By David Ware
January 11, 2022
2022 Is As Consequential As 1907
The current Governor of Oklahoma is a divider, not a uniter. Rather than serving all Oklahomans, he has chosen to provoke the original indigenous owners of the land. He betrays a woeful ignorance of the United States Constitution.
As he moves into re-election campaign mode, he is stepping up his mean-spirited rhetoric stumping throughout Oklahoma making inflammatory accusations against the tribes. He betrays a total ignorance of the U.S. Constitution and simply does not understand the difference between race and Treaties with Sovereign Nations. He conflates the issues and confuses himself as much as he does his listeners.
Oklahomans are getting very tired of his Chicken Little “The sky is falling!” routine. First let’s look at the Constitution and then consider Kevin Stitt’s misstatements.
U.S. CONSTITUTION, ARTICLE VI
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
Even a mediocre high school student should be able do understand that without further elucidation. Yet, Oklahoma’s Governor seems intent playing the race card to mischaracterize the nature of the issue and to demonize Native citizens. He has simply stopped talking to the tribes and started talking about them instead.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt addresses a Rotary Meeting in Cushing, OK (transcribed from recording), December 30, 2021
These remarks were taken from an audio recording. The source will not be published here. There were enough people present at that meeting in Cushing that the Governor would be hard-pressed to deny what he actually said.
With a show of hands, how many of you have heard of the McGirt decision? Is it almost everybody?
This was not the only topic discussed at that meeting. These remarks are only those that relate to the issue of Native sovereignty.
On July 9th, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation was never disestablished and still exists under the 1866 Treaty with the United States government. That was 41 years before Oklahoma became a state in 1907 contrary to promises that the lands replacing those stolen by President Andrew Jackson in the Five Tribes’ southeastern homelands would never be made part of any state of the union.
I don’t think there’s a bigger issue that has hit any state since maybe the Civil War.
Mr. Stitt certainly has never made any claim to be a scholar or a historian. For good reason! The only thing similar to what he is doing now to the Civil War is that we have a state of the union that is trying to tear apart the fabric of society.
In so doing, the good people of Oklahoma, non-Native as well as Native, are disenfranchised by a Governor who does not represent either their interests or their wishes. That’s why he is trying so hard to distort reality to defend his indefensible assault on the U.S. Constitution. A plain reading of Article VI would make his specious rhetoric downright laughable if it weren’t so serious in its potential repercussions.
Oklahoma is literally being torn apart.
On that one stand-alone point, I fully agree. But who is tearing Oklahoma apart? The Founders who wrote the United States Constitution? The people of the Muscogee (Creek), Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole tribes? No, it is a very dimwitted and self-serving bureaucrat ensconced in the Oklahoma State Capitol. Everyone else is trying to promote unity while Kevin Stitt is on a personal journey into infamy and ignominy.
I don’t want to go into the whole history but in 1907 how we disbanded the reservations. We all grew up in Oklahoma history and we didn’t have reservations any more.
He really thinks he disbanded the reservations? Methinks the man has delusions of grandeur. If he doesn’t have a framed picture of George Armstrong Custer on the wall of his office, it is probably hidden in a closet. The Supreme Court has already affirmed that the Reservations were not disestablished.
We are so proud of our cultural heritage, our Indian heritage, the good things that has meant to Oklahoma over the last 114 years. This has nothing to do with that.
That is nothing less than a vacuous platitude! An empty statement from an empty mind! He is being opposed by the Chief and citizens of the Cherokee Nation of which he is a citizen. Believe me, he wants you to think he’s a cowboy but he is not the Cherokee Cowboy. That was a great American named Will Rogers!
Kevin Stitt is not a wannabe like Liz Warren. In fact, he is just the opposite. He apparently does have some quantum of Native ancestry, unless that was the part of the blood he gave up the last time he went to a blood donation drive. I can see him now just standing in line saying please take only my Native American blood and leave all the rest!
Attorney General John O’Connor is doing a fantastic job. He’s got 40 to 50 cases back before the Supreme Court asking them to re-consider and overturn the McGirt decision.
Let that sink in. He just said it in so many words. He isn’t just seeking an adjustment or a clarification. He totally rejects the Supreme Court decision in McGirt v Oklahoma. If there aren’t too many big words in it for him, he might want to sit down and read the complete majority decision by Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Overturning the McGirt decision is simply going back to the way we’ve operated as the state of Oklahoma since 1907. That’s all that is, saying, “Hey, we need to go back to the way we’ve operated since 1907.”
Ok, Kevin, if somebody steals your car and drives it around for many years before the thief is identified, would you contend that possession is 100% of the law? Why is it that way? Well, it’s been that way for a long time. Why would anybody want to undo a theft that happened long ago? Just let him keep the car because he’s had it so long.
So, let Oklahoma maintain illegal jurisdiction where there is no constitutional authority just because it went unrectified for 113 years? That doesn’t wash with the Supreme Court nor does it with common-sense Oklahomans. Perhaps you can find a better argument because that one you’re making is pretty lame.
So, there’s three issues. There’s taxation. There’s the civil aspect. And there’s criminal prosecution.
Kevin has $$ in his eyes! Money is not the root of all evil but the love of money is!
There is no transparency and there is no accountability for what’s happening in those tribal courts right now.
