Oklahoma
Enrollment in tribal language courses grows in Oklahoma as tribes aim to increase fluency
Like many Cherokee Nation citizens of his generation, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. never had the chance to learn his tribal language in school.
He said those opportunities simply didn’t exist at the time.
“It would have meant a great deal to me,” Hoskin said. “It would have meant the opportunity to learn the Cherokee language as a child.”
Today’s generation of children has more possibilities, he said. State data shows an increasing number of students are seizing the chance.
Enrollment in Native American language programs is growing in Oklahoma public schools, according to information from the state Department of Education.
At least 3,314 students, from elementary through high school, participated in an Indigenous language program at their public school in the 2022-23 school year. That’s over 1,000 more students than the previous school year and 2,500 more than in 2020-21, according to state data.
Last year’s total includes about 1,600 elementary and middle school students who participated in Indigenous language programs.
Another 1,700 students earned high school world language credits by taking Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Comanche, Mvskoke, Osage, Pawnee, Potawatomi, the Otoe-Missouria language of Jiwere-Nat’Chi, and other courses. The right to take an Indigenous language for high school credit was encoded in state law in 2014.
Choctaw and Cherokee classes had the most participating students and were offered in the greatest number of schools, according to the state Education Department.
The Cherokee Nation aims to grow its numbers with plans for a $30 million language immersion middle school. The investment would expand the capacity of its existing immersion middle school that teaches in the Cherokee tongue.
The tribal nation has pledged to spend at least $18 million a year on various language-preservation initiatives.
“We know we’ve got people on the way to fluency in what is a very difficult language to learn,” Hoskin said. “We just need to have more of them, given what we’re up against.”
The Cherokee language has 2,000 first-language speakers and thousands more at a beginner or proficient level.
UNESCO labels Cherokee as a language in danger of extinction. Chickasaw, Choctaw, Comanche, Potawatomi and other tribal languages found in Oklahoma also are designated as endangered.
Generations of Indigenous children were discouraged or forbidden from speaking their tribal languages at federally run boarding schools across the country for 150 years, according to a 2022 report from the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The boarding schools existed to culturally assimilate Native American children, and Oklahoma had more of these schools than any other state, the report found.
Tribal nations are now working to rebuild their ranks of fluent speakers.
The Choctaw Nation, for example, has its language taught in the greatest number of high schools in Oklahoma, as well as at colleges, early childhood centers, community classes and online. Fifteen adults are taking Choctaw as a full-time job through the tribal nation’s apprenticeship program.
Many Native American languages have a high degree of difficulty for English speakers to learn, according to state academic standards.
Cherokee, for instance, is a Class IV language, indicating it would take a similar number of hours to gain proficiency as it would to learn Greek, Hebrew or Russian. Languages more similar to English — like Spanish, Swedish and French — would take fewer hours of study to reach the same proficiency level.
Indigenous language courses must be sanctioned by the state Education Department for students to earn class credit.
In most public schools, the language teachers and lesson plans come from tribal nations, said Jackie White, the state agency’s program director of American Indian education.
“We wanted to make sure, whomever taught, that they were fluent speakers and that what they taught was credible,” White said.
White joined the agency in 2020. Since then, the department has expanded its Native American education staff, helping to boost communication between tribes, schools and the agency about Indigenous-focused programs.
Those conversations have included expanding tribal language courses to more schools through both in-person instruction and online teaching, White said.
Bartlesville High School is among the schools to recently add a face-to-face Indigenous language course. Only minutes away from the Osage Reservation, the northeast Oklahoma school is in its third year offering Osage language classes.
The school has 35 students enrolled in Osage I and 27 in Osage II, said Principal Michael Harp. He said the courses have attracted a diverse group of students, not only those who are Native American.
Interest in Indigenous culture has grown, he said, especially with movie filming of “Killers of the Flower Moon” taking place in the Bartlesville area.
“There definitely has been an uptick in the last couple of years of just students wanting to know more about their heritage, the culture (and) the culture that is around them,” Harp said.
Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence.
A contentious debate over water and growth is intensifying in Yukon as residents and city leaders grapple with the long-term costs of supplying major industrial projects, including a data center that uses up to 3 million gallons a day.
The discussion spilled into another packed Yukon City Council meeting, where residents learned how strained and expensive the city’s water outlook could be over the next 25 years.
Emotions ran high, with one resident comparing city leadership to a Nazi regime.
Yukon’s water supply plan examines eight options, including five aquifers, non-potable reuse water, direct potable reuse water, and purchasing 2 million gallons a day from Oklahoma City.
Projected costs exceed $200 million, with millions more expected over the next 25 years for operations and maintenance.
The data center was part of the conversation from the start of the water study, which began in late 2024.
The facility uses up to 3 million gallons a day to cool its servers. One option discussed for meeting that demand is a non-potable supply providing 3 million gallons a day, with $55.9 million in capital costs and a required 18-inch pipe stretching 3.5 miles.
The option is recommended to meet great industrial demands, including a data center.
Council member Rick Cacini said his focus is on residents’ needs rather than industrial users. Cacini said, “We had water problems 8 years ago when I started, and we have water problems today.”
Another council member raised the idea of taking cost out of the equation when considering whether to supply water to the data center.
Residents spoke out one after another against the data center after hearing details of the water plan and costs.
One resident referenced Piedmont, where two data center proposals were tabled on Monday. Another resident said, “It’s not a good deal for us, and the other cities know it already.”
