CHAIRPERSON MESSAGE: January 2026
ᎣᏏᏲ ᏂᎦᏛ osiyo nigad! (hello, everyone!)
ᎤᎵᎮᎵᏍᏗ ᎢᏤ ᎠᏕᏘᏱᏍᎬᎢ ulihelisdi itse adetiyisgvi or Happy New Year!
We are looking forward to a great year filled with Cherokee fellowship, our wonderful community, and Cherokee cultural and language events.
We’re planning an exciting year ahead for the community with some special events. We look forward to spending time with each other in community, as always. Mark your calendars for our 2026 dates:
February 28th - Traditional Kanuchi Demonstration with Cherokee Chef Taelor Barton and Membership Meeting
You won’t want to miss this special event and taste some kanuchi if you’ve never had it. Join us in welcoming Taelor so she feels at home with her at-large kin.
April 4 - CNCV will be at the UC Davis Powwow. Come visit and enjoy fellowship, dancing, music, and tasty food.
April 26 - our largest and not to be missed event, our Annual Meeting and Chief's Picnic
May 16 - Annual Rollin Ridge Cemetery Clean-up and Lunch (come volunteer and dine with us)
May 30 - Remember the Removal Walk and Membership Gathering (more info coming soon!)
July 17-19 - Annual Campout
September - Special Event, to be announced
October 17 - Membership Gathering and Potluck
We’re working to hopefully schedule another language class or two next year as well!
As we begin to emerge from winter, we reflect on the seeds we continue to plant, seeds of gratitude for community, service, and kinship, especially during the hardships of the colder months:
ᏗᏣᏓᏍᏕᎵᏍᎩ ᎢᏤᎮᏍᏗ di-tsa-da-s-de-li-s-gi i-tse-he-s-di: “You all live, helping one another” is a foundational Cherokee Community Value that feels especially meaningful in this season of renewal. It is an important reminder that we are connected and called to help each other. It reminds us that we are deeply connected and always called to care for one another. Though each of us may carry burdens at times, when we tend them together, those burdens are made lighter through our shared strengths of family, friendship, generosity, and community, much like our seeds that grow stronger when nurtured with care.
We come together to support those going through difficult times, like Sheila Zangrilli, who just lost her partner, and Deirdre Fitzgerald, who is undergoing chemotherapy.
We call for any Cherokee Nation citizens and veterans who have not yet been honored with the Medal of Patriotism. If this is you, ᏩᏙ wado and we would love to honor you. Every year at our Annual Meeting with our Principal Chief, we are able to honor up to two veterans with the Medal of Patriotism. This year's meeting will be on Sunday, April 26. Please email cncv.communications@gmail.com to let us know.
It's the beginning of the year, which means it's time to pay our annual membership dues, which cover from January 1 to December 31. We respectfully ask you to please renew your membership to keep our Cherokee community growing strong! Membership dues go to events, outreach, scholarships, and strengthen our community’s connection to the Cherokee Nation back home. Here’s how to renew.
Continuing with the theme of planting and growing, now is also the time to request your seeds from the Cherokee Nation Seed Bank, until Feb 13.
You might consider making handmade Valentine's Day cards for our Cherokee Nation veterans also to nurture those who have bravely served (due by 2/6, mail to the Cherokee Nation Attn: Veteran's Center, PO Box 948, Tahlequah). Please do not include last names or personal information.
We reflect on a unique story rich with heritage, service, and synchronicity from Board Member and Elder Mike Webb. A simple promise to help a small museum sparked a chain of discoveries: vintage Navy uniforms, missing buttons that seemed impossible to replace, and names that echoed family and Cherokee connections across generations. Learn more about how a 13-button uniform became a powerful reminder that some stories are meant to find us.
Mike Webb announces his planned retirement at the end of his term in 2027 and a call to help with the Cultural Center to ensure its continual growth and success in supporting our community.
Do you have a question about the language? Joe Fourkiller with Cherokee Nation Gadugi Corps is available to help our community with words, phrases, and spelling! Reach out to Joe with language questions. And feel free to share what you learn with the rest of us! Contact: Joe Fourkiller at Josephc-fourkiller@cherokee.org; 918-871-9248-cell; 918-453-5000 Ext
As a reminder, the CNCV has a resource webpage for you with many informative links for citizenship, language, culture, history, health, education, veterans, and more. Let us know if you'd like to see something specifically there.
We’re looking forward to visiting together at these events throughout the year and enjoying community, culture, history, and language with you!
ᏙᏓᏓᎪᎲᎢ dodadagohvi (‘til we meet again),
-- Sabrina McKinney
