New 24th National Council Special Session elects committee officers

OKMULGEE – The Muscogee Creek National Council held a Special Session on Tuesday, Jan. 6. The special session comes after the inauguration of the Pale-Hokkolen Ostohkaken (24th) Session on Saturday, Jan. 3. 

Second Speaker Thomasene Yahola Osborn made a motion to change the dates on the June session schedule. The motion changed the June Planning Schedule date from Tuesday, June 23 to Tuesday, June 16. It also changed the June Regular Session from Saturday, June 27 to Saturday, June 20. The changes were made to account for this year’s Mvskoke Festival. The motion was adopted unanimously 15-0.

Alicia Stroble was nominated to serve as the Pale-Hokkolen Ostohkaken (24th) Secretary. The council voted in favor of appointing Stroble as secretary 14-1. Representative Robyn Whitecloud voted against Stroble’s appointment.

Per code, senior district representatives have first choice in being seated on the Fact Finding & Investigations Committee or the Internal Affairs Committee. Speaker Randall Hicks, Representative Dode Barnett, Representative Charles McHenry, Representative Galen Cloud, Representative Lora Harjo-King, Rep. Whitecloud, Rep. Osborn and Representative Robert Hufft were selected to the Fact Finding & Investigations Committee. Representative Sandra Golden, Representative Cody Phillips, Representative James Factor, Representative Darrell Proctor, Representative Mary Crawford, Representative Will Lowe, Representative Anna Marshall and Representative Lucian Tiger were selected to the Internal Affairs Committee. 

Council officers assigned each representative to council committees. The committees are Business Finance & Justice, Health Education & Welfare, and Land Natural Resources & Cultural Preservation. Each committee nominated a chairperson, vice chairperson and ex officios.

The Business Finance & Justice Committee elected Rep. Tiger as the Chairperson and Rep. Lowe as the Vice Chairperson. The Ex Officio for Muscogee Nation Gaming Enterprises is Rep. Hufft. The Ex Officio for the Muscogee Nation Business Board is Rep. Tiger. The Ex Officio for the Mvskoke Loan Fund Board is Rep. Factor. The Ex Officio for One Fire Holding Company is Rep. Lowe. Rep. Golden will serve on the Mound Building Oversight Committee. The Business Finance & Justice Committee will hold their first meeting of the year on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 3:00 p.m. (CT).

The Health Education & Welfare Committee elected Rep. McHenry as the Chairperson and Rep. Crawford as the Vice Chairperson. The Ex Officio for the College of the Muscogee Nation Board of Regents is Rep. Harjo-King. The Ex Officio for the Mound Building Oversight Committee is Rep. Proctor. The Health Education & Welfare Committee will hold their first meeting of the year on Tuesday, Jan 13 at 10 a.m. (CT).

The Land, Natural Resources & Cultural Preservation elected Rep. Cloud as the Chairperson and Rep. Barnett as Vice Chairperson. Rep. Marshall will serve as the Ex Officio for the Mound Building Oversight Committee. The Land, Natural Resources & Cultural Preservation Committee will hold their first meeting of the year on Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 3:30 p.m. (CT).