Cherokee Language Education Enters a New Chapter as Tribe Assumes Full Control
Language, at its core, is more than just words—it’s a living time capsule that carries a culture’s history, values, and identity across generations. For the Cherokee Nation, few responsibilities weigh heavier than ensuring that language not only survives but thrives.
That commitment took a historic leap forward this month when the Council of the Cherokee Nation approved legislation championed by the Hoskin-Warner administration. The law clears the way for the Cherokee Immersion School to shed its status as an Oklahoma public charter school and, starting this summer, operate as a fully independent Cherokee Nation educational institution.
The charter-school model served its purpose. Over the years, it allowed the tribe to build what many consider the most successful language immersion program in the country. Tribal leaders are quick to acknowledge the partnership with the state of Oklahoma and the educators who helped make that possible. But as the program grew, so did the tribe’s capacity to govern it alone.
“This transition isn’t about problems or dissatisfaction with our state partners,” says Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. “We’ve had our share of disagreements with the state over the years, but this isn’t one of them. It’s about recognizing that the Cherokee Nation is now ready to exercise greater self-governance over one of its most sacred duties: teaching our language to the next generation.”
Since the Durbin Feeling Language Preservation Act passed in 2019, the Cherokee Nation has poured more than $175 million into language revitalization. That pot of money funded the Durbin Feeling Language Center, expanded the Cherokee Language Master/Apprentice Program, strengthened elder services for fluent speakers, launched technology initiatives, and grew satellite campuses in Greasy and Kenwood. A new $30 million Cherokee Immersion Middle School is set to open this fall in Tahlequah.
Today, the immersion school serves children from infancy through middle school. Students spend their days learning entirely in Cherokee, building fluency while mastering academics that prepare them for higher education. They represent what tribe officials call “an investment in the future of our language and our people.”
The new law creates a five-member Cherokee Nation Immersion Education Advisory Board staffed by experts in both language and education. It also requires accreditation through a qualified third-party body, ensuring the school remains academically rigorous and accountable—now under purely Cherokee oversight.
“We’ve replaced outside control with Cherokee control, and we will maintain the highest standards,” Hoskin says. Self-governance, he argues, is a responsibility the tribe must exercise when it has the capacity. He points to the Cherokee Nation’s successful takeovers of healthcare, housing, justice systems, and economic development as precedents. “Language immersion education should be no different.”
The move resonates deeply with tribal history. Cherokee ancestors fought to preserve their language through removal, allotment, boarding schools, and generations of federal policies designed to erase their culture. “Because of their determination, we still have a language worth saving,” Hoskin reflects.
Now, the tribe is writing the next chapter. By reclaiming sovereignty over its schools, the Cherokee Nation is creating more opportunities for children to learn, speak, and live the language every day. It’s a declaration that the future of Cherokee language education belongs in Cherokee hands.
Chuck Hoskin Jr. is the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.