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117-647: Although politically the UKB is not associated with the Trail of Tears, many of the members have direct ancestors who completed the journey in 1838-39. Today the UKB has over 14,300 members, with 13,300 living within the state of Oklahoma . Joe Bunch is the current Chief. Assistant Chief is Jeff Wacoche. Joyce Fourkiller-Hawk serves as the tribal Secretary and Sonja Ummerteskee Gourd is the tribe's Treasurer. Tribal officers hold four-year terms while tribal council members are elected to two-year terms. The election calendars parallel

234-672: A U.S. Supreme Court review. But, as DOI was implementing new regulations related to land trusts, the agency asked the Court to remand the case to the lower court for reconsideration with the decision based on the new regulations. The U.S. Supreme Court granted the DOI's petition, vacated the lower court's ruling, and remanded the case back to the lower court. Justices Antonin Scalia, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Clarence Thomas dissented, stating that "[t]he decision today—to grant, vacate, and remand in light of

351-850: A description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831, although the term is usually used for the Cherokee removal. Seventeen thousand Cherokees and 2,000 of their black slaves were deported. The area, already occupied by Osage and Quapaw tribes, was called for the Choctaw Nation until revised Native American and then later American policy redefined the boundaries to include other Native Americans. By 1890, more than 30 Native American nations and tribes had been concentrated on land within Indian Territory or "Indian Country". All Five Civilized Tribes signed treaties with

468-474: A focal point for the emerging oil industry , as discoveries of oil pools prompted towns to grow rapidly in population and wealth. Tulsa eventually became known as the " Oil Capital of the World " for most of the 20th century and oil investments fueled much of the state's early economy. In 1927, Oklahoman businessman Cyrus Avery , known as the "Father of Route 66", began the campaign to create U.S. Route 66 . Using

585-520: A marked decrease in rainfall during June and early July. Mid-summer (July and August) represents a secondary dry season over much of Oklahoma, with long stretches of hot weather with only sporadic thunderstorm activity not uncommon many years. Severe drought is common in the hottest summers, such as those of 1934, 1954, 1980 and 2011, all of which featured weeks on end of virtual rainlessness and highs well over 100 °F (38 °C). Average precipitation rises again from September to mid-October, representing

702-481: A precise times as each prospective settler literally raced with other prospective settlers to claim ownership of 160 acres (65 ha) of land under the Homestead Act of 1862 . Usually land was claimed by settlers on a first come, first served basis. Those who broke the rules by crossing the border into the territory before the official opening time were said to have been crossing the border sooner , leading to

819-659: A requirement that the Interior Department manage Indian forest resources "on the principle of sustained-yield management." Representative Edgar Howard of Nebraska, co-sponsor of the Act and Chairman of the House Committee on Indian Affairs, explained that the purpose of the provision was "to assure a proper and permanent management of the Indian Forest" under modern sustained-yield methods to "assure that

936-463: A revenue source, the U.S. Supreme Court has been repeatedly asked to address the IRA's constitutionality. A controversial provision of the Act allows the U.S. government to acquire non-Indian land (by voluntary transfer) and convert it to Indian land ("take it into trust"). In doing so, the U.S. government partially removes the land from the state's jurisdiction, allowing activities like casino gambling on

1053-405: A secondary wetter season, then declines from late October through December. The entire state frequently experiences temperatures above 100 °F (38 °C) or below 0 °F (−18 °C), though below-zero temperatures are rare in south-central and southeastern Oklahoma. Snowfall ranges from an average of less than 4 in (102 mm) in the south to just over 20 in (508 mm) on

1170-631: A share of the proceeds under HR-3534, a bill that required the United States to compensate the Cherokee Nation and two other Oklahoma tribes for claims to the disclaimed drybed lands of the Arkansas River . The legislation set aside ten percent of each tribe's share of the settlement for other claimant tribes; it afforded other claimant tribes an opportunity to file claims within 180 days of the legislation. The UKB filed suit against

1287-507: A statute authorizing the people of the Oklahoma and Indian Territories (as well what would become the states of Arizona and New Mexico ) to form a constitution and state government in order to be admitted as a state. On November 16, 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt issued Presidential Proclamation no. 780 , establishing Oklahoma as the 46th state in the Union. The new state became

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1404-465: A stretch of highway from Amarillo, Texas to Tulsa, Oklahoma to form the original portion of Highway 66, Avery spearheaded the creation of the U.S. Highway 66 Association to oversee the planning of Route 66, based in his hometown of Tulsa. In late September 1918, the first cases of the Spanish flu appeared in Oklahoma. Though public health authorities statewide had some indication that the pandemic

