Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma


The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is a federally recognized Native American tribal nation with an Indian reservation encompassing portions of Southeastern Oklahoma in the United States.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is one of three federally recognized tribes of Choctaw people, an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. The other two are the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana. The U.S. federal government forcibly removed the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma from their Mississippi homelands in 1831 to 1833 to Indian Territory, later to become Oklahoma. A smaller group of Mississippi Choctaw were coerced to migrating to Oklahoma in 1908.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is the third-largest tribe in the United States with more than 225,000 tribal citizens. A total of 233,126 people live within these boundaries, with its tribal jurisdictional area comprising 10.5 counties in the state.
At roughly, the Choctaw Nation's reservation is the second-largest in area after the Navajo Nation, exceeding that of the seven smallest U.S. states. The reservation borders with the reservations of the Chickasaw Nation, Muscogee Nation, and Cherokee Nation, as well as the U.S. states of Texas and Arkansas. The original territory has expanded and shrunk several times since the 19th century, reaching its current boundaries in 1867. The seat of government is located in Durant, Oklahoma.

Terminology

In English, the official name for the reservation was “Choctaw Nation”, as outlined in Article III of the 1866 Reconstruction Treaty following the Civil War. During its time of sovereignty within the United States Indian Territory, it also utilized the title “Choctaw Republic”. Since 1971, it is officially referred to as the "Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma". The Choctaw Nation maintains a government-to-government relationship with both the United States federal government and State of Oklahoma.
Officially a domestic dependent nation since 1971, in July 2020 the Supreme Court ruled in McGirt v. Oklahoma that the eastern area of Oklahoma—about half of the modern state—never lost its status as a Native reservation. This includes the city of Tulsa. The area includes lands of the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Muscogee and Seminole. Among other effects, the decision potentially overturns convictions of over a thousand cases in the area involving tribal citizens convicted under state laws. The ruling is based on an 1832 treaty, which the court ruled was still in force, adding that, “Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word.” As such, the Choctaw Nation returned from a domestic dependent nation status to that of an Indian reservation.

