A U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier in July involving Oklahoma will have effects on all Native Americans and their land across the United States, according to Kinder’s Vance Beaver, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s tribe.
Beaver, who grew up in Oklahoma, is a member of the Muscogee tribe. He has lived in this area since December of 1976, but still keeps abreast of tribal issues.
He explained, “A person committed a crime in the Muscogee tribe’s jurisdiction on native land in the reservation, and it went to the Supreme Court.”
On July 9th, The New York Times printed an article on the Supreme Court’s decision. Beaver explained the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 declaring that much of the eastern part of Oklahoma falls within an Indian reservation. That decision could reshape criminal justice in that area of Oklahoma which would prevent authorities from prosecuting Native Americans and sending future cases to the federal system or to the local native nation.
The article by Jack Healy and Adam Liptak states, “The 5-to-4 decision, potentially one of the most consequential legal victories for Native Americans in decades, could have far-reaching implications for the people who live across what the court affirmed was native country. The lands include much of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s second-biggest city.”
The case began with a state conviction of Jimcy McGirt, a Seminole man who was found guilty of sex crimes which occurred within the Muscogee’s boundaries. He was sentenced to death, but arguments suggested since the murder occurred on reservation land, it should be prosecuted at the federal level which had no death penalty because he was a Native American. The argument was whether the reservation created by Congress for the Muscogee (Creek) nation was destroyed when Oklahoma became a state.
One of the opinions given by a Supreme Court Judge involved the promise made by Congress of land to given to Native Americans during the era known as the Trail of Tears when 100,000 natives were removed from their homes and sent to the Oklahoma area.
“The federal government took back half of our reservation,” Beaver explained. “Tulsa, Oklahoma is in our reservation.”
Beaver said only Congress could do away with the reservation land, and it had never formally took action as the state was created with the Native American-owned lands. He said there are five civilized tribes in the eastern half of Oklahoma and over 19 million acres. “My tribe’s reservation is over three million acres.”
According to Beaver and the article published in the New York Times, this decision could affect tribes across the United States. His tribe is known as a federal tribe, sovereign nation. “I’ve been on the phone all morning. I thought this would be interesting to read,” Beaver said.
Since this ruling, Oklahoma and the tribes have been working to solve issues like law enforcement, taxes, etc. that may now be changed due to this ruling. Beaver said he learned his tribe was going to have to look at increasing law enforcement because of its federal status. He also added this was a very important moment in history for Native Americans.
Beaver agrees and states that Native Americans living in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana could be seeing changes in the way things operate on a reservation. The tribes, Oklahoma’s government and the U.S. government are working together to solve some of these issues.
