UKB Chief Travels to Washington for Federal Budget Discussions
Wacoche meets with Interior officials, attends Senate hearing on BIA and Indian Health Service funding
By Staff Reports
According to a statement posted to the tribe’s official Facebook page, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (UKB) Chief Jeff Wacoche participated in meetings with federal officials and attended congressional budget discussions tied to tribal funding and policy priorities.
According to that statement, Wacoche spoke before top officials at the U.S. Department of the Interior to advocate for the rights, sovereignty and future of the UKB. Wacoche and UKB Comptroller Meosha Rambo then attended a Department of the Interior consultation session of the Tribal Interior Budget Council. According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the TIBC provides a forum for tribes and federal officials to work together in developing annual budget requests for Indian programs at the Department of the Interior.
According to the tribe’s statement, Wacoche and Rambo also attended a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs budget hearing focused on the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service. Committee records show the May 20, 2026 hearing examined the FY2027 budget requests for those agencies and included testimony from Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs William “Billy” Kirkland and Indian Health Service Chief of Staff Clayton Fulton.
Those discussions reach directly into Keetoowah Cherokee communities: IHS funding determines whether the clinic has staff, BIA dollars shape roads and housing, and federal budget priorities can affect programs and services used by tribal communities.
Publicly available materials identify Sonja Gourd as serving as treasurer of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma under the UKB Constitution and By-laws, ratified October 3, 1950, and published by the United States Government Printing Office. According to that document, the treasurer is the custodian of all Band funds, maintains accurate financial records, and disburses funds in accordance with votes of the Council. The treasurer renders a written financial report at the annual Council meeting.
The comptroller position held by Rambo does not appear in the offices listed in the UKB Constitution and By-laws.
The Constitution does not specifically require the treasurer to attend federal consultation meetings or congressional hearings.
Questions remain:
• Was Sonja Gourd, who publicly available materials identify as serving as treasurer, notified of or invited to participate in the Washington meetings?
• If not, who made that decision?
• What role does the administration assign to the elected treasurer during federal funding discussions?
• Were written funding priorities or budget requests submitted on behalf of the tribe?
• Will those materials be made available to Keetoowah Cherokee people?
The UKB Facebook statement did not specify dates for the DOI meeting or the TIBC consultation. No public records reviewed for this report identified written UKB submissions connected to the reported events.