1521-644: A thriving area. Social tensions were exacerbated by the revival of the Ku Klux Klan after 1915. The Tulsa race massacre broke out in 1921, with White mobs attacking Black people and carrying out a pogrom in Greenwood. In one of the costliest episodes of racist violence in American history , sixteen hours of rioting resulted in the destruction of 35 city blocks, $ 1.8 million in property damage, and an estimated death toll of between 75 and 300 people. By

1638-551: A tribe unless a clear majority of the eligible Indians voted it down. At the time the Act passed, it was United States policy to eliminate Indian reservations, dividing the communal territory and allotting 160-acre plots to individual heads of households, to be owned in severalty. Before allotment, reservation territory was not owned in the usual European-American sense, but was reserved for the benefit of entire Indian tribes. The communal benefits were apportioned to tribe members according to tribal law and custom. Generally, Indians held

1755-594: A year in the late 1920s, dropping to an all-time low of $ 23 million in 1933, and reaching $ 38 million in 1940. The IRA was the most significant initiative of John Collier , who was President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) from 1933 to 1945. He had long studied Indian issues and worked for change since the 1920s, particularly with the American Indian Defense Association . He intended to reverse

1872-657: Is Oklahoma City . The state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla , 'people' and humma , which translates as 'red'. Oklahoma is also known informally by its nickname , "The Sooner State", in reference to the Sooners , American settlers who staked their claims in formerly American Indian-owned lands until the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889 authorized the Land Rush of 1889 opening

1989-569: Is $ 267 million. They host an annual homecoming festival over the first weekend of October. The word Keetoowah ( Kituwa ) is the name of an ancient Cherokee mother town and earthwork mound in the eastern homeland of the Cherokees. Kituwah also is considered by Cherokees to be their original name. The UKB's original land claims include all or parts of Alabama, the Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Following

2106-641: Is a state in the South Central region of the United States . It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northeast, Arkansas to the east, New Mexico to the west, and Colorado to the northwest. Partially in the western extreme of the Upland South , it is the 20th-most extensive and the 28th-most populous of the 50 United States. Its residents are known as Oklahomans and its capital and largest city

2223-462: Is also responsible for many of the tornadoes in the area, such as the 1912 Oklahoma tornado outbreak when a warm front traveled along a stalled cold front, resulting in an average of about one tornado per hour. The humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa ) of central, southern, and eastern Oklahoma is influenced heavily by southerly winds bringing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico . Traveling westward,

2340-569: Is assumed that around 7,500 proved fatal, placing total mortality rates for the state in the area of 7.5%. Oklahoma also has a rich African-American history . Many Black towns, founded by the Freedmen of the Five Tribes during Reconstruction, thrived in the early 20th century with the arrival of Black Exodusters who migrated from neighboring states, especially Kansas. The politician Edward P. McCabe encouraged Black settlers to come to what

2457-776: Is divided between Missouri and Arkansas. The Missouri-Oklahoma border is defined as the Meridian passing through the Kawsmouth, where the Kansas River meets the Missouri River. This is the same Meridian as the Kansas-Missouri border. The Oklahoma-Arkansas border was originally defined by two lines: the borders between Arkansas and the Cherokee and Choctaw Reservations. This formed two diagonal lines meeting at

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2574-538: Is serving life in prison without parole for helping plan the attack and prepare the explosive. On May 31, 2016, several cities experienced record setting flooding . On July 9, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States determined in McGirt v. Oklahoma that the reservations of the Five Tribes, comprising much of Eastern Oklahoma, were never disestablished by Congress and thus are still "Indian Country" for

2691-665: Is the oldest and largest of nine National Wildlife Refuges in the state and was founded in 1901, encompassing 59,020 acres (238.8 km ). Of Oklahoma's federally protected parks or recreational sites, the Chickasaw National Recreation Area is the largest, with 9,898.63 acres (40.0583 km ). Other sites include the Santa Fe and Trail of Tears national historic trails, the Fort Smith and Washita Battlefield national historic sites, and

2808-555: The American alligator . Oklahoma has fifty-one state parks , six national parks or protected regions, two national protected forests or grasslands , and a network of wildlife preserves and conservation areas. Six percent of the state's 10 million acres (40,000 km ) of forest is public land, including the western portions of the Ouachita National Forest , the largest and oldest national forest in

2925-545: The Cherokee language . As of 2018, only 101 people in the UKB were counted as being fluent, with most speakers either in the grandparent generation or older. In 2019, the Tri-Council of Cherokee tribes declared a state of emergency for the language due to the threat of it going extinct, and called for the enhancement of revitalization programs. After the federal dissolution of the Old Cherokee Nation under

