Small business owners, contractors and those looking for employment are invited to Cherokee Nation’s job fairs in northeastern Oklahoma this week.
It is the second of two job fairs they are hosting this week. The first is set from 2 to 7 p.m. March 10 at the MLK Center, located at 300 W. Martin Luther King St. in Muskogee.
The event in north Tulsa is from 2-7 p.m. March 12 at the tribe’s new community building, located at 1205 E. 46th St. North.
Job seekers are encouraged to bring their resumes and will have the opportunity to meet with human resources representatives and apply for jobs across a variety of industries, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. told The Eagle.
Contractors and service providers will learn more about the Cherokee Nation’s new bid process, including opportunities for federal contracts.
There are also millions of dollars in microloans available for small business owners interested in investing in north Tulsa under Cherokee Nation’s new opportunity zone initiative. While the loans are available to everyone, preference will be given to Cherokee citizens, Hoskin said.
The locations for the two employment and career fairs this week were chosen intentionally, Hoskin told The Eagle.
He believes casting a wide net for these employment opportunities and small business assistance helps rectify past harms, including the tribe’s enslavement of Black people and previous suppression and denial of the citizenship of Cherokee Freedmen. Citizenship was granted in 2017, two years before Hoskin was elected to his position.
Part of that history is chronicled in a new documentary produced under Cherokee Nation’s film production company, Cherokee Film Productions.
“I think there’s probably something on the order of 14,000, 15,000 Cherokee Nation citizens of Freedmen’s descendants,” Hoskin said. “But there is a concentration of Cherokee Citizens of Freedmen Descent in north Tulsa and in Muskogee.” A Cherokee spokesperson later told The Eagle that number is closer to 17,000.
“What I have tried to do, what the deputy chief has tried to do and a lot of Cherokee leaders have tried to do, is to not only adhere to the letter of the law of equality but really to embrace what it means to atone, to apologize and then to do something productive to make sure we can heal some wounds and and bring some justice forward,” he said.
Job seekers can learn more about employment opportunities at CherokeeJobs.org. Those interested in business loans and other entrepreneurship support can contact Cherokee Nation’s Commerce Services Department at 918-453-5536.
