- Details
- By Jenna Kunze
TULSA, Okla. — When an unprecedented winter storm bringing freezing temperatures rolled through the Midwest earlier this week, Cherokee Nation Businesses answered the call from energy companies to conserve power to protect against cut-offs.
Starting Monday, Cherokee Nation Businesses, an enterprise of the Cherokee Nation, shut down its 10 casinos throughout northeast Oklahoma to do its part.
“We’re a pretty big consumer of electricity in just our normal, everyday operation,” said Cherokee Nation Business spokesperson Brandon Scott. “We thought it would probably be a good idea if we just shut down (to) help do our part.”
The operations sent employees home early on Monday, and the few that remained to secure the building were compensated with overtime, Scott added.
Southwest Power Pools, the company that manages the electric grid and wholesale power for the center United States, issued its first ever energy emergency alert level 3 to customers on Sunday, meaning the outfit was dipping into reserve electricity power. On Monday, it began controlled rolling power outages.
A winter storm warning went into effect Tuesday, and will remain in effect through Wednesday for a large portion of the state, officials reported.
Scott said he experienced rolling power outages in his home on Tuesday for about two to three hours.
“It was 11 below,” he said. “It’s kind of unprecedented to have a really long, cold snap like that. But, you know, in conjunction with snow and ice, it just kind of really strains everything.”
By Wednesday, the power company was back to functioning, but temperatures still hovered in the low 20s.
The situation led Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a member of the Cherokee Nation, to request a federal disaster declaration.
“Yesterday President Biden pledged the federal government’s support for Oklahoma when we spoke by phone,” Stitt said in a statement Wednesday. “I am now urging the President and his administration to act quickly and deliver on our request to help Oklahomans recover from this historic storm.”
On Wednesday, Biden approved the emergency declaration and ordered federal assistance from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to supplement state, tribal and local response efforts across the state.
Mark Gower, the state’s director of the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, added that “the combination of nearly two weeks of record-breaking low temperatures, heavy snow, and freezing rain has had significant impacts on communities across the state.”
For the Cherokee Nation, the new round of casino closures come about 11 months after the tribe shuttered its facilities for six weeks in early 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This time around, Cherokee Nation Businesses’ gaming facilities and several Tulsa office buildings were initially slated to reopen Wednesday, Feb. 17, but that date was pushed to Feb. 19 in anticipation of the below-freezing temperatures rebounding.
“It’s supposed to warm up toward the end of the week,” Scott said. “(But) if the temperatures were to go back down on Friday, we would definitely revisit how long we need to stay closed in order to help out.”
More Stories Like This
American Basketball Association Announces Native ABA InitiativeFour Winds South Bend Upgrades to Class III Gaming Casino
Native News Online Wins Two Awards from Native American Journalists Association
Wahlberg Brothers Are a Big Hit at Indian Gaming Tradeshow and Convention in Las Vegas
Native Gro Offers Tribes a ‘One-Stop Shop’ for Entering the Cannabis Industry
Help us tell the stories that could save Native languages and food traditions
At a critical moment for Indian Country, Native News Online is embarking on our most ambitious reporting project yet: "Cultivating Culture," a three-year investigation into two forces shaping Native community survival—food sovereignty and language revitalization.
The devastating impact of COVID-19 accelerated the loss of Native elders and with them, irreplaceable cultural knowledge. Yet across tribal communities, innovative leaders are fighting back, reclaiming traditional food systems and breathing new life into Native languages. These aren't just cultural preservation efforts—they're powerful pathways to community health, healing, and resilience.
Our dedicated reporting team will spend three years documenting these stories through on-the-ground reporting in 18 tribal communities, producing over 200 in-depth stories, 18 podcast episodes, and multimedia content that amplifies Indigenous voices. We'll show policymakers, funders, and allies how cultural restoration directly impacts physical and mental wellness while celebrating successful models of sovereignty and self-determination.
This isn't corporate media parachuting into Indian Country for a quick story. This is sustained, relationship-based journalism by Native reporters who understand these communities. It's "Warrior Journalism"—fearless reporting that serves the 5.5 million readers who depend on us for news that mainstream media often ignores.
We need your help right now. While we've secured partial funding, we're still $450,000 short of our three-year budget. Our immediate goal is $25,000 this month to keep this critical work moving forward—funding reporter salaries, travel to remote communities, photography, and the deep reporting these stories deserve.
Every dollar directly supports Indigenous journalists telling Indigenous stories. Whether it's $5 or $50, your contribution ensures these vital narratives of resilience, innovation, and hope don't disappear into silence.
The stakes couldn't be higher. Native languages are being lost at an alarming rate. Food insecurity plagues many tribal communities. But solutions are emerging, and these stories need to be told.
Support independent Native journalism. Fund the stories that matter.
Levi Rickert (Potawatomi), Editor & Publisher