3042-436: The Choctaw language phrase okla , 'people', and humma , translated as 'red'. Choctaw Nation Chief Allen Wright suggested the name in 1866 during treaty negotiations with the federal US government on the use of Indian Territory . He envisioned an all exclusive American Indian state controlled by the United States bureau of Indian Affairs . Oklahoma later became the de facto name for Oklahoma Territory , and it

3159-564: The Great Plains near the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states . It is bordered on the east by Arkansas and Missouri , on the north by Kansas , on the northwest by Colorado , on the far west by New Mexico , and on the south and near-west by Texas . Oklahoma's border with Kansas was defined as the 37th Parallel in the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act . This was disputed with the Cherokee and Osage Nations, which claimed their border extended North of this line and could not be part of

3276-692: The Indian Reorganization Act (1934). The state legislature passed the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act (OIWA, 1936); both were considered part of the Indian New Deal to support tribes' reorganizing their governments. Cherokees began to organize on their own terms. In the meantime, the President of the United States officially appointed Principal Chiefs for the Cherokees; these appointments were made through

3393-808: The Kansas Territory . This was resolved in 1870 with the Drum Creek Treaty , which reestablished Kansas's southern border as the 37th parallel. This also applied to the then No-Man's Land that became the Oklahoma Panhandle . The Oklahoma-Texas border consists of the Red River of the South in the south and the 100th meridian west as the western border between Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. These were first established in

3510-674: The Lower Brule Indian Reservation ) in South Dakota v. United States Dep't of the Interior , 69 F.3d 878, 881-85 (8th Cir. 1995). The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals found Section 5 of the IRA to be unconstitutional, ruling that it violated the nondelegation doctrine and that the Secretary of Interior did not have the authority to take the land into trust. The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) sought

3627-612: The Navajo , the largest tribe, as well as the Seneca people , Iroquois , and many others. Anthropologists criticized him for not recognizing the diversity of Native American lifestyles. Hauptman argues that his emphasis on Northern Pueblo arts and crafts and the uniformity of his approach to all tribes are partly explained by his belief that his tenure as Commissioner would be short, meaning that packaging large, lengthy legislative reforms seemed politically necessary. The Reorganization Act

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3744-489: The Oklahoma City National Memorial . Oklahoma is in a humid subtropical region that lies in a transition zone between semiarid further to the west, humid continental to the north, and humid subtropical to the east and southeast. Most of the state lies in an area known as Tornado Alley characterized by frequent interaction between cold, dry air from Canada, warm to hot, dry air from Mexico and

3861-498: The Oneida Indian Nation in present-day New York , Upstate Citizens for Equality (UCE), New York, Oneida County , Madison County , the town of Verona , the town of Vernon , and others argued that the IRA is unconstitutional. Judge Kahn dismissed UCE's complaint, including the failed theory that the IRA is unconstitutional, on the basis of longstanding and settled law on this issue. The U.S. Court of Appeals for

3978-969: The Ouachita Mountains , the Arbuckle Mountains , the Wichita Mountains , and the Ozark Mountains . Contained within the U.S. Interior Highlands region, the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains are the only major mountainous region between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians . A portion of the Flint Hills stretches into north-central Oklahoma, and near the state's eastern border, The Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department regards Cavanal Hill as

4095-714: The Southern United States . With 39,000 acres (160 km ), the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in north-central Oklahoma is the largest protected area of tallgrass prairie in the world and is part of an ecosystem that encompasses only ten percent of its former land area, once covering fourteen states. In addition, the Black Kettle National Grassland covers 31,300 acres (127 km ) of prairie in southwestern Oklahoma. The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

4212-656: The University of Colorado , had long claimed to be of Cherokee descent and made his reputation on promoting Native American issues and an activist Native American view. He was revealed to have no such ancestry. Then he claimed to be an honorary associate member in the UKB, but the tribe has rejected this claim as fraudulent. In the late 20th century, several tribes began to develop gaming facilities on their own sovereign or trust lands, and in consultation with affected states. Such enterprises have raised revenues often used for development and welfare. The State of Oklahoma has sued

4329-522: The Wheeler–Howard Act , was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States . It was the centerpiece of what has been often called the " Indian New Deal ". The Act also restored to Indians the management of their assets—land and mineral rights —and included provisions intended to create a sound economic foundation for the residents of Indian reservations . Total U.S. spending on Indians averaged $ 38 million

4446-399: The Wichita Mountains dot southwestern Oklahoma ; transitional prairie and oak savannas cover the central portion of the state. The Ozark and Ouachita Mountains rise from west to east over the state's eastern third, gradually increasing in elevation in an eastward direction. More than 500 named creeks and rivers make up Oklahoma's waterways, and with 200 lakes created by dams, it holds

