{"id":23565,"date":"2022-04-26T23:14:55","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T03:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=23565"},"modified":"2022-04-26T23:33:48","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T03:33:48","slug":"gaylord-news-oklahoma-tribes-defend-sovereignty-as-supreme-court-weighs-big-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/04\/26\/gaylord-news-oklahoma-tribes-defend-sovereignty-as-supreme-court-weighs-big-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaylord News: Oklahoma tribes defend sovereignty as Supreme Court weighs big case"},"content":{"rendered":" \"As<\/a>
As Long as the Waters Flow by Allan C. Houser<\/a> (Apache) stands outside the Oklahoma State Capitol Building in Oklahoma City. Photo: Ann W<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Oklahoma tribes strike back at critics ahead of Supreme Court arguments<\/div>\r\n
Tuesday, April 26, 2022<\/div>\r\n
By Mikaela DeLeon<\/div>\r\n
Gaylord News<\/div>\r\n
gaylordnews.net<\/a><\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. — Oklahoma\u2019s Five Tribes are pushing back against critics of tribal sovereignty, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case Wednesday that could solidify the impact of its 2020 ruling that recognized reservations over nearly half of Oklahoma.

<\/P>\r\nThe 2020 McGirt v. Oklahoma<\/em> ruling determined that 3 million acres in eastern Oklahoma were still part of a Muscogee reservation established in the 19th century. The decision stripped the state of its ability to prosecute major crimes committed by members of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation on tribal lands, saying those crimes had to be prosecuted in federal or tribal courts.

<\/P>\r\nSince that ruling,<\/a> the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals determined that eastern reservations of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Quapaw and Seminole nations were also never disestablished, giving the tribes authority over their lands\u2019 criminal justice rather than the state.

<\/P>\r\nThe ruling has been repeatedly attacked by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who charges that it has “hamstrung law enforcement in the state.” And it recently became an issue in the state’s June 28 Republican primary, when a candidate in the race to replace outgoing Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said his priority in Congress would be to overturn McGirt<\/em>.

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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Chief\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tChief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. (@ChuckHoskin_Jr) on X\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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A bipartisan array of leaders and political hopefuls support the tribes assertion of their #McGirt rights. CD2 candidate John Bennett is not one of them. His anti-Indian views- calling for the destruction of our reservations- reflect a 19th century mindset.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"X\t\tX (formerly Twitter)\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe candidate, John Bennett, who is also the state\u2019s Republican Party chairman, was also quoted in the Washington Examiner this month suggesting that Congress should “disestablish the Muscogee Nation reservation.”

<\/P>\r\nThe Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes<\/a> \u2013 Muscogee, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole \u2013 quickly pushed back at Bennett\u2019s stance.

<\/P>\r\n“Oklahoma is strongest when our tribes are at the table,” the Five Tribes leaders said in a statement after Bennett’s remarks. “Candidates who seek to restrict our rights and disestablish our reservations, after the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed twice that they have always existed, do not deserve to represent our state.”

<\/P>\r\nIt’s just the latest fight over the decision that tribes have hailed as a “historic” recognition of their sovereignty, and Stitt had criticized as “destructive.”

<\/P>\r\nSince McGirt<\/em> was handed down, the state has filed more than 30 petitions with the Supreme Court challenging the ruling, and the justices this year agreed to consider one, Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta. That case asks whether the state can prosecute non-Indians charged with committing crimes against tribal members on tribal lands.

<\/P>\r\nStitt applauded the court’s decision to take the case.

<\/P>\r\n“Criminals have used this decision to commit crimes without punishment. Victims of crime, especially Native victims, have suffered by being forced to relive their worst nightmare in a second trial or having justice elude them completely,” Stitt said in a statement<\/a> at the time. “I will not stop fighting to ensure we have one set of rules to guarantee justice and equal protection under the law for all citizens.”

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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Governor\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tGovernor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) on X\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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McGirt has ripped Oklahoma apart. We need one set of rules and equal protection under the law.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"X\t\tX (formerly Twitter)\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nStitt has routinely criticized the ruling on multiple platforms, including a pinned tweet<\/a> on Twitter that says McGirt has “ripped Oklahoma apart” and features a clip from his March 30 appearance on Fox News to discuss the ruling.

<\/P>\r\nThe state\u2019s brief<\/a> to the Supreme Court argues that, unless the federal government has specifically pre-empted it, Oklahoma has the authority to prosecute in cases such as Castro-Huerta.

<\/P>\r\nOklahoma tribes have expressed consternation at the state\u2019s approach, and the Five Tribes joined<\/a> to file a brief this month supporting McGirt<\/em>. The brief detailed the tribes’ frustration with what it called the state’s “attack” on tribal interests, but reemphasized the nations’ willingness to cooperate in implementing McGirt<\/em> fully.

<\/P>\r\n“The State badly misses the mark when it argues that the Nations lack a significant interest in the outcome of this case,” the tribes’ brief<\/a> says. “Despite the State’s steadfast resistance, the Nations and United States are effectuating that allocation through increased resources and intergovernmental collaboration in which the Nations are crucial links.”

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