Cherokee News Updates

The Choctaw Nation and Chickasaw Nation did something remarkable a decade ago. After years of litigation with the State of Oklahoma and the City of Oklahoma City over water in the Kiamichi Basin and Sardis Lake, they sat down at a table together — Tribes, State, and City — and built a settlement that protected southeastern Oklahoma's water for generations.

Environmental advocate Erin Brockovich has launched a public website and interactive map tracking AI data centers across the United States, and she is asking residents to report what they are seeing in their own communities. Cherokee 411 is encouraging all three federally recognized Cherokee tribes — the Cherokee Nation, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians — along with every other tribe, to take part so that Indian Country i

The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians will mark its second summer as owner of Diamondhead Resort by hosting the DiamondStone Music Festival, a three-day celebration of Red Dirt music, river floats and camping on the banks of the Illinois River, Aug. 20–22, 2026.

Red Dirt artist Blaine Bailey, a citizen of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, will headline a Native American acoustic song swap at Cain's Ballroom on Indigenous Peoples' Day, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026.

Rodney and a friend went deer hunting on a friend's property but they got separated. The friend and Rodney were to meet at 5pm but Rodney didn't show. The friend left but remained concerned and at 6am the next morning he and several other friends of Rodney's went to search for him. They found Rodney's body south of Stilwell near Bethel Road. He had been shot several times. Law enforcement labeled it as a homicide but no arrests have been made.

In Marietta, Georgia — RIGHT on the Trail of Tears route — Cherokee elder Tony Harris has spent over a decade rebuilding something our ancestors were force-marched away from in the 1830s. The Cherokee Garden at Green Meadows Preserve now holds more than 400 traditional Cherokee plants, each labeled in English AND Cherokee syllabary, with QR codes so kids can point a phone and learn.