Cherokee Nation honoring former principal chief with new 15-acre park in Tahlequah

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The Cherokee Nation is making progress on a new $10 million park dedicated to the late Principal Chief Wilma P. Mankiller.

The 15-acre park is one of more than 60 different projects happening across the reservation.

The nation is working with Wilma Mankiller's family and friends to create a park that pays homage to the late principal chief and to Cherokee traditions.

"The first inspiration was actually my daughter, Jazzie," said Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. "It's been a number of years since we came to Tahlequah to live when I became Chief of the Cherokee Nation and she was talking about how in this part of Tahlequah, there wasn't really a great place to play or gather."

Chief Hoskin asked the council for support to make the park the flagship of the nation's growing park and recreation system.

The park will be near South Muskogee Avenue and South Jules Road.

Chief Hoskin said one of the unique things about this project is that Donna Edmundson, a Native female architect, is the designer behind the project and knew Chief Mankiller personally.

The park also offers a unique way to tell the story of the Cherokee people.

"It gives us more outdoor space, recreation space, an opportunity to help tell our story through things heirloom plants which we'll incorporate into the landscape a lot of wonderful architecture, landscape architecture in a community building that will help...tell the Cherokee story...in a way Chief Mankiller will appreciate," said Hoskin.

The park is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2025.