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- By Neely Bardwell
On this week’s Special Edition of Native Bidaské, Native News Online editor and publisher Levi Rickert and contributor Darren Thompson spoke with Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation Chuck Hoskin Jr. about the release of the Oklahoma v. Castro-HuertaOklahoma v. Castro-Huerta Supreme Court decision.
In this case, Oklahoma asked the Supreme Court to return some criminal jurisdiction to the state after the 2020 McGirt majority decision determined much of the eastern part of Oklahoma is still Indian land.
Chief Hoskin spoke about the repercussions of this decision on the sovereignty of Native nations.
“It's not a good decision. Look at the dissent. The dissent talks about the fact that in the 19th century during the Samuel Worcester case, a famous case involving a non-Indian in Cherokee land that was imprisoned by the state of Georgia, and went to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court said that the state of Georgia law had no effect on him and shouldn't have applied. The dissent said that the court stood strong at that time and today the court did wilt,” Hoskin says. “It really upends a great deal of precedent.”
He reassures Indian Country that, as of now, McGirt is still intact, although there are some who expect an attack again soon.
Watch the full recording of the Special Edition Bidaské below.
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