Tribal Leaders Say OCPA’s Request Tries To ‘Erode Tribal Sovereignty’

The heads of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Cherokee Nation responded after an Oklahoma think tank called for Congress to dissolve the reservations of Oklahoma’s five major tribes.

In a letter to the state’s congressional delegation, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) said the Supreme Court’s decision on tribal jurisdictions in the McGirt v. Oklahoma case has thrown the state’s laws into uncertainty.

It said disestablishing the reservations would put everyone in Oklahoma on equal footing.

In response to the letter, Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief David Hill said he is ready to fight for the sovereignty of his tribe – and others across the nation, saying in part, “We have said all along that legislative efforts to undermine McGirt would harm Indian nations but now it's clear that the full goal of those pushing legislation is the eradication of sovereignty and the ultimate disestablishment of reservations.”

You can read Chief Hill’s full statement in response to the OCPA letter below.  

“We have been asked to respond to the Oklahoma Council on Public Affairs’ letter to the Oklahoma congressional delegation. Honestly, we are grateful for the OCPA letter. Finally, someone is telling the truth about the real motives behind legislation to address McGirt. We have said all along that legislative efforts to undermine McGirt would harm Indian nations but now it's clear that the full goal of those pushing legislation is the eradication of sovereignty and the ultimate disestablishment of reservations. We will fight so that not one iota of the sovereignty, treaty rights, and jurisdiction affirmed in McGirt is surrendered through legislation. We stand with hundreds of other tribes across the nation when we say, “see you on the battlefield!"

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. called the request an attack on tribal sovereignty. He said it is the responsibility of the tribes and the state to work through any issues brought about by the ruling.

To read the letter from OCPA, visit the website here.