{"id":387387,"date":"2026-01-19T00:01:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T06:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=387387"},"modified":"2026-01-21T12:43:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T18:43:25","slug":"chuck-hoskin-cherokee-nation-works-to-address-human-trafficking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2026\/01\/19\/chuck-hoskin-cherokee-nation-works-to-address-human-trafficking\/","title":{"rendered":"Chuck Hoskin: Cherokee Nation works to address human trafficking"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fb-video\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheCherokeeNation\/videos\/1370153907704817\/\" data-width=\"auto\" data-show-text=\"false\"><blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheCherokeeNation\/videos\/1370153907704817\/\" class=\"fb-xfbml-parse-ignore\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheCherokeeNation\/videos\/1370153907704817\/\"><\/a><p>\ud83d\udd34LIVE: Tune in as Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. signs a proclamation declaring January as Human Trafficking Prevention Awareness Month in the Cherokee Nation.<\/p>Posted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheCherokeeNation\">Cherokee Nation<\/a> on Friday, January 9, 2026<\/blockquote><\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Cherokee Nation: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheCherokeeNation\/videos\/1370153907704817\/\">Human Trafficking Prevention Awareness Month<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Protecting Our People through Human Trafficking Awareness<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Monday, January 19, 2026<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. <A href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChuckHoskin_Jr\"><I aria-hidden=true class=\"fab fa-twitter\"><\/I><\/A><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source\">Cherokee Nation<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source-links\"><A \r\nhref=\"https:\/\/www.cherokee.org\/\">cherokee.org<\/A><\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nHuman trafficking is not a distant crime. It is a harsh reality impacting tribal communities, including Cherokee Nation citizens and families, both on our Reservation and across the country. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThat is why leaders from my administration and the Council of the Cherokee Nation, along with employees from Cherokee Nation and Cherokee Nation Businesses, gathered recently to proclaim January as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/v\/17uyGEP1ez\/\">Human Trafficking Prevention Awareness Month<\/a>.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThis is not merely a symbolic gesture &#8212; it is a public vow to protect the safety, dignity and human rights of every person within our lands.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nFor Native communities, this issue carries a deeper weight. Human trafficking is intertwined with the broader crisis of violence against Native people, especially Native women. These harms are part of a pattern rooted in exploitation, vulnerability, and systemic failures. As Cherokee people, we believe every life is sacred. That belief carries a profound responsibility to see the danger, to speak about it openly and to act with purpose.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThis commitment is personal to my administration. For years, Cherokee Nation First Lady January Hoskin has been a steadfast advocate for the protection of our most vulnerable people, championing causes that ensure the safety of women and children, including our highly respected <a href=\"https:\/\/onefire.cherokee.org\/\">ONE FIRE Victim Services<\/a>.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FTheCherokeeNation%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0BcLcUYcwXdcBY8qdENsD3hUyF6NRZqpBD8NpXaGpv7EjAWbFweauVqcfSez66A6kl&#038;show_text=true&#038;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"803\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nHowever, awareness alone is not enough \u2014 action is required. Our tribe is backing our words with resources and intervention. We are allocating funds to expand victim services and are strengthening the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cherokee.org\/all-services\/marshal-service\/\">Cherokee Nation Marshal Service<\/a>, as well as the Cherokee Nation Justice System. We are ensuring we have the judges, prosecutors, officers, and support staff necessary to effectively and efficiently handle trafficking cases within the reservation.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nWe are also looking inward to ensure our own workforce is part of this defense strategy. Inspired by a righteous Cherokee Nation employee, Therresa Hammonds, who recognized the global scale of this issue, we are implementing new training programs across our government. This includes specialized training for our health care providers and other employees to recognize the warning signs of trafficking and respond appropriately.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nEducation is absolutely central to this work. Trafficking does not look the same in every case, and there is no single profile of a victim. That is why training, community engagement and open conversations matter.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nHuman trafficking thrives in the shadows. By bringing it into the light, we live out our Cherokee values, and we protect our most vulnerable. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nWe are a government that stands up for one another and refuses to look away. Together, we can build a strong wall of protection around our Cherokee communities and families.\r\n<P><\/p>\r\n<HR><div class=\"row\"><div class=\"col-md-3\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/23\/chuckhoskinavatar.jpg\" alt=\"Chuck Hoskin Jr\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\" class=\"rounded-circle\" \/><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"col-md-9\"><EM><A href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChuckHoskin_Jr\">Chuck Hoskin Jr.<\/A> \r\nis the 18th elected Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, the largest Indian \r\ntribe in the United States. He is only the second elected Principal Chief of the \r\nCherokee Nation from Vinita, the first being Thomas Buffington, who served from \r\n1899-1903. Prior to being elected Principal Chief, Hoskin served as the tribe\u2019s \r\nSecretary of State. He also formerly served as a member of the Council of the \r\nCherokee Nation, representing District 11 for six years.<\/EM><\/div><\/div><HR>\r\n<img src=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/21\/CherokeeNation-12.jpg width=0 height=0 class=invisible>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Together, we can build a strong wall of protection around our Cherokee communities and families.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":387420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[77,76,511,127,453,106,44,102],"class_list":["post-387387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-cherokee","tag-chuck-hoskin","tag-law-enforcement","tag-oklahoma","tag-trafficking","tag-tribal-courts","tag-women","tag-youth","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/21\/CherokeeNation-12.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-1CMb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387387"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":387422,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387387\/revisions\/387422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}