Some residents escalated their criticism of city leadership. One resident said, “I voted for Pillmore, and I regret that vote more than anything probably I’ve ever done in my life because this feels like some nazi regime.”
Others called for city leaders to be recalled. “We will collect those signatures within 30 days, and we’re gonna remove you.”
Concerns also grew over the data center agreement, centered on the purchaser having an “out” while the seller does not.
The city manager was said to have gotten something wrong in August.
The meeting ended with Cacini threatening to sue Mayor Brian Pillmore over comments made in an early May meeting.
Pillmore was not at the meeting, saying he was on vacation with his family.
INOLA, Okla. — Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has filed a petition in Rogers County seeking to block a proposed aluminum-smelting facility in Inola.
According to Drummond, Emirates Global Aluminum holds a 60% controlling interest in the project. The company is based in the United Arab Emirates.
Century Aluminum, a company headquartered in Chicago, owns the remaining 40%.
If completed, Oklahoma Primary Aluminum would be the largest primary aluminum production plant in the United States. However, the facility would produce hazardous waste, which has raised concerns in both the Inola community and across the state. Billboards have been spotted along Highway 412 in Inola, warning others about the proposal.
The facility would also draw more than 1,000 megawatts of continuous energy.
“A primary aluminum smelter does not belong in a community’s backyard, and its emissions do not respect property lines,” Drummond said, adding that winds could carry pollutants into the surrounding northeastern Oklahoma communities. “The injury is imminent, it is grave, and it is irreparable.”
However, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has criticized Drummond’s actions, saying the facility would be one of the state’s largest economic development projects in history.
It is important to note that Drummond is currently running for Governor.
“As soon as President Trump made his endorsement in the governor’s race, Drummond dropped the act and showed his true colors,” said Stitt. “Now he is turning his machine against one of President Trump’s top priorities, once again weaponizing his office to settle scores instead of serving Oklahomans. President Trump’s aluminum project in Inola will rapidly grow Oklahoma’s economy and strengthen America’s supply chain for generations, while Drummond turns his back on our state in favor of cheap political gimmicks and personal gain.”
President Trump has endorsed Mike Mazzei in Oklahoma’s gubernatorial race. The Republican primary is scheduled for June 16.
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Oklahomans will soon see semis on the road without a driver inside. That has people asking questions about safety.
The Oklahoma legislature passed a law in 2019, which was modified in 2022, allowing for fully autonomous commercial trucks on Oklahoma highways as long as they meet federal safety standards and follow state traffic laws.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is tasked with governing the operation of these trucks on Oklahoma roads. Troopers have been meeting with the truck makers and have trained to learn as much as possible about these trucks before they start operating. News On 6 asked troopers questions like: How will troopers pull them over? How do the trucks avoid crashes? How do the trucks handle unexpected situations?
Nearby states like Texas already have these trucks on the roads, which OHP says is helpful.
“We did have a lot of the same questions the public has. We have a lot of the same concerns about safety,” said Lieutenant Mark Southall with OHP. “We haven’t heard any bad stories from these other states. This company claims they’ve traveled two million miles without an at-fault collision. Meaning they have not been the causation of any collision.”
High-tech cameras in the trucks
OHP says they learned the trucks have cameras that can see a small animal 600 meters away, day or night. This camera system helps the trucks avoid crashes or anything in the roadway.
“We learned the camera systems in these vehicles are very sophisticated, that they can capture an image as small as a small animal up to 600 meters away. Looking at that the human eye can’t see 600 meters away or see something that small, but these cameras can pick that up and begin to make maneuvers to make sure they stay safe,” said Southall. “The cameras are very, very accurate, and they can avoid those crashes. We watched videos when we went to this training where we watched them avoid those crashes.”
How does the truck handle an unexpected road closure?
OHP says the trucking companies say the trucks have been put through just about every situation imaginable.
“The company has put this vehicle using AI through multiple different situations and scenarios that it’s learned from. If it comes upon a situation it wasn’t prepared for, using the camera system inside the vehicle, I think it begins to recognize what it needs to do,” said Southall.
How does law enforcement pull over the trucks?
“These trucks, from what we are told, are made to recognize when they are being stopped, they are made to recognize the red and blue lights and pull over to the shoulder,” said Southall. “If the vehicle senses red and blue lights and maybe they are not being pulled over, they’ll still pull over to the shoulder and stop and let the emergency vehicle go by.”
How does OHP get information if there is no driver?
OHP says there is a number on the cab of the truck that they call, and it takes them to a dispatch center. All of the trucks are equipped with a lock box with the truck’s documentation.
“The dispatch center will give us a code to be able to get into the box, and we can look at the documents on the truck from there,” said Southall.
What if a citizen sees a truck that has crashed or is on fire?
If a citizen sees the truck crashed or on fire, they can call the number on the cab, which goes to the dispatch center.
What if the truck has a mechanical problem while on the road?
OHP says if the vehicle has any sort of malfunction, it is supposed to pull over to the side of the road and stop, and it will alert dispatch.
Will the trucks be on every highway in Oklahoma?
The trucks won’t be on every highway in Oklahoma. For now, the trucks are expected to only run on the major travel routes like I-35 and I-40.
“We don’t work for this trucking company; our interest is working for the people of Oklahoma to make sure these roadways are safe. This is something the state legislature made state law, and we’ve got to begin to work with it so we can understand it,” said Southall.
The trucks could be on Oklahoma roads with drivers for testing as early as this month.
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