The Supreme Court Upholds a Treaty with an American Indian Tribe

In an amazing 5-4 decision (Gorsuch + 4 dems vs the other 4 republicans), the court held that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation was still a reservation after Oklahoma became a state. The state of Oklahoma is in shock. The sky is falling for people in Oklahoma who wanted to blow off yet another treaty with native Americans. The lands included in the decision cover a huge swath of land, almost half of the entire state of Oklahoma, including much of Oklahoma’s second-biggest city Tulsa. The New York Times writes:

“The case was steeped in the United States government’s long history of brutal removals and broken treaties with Indigenous tribes, and grappled with whether lands of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation had remained a reservation after Oklahoma became a state. 

Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, a Westerner who has sided with tribes in previous cases and joined the court’s more liberal members, said that Congress had granted the Creek a reservation, and that the United States needed to abide by its promises. 

‘Today we are asked whether the land these treaties promised remains an Indian reservation for purposes of federal criminal law,’ Justice Gorsuch wrote. ‘Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word.’”

This is an amazing decision. The US government has been breaking Indian treaties for a long time, probably well over a century. The ‘sky is falling’ dissent by Roberts claimed that there would be great confusion in the Oklahoma’s criminal justice system. He also claimed that the decision has ‘profoundly destabilized’ state power in eastern Oklahoma. It is very likely that some past convictions (~200?) will be thrown out or need to be relitigated. But, that is the price to pay when the US violates its own written treaties.

The land at issue constitutes a huge swath of eastern Oklahoma. The NYT also commented that Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole Nations are working on an agreement to present to Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice to deal with the issues this decision raised. This is one of the most important decisions regarding American Indian rights and lands in decades, if not the last century. 

One of the objections that Oklahoma raised was one of ‘inconvenience’ to the state. Gorsuch swept that argument aside.

Geez, who would have thunk that the US was legally bound to adhere to its legally binding agreements? Maybe there is some faint hope for the rule of law after all. Maybe.

A 4:15 interview broadcast today on NPR about the decision is here: