Tribal chief: Castro-Huerta ruling is an alarming affront to our sovereignty, safety

As Indigenous people to this land, we have witnessed the U.S. Supreme Court stand as the backbone of American democracy against those who wish to undo the nation’s solemn promises to tribal nations. But over the course of history, we have also witnessed the court depart from the plain language in the nation’s Constitution. We have watched the court pick flawed policy perspectives over precedent.

More: Oklahoma reclaims some criminal jurisdiction on reservations

Two years ago, in the McGirt v. Oklahoma case decision, the court upheld the promise the United States made to our nation, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, in concluding that our reservation and our inherent sovereignty remains intact.  This week, this same court abandoned its own precedent and the Constitution’s command that treaties remain the supreme law of the land to conclude that Oklahoma has jurisdiction on tribal lands when Natives are victims of crimes committed by non-Native Americans. Simply, that is an alarming affront to our sovereignty, the safety of Native people and the U.S. Constitution.

In the last two years, the state of Oklahoma has waged a war against the court’s decision in McGirt. Instead of cooperating with tribal nations to implement the court’s decision, Gov. Kevin Stitt has dedicated millions of dollars and untold resources to actively fight it — and encourage others to do the same. Oklahoma’s primary concern has not been the safety of Native people. Oklahoma has been exclusively focused on undermining the tribal sovereignty that the Supreme Court not only affirmed in McGirt, but also let stand earlier this year without the reconsideration that the state sought.

Nothing in the U.S. Constitution provides the court with any authority to give states jurisdiction over tribal lands. Quite the opposite, as Justice Neil Gorsuch notes in his dissent, the drafters of the Constitution specifically took that power away from states, who had this power under the Articles of Confederation. They granted that power exclusively to Congress — to protect and preserve the sovereign-to-sovereign relationship between tribal nations and the United States. The court’s decision to grant states jurisdiction over tribal lands is unfounded and comes with significant consequences.

More:Supreme Court sides with Oklahoma in battle over crimes on Native American territory

This is not the first time a state has sought to exercise jurisdiction over our lands and our people. We have been here before. And we have always been told it is for our benefit. When Alabama sought to remove us from our homelands, we were told it was for our “safety”— given the conflicts our newly arrived non-Native neighbors had with us over our lands and our way of life.

Today, Oklahoma has told us, and the court, that Oklahoma needs jurisdiction over crimes committed by non-Natives against our citizens on our lands because, if Oklahoma does not have this jurisdiction, Native people will not be safe. That is a harmful falsehood on par with those our people have heard now for generations.

McGirt ruling:Oklahoma reclaims some criminal jurisdiction on reservations after Supreme Court decision

Truly, the best path forward for protecting Native children in Native homes is ensuring their tribal nations have jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed against them — regardless of who commits them. Native children face the highest rates of violence in the United States precisely because the Supreme Court took that jurisdiction away from tribal nations in 1978. The solution is not giving it to the states. The solution is restoring jurisdiction to the sovereign with the greatest interest in protecting Native people: tribal nations.

We look forward to collaborating with members of Congress and the federal government to identify all options available to empower tribal nations to ensure the safety and prosperity of all who reside, work or visit our reservation. This is a pivotal moment for all tribal nations.

David Hill is principal Chief of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Del Beaver is second chief, and Geri Wisner is the nation's attorney general.