.

In 2019, the Chickasaw Nation signed a memorandum of agreement with the United States Department of Homeland Security, which authorizes the Chickasaw Nation to begin the process of developing an Enhanced Tribal Citizenship ID Card.

We are happy to announce these cards are now available to citizens of all ages. The Enhanced Tribal Citizenship ID Card provides Chickasaws with a safer identification that contains modern security features that are designed to detect forgery and counterfeiting.

Though passports are still required for international travel, this new ETC allows citizens to use this card when entering the United States from countries that share our border, like Canada and Mexico, as well as adjacent islands, as well as for domestic air travel and the ability to enter federal buildings.

Because of the nature of the card, those interested in obtaining this card will need to schedule an in-person appointment with our tribal government services office in Ada.

Now, strategic diversification is important to the Chickasaw Nation. It is for many reasons, and it has been important for many years.

As our gaming market continually matures in the state and elsewhere, we have intentionally diversified our businesses and investments for the growth and success of our economy.

This is done with great care and forethought, as we seek to secure the continued success of our nation.

Chickasaw Nation Industries, for example, was established 28 years ago as a federal corporation, owned by us and for us with a focus on diversification and managerial coordination.

What started with a $50,000 investment has evolved to include operations in a wide range of areas including health, technology, engineering, transportation and manufacturing.

It also serves more than 30 government agencies ranging from the Department of Defense to the Federal Drug Administration.

This success is essential in our continued ability to reinvest in our vital programs, of services and resources that support our mission.

Another step that we have taken toward diversification is the construction of the much-anticipated OKANA Resort and Indoor Waterpark.

It is located in the Horizons District adjacent to the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City. This new business will offer a unique blend of entertainment, hospitality and culture that will establish it as a world-class international tourist destination as well as a major economic driver for the area and the Chickasaw Nation. It will initially employ more than 400 people.

We are excited to announce that OKANA will open its doors in spring 2025. We look forward to the many possibilities OKANA will create, including increased revenue that we will continue investing in projects that benefit everyone.

Our strategic approach to diversification continues to yield remarkable results both in our commercial operations and in our investments as well as in the development and implementation of programs and services.

The greatest investments of all, without hesitation or doubt, are the investments we make in the Chickasaw people. Ultimately, that is what our economy is designed to do.

Last year, members of our Chickasaw community council groups and citizen connection group representatives from all across the United States, gathered in Oklahoma City for the Chickasaw Listening Conference.

Over the course of two days, attendees discussed ways to continue developing and improving programs and services to meet the specific needs of Chickasaws everywhere.
We learned a lot, and we have been working hard since to implement many of the ideas that came from those discussions. We are excited to share the progress of our efforts.

For fiscal year 2025, we will increase our direct programs and services budget by more than $25 million. This will include increases to the assisted living program, our down payment and closing cost assistance grant, the handicap accessibility grant, burial assistance, mental wellness support, the tribal health eyeglasses and contacts program, and the Chickasaw housing improvement program and home improvement grants, among others.

In fiscal year 2025, every applicant on the waiting list will receive funding for this grant, as well as those on the waiting list for the housing improvement program and home improvement grants.

We have also expanded and renamed our storm shelter program to assist citizens in preparing for emergencies and natural disasters. The new homeowner preparedness grant now covers items such as pier wrapping, storm shutters, generators and sandbags, in addition to the storm shelters that we were already providing.

A new program, developed as a result of the listening conference, is an elder clothing grant, which will begin in January 2025. The annual grant will provide our elders with $250 toward the purchase of clothing items.

Also new this year will be the digital learning grant, an expansion of the laptop scholarship program. This new grant will now include career technology students and offer an $800 prepaid Visa card or $800 reimbursement for digital learning materials or technology once during the postsecondary educational experience.

We look forward to the positive impact these programs will make in the lives of Chickasaw citizens and their families all across the country.

Developments in health care are one of our longtime priorities. Our department of health had another successful year with more than 1.1 million patient encounters and filling 1.5 million prescriptions, including 600,000 by mail.

We saw nearly 1,000 babies born at our Chickasaw Nation Medical Center, and we had nearly 31,000 patient visits at our pediatric clinic.

This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the 1994 compact we signed with Indian Health Service to deliver health care to our own people. With this compact, we took responsibility for our own health care system and reasserted our sovereignty and enhanced our ability to self-govern.

Since then, we have worked diligently to offer wider access to quality health care. We are taking the next steps in bringing health care access to Chickasaws and First Americans living in and around Oklahoma City. A new medical center is planned for Newcastle. This will benefit our entire health system by housing a multitude of new specialty services and allow opportunities to develop our own research into illnesses that impact Chickasaws and other First Americans.

