WolfEyes
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- SL Rez
- 2004
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After calling for the disestablishment of a tribal reservation in eastern Oklahoma and criticizing the lingering impacts of the U.S. Supreme Court's McGirt decision, a candidate for the state's 2nd Congressional District is receiving pushback from tribal leaders.
John Bennett, 47, who is stepping away from his post as chairman of Oklahoma's Republican party to seek a seat in congress, said he believes the court's ruling continues to be an issue for law enforcement and needs to be reversed.
"Congress needs to go back, and they need to de-establish the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation. I say once they do that, then they can carry on as they have, you know, all of these years," Bennett told the Washington Examiner this week.
"So when I get to Congress, this will be one of my priorities, because it hurts everyone in my district, tribal and nontribal," said the former state representative from Vian.
The Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Tribes, which includes the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole and Muscogee Nations, said the anti-tribal rhetoric should not be welcome in Washington.
In a statement signed by each of the tribes' leaders, the group condemned Bennett's comments for ignoring ongoing efforts to expand criminal justice systems alongside state and federal partners.
They also say the call for a McGirt reversal is an attack on tribal sovereignty.
"Candidates who seek to restrict our rights and disestablish our reservations, after the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed twice that they have always existed, do not deserve to represent our state," read the letter.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. went on to say on Twitter that Bennett's, "anti-Indian views — calling for the destruction of our reservations — reflect a 19th century mindset."
A Supreme Court decision in 2020 confirmed that the Muscogee Nation reservation in eastern Oklahoma was never disestablished, leaving the federal government and tribes with jurisdiction over crimes involving Native Americans on the reservation.
The decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma was extended by the Court of Criminal Appeals last year to the other four members of the Five Tribes — the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole Nations — along with the Quapaw Nation.
More: Oklahoma tribes chastise Republican candidate over plan to disestablish reservation (msn.com)
