METH OR MILITARY
A twelve-year-old Cherokee boy was homeless in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, eating whatever food he could find when he decided he would not live this life forever.
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Roy Cook, 47, lives in Moore, Oklahoma, and is a logistics engineer agent for FST Tinker in Oklahoma City. He served in the Navy for 20 years. Cook is GS-12 Captain in the Military as well as a Navy Chief.
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“I looked around me growing up and saw that in my town you either got into drugs and alcohol or you joined the military,” Cook said. “At that time marijuana was typical and meth was just starting up, so you basically had a choice between to two M’s, Meth or Military. Most of the men I grew up with and call brothers are serving time in jail because of drugs and alcohol.”
Cook was born in Hulbert, Oklahoma, and lived with friends and in empty houses from the time he was 12 until he graduated high school.
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“I had to grow up quickly because I never saw my mother unless I needed a ride to the hospital and my father was always on the road for work,” Cook said. “I turned 18 before I graduated school and I remember my principal pulling me aside and telling me I should drop out of school and get a job. He knew I didn’t have parents, but I was determined to graduate from school and make something of myself. I was determined to escape the poverty and captivity that I felt the Cherokee tribe, and the people a part of it all, lived in.”
Cook went to a vocational training school his junior and senior year of high school so he could learn a skill that could make him money. He had always had an interest in mechanics and engineering from a young age. At 16-years-old, he could take apart and rebuild car engines and transmissions with ease.
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When he graduated high school, he was offered assistance from the tribe for the first time in his life. Roy was offered a scholarship from the Cherokee tribe to attend a local higher education vocational college. The scholarship would pay for his first year of school as long as he maintained above an 89 average in all his classes. After that, he would have to save up and pay for the $6,000 tuition himself.
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“I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford that school,” Cook said. “I already had a son to provide for and I didn’t want to end up living in poverty making $30,000 a year and taking assistance from the tribe so I joined the United States Navy. The Navy and hard work really saved my life.”
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For the first three years of his service, Cook lived in Cuba doing mechanical work on aircrafts. He sent all his money home to take care if his son still living in Oklahoma. He said he didn’t like his job at first but it got him out of the situation he was in. As a result, he decided to continue with the Navy for another three years as long as they sent him to Florida to be with a girl he had a crush on, Sara Robinson.
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“I knew Roy was a good man but I didn’t expect him to move to Florida to get me to marry him,” Sarah said. “I certainly didn’t know I was a part of the reason he decided to stick with the Navy. I’m glad he did, when I think about how far we have both come in our lives and how hard he works to provide for our growing family. It makes me beyond proud.”
Sara also came from an underprivileged background where she spent most of her life moving from foster home to foster home. She said that her experiences in the foster care system is what inspired her and Roy to become foster parents. Over the years, they have fostered nine girls and one boy while raising their two children Gabbie and Luke. They adopted one of their foster daughters Jasmine Pryor when she was 17 so they could continue to support her after she turned 18.
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Although Roy is half Cherokee and his entire family is full Cherokee, he passes down very few Native American traditions to his children.
“My dad has made sure we know how to work hard,” Pryor said. “He would always remind me that I can make my life into whatever I wanted it to be. I am not Cherokee by blood, so I wasn’t ever interested in learning about that culture, but I know my Aunt Kimber taught the other kids about it.”
Roy’s half sister, Kimber Cook, 40, is three-quarters Cherokee and is an active member of the tribe. She spends many hours each week doing tribal beading and making regalia for her family to wear at events. Kimber has never moved off the 13 districts considered to be Cherokee tribal land.
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“I love my sister,” Cook said. “To me she is a great example of what happens to people who rely on the tribe and never leave. She has a masters degree and she makes $35,000 a year. She lives under the poverty line.”
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Roy explained that if a member of the Cherokee tribe lives within the 13 districts considered to be Cherokee tribal land and makes less than $50,000 a year, the tribe will pay for a majority of living expenses. His sister’s home was built and is owned by the Cherokee Nation. She has at least five people living with her at one time because they can’t afford a place of their own. The Cherokee Nation also paid for her education, provides her with healthcare, insurance and pays for her car payments.
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“In my opinion, I think social programs can do some good, but too many can be oppression,” Cook said. “These people are afraid to make more money and move because they have become comfortable living in poverty. They don’t believe they can make it on their own and they don’t see many good examples. [The Cherokee Nation] basically ends up forcing people to stay there and be poor because there are no good jobs there and restrictions on getting help.”
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Although Roy escaped the place he used to feel captive, he and his family still return to Tahlequah every year to celebrate the Fourth of July at his sister’s house. They spend thousands of dollars on fireworks, food, and drinks to celebrate the way he earned his freedom serving in the Navy. When he returns he often sees old friends and family that didn’t ever leave town and still live the same lifestyle he grew up with.
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“When I see men I consider my brothers go in and out of jail and struggle with money, of course I want to help them,” Cook said. “After a few times, I realized they have to want to help themselves. They have to want a different future from their past. It’s hard for my kids to see but I think it teaches them a valuable lesson. One that I preach to them all the time. Your past does not define your future.”
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Gabbie, 22, is his oldest daughter and said she was taught some Native American culture from her family, but not a lot. She attended Oklahoma State University for three years and transferred to University of Central Oklahoma where she will receive her bachelor's degree in nutritional sciences and marketing.
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Gabbie said she had to transfer because the cost of attending OSU was too high. She was turned away from several Native American scholarships because of the Cherokee tribal rules.
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“I don’t feel very close to the Cherokee culture because it never did anything to help me,” Gabbie said. “It has some cool traditions, but also some big drawbacks. Even though I work hard to be a good student, the tribe won’t help me pay for school because my dad makes $10,000 more than the rules allow. $10,000 can’t cover all costs of college.”
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When Roy was young, he attended a few Powwows and Cherokee cultural ceremonies, but when he started living on his own at 12, he no longer had time or money to participate. Instead, he said he devoted himself to hard work and school. This is the culture he said he wants to pass down to his children and the next generation.
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“I foster kids so I can teach them that same thing I learned: your past doesn’t define your future,” Cook said. “I try and instill that in my kids and everyone I love. You know that saying, ‘You can give a man a fish and feed him, but teach him to fish and then he can change his own life.’ That is the culture of hard work. I know some Cherokee culture has been lost in my kids, but I would trade Cherokee culture for the culture of hard work and success, no doubt.”