4563-512: The fifty largest cities in the United States are in Oklahoma, Oklahoma City and Tulsa , and sixty-five percent of Oklahomans live within their metropolitan areas, or spheres of economic and social influence defined by the United States Census Bureau as a metropolitan statistical area . Oklahoma City, the state's capital and largest city, had the largest metropolitan area in the state in 2020, with 1,425,695 people, and

4680-606: The metropolitan area of Tulsa had 1,015,331 residents. Between 2000 and 2010, the leading cities in population growth were Blanchard (172.4%), Elgin (78.2%), Jenks (77.0%), Piedmont (56.7%), Bixby (56.6%), and Owasso (56.3%). In descending order of population, Oklahoma's largest cities in 2010 were: Oklahoma City (579,999, +14.6%), Tulsa (391,906, −0.3%), Norman (110,925, +15.9%), Broken Arrow (98,850, +32.0%), Lawton (96,867, +4.4%), Edmond (81,405, +19.2%), Moore (55,081, +33.9%), Midwest City (54,371, +0.5%), Enid (49,379, +5.0%), and Stillwater (45,688, +17.0%). Of

4797-470: The (higher-elevation) panhandle average 58 °F (14 °C), with annual rainfall under 17 in (430 mm). Over almost all of Oklahoma, winter is the driest season. Average monthly precipitation increases dramatically in the spring to a peak in May, the wettest month over most of the state, with its frequent and not uncommonly severe thunderstorm activity. Early June can still be wet, but most years see

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4914-632: The 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty between the United States and Spain. The Oklahoma panhandle was originally part of the Panhandle of the Republic of Texas, but when Texas joined the Union as a slave state, it could not retain any lands north of 36 degrees 30 minutes, as specified in the Missouri Compromise . The Panhandle existed as a no-man's land until 1907 when Oklahoma acquired the territory upon gaining statehood. Oklahoma's Eastern border

5031-538: The 1898 Curtis Act , the Dawes Act and the 1906 Five Civilized Tribes Act . Under this legislation, they broke up communal tribal holdings and allotted plots of land to individual households, intended to be developed according to the European-American model of subsistence farming. The Dawes Commission was tasked to extinguish Native American land claims and break up tribal governments by allotting what

5148-645: The Arkansas River and the Poteau River. This became the site of a smuggling camp called "Coke Hill", noted mostly for its importance in cocaine smuggling. After Petitioning congress to hand over jurisdiction, the 57 acres was given to Arkansas in 1905. The 1985 US Supreme Court Case Oklahoma v. Arkansas decided the land would remain Arkansas, even though the Choctaw had not been notified or asked about

5265-483: The Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Felix S. Cohen . Writer D'Arcy McNickle argued that the Cherokee Nation no longer existed in any form except to sign over Indian lands. He suggested that the UKB be granted federal acknowledgment based on its authenticity and connection to the traditional ways, including maintenance of the language and ceremonies. After 1947, the UKB was the federally recognized organization by which all

5382-596: The CNO had many more members and asserted political power in the region. The CNO evicted the UKB from the offices at the tribal complex in Tahlequah, which had originally been acquired through the United Keetoowah Band's government-to-government relationship with the United States . The CNO administrations of Wilma Mankiller and Chad "Corntassel" Smith have had many conflicts with UKB leadership. Smith

5499-428: The Cherokee Nation's request for dismissal. The Court of Federal Claims heard the appeal on November 8, 2006. In June 2004, the UKB requested that the BIA take into trust land which the tribe owned on a fee basis, a 76-acre (31 ha) Community Services Parcel. The case has been studied and the request was originally denied, but the UKB appealed. In May 2011, the BIA finally announced its decision to take into trust for

5616-432: The Cherokee people received federal assistance and were dealt with on federal programs. The UKB was able to secure federal funds for the Cherokee Nation Complex, which today houses the government of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (CNO), also federally recognized in the late 20th century. The UKB also started the Cherokee National Holiday, in conjunction with the Principal Chief's office. The Cherokee Nation Housing Authority

5733-528: The Confederate military during the American Civil War . The Cherokee Nation had an internal civil war. Slavery in Indian Territory was not abolished until 1866. In the period between 1866 and 1899, cattle ranches in Texas strove to meet the demands for food in eastern cities and railroads in Kansas promised to deliver in a timely manner. Cattle trails and cattle ranches developed as cowboys either drove their product north or settled illegally in Indian Territory. In 1881, four of five major cattle trails on

5850-439: The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote a dissent stating that she would have struck down key provisions of the IRA. Of the three circuit courts to address the IRA's constitutionality, Judge Brown is the only judge to dissent on the IRA's constitutionality. The majority opinion upheld its constitutionality. The U.S. Supreme Court did not accept the MichGO case for review, thus keeping the previous precedent in place. Additionally,

