Chief says Stitt continues campaign against tribal sovereignty
BY CHAD HUNTER Reporter May 19, 2022
https://www.cherokeephoenix.org/council/chief-says-stitt-continues-campaign-against-tribal-sovereignty/article_50f6385e-d789-11ec-8851-078eba2b0324.html?utm_source=phpList&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Chief+says+Stitt+continues+campaign+against+tribal+sovereignty&utm_content=HTML
TAHLEQUAH – The Cherokee Nation’s chief took aim at what he called ongoing threats to the tribe and its sovereignty during his monthly address to the Tribal Council on May 16.
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said that Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt “has been attacking our sovereignty since he took office,” and in particular following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark, 2020 McGirt v. Oklahoma ruling that acknowledged much of eastern Oklahoma remains tribal territory.
“He started by undermining our gaming compact,” Hoskin said of the governor. “That was a fight that was unnecessary and a fight that he lost, but it was still an attack on the Cherokee Nation and other tribes within the state of Oklahoma. When he failed at that, he moved on to McGirt.”
The high court’s McGirt decision in July 2020 – and subsequent state-level cases – held that Congress never disestablished reservations in eastern Oklahoma, effectively handing jurisdiction over criminal cases that involve Native Americans to the tribes and federal government. Stitt has gone on record describing the McGirt ruling as “destructive” while alleging it “has hamstrung law enforcement in half of the state.” Stitt and Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor have urged justices to overturn the McGirt decision to no avail.
“After the McGirt decision was handed down – which restored our reservation and the reservation of the other affected tribes – he went back to the Supreme Court asking the court to overturn its own decision and break a promise to Indian tribes,” Hoskin said. “This is the 21st Century, and we have a governor that asks the United States to break its promise and treaties to Indian tribes. That’s a threat to the Cherokee Nation, and it’s an ongoing threat. He failed in that effort, but he continues to undermine our sovereignty, even in his rhetoric.”
Hoskin told councilors that the governor “is trying to convince the public that there is chaos because of McGirt where there is not chaos.”
“He recently vetoed a piece of public safety legislation on the basis – the false basis – that tribal car tags are somehow unlawful,” Hoskin said. “He repeatedly called McGirt the greatest threat to Oklahomans. Anyone who says McGirt is the greatest threat to Oklahomans is on the other side of sovereignty from me.”
Hoskin urged fellow tribal leaders to also speak out against congressional election candidates who “are parroting” the governor’s anti-tribal talking points. Stitt, a Republican, is up for reelection this year.
In other business May 16, the Tribal Council passed the most substantial update to the Cherokee Nation’s election code since 2020. The vote was 15-0; two councilors, Wes Nofire and Victoria Vazquez, were not in attendance.
A vast majority of the nearly 900 changes are considered housekeeping measures that include updated definitions, the capitalization of certain words and phrases, and the deletion of outdated verbiage. A handful, however, are considered more substantial. The end result was collaboration between the Tribal Council and Election Commission.
The revisions include a change in filing fees for Tribal Council. Fees for principal chief ($2,500) and deputy chief ($2,000) remain the same, but the council fee doubled from $500 to $1,000. However, a related change now allows candidates to pay their filing fees from campaign donations.
Another change is tied to voters who move after the registration deadline of March 31. CN citizens in that situation, who “in good faith” move out of their district and into another, would be allowed to cast what the Election Commission calls a challenged ballot in their new district. The updated code also states that voter registration forms must contain voters’ handwritten signatures or a “copy of the voter’s original signature.”
The next Tribal Council meeting is scheduled for June 6 at the W.W. Keeler Complex.
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