Park Hill is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in southwestern Cherokee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,909 at the 2010 census. It lies near Tahlequah, east of the junction of U.S. Route 62 and State Highway 82.
Cherokee or Tsalagi is an endangered-to-moribund Iroquoian language and the native language of the Cherokee people. Ethnologue states that there were 1,520 Cherokee speakers out of 376,000 Cherokees in 2018, while a tally by the three Cherokee tribes in 2019 recorded about 2,100 speakers. The number of speakers is in decline. The Tahlequah Daily Press reported in 2019 that most speakers are elderly, about eight fluent speakers die each month, and that only 5 people under the age of 50 are fluent. The dialect of Cherokee in Oklahoma is "definitely endangered", and the one in North Carolina is "severely endangered" according to UNESCO. The Lower dialect, formerly spoken on the South Carolina–Georgia border, has been extinct since about 1900. The dire situation regarding the future of the two remaining dialects prompted the Tri-Council of Cherokee tribes to declare a state of emergency in June 2019, with a call to enhance revitalization efforts.
Sequoyah, also known as George Gist or George Guess, was a Native American polymath and neographer of the Cherokee Nation. In 1821, he completed his independent creation of the Cherokee syllabary, enabling reading and writing in Cherokee. His achievement was one of the few times in recorded history that an individual member of a pre-literate group created an original, effective writing system. His creation of the syllabary turned the Cherokee nation into one of the first North American Indigenous groups with a written language. Sequoyah was also an important representative for the Cherokee nation; he went to Washington, D.C., to sign two relocation-and-land-trading treaties.
The Cherokee Nation, formerly known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Old Cherokee Nation who relocated, due to increasing pressure, from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who were forced to relocate on the Trail of Tears. The tribe also includes descendants of Cherokee Freedmen, Absentee Shawnee, and Natchez Nation. As of 2023, over 450,000 people were enrolled in the Cherokee Nation.
Joe Byrd was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1995 to 1999. Byrd is bilingual, with an ability to communicate in both Cherokee and English. He ran for re-election in 1999, but lost to Chad "Corntassel" Smith. He ran again in 2003, but again lost to the incumbent Smith.
Mike Dart is a Native American basket weaver and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, who lives in Oklahoma.
Tommy Wildcat is a Native American musician and academic.
For the American educator, see Martha Berry.
Hastings Shade was a former deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation. He was a traditionalist, artist, and master level fluent speaker of the Cherokee language.
Kimberly Teehee is a Native American attorney, politician, and activist on Native American issues. She is a Delegate-designate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Cherokee Nation. She served as senior policy advisor for Native American affairs in the administration of President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2012. In February 2020, she was named by Time as one of 16 activists fighting for a "More Equal America."
David Vann was a sub-chief of the Cherokee people. He was a skilled negotiator with the United States government on behalf of the Cherokee and Creek peoples. Vann was elected treasurer of the Cherokee Nation in 1839, 1843, 1847 and 1851.
Lena Blackbird is a Cherokee artist living in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. She is best known for her Cherokee double-walled basket weaving. She was the first of the Cherokee basket makers to decorate the tops of her baskets and incorporate vases within her baskets. Blackbird's customary artist mark is seen in a chain pattern on the top of her baskets.
The Cherokee Immersion School is a Cherokee language immersion school in Park Hill, Oklahoma, with a Tahlequah post office address. It is for children during pre-school to grade 8.
Anna Mitchell was a Cherokee Nation potter who revived the historic art of Southeastern Woodlands pottery for Cherokee people in Oklahoma. Her tribe designated her as a Cherokee National Treasure and has works in numerous museum collections including the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, among others.
Chuck Hoskin Jr. is a Cherokee Nation politician and attorney currently serving as the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation since 2019. He was re-elected to a second term in the 2023 Cherokee Nation principal chief election.
Durbin Feeling was a Cherokee Nation linguist who wrote the primary Cherokee–English dictionary in 1975. He is considered the greatest modern contributor to the preservation of the endangered Cherokee language.
Pamela Jumper-Thurman is an American academic, epidemiologist, researcher, evaluator, and grantsmanship consultant. She is best known for her role in the development of the Community Readiness Model and as co-editor of the legacy book Cherokee National Treasures: In Their Own Words. She is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a jeweler.
The 2022–23 NBL season was the 45th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2022–23 season.
Victoria Vazquez is a Cherokee Nation artist and politician who has served on the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council since October 22, 2013. She was named a Cherokee National Treasure in 2012.
Candessa Tehee is a Cherokee Nation artist, professor, and politician who has served on the Cherokee Nation tribal council since 2021. She was named a Cherokee National Treasure in 2019.
