The McGirt v. Oklahoma Community Impact Forum took place Tuesday evening in Tulsa. The panel included Gov. Kevin Stitt and district attorneys from across the state. No tribal leader spoke at the forum, which quickly became contentious.
Some tribal leaders were in the audience and thought it was good that state leaders heard from aggrieved members of the crowd.
The panel was moderated by Governor Kevin Stitt and included several district attorneys whose counties have been affected by the McGirt ruling.
Sam Alexander is a former council member for the Muscogee Nation. He was in the audience and thought that the Governor and the DA's should be hearing from the people like this. But as far as getting anything done Alexander says people have to work together.
"Ultimately, these guys are going to have to work together. And to do that, it's going to take patching up communication," said Alexander.
Next month is the deadline for the Oklahoma Attorney General to file a motion to the U.S. Supreme Court asking for more clarification on the decision that affirmed tribal and the federal governments - not the state - have jurisdiction over criminal cases on Indian land.
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