5967-411: The Dawes Commission and allotments, Native American land claims in Indian Territory were extinguished and Oklahoma was admitted as a state. Indians listed on the Dawes Commission rolls and other rolls were effectively left without political representation. In the late 1940s, the United Keetoowah Band's claim to recognition as a tribe was probed according to criteria influenced by John Collier , who led

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6084-415: The Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs . The UKB ratified their constitution and by-laws on October 3, 1950. The tribe was federally recognized in 1950 under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act. Early elected leaders of the UKB were Levi Gritts, followed by John Hitcher, and the Reverend Jim Pickup, who served in the post- World War II era. The UKB have struggled to maintain use and education in

6201-410: The First, Eighth, and Tenth Circuits of the U.S. Court of Appeals have upheld the constitutionality of the IRA. In 2008, Carcieri v Kempthorne was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court; the Court ruled on it in 2009, with the decision called Carcieri v. Salazar . In 1991, the Narragansett Indian tribe bought 31 acres (130,000 m ) of land. They requested that the DOI take it into trust, which

6318-415: The Government's changed position—is both unprecedented and inexplicable." They went on, "[W]hat makes today's action inexplicable as well as unprecedented is the fact that the Government's change of legal position does not even purport to be applicable to the present case." Seven months after the Supreme Court's decision to grant, vacate, and remand, the DOI removed the land in question from trust. In 1997,

6435-451: The Indian New Deal was unable to stimulate economic progress, nor did it provide a usable structure for Indian politics. Philp argues these failures gave ammunition to the return to the previous policy of termination that took place after Collier resigned in 1945. In surveying the scholarly literature, E. A. Schwartz concludes that there is: Collier's reputation among the Indians was mixed—praised by some, vilified by others. He antagonized

6552-407: The Indian forests will be permanently productive and will yield continuous revenues to the tribes." The act slowed the practice of allotting communal tribal lands to individual tribal members. It did not restore to Indians land that had already been patented to individuals. However, much land at that time was still unallotted or allotted to an individual but still held in trust for that individual by

6669-407: The Lower Brulé Sioux submitted an amended trust application to the DOI, requesting that the United States take the 91 acres (370,000 m ) of land into trust on the Tribe's behalf. South Dakota challenged this in 2004 in district court, which upheld DOI's authority to take the land in trust. The state appealed to the Eighth Circuit, but when the court reexamined the constitutionality issue, it upheld

6786-706: The Mississippi River, a route for cattle drives from Texas and related regions, and a destination for Southern settlers. There are currently 26 Indigenous languages spoken in Oklahoma . According to the 2020 U.S. census, 14.2 percent of Oklahomans identify as American Indians , the highest indigenous population by percentage in any state. A major producer of natural gas, oil, and agricultural products, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's primary economic anchors, with nearly two-thirds of Oklahomans living within their metropolitan statistical areas . The name Oklahoma comes from

6903-438: The Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal. Section 18 of the IRA required that members of the affected Indian nation or tribe vote on whether to accept it within one year of the effective date of the act (25 U.S.C. 478) and had to approve it by a majority. There was confusion about who should be allowed to vote on creating new governments, as many non-Indians lived on reservations and many Indians owned no land there, and also over

7020-509: The Southwestern U.S., and warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. The interactions between these three contrasting air currents produces severe weather (severe thunderstorms, damaging thunderstorm winds, large hail and tornadoes) with a frequency virtually unseen anywhere else on planet Earth. An average 62 tornadoes strike the state per year—one of the highest rates in the world. Because of Oklahoma's position between zones of differing prevailing temperature and winds, weather patterns within

7137-417: The State of Oklahoma lawsuit pertaining to the UKB's alleged illegal casino operations for a casino that the tribe has been operating for approximately 19 years, the UKB was accused of attempting to sue the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Nation said the UKB had sued to demand cession of tribal land allotments to them in order to build casinos. These lawsuits were dismissed. The UKB has sued the United States for

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7254-438: The U.S. In 1995, Oklahoma City was the site of the most destructive act of domestic terrorism in American history. The Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995, in which Timothy McVeigh detonated a large, crude explosive device outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building , killed 168 people, including 19 children. For his crime, McVeigh was executed by the federal government on June 11, 2001. His accomplice, Terry Nichols ,

7371-491: The U.S. government. Because the Act did not disturb existing private ownership of Indian reservation lands, it left reservations as a checkerboard of tribal or individual trust and fee land, which remains the case today. However, the Act also allowed the U.S. to purchase some of the fee land and restore it to tribal trust status. Due to the Act and other federal courts and government actions, more than two million acres (8,000 km ) of land were returned to various tribes in

