A few years ago, I went to a gathering of the Choctaw Nation that was held downtown to change some legal information but, first, had to sit through various speeches by Chief Batton and his pals. There were free snacks and water, however, so it was all good.
At least it was until it quit being a gathering of Natives and became more of a far-right rally that praised Gov. Kevin Stitt.
At the time, I was mildly irritated. But now, as Stitt has proven himself, to use the words of Cherokee Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., an “enemy of sovereignty,” would it be disrespectful if I cried out “I told you so!” and got a couple of victorious high-fives from like-minded people?
As many Oklahomans know, Gov. Stitt—an Okie Andrew Jackson and twice as dumb—has been on a statewide crusade against Indigenous people, using every terroristic stereotype to frighten his Fox News worshipping followers regarding the recent McGirt ruling, bending and twisting this loss to aid him in his rumored perverted race to the White House. Emphasis on white.
Well, finally a Native leader got fed up with his shit and, at Monday’s Sovereignty Symposium, stood up to tell the people of Oklahoma—the true people—that Stitt and his good ol’ boys are the aforementioned “enemies of sovereignty,” hopefully a charge that will follow Stitt to the poor house instead of the White House...
From the Oklahoman:
“They're trying to convince the country, not just people in Oklahoma, but the country, that the sky is falling. That the tribes cannot possibly be trusted with the responsibility to create a criminal justice system,” Hoskin said. “I think the opposite is true.”
I’m glad that Hoskin is publicly stating this. Many people see Natives, sadly, as one step below farm animals, unaware that just because we have our own way of doing things—things that probably aren’t your way of doing things—doesn’t mean that we don’t know what we’re doing, especially when it comes to the law, having been under the boot of it for so long.
While Stitt has yet to make a dumb comment, his “tribal liaison” Ryan Leonard claimed that Stitt is not anti-sovereignty. After around ten minutes of unbridled laughter, Leonard was allowed to continue, stating that no one wants to “break any promises” to Natives, done with all the conviction of a banker nailing eviction notices to doors on Christmas Day.
And while Leonard can continue to flail about for sell-out Stitt, I feel that this year’s symposium—along with the signing of a document taking back everything nice they ever said about Stitt—was, at long last, a line in the sand, one that was properly summed up by Chief Hoskin himself:
“What an absurd proposition,” Hoskin said. “Can anyone believe in 2021, in the United States, that someone is, with a straight face, asking the Supreme Court of the United States to break a promise to an Indian tribe? And here we are on Indigenous Peoples Day.”
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