Geography

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma's reservation covers, encompassing eight whole counties and parts of five counties in Southeastern Oklahoma:
The tribal headquarters are located in Durant, and house the office of the Chief. Opened in June 2018, the new headquarters is a 5-story, 500,000 square-foot building located on an 80-acre campus in south Durant. It is near other tribal buildings, such as the Regional Health Clinic, Wellness Center, Community Center, Child Development Center, and Food Distribution. Previously, headquarters was located in the former Oklahoma Presbyterian College, with more offices scattered around Durant. The chief of the Choctaw Nation is Gary Batton, who took office on April 29, 2014, after the retirement of Gregory E. Pyle. and the assistant chief is Jack Austin, Jr. The Tribal Council meets monthly at Tvshka Homma, across the street from the historic Choctaw Capitol Building, built in 1884 and since been adapted for use as the Choctaw Nation Museum.
The tribe is governed by the Choctaw Nation Constitution, which was ratified by the people on June 9, 1984. The constitution provides for an executive, a legislative and a judicial branch of government. The chief of the Choctaw Tribe, elected every four years, is not a voting member of the tribal council. These members are elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The legislative authority of the tribe is vested in the Tribal Council, which consists of twelve members.
Citizenship in the Choctaw Nation is outlined in Article II Section I of the constitution which states that citizenship is for "Choctaw Indians by blood whose names appear on the final rolls of the Choctaw Nation approved pursuant to Section 2 of the Act of April 26, 1906, and their lineal descendant." The constitution cannot be amended without a vote of tribal members and currently excludes Choctaw Freedmen. A constitutional amendment can be passed through "two methods: a proposal of Tribal Council requiring 8 affirmative votes and/or by a petition containing the entire text of the amendment and signed by no less than 30 percent of the total number of qualified voters voting in the last Chief's election." While the current Chief, Gary Batton, disagrees that denying citizenship to the Freedmen is a race issue, this ignores the historical racist legacy of the Dawes Rolls. Also, because the Nation, along with the other Five Civilized Tribes, supported the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War, they severed ties with the federal government, making the U.S. require these tribes to make new peace treaties, emancipate their slaves, and offer full citizenship. Numerous families had intermarried by that time or had other personal ties to the tribe as well, but the Choctaw Nation did not uphold the Treaty of 1866. Some like Chief Batton and Dr. Blue Clarke, a Muscogee Nation citizen and a professor of Indigenous Law at Oklahoma City University, claim it is an issue about tribal sovereignty, though it's only within the last 50 years that they have not been recognized as citizens. The "Freedmen were adopted in as part of the tribe in 1885" but in "1983, the Choctaw Nation added a 'by-blood' requirement into the constitution that excluded many." While tribal sovereignty at times seeks for the tribe to be treated like a country with similar rights, tribes have "treaty relationships with the United States, which makes that relationship part of the foundational fabric of the U.S. government" and the Five Tribes also made agreements with the government after losing in the Civil War when they sided with the Confederacy. For many Choctaw Freedmen, it is about getting the tribe to acknowledge its participation in chattel slavery through Native American slave ownership. The citizenship definition of many tribal nations runs counter to how other countries or nations define their citizenship, and most federally recognized tribes are subject to the U.S. Government's final acceptance.
In 2011, the tribe had 223,279 enrolled citizens, of whom 84,670 live within the state of Oklahoma and 41,616 live within the Choctaw Nation's jurisdiction.
The General Fund Operating Budget, the Health Systems Operating Budget, and the Capital Projects Budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2017, and ending September 30, 2018, was $516,318,568.
On September 9, 2023, the tribal council approved a comprehensive budget for fiscal year 2024 of $2.529 billion. The budgeted operating expense is $1.585 billion, budgeted maintenance capital is $36.5 million, and cost of goods sold being $495 million that totals a budgeted request of $2.116 billion, resulting in an anticipated net income of $412.7 million.
Politically, the Choctaw Nation is completely encompassed by Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district, represented by Republican and Choctaw citizen Josh Brecheen. With a majority of both Native American and white voters in the region leaning conservative, Republican Donald Trump carried every county in the Choctaw Nation in the 2024 election, as well as every county in the state of Oklahoma, continuing a trend seen in the 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 elections. The Choctaw Nation is located in one of the most conservative areas of Oklahoma, and while registered Democrats outnumber Republicans, the region has consistently gone to Republican candidates. The current head of the government, Chief Gary Batton, is a Republican.
The Choctaw Nation also has the right to appoint a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, per the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek; as of 2024 however, no delegate has been named or sent to the Congress by the Choctaw Nation.

Executive department

The supreme executive power of the Choctaw Nation is assigned to a chief magistrate, styled as the "Chief of the Choctaw Nation". The Assistant Chief is appointed by the Chief with the advice and consent of the Tribal Council, and can be removed at the discretion of the Chief. The current Chief of the Choctaw Nation is Gary Batton, and the current Assistant Chief is Jack Austin, Jr.
The chief's birthday is a tribal holiday.
In 2021, the tribal council instituted October 16 as Choctaw Flag Day, a holiday to celebrate the adoption of the Choctaw Nation Seal on October 16, 1860.

Governmental history

Before Oklahoma was admitted to the union as a state in 1907, the Choctaw Nation was divided into three districts: Apukshunnubbee, Moshulatubbee, and Pushmataha. Each district had its own chief from 1834 to 1857; afterward, the three districts were put under the jurisdiction of one chief. The three districts were re-established in 1860, again each with their own chief, with a fourth chief to be Principal Chief of the tribe. These districts were abolished at the time of statehood, as tribal government and land claims were dissolved in order for the territory to be admitted as a state. The tribe reorganized to re-establish its government and passed a constitution re-establishing the council in 1979. In the elections held that year, Harriet Wright O'Leary James became the first woman elected to serve on the nation's council.