Landmark Supreme Court Ruling Affirms Native American Rights in Oklahoma

I am finding the thread interesting, as I have lived 44 of my 46 years in Oklahoma and am also a 3rd generation Okie, Great Grandma was a small child in the original land run. It appears no one on the thread has been to Oklahoma.

Few okie facts just off the top of my head, (years of high school and college OK History coming back in to my head) no citations, as i am not writing a paper.

1. The first land runs, were "unassigned lands" as in the US Govt had not assigned to any of the tribes. Later land runs encroached on some but not all tribal lands.
2. Essentially two territories quickly evolved. Oklahoma Territory in the West/North West and "Indian Territory", Aka the primary tribal areas in the East/SE. Originally they were to be two separate states (Oklahoma and The State of Sequyah/Creek Nation). Through a series of wheeling and dealing they merged into one for statehood.
3. Interesting, many of the Tribes in Easter Oklahoma actually aligned with the Confederacy as some of them owned slaves (or tended to enslave each other at times). A few Civil War Battles were fought in the east. (Makes me wonder if the far progressive left that is applauding the court case will now want to punish the Tribes for supporting slavery, wonder how long the tribal statues will last, (joking/but not joking). The irony is on a grand scale.
4. Today, while there is alot of poverty among native american's, there is also alot of wealth, individually and as peoples.. Its primarily from the casinos' and to a lesser event Oil (most of the oil is in the west and north, so Eastern Oklahoma doesn't have as much of that, (someone above asked about that). Although the Cherokee Chief in the 60's/70's was also the president of Phillips Petroleum.
5. Someone mentioned something to the effect of (all the white people will say "my great, great, great whatever was Indian". Well there is truth to that as the white settlers and the Natives pretty much lived together, integrated, etc. I know full blooded natives that have english names and very little connection to the tribal cultures. I also know people of limited blood but very involved. My great grandfather on my mom's side was a Cherokee chief, which I guess makes me 1/8, but i don't have the paperwork, claim it for anything or do anything with the tribe. Plenty of Natives are Doctors, Professors, lawyers, engineers, and even an Astronaut. It's not like they have been living in eastern Oklahoma hiding in TeePees and WigWams.
6.More importantly, the 5 major tribes (and several smaller ones) overall have good relations with the State. The court ruling really only has to do with law enforcement and criminal jurisdictions. I don't expect much to change. It's not like we don't know where the tribal lands are. As soon as I drive east of OKC you'll see signs "entering Creek Nation, entering Sac&Fox Lands", "Welcome to Muscogee"; been there forever; and in daily life here doesn't seem to make a huge difference.

en.wikipedia.org...

www.cherokee.org...



Couple of links for fun:

en.wikipedia.org...