7488-455: The UKB 76 acres (31 ha) of land in Tahlequah. This land includes several of its community centers and the sacred dance ground. The tribe will no longer be landless. In April, 2019, the tribe chartered Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma as its tribal college . Oklahoma Oklahoma ( / ˌ oʊ k l ə ˈ h oʊ m ə / OHK -lə- HOH -mə ; Choctaw : Oklahumma , pronounced [oklahómma] )

7605-404: The UKB in federal court for operating what it describes as illegal gaming facilities, as they are not on Bureau of Indian Affairs -approved tribal trust lands. According to briefs submitted by the Cherokee Nation, the UKB own no tribal lands in federal trust. The lawsuit is pending in the federal courts in Oklahoma. It has been remanded to the National Indian Gaming Commission for review. During

7722-413: The US government re-appointed Rogers and directed him to manage land sales. He held office until 1914. After that the US government did not appoint a chief and the position was dormant. Prior to World War II, the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt worked to strengthen Native American tribes by encouraging them to reconstitute their governments and adopt an electoral process. Congress passed

7839-476: The United States and ending their recognized relationships with the federal government. This also ended the eligibility of the tribal nations and their members for various government programs to assist American Indians. Of the "Dismantled Tribes" 46 regained their legal status as indigenous communities. Since the late 20th century and the rise of Indian activism over sovereignty issues, as well as many tribes' establishment of casino gambling on reservations as

7956-709: The United States government from the Southeast to Indian Territory in what became known as the 1838 Trail of Tears . By the 1880s, all Cherokee people faced increased pressure by the US government for assimilation. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Cherokees and other Native American children were sent to Indian boarding schools away from home for their education: they were expected to speak only English, were generally prohibited from speaking their own languages, and were expected to adopt Christianity rather than practice native spirituality. The US federal government unilaterally closed and seized Cherokee and other Native American governmental and public institutions through

8073-399: The United States in the Court of Claims. The Cherokee Nation moved to intervene and to dismiss the UKB suit. It contended that the Cherokee Nation is an indispensable party and that it cannot be joined in the litigation because of its sovereign immunity. The Court of Claims granted both of the Cherokee Nation's motions. On April 14, 2006, on appeal, the United States sided with the UKB against

8190-446: The United States' national election calendar (Mid-terms and Presidential). The tribe owns and operates Keetoowah Construction in Tahlequah, and the Keetoowah Cherokee Treatment Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma . They have an arts and crafts gallery, showcasing members' work. They owned and operated the Keetoowah Cherokee Casino in Tahlequah from 1986 to 2013. The UKB issue their own tribal vehicle tags . Their estimated annual economic impact

8307-432: The acts was the forced assimilation of Indians into white society. Land not allotted to individual Indians was owned by the U.S. government and sold or distributed to settlers and railroads. The proceeds of the land sales were used to educate Indian children and advance the policy of assimilation. As a result of the two acts about one-half of land previously owned by Indian tribes was owned by whites by 1900. Moreover, much of

8424-518: The agency did in 1998, thus exempting it from many state laws. The State was concerned that the tribe would open a casino or tax-free business on the land and sued to block the transfer. The state argued that the IRA did not apply because the Narragansett was not "now under federal jurisdiction" as of 1934, as distinguished from "federally recognized." In fact, the Narragansett had been placed under Rhode Island guardianship since 1709. In 1880,

8541-487: The assimilationist policies that had resulted in considerable damage to American Indian cultures and to provide a means for American Indians to re-establish sovereignty and self-government, reduce the losses of reservation lands, and build economic self-sufficiency. He believed that Indian traditional culture was superior to that of modern America and thought it worthy of emulation. His proposals were considered highly controversial, as numerous powerful interests had profited from

8658-855: The border of Colorado in the panhandle. The state is home to the Storm Prediction Center , the National Severe Storms Laboratory , the Warning Decision Training Division , and the Radar Operations Center , all part of the National Weather Service and in Norman . Oklahoma had 598 incorporated places in 2010, including four cities over 100,000 in population and 43 over 10,000. Two of

8775-492: The climate transitions progressively toward a semiarid zone (Köppen BSk ) in the high plains of the Panhandle and other western areas from about Lawton westward, less frequently touched by southern moisture. Precipitation and temperatures decline from east to west accordingly, with areas in the southeast averaging an annual temperature of 62 °F (17 °C) and an annual rainfall of generally over 40 in (1,020 mm) and up to 56 in (1,420 mm), while areas of

8892-573: The constitutionality of Section 5 in agreement with the lower court. The U.S. Supreme Court denied the State's petition for certiorari . Since then, district and circuit courts have rejected claims of non-delegation by states. The Supreme Court refused to hear the issue in 2008. In 2008 (before the U.S. Supreme Court heard the Carcieri case below), in MichGO v Kempthorne , Judge Janice Rogers Brown of

