The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians has been sounding the alarm over potential federal legislation that could hinder their economic and trust land rights, prompting Muscogee National Council representative Dode Barnett to draft Muscogee legislation in support of the UKB. The UKB has previously said the congressional language originated from the office of Cherokee citizen and Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin.
Barnett, Creek District – Seat A, worried it could set a dangerous precedent that affects all of Indian Country.
"If any tribal nation goes and asks their congressman for relief in a legislative way, that should be a straightforward process, not snuck into an appropriations bill," Barnett said in a phone interview.
Her resolution passed through a tribal council committee, but fell flat over the weekend when Cherokee Nation Principal Chief, Chuck Hoskin Jr., shared his stance before the Muscogee National Council. Hoskin argued his tribal nation is doing what UKB lobbyists did to a 1999 rider, when they changed "consent" to "consultation."
"We should remember that the very language that the Cherokee Nation is seeking to correct was language put in a rider and changed," Hoskin Jr. said during the council meeting. "We'd like to change it back."
He also noted he was not asked to speak at the prior committee meeting — where the UKB's lawyer offered their perspective — and asked the council to consider what the resolution's passage could mean for their nation-to-nation relationship going forward.
"If it is approved, counselors, it will, I must stress, do irreparable harm to the relationship between the Cherokee Nation and the Muscogee Nation," Hoskin Jr. said.
Despite UKB Chief Jeff Wacoche's argument that the legislation's language is a blatant attack on his tribal nation's sovereignty, the Muscogee National Council voted to remain neutral in the fight.
"Bottom line is it appears that we're choosing one over the other," Muscogee National Council Representative Sandra Golden, Akfvske District – Seat B, said during the Saturday meeting. "And we should never be doing that. …That congressman in Washington, DC, is trying to get us to fight each other. We've got to stop doing that. When we fight each other, we lose our sovereignty."
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
