UKB leadership says secret legislation would terminate its rights

This story was updated on August 12 to include additional information about the UKB's FOIA request process.

(OKLAHOMA) Tribal officials from the United Keetowah Band of Cherokee Indians are demanding the retraction of a proposed U.S. Senate measure they say infringes on their tribal sovereignty and economic rights.

Oklahoma senator Markwayne Mullin, a Cherokee Nation citizen, drafted the legislation for inclusion in a future federal appropriations bill. The proposed language would make it illegal for any tribe other than the Cherokee Nation to enact gaming and land trust activities on Cherokee Nation reservation land without the written approval of the Cherokee Nation. Because the UKB shares reservation land with the Cherokee Nation, this provision would remove the UKB’s ability to place land in trust or participate in the gaming industry.

The UKB alleges that Mullin, a Cherokee Nation citizen, drafted the legislation at the request of the Cherokee Nation. UKB leadership also says that, if this legislation became law, it would redefine who is and who is not Cherokee.

A recent press release from the UKB underscored the tribe’s opposition to the provision, equating it to an underhanded attempt to dismantle the UKB.

“This is not a policy disagreement,” UKB chief Jeff Wacoche states in the press release.” 

“This is a deliberate, targeted act of tribal termination by CNO Senator Mullin. The draft language is a blatant betrayal of the U.S. government's trust responsibility, a violation of federal law, and an attack on tribal sovereignty.”

Because of the unique relationship of tribal nations to the state and federal governments, only federal law can stipulate tribal jurisdiction. Cherokee Nation and the UKB have had previous disputes over jurisdiction in Oklahoma’s Indian Country. 

The UKB has always stated its belief that it’s a successor to any treaties signed by the Cherokee Nation. However, the Cherokee Nation has consistently disagreed with that. That disagreement is discussed in the M-37984 Opinion released in January. 

According to the historical context from the opinion, “The Cherokee Nation rejects the notion that the Tribal signatory to the Cherokee treaties was a "historical" Cherokee Nation that no longer exists. The Cherokee Nation instead asserts itself as the signatory Tribe, arguing it is "the same sovereign as the original Cherokee Nation" that signed treaties with the United States and that it has existed as an entity on a continuous basis since treaty times.”

On Friday, Cherokee Nation principal chief Chuck Hoskins, Jr., issued a statement, saying in part, 

I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the Cherokee Nation. My oath requires me to defend against the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians’ attacks on our sovereignty and treaty rights with the United States. In seeking an amendment to a federal statute, I am defending our Nation just as Chief Wilma Mankiller once did.

The UKB says the legislation was drafted in secret and that they discovered it after filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. 

"We regularly file FOIA requests because of CNO's constant efforts to impair our rights," the UKB told VNN Oklahoma. "When the M Opinion was released, we feared that CNO may try to persuade congressional offices to undo it.  Our FOIA requests resulted in the release of Senator Mullin's language."

A portion of the proposal obtained by the UKB reads, “No other Indian tribe other than the Cherokee Nation shall possess tribal jurisdiction over such reservation (or any portion thereof), under any provision of law.” 

“This is genocide by redline,” Wacoche said. 

“We are a federally recognized Tribe with our own government-to-government relationship with the United States.. To suggest otherwise is to willfully ignore history, federal law, and the truth.”

This draft legislation comes just months after the U.S. Department of Interior released M-Opinion -37084, which states that the Cherokee Nation and the UKB, along with the Eastern Band of Cherokee, are descended from the historic Cherokee tribe that was granted reservation lands through federal treaty. The UKB has interpreted this ruling to mean that all three tribes share jurisdiction over the present-day Cherokee Nation reservation lands.

At the time of the ruling, Interior solicitor Robert T. Anderson stated, “This conclusion is based on my findings that 1. UKB has an ownership interest in the Cherokee Reservation as a successor in interest to the Tribal signatory of the Treaty of 1846; and 2. Congress intended for UKB to possess governmental jurisdiction over the Cherokee Reservation when it enacted the Keetoowah Recognition Act.”

To complicate matters further, M-Opinion 37084 and dozens of other Department of Interior opinions released during the Biden administration have been suspended, pending review for alignment with the current administration’s priorities. This suspension leaves room for uncertainty regarding who holds legal claim to the land and, in turn, to federally recognized Cherokee identity.

Hoskins Jr. also stated that the UKB used a 1999 appropriations bill rider to attack the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation. The rider changed the language of a law that Congress passed in 1992, which had required the consent of the Cherokee Nation before another tribe could place land into trust on the Cherokee reservation. 

The rider amended the word “consent” to “consultation.” 

“Uncertainty over the status and the authority of our two tribes creates chaos and danger,” said Hoskins Jr. 

“The UKB, lacking any authority to engage in law enforcement activities across the reservation, actively and unlawfully arrests people across the Cherokee Nation Reservation.”

Cherokee Nation, a tribe with more than 460,000 citizens, historically has held more sway in Washington than the 15,000-member UKB, but both tribes descend from the historic Cherokee tribe that was forcibly removed to northeastern Oklahoma during the Great Removal.

As stated on the UKB website, the Keetoowah’s were the first group of Cherokees to move west of the Mississippi in efforts to keep their land free of colonizers. After the Indian Removal Act was signed by President Andrew Jackson, the UKB involuntarily moved from Arkansas to Indian Territory. 

The Cherokee people that had stayed east of the Mississippi River were forcibly removed in the 1830’s and traveled the Trail of Tears. 

UKB leadership hopes Congress will continue to recognize UKB sovereignty and treaty rights and reject this draft legislation.

Senator Mullin’s office has not responded to VNN Oklahoma’s request for a comment.