How would he know that? He refuses to meet with the Chiefs and tribal leaders to discuss cooperation. The obstruction is entirely on his part. He is like the little boy sticking his fingers in his ears, screaming “I can’t hear you!”
So, now you have a case that one person because of race has a different punishment than the other two races.
Treaties are the Supreme Law of the Land under the U.S. Constitution, Article VI. Indian Country is defined by statute. It is a legal term which has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with race. It is our land! Trespassing in other people’s homes is illegal. Just think of it as a home invasion robbery. Maybe that imagery will help you see what you are advocating.
We have to have one set of rules regardless of your race.
On your recent trip to Mexico, did you go down there and claim all the rights of a Mexican citizen? Do you understand jurisdiction? Did you tell them that it is just because I’m a white guy (which is obviously how you think of yourself) from Oklahoma that you’re being racist by not allowing me all the rights Mexicans possess in their own country? What you need to understand is that the tribes are Sovereign Nations! It isn’t race, it is a matter of Sovereignty!
Chuck Hoskins, who is the Cherokee Chief, said that Natives in eastern Oklahoma shouldn’t have to pay state income tax.
So this really is about money and power! Taxation without representation! The Boston Tea Party! America threw off the reins of a tyrannical British government. The Sovereign Nations who were here long before 1776 had their own thriving cultures, traditions and languages.
The two states which just faced off in the National College Football Championship between Alabama and Georgia are within the homelands of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. It’s obvious why you have a problem recognizing Justice Gorsuch’s affirmation that: On the far end of the Trail of Tears was a promise. As a johnny-come-lately you want to break that promise!
How does that affect Cushing?
Not at all! Law enforcement is in good hands. On the Reservations of the Sovereign Nations, their respective Lighthorse Police Departments and Judicial Systems handle criminal activity. Under the Major Crimes Act, the federal government has jurisdiction.
This only impacts crimes in which either the perpetrator or the victim or both are Natives. If you drive down to Dallas, do you still claim to have authority when you cross the state line into Texas? But, you say, an Oklahoma fugitive fled to the Lone Star State. Do you pursue him or her down there and apprehend them yourself or do you coordinate with the appropriate authorities in Texas?
Start thinking of the tribes as Sovereign Nations where you need to respect their jurisdictions. They have as much of a stake in public safety as you do!
There’s no blood quantum. I am a member of the Cherokee, uh, Nation through my grandmother’s side.
Well, ok, but this is not a membership organization. You don’t just join or drop out. I really can’t fathom why you have no understanding or love of your own ancestors, but that is a problem for you to deal with.
I can’t even believe I have to keep saying that we need one set of rules regardless of your race.
You’re sounding like a broken record.
Income taxes make up 40% of state revenue.
$$ is the real impetus behind this crusade against Sovereignty, isn’t it?
Chuck Hoskins also told tribal members, really all of Oklahoma, that they don’t have to buy a state hunting and fishing license as long as they have their Indian card, which I have.
You must really be proud of that “Indian card”! Use it like a badge of honor! Because your actions don’t demonstrate any honor! Again, revenue is behind your futile attempt to controvert history.
This is an issue about fairness, about justice, about equal protection under the law.
Think about what you said there. Is breaking a Treaty fair, just and equal protection in your book? You are not concerned about the law. Everything in the Constitution and the law vitiate your every argument.
“If the indigenous Nations doesn’t [sic] stop this, in its tracks, Sovereignty will become history.”
You probably don’t like it when some people today try to erase American history and pretend that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln didn’t exist, or if they did, that their legacy is one of dishonor. Now, understand that is exactly what you are doing in trying to obliterate the history of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.
Our history, culture, traditions, languages and respect for ancestors mean as much to us as any of these icons of American history. As a professing Christian, abide by the Golden Rule and do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
UPDATED January 12, 2022
Today Kevin Stitt posted in Twitter the following inept attempt to divert attention away from the substance of the issue of Native Sovereignty:
“The radical left is using the McGirt ruling as another way to extend their overreaching power.”
Governor, that is beneath the dignity of your office. It amounts to nothing more than an ad hominem attack because you cannot provide substantive arguments to support your case.
Though you obviously don’t realize it, you are claiming that those who understand the intent of our Founders who wrote the U.S. Constitution are overreaching. While nobody in his right mind would consider you a modern-day reincarnation of Madison, Hamilton and Jay, you are drifting toward the infamy of a Benedict Arnold who betrayed his constituents due to personal ambition.
Simply stated for your benefit, you are betraying the ideals upon which the United States of America was established. In case you have forgotten, Justice Neil Gorsuch who wrote the majority decision in McGirt v Oklahoma was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Donald Trump.
If these words make their way to Justice Gorsuch, I’m sure he will find it informative that you consider him a radical leftist seeking to extend the overreach of the United States Constitution. The people of Oklahoma will find it quite noteworthy that you are totally incapable of refuting anything that he said, so you resort instead to name-calling.
Footnote
Oklahoma can do much better than Kevin Stitt. There is an opportunity on June 28th to replace him in the Republican Primary by voting for Dr. Mark Sherwood who has pledged to work with, rather than against, the tribes. If you are registered in the other party, you will find it in your best interest to put an X by his name on the ballot in the General Election on November 8th.
Oklahoma’s Next Governor Mark Sherwood Talks to the Tribes
Author David Ware 