District 10, September 2021

Halito,

Chim Achukma from District 10. I am truly humbled and honored to be re-elected by you, the people, for another term as Tribal Council. This summer has truly flown by, and at present, we are being reminded again that we are still going through a pandemic as the Covid-19 cases continue to rise. I encourage everyone to exercise caution as we continue to navigate this ongoing health crisis.

We had several grand openings to celebrate in July! The new Hugo Laundry Facility centralized laundry services for all gaming hotel operations. It also provided 23 new job opportunities, increasing the workforce to 45. The new Cultural Center in Durant is a must-see! It tells the story of our Choctaw journey and our history. I want to give a big shout-out to our culture keepers that worked for many years, bringing this experience to us to enjoy, learn and appreciate for years to come. Yakoke! We also had the grand opening of the Durant Casino and Resort expansion. It is truly a first-class project, and I encourage everyone to visit. A highlight I would suggest is touring the property and seeing the new Choctaw artwork featured throughout the property. I am very proud to have Choctaw artists showcased in our new facility. The art complements the designs very well.

One of the projects that I want to encourage interest in for the tribe to pursue is sustainability for our sovereign territory. I know I’m looking into regenerative agriculture for my farm and ranch for forage production and better practices to encourage soil health. Choctaw ranches are working toward best practices for our cattle. I’m encouraged that we made an equity investment into a processing plant to help satisfy local food supply issues we often encounter. The processing plant helps to satisfy the meat aspect of the food chain with hopes to encourage more fruit and vegetable aspects of food sovereignty for our area.

As all of this relates to taking care of our area and our future reliance on the utilities, electric, gas, and even broadband internet connectivity, we must continue to strive to ensure that we have the capacity to take care of our area and ensure our destiny.

I would like to give a big shout-out to our own District 10 senior fitness team for retaining the traveling trophy for winning the senior fitness challenge again for 2021. Congratulations!

Yakoke!