Cherokee Nation breaks ground on housing project

Cathy Spaulding, Muskogee Phoenix, Okla.
Updated ·3 min read

Apr. 12—Prospective Cherokee Nation homeowners can look to Muskogee for a new place to live.

On Tuesday, Cherokee Nation and Muskogee city officials broke ground on a 12-acre housing addition on East Hancock Street. The new neighborhood will be named the ᏗᏟᎯ (ditlihi) or Warrior Addition.

"It's a great day in Muskogee, on the Cherokee Nation reservation," Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. "Any time we can reach a milestone in progress in housing for the Cherokee Nation, it is a particularly important day because we have a great opportunity ahead of us in the Cherokee Nation to do a great deal of housing."

He said the Cherokee Nation cannot and will not wait for the federal government to meet their housing needs.

"We've got a great deal of challenges ahead of us to make sure we meet the needs of our elders," Hoskin said. "That is why we put so much money into housing rehab. We have a great need for affordable housing. That's why we are putting so much money into rental units. But we also need to make sure there is a path for home ownership. That is what this project is all about."

The 12 new houses are part of the Housing Authority of the Cherokee Nation's New Construction Homeownership Program for Cherokee families who have applied and were on the waiting list for housing but do not have their own land. The project has 30 more lots for future expansion as needs increase.

Cherokee Nation Housing Authority Executive Director Todd Enlow said officials hope to finish construction within nine months to a year.

"You'll probably see a lot of equipment and movement up here within the next 30 to 45 days," he said.

Hoskin said he and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner created the Housing, Jobs and Sustainable Communities Act in 2019 to help address struggles Cherokee families faced when seeking safe, affordable homes,

"The initial $30 million investment was historic, but the expansion of the Act with an additional $120 million last year is truly allowing us to make generational changes," Hoskin said. "We have built or repaired hundreds of homes under the Housing, Jobs and Sustainable Communities Act already and this new addition in Muskogee is another positive step forward for Cherokee families."

Hoskin also said Muskogee is a chief community within the Cherokee Nation.

"We want to do our part to improve things here, just as we are working across the Cherokee Nation reservation," he said. "The dollars we are putting into these homes are dollars that will generate a return in the investment in many ways."

The Housing Authority of the Cherokee Nation's New Construction Homeownership Program is a lease-to-own program created to provide a path to homeownership for eligible Cherokee citizens.

The Cherokee Nation is in the planning stages for nearly 200 upcoming housing projects across the Cherokee Nation Reservation for Cherokees without land under the New Construction Homeownership Program.