This new medical center will also eventually house two residency programs to train our next generation of doctors and health care providers. We are building a hospital that will attract talent and secure the growth of our health system for decades.

A resource to many tribal households, the Chickasaw Nation Nutrition Services team continues to excel and offer valuable opportunities to and for our people. For 40 years, they have provided access to essential nutrition through our food distribution program, and it remains a priority.

This year, they met the challenge of a nationwide adjustment to the federal food distribution program that resulted in food shortages and delays to First Americans throughout the United States.

Our dedicated nutrition services team found solutions and performed under pressure with excellence and grace. Ever prepared, they continue to identify and anticipate both problems and opportunities that are on the horizon to avoid any similar instances in the future and to provide a crucial resource for our people with the highest level of effectiveness.

We also have a Packed Promise program, and it continues to grow and meet the nutritional needs of Chickasaw children that live within the Chickasaw Nation treaty territory. It offers shelf-stable meal delivery that increases food access, and food security and diet quality.

Recently, the Packed Promise program transitioned to a partnership with Amazon Business to accommodate the program’s growth and offer online shopping. This year, Packed Promise served an average of about 1,900 school children – Chickasaw school children – each and every month.

Each year, we continue to invest in our youth. We offer resources that build their confidence and cultivate important skills that will prepare them for opportunities that lead to success.

This year, more than 1,000 youth participated in camps ranging from sports clinics to space camp, and from arts to STEM. And 815 Chickasaw youth received career development training through our Toksali SMART program.

A fun, new program that started this year for youth, grades 7 through 12, is the Chickasaw Nation STEM Academy Esports team. This new team effort offers opportunities for our youth to turn their passion for video games into valuable skills like teamwork, strategy and online professionalism, while competing in a nationwide league. Through the program, students will also explore career opportunities in technology and game development, in an ever-growing field.

We invest in education and skill development for all Chickasaws, at every level of life and learning.

This year, the higher education and career technology programs awarded more than 5,700 Chickasaw students with approximately $32.1 million in scholarships and other educational support.

The Chickasaw Institute of Technology continues to succeed in providing valuable career training in construction, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, applied business technology and certified nursing assistance.

Since being established, the Chickasaw Institute of Technology has graduated 243 Chickasaw students including 56 students just this last year. We do work with local businesses, and we place our students to receive some apprenticeship. A lot of those folks that apprentice with a local business are hired as soon as they finish their training. And we have some who have actually started up their own businesses.

Last fall, the student support program began to offer financial assistance to college and career technology students for household costs such as rent, utilities and more. In its first year, the program awarded more than $1.2 million to more than 3,500 students.

Additionally, we signed memorandums of agreement this summer with Rose State College and Oklahoma City Community College to support our students. These agreements strengthen our efforts to enhance the higher education experience for our students at these two colleges.

We already have partnerships that are very similar with the University of Oklahoma, East Central University, Oklahoma State University, Southeastern Oklahoma State University and in Tishomingo with Murray State College – to aid us in offering resources and opportunities for students to connect with our culture and ensure our students are on a path to educational and personal success.

Offering pathways to success as avenues to connect are especially important. In June, we launched the Citizens Support Center, a call center designed to make it easier for citizens to connect with the Chickasaw Nation. Navigators are available 24 hours, seven days per week to provide friendly, one-on-one direction and assistance ensuring that everyone can find the support they need.

The Chickasaw Nation regularly undertakes projects and initiatives and more that positively impact and uplift the many communities in which we live, work and serve. In July, a partnership with USDA, we announced a Broadband Grant that aims to benefit many throughout Johnston County.

With this grant, we will construct more than 500 miles of fiber network potentially serving nearly 3,000 additional individuals, households, businesses and education facilities with quality, affordable high-speed internet including nearly 500 Chickasaw households and nearly 1,000 Chickasaw citizens. We have already identified additional expansion opportunities, and with this grant, we will continue our goal of making broadband available to rural areas of the Chickasaw Nation.

We work hard to fulfill our mission to enhance the overall quality of life of the Chickasaw people. With our work, we hope to honor those who came before us and who set the foundation on which we continue to build. Those who persevered, as they worked to ensure the strength of our self-governance and our inherent sovereignty. Those who sacrificed to secure a future of prosperity and progress for our people. We honor their legacy of perseverance and fortitude by providing opportunities for Chickasaws in the present and in the future – to bring the vision of sovereignty and self-determination to fruition and to fulfill a vision of a democratic Chickasaw government of the people, by the people and for the people.

We work toward a vision of our future, a future with continued progress, continued opportunities and continued unity – a future that will grow brighter because of the perseverance and commitment of the Chickasaw people.

We will continue to carry on the fire of our ancestors and preserve those flames to light the way for generations to come. Chikasha Poya!