February 7, 2020
Dear Muscogee (Creek) Nation citizens & employees,
We want to take this opportunity to provide updates on our progress in the Executive Office. Our schedule has been full with events and activities over the last two weeks. There were many meetings that addressed areas of need and interest for our Nation and citizens.
We met with Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Deborah Gist and her staff on the Indian education program. We will continue to monitor, collaborate and consult on ways to assist and improve our Native American student’s opportunities to succeed and provide support to our Native educators.
The MCN Investment Committee met with five financial institutions to review the Nation’s portfolio, review financial reports, assess investment performance and develop an investment statement standard. Each institution presented information on performance and investment opportunities for the Nation.
A meeting was held with Cultural Preservation, Cultural Archives and the Mvskoke Language Programs to discuss future goals and projected growth. Plans are being developed to blend initiatives and projects to address our language and cultural interests in the most collaborative, effective and efficient way.
We met with the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce on interests related to the Tulsa Future’s Regional Economic Development Partnership. We also attended the Tribal Leaders meeting in Tulsa to discuss issues that affect the Oklahoma tribes and participated in the Five Tribes Leaders conference call. It is in the best interest of our respective Nations to stand together in a united effort to protect our sovereignty and respective business interests. We also attended Governor Stitt’s State of the State address in Oklahoma City.
Internal program meetings were held to address the veteran’s cemetery, MCN Master Plan, summer football camps, MCN Festival entertainment and Information Technology. We met with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) on future projects and Congressman Markwayne Mullin’s office to discuss our needs and interests and engage support from his office.
We will be attending the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Executive Council Winter Session and the National Johnson O’Malley Association (NJOMA) Conference in Washington, DC next week. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is the largest sponsor of the NJOMA and led the effort to pass the JOM Modernization Act. On December 31, 2018, President Donald Trump signed S. 943, the Johnson-O’Malley Supplemental Indian Education Program Modernization Act into Public Law No: 115-404. While in Washington, I will also be providing testimony for the House Committee on Appropriations- Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies for American Indian and Alaska Natives.
Mvto!
David W. Hill, Principal Chief
Del Beaver, Second Chief