9009-474: The effect of abstentions. Under the voting rules, abstentions were counted as yes votes, but in Oglala Lakota culture, for example, abstention had traditionally equaled a no vote. The resulting confusion caused disputes on many reservations about the results. When the final results were in, 172 tribes had accepted the act, and 75 had rejected it. The largest tribe, the Navajo , had been badly hurt by

9126-569: The federal Navajo Livestock Reduction Program, which took away half their livestock and jailed dissenters. They strongly opposed the act, the chief promoter John Collier, and the entire Indian New Deal. Historian Brian Dippie notes that the Indian Rights Association denounced Collier as a "dictator" and accused him of a "near reign of terror" on the Navajo reservation. Dippie adds, "[h]e became an object of 'burning hatred' among

9243-523: The first 20 years after passage. In 1954, the United States Department of the Interior (DOI) began implementing the termination and relocation phases of the Act, which had been added by Congress. These provisions resulted from the continuing interest of some members of Congress in having American Indians assimilate into the majority society. Among other effects, termination resulted in the legal dismantling of 61 tribal nations within

9360-515: The full support of his boss, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes , who was also an expert on Indian issues. The federal government held land in trust for many tribes. Numerous claims cases had been presented to Congress because of failures in the government's management of such lands. There were particular grievances and claims due to the government's failure to provide for sustainable forestry. The Indian Claims Act of 1946 included

9477-700: The government of the Cherokee Nation was dissolved in 1906, in spite of the resistance of many of its members. The only remnant left was the office of the Principal Chief, held by William Charles Rogers . He had been deposed in 1905 by the National Council for cooperating in the tribe's dissolution. He was replaced with Frank J. Boudinot (who was also the leader of the Keetoowah Nighthawk Society ). The next year,

9594-415: The land allotted to individual Indian heads of families became white-owned. Allottees often sold or were fraudulently deprived of their land. The acquisition of tribal lands by the U.S. government led to land runs , also called "land rushes," from 1887 and 1895. Major land runs, including the Land Rush of 1889 , opened up millions of acres of formerly tribal lands to white settlement. The "rushes" began at

9711-557: The land for the first time. It also exempts the land from state property and other state taxes. Consequently, many state or local governments opposed the IRA and filed lawsuits challenging its constitutionality. In 1995, South Dakota challenged the authority of the Interior Secretary , under the IRA, to take 91 acres (370,000 m ) of land into trust on behalf of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe (based on

9828-553: The land in a communal fashion. Non-Indians were not allowed to own land on reservations, which limited the dollar value of the land since there was a smaller market capable of buying it. The process of allotment started with the General Allotment Act of 1887. By 1934, two-thirds of Indian land had converted to traditional private ownership (i.e., it was owned in fee simple ). Most of that had been sold by Indian allottees, often because they could not pay local taxes on

9945-404: The land to settlement. With ancient mountain ranges, prairie, mesas , and eastern forests, most of Oklahoma lies in the Great Plains , Cross Timbers , and the U.S. Interior Highlands , all regions prone to severe weather. Oklahoma is at a confluence of three major American cultural regions . Historically, it served as a government-sanctioned territory for American Indians moved from east of

10062-594: The lands they were newly responsible for. The IRA provided a mechanism for the recovery of land that had been previously sold, including land that had been sold to tribal Indians. They would lose individual property under the law. John Collier was appointed Commissioner of the Indian Bureau (it is now called the Bureau of Indian Affairs , BIA) in April 1933 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt . He had

10179-661: The late 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan had declined to negligible influence within the state. During the 1930s, parts of the state began to suffer from the consequences of poor farming practices. This period was known as the Dust Bowl , throughout which areas of Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, and northwestern Oklahoma were hampered by long periods of little rainfall, strong winds, abnormally high temperatures, and most notably, severe dust storms sending thousands of farmers into poverty and forcing them to relocate to more fertile areas of

10296-480: The low wetlands of its southeastern boundary. Its highest and lowest points follow this trend, with its highest peak, Black Mesa , at 4,973 feet (1,516 m) above sea level, situated near its far northwest corner in the Oklahoma Panhandle . The state's lowest point is on the Little River near its far southeastern boundary near the town of Idabel , which dips to 289 feet (88 m) above sea level. Among

10413-515: The most geographically diverse states, Oklahoma is one of four to harbor more than 10 distinct ecological regions , with 11 in its borders—more per square mile than in any other state. Its western and eastern halves, however, are marked by extreme differences in geographical diversity: Eastern Oklahoma touches eight ecological regions and its western half contains three. Although having fewer ecological regions Western Oklahoma contains many rare, relic species. Oklahoma has four primary mountain ranges:

