Representatives from Cherokee Nation Businesses held an opening ceremony on Oct. 25 for the 1839 Cherokee Meat Co. processing plant in Tahlequah, OK.
Named after the year Cherokee Nation became united by a constitution, 1839 Cherokee Meat Co. is a 12,000-square-foot USDA- and state-certified meat processing facility.
“The 1839 Cherokee Meat Co. is our boldest effort yet to reclaim our food sovereignty and strengthen our economy by keeping more of the dollars that we spend on food within the great Cherokee Nation reservation,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said in a statement. “Ranchers, farmers and others in the agriculture industry work extremely hard to keep our families fed and our economy moving. By directly addressing the meat processing shortage with our own facility, we support locally sourced food for the benefit of Cherokee citizens and the region’s economy.”
The facility will process a variety of meats, including beef and pork, with buffalo, deer and elk processing available in the future.
