June News Byte 2025
An active and elemental start to the summer season ⚡
Happy Summer, Verified News Community! We hope you're staying cool during the sizzling heat and have kept dry during the recent storms.
It’s been a very active start to the summer newswise. The VNN Oklahoma team held some fantastic events and collaborated on some big community stories.
The biggest story of the month (arguably) was the historic agreement between the Muscogee Nation and the City of Tulsa. Traffic violations or crimes committed by tribal citizens within the Muscogee reservation boundaries of the city will now be referred to the Nation. This agreement comes after a lawsuit relating to jurisdictional overreach was filed by the Muscogee Nation in 2023.
Governor Kevin Stitt condemned the agreement days before it was signed, vowing to fight it as much as he could.
The agreement is a sure step in the direction of respecting tribal sovereignty and Indigenous inclusion in Tulsa. Earlier this month, VNN CEO Kelly Tidwell reached out to Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols, urging the city to take another step.
Kelly’s letter requested a meeting to discuss the ways the city plans to acknowledge and address historic injustice committed by the City of Tulsa against Indigenous Tulsans during the Allotment and Assimilation Era. You can read the full letter here.
As part of VNN Oklahoma’s continued commitment to supporting Indigenous community members, VNN Oklahoma Senior Journalist Rachael Schuit has been hard at work developing our new “Returning To Balance” Solutions Journalism series.
This reporting project goes beyond simply talking about harm reduction in Native communities—through stories grounded in cultural knowledge, this series will elevate Native voices and highlight successful traditional approaches to domestic violence, suicide, and substance use disorder.
Also this month, Rachael told us about an organization’s calls for Oklahoma to address prison gerrymandering, saying it disproportionately impacts Native communities.
And in other big criminal justice news, the Oklahoma Survivors Act hearing for April Wilkens has been set for September 3, 2025. VNN Oklahoma Senior Journalist Brittany Harlow attended a packed court hearing for Wilkens earlier this month. The judge ruled that Wilkens will remain behind bars until her September hearing, and he also said he expects no more unnecessary delays in the case.
VNN’s MMIWG2T Historical Reporting project continued this month. VNN Oklahoma Journalist Trista Vaughn reported on the mark Zitkala-Ša, a 20th century Indigenous advocate, left on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) advocacy more than 100 years later.
Keep a lookout for more stories in our MMIWG2T historical reporting project in July!
VNN Oklahoma also stayed busy with in-person events this month.
Our third Listening and Learning Tour stop was held in Tahlequah on June 20th. The VNN team enjoyed learning more about what tribal members from both the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians want in terms of news coverage and support.
The next Listening and Learning Tour Stop will take place at the Eufaula Indian Community Center on July 17th. More details and a sign-up link will be released soon.
When we say an active June, we mean it! VNN Oklahoma was thrilled to welcome Michelle Reed and Simon Washee to Oklahoma to host three days of N8V Dance Fitness and maker classes at Hicks Park Community Center in Tulsa. 131 community members took part in classes and gathered for singing with the Tulsa Indian Club June 25-27. We are so thankful for Southwest Trading Company for donating raffle prizes for our classes and to River Spirit Casino Resort for hosting our special guests during their stay in Tulsa!
Do you like being first? Because you are now the FIRST to know that VNN’s Indian Country Chatbot is launching to the public on July 1. Kelly has been leading the project since December 2024, ensuring our tool to combat misinformation and disinformation in Indian Country is built with respect and benefits for Native community members.
We’ve also been hard at work behind the scenes, developing our annual symposium. Please save the date for the Indigenous Roots American Indian History Symposium this October 4th and 5th at Arvest Convention Center. We will be releasing more information about this year’s exciting event in the coming weeks! For now, we can say there are some incredible surprises in store.
And speaking of businesses and organizations, June was a fruitful month for local expansion, as well.
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation launched a new program to boost economic growth and job creation within the reservation. The program, known as the Muscogee Nation Capital Fund, is worth over $20 million and involves three parts: The Loan Participation Program, The Collateral Support Program, and The Equity Direct Program.
Indigenous community members in Northeast Oklahoma will soon have better access to healthcare, thanks to a major expansion of the Indian Health Care Resource Center (IHCRC) in Tulsa. A ribbon-cutting will be held on July 2 at 530 S. Peoria Avenue in Tulsa to celebrate the completion of the facility’s two-phase expansion project.
And that’s not the only big healthcare announcement this month. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is now proposing a $255.5 million investment to replace the Claremore Indian Hospital’s aging facilities. The hospital has served northeastern tribal patients since 1930.
That’s all for this month, Verified News Community. Stay healthy and hopeful as the summer shines along. We’re grateful for your support and excited to bring you even more powerful stories and resources in July!