Once Again The Supreme Court Breaks America's Promise To Tribes

[Nevilledog]

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Jennifer Bendery
@jbendery
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Chuck Hoskin Jr., principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, writes for HuffPost on SCOTUS attacking tribal sovereignty this week in Oklahoma.

"It is yet another unacceptable infringement on our inherent sovereignty. We are yet again facing broken promises."

huffpost.com
Opinion: Once Again The Supreme Court Breaks America’s Promise To Tribes
The highest court in the land has ruled that state governments can now prosecute non-Natives for crimes committed against Natives on tribal land.
11:13 AM · Jul 1, 2022

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/supreme-court-breaks-promise-tribes_n_62bf1efae4b0ffe00a117331?54f

In April, Justice Neil Gorsuch asked his colleagues on the Supreme Court if they would “wilt today because of a social media campaign.” The case was Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, in which the state of Oklahoma claimed it holds jurisdiction to prosecute certain crimes committed against Indian citizens on Indian reservations. That claim was backed by neither the law nor history, falling afoul of court precedent, established practices in other states, and clear congressional intent and authority.

This week, Gorsuch got his answer: Yes, the court would wilt and take the side of an aggressively political media campaign over the rule of law. Tribes once again saw another broken promise ― despite our best hopes, the court sent a message that the word of the United States is meaningless when it comes to the promises made to Indian Country.

The issue stems from the 2020 McGirt v. Oklahoma decision, in which the Supreme Court and subsequent lower court cases ruled that the reservations of several tribes in Oklahoma had never been disestablished, and that state authorities had therefore been illegally exercising jurisdiction on Indian land. That includes the Cherokee Nation, which I have the honor of serving as principal chief, and our reservation covering 7,000 square miles in northeastern Oklahoma.

Even before the decision, tribes recognized the tremendous work that would be required to rebuild our justice systems following over a century of suppression, and the importance of working with our state, local and federal partners to meet our renewed public safety responsibilities. There would be challenges ahead, but we certainly all had the same goal of protecting our people, and working cooperatively with the state was the obvious way to succeed.

*snip*

[walkingman]

1. Now you know where the term "indian giver" comes from - we are despicable.