10530-623: The nation's highest number of artificial reservoirs. Most of the state lies in two primary drainage basins belonging to the Red and Arkansas Rivers, though the Lee and Little Rivers also contain significant drainage basins. Due to Oklahoma's location at the confluence of many geographic regions, the state's climatic regions have a high rate of biodiversity. Forests cover 24 percent of Oklahoma and prairie grasslands composed of shortgrass, mixed-grass, and tallgrass prairie , harbor expansive ecosystems in

10647-492: The nation's largest prairie dog towns inhabit shortgrass prairie in the state's panhandle. The Cross Timbers , a region transitioning from prairie to woodlands in Central Oklahoma, harbors 351 vertebrate species . The Ouachita Mountains are home to black bear , red fox , gray fox , and river otter populations, which coexist with 328 vertebrate species in southeastern Oklahoma. Also in southeastern Oklahoma lives

10764-430: The nation. This continued an older practice of Keetoowah adoption or naturalization of captives and friends dating to the 19th century. Former President Bill Clinton is a notable associate member. Given the problems in the 21st century of persons trying to gain benefits by claiming distant Cherokee or UKB ancestry, the tribe no longer practices honorary membership. Ward Churchill , a former Professor of Ethnic Studies at

10881-762: The purposes of criminal law. Later decisions by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals also found the Quapaw Nation, Ottawa Tribe, Peoria Tribe, and Miami Tribe also had existing reservations. The Osage Nation is awaiting for a possible appellate decision after a district judge had ruled that the Osage reservation was disestablished. Oklahoma is the 20th-largest state in the United States, covering an area of 69,895 square miles (181,030 km ), with 68,591 square miles (177,650 km ) of land and 1,304 square miles (3,380 km ) of water. It lies partly in

10998-634: The sale and management of Native lands. Congress revised Collier's proposals and preserved oversight of tribes and reservations by the Bureau of Indian Affairs within the Department of Interior. Felix S. Cohen , an official at the Department of the Interior Solicitor's Office, was another significant architect of the Indian New Deal who helped draft the 1934 act. The self-government provisions would automatically go into effect for

11115-427: The state can vary widely over relatively short distances, and they can change drastically in a short time. On November 11, 1911, the temperature at Oklahoma City reached 83 °F (28 °C) (the record high for that date), then a cold front of unprecedented intensity slammed across the state, causing the temperature to reach 17 °F (−8 °C) (the record low for that date) by midnight. This type of phenomenon

11232-603: The state in 1541, but French explorers claimed the area in the early 18th century. By the 18th century, Comanche and Kiowa entered the region from the west and Quapaw and Osage peoples moved into what is now eastern Oklahoma. French colonists claimed the region until 1803, when all the French territory west of the Mississippi River was acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase . The territory

11349-518: The state's southeastern quarter , while mixtures of largely post oak , elm , red cedar ( Juniperus virginiana ), and pine forests cover northeastern Oklahoma . The state holds populations of white-tailed deer , mule deer , antelope , coyotes , mountain lions , bobcats , elk , and birds such as quail , doves , cardinals , bald eagles , red-tailed hawks , and pheasants . In prairie ecosystems, American bison , greater prairie chickens , badgers , and armadillo are common, and some of

11466-643: The state's central and western portions, although cropland has largely replaced native grasses. Where rainfall is sparse in the state's western regions, shortgrass prairie and shrublands are the most prominent ecosystems, though pinyon pines , red cedar ( junipers ), and ponderosa pines grow near rivers and creek beds in the panhandle's far western reaches. Southwestern Oklahoma contains many rare, disjunct species , including sugar maple , bigtooth maple , nolina , and Texas live oak . Marshlands , cypress forests, and mixtures of shortleaf pine , loblolly pine , blue palmetto , and deciduous forests dominate

11583-404: The state's ten largest cities, three are outside the metropolitan areas of Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and only Lawton has a metropolitan statistical area of its own as designated by the United States Census Bureau, though the metropolitan statistical area of Fort Smith, Arkansas extends into the state. Indian Reorganization Act The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or

11700-599: The state, with a subgroup, the Panhandle culture people, living in the panhandle region. Caddoan Mississippian culture peoples lived in the eastern part of the state. Spiro Mounds , in what is now Spiro, Oklahoma , was a major Mississippian mound complex that flourished between AD 850 and 1450. Plains Apache people settled in the Southern Plains and in Oklahoma between 1300 and 1500. The expedition of Spaniard Francisco Vázquez de Coronado traveled through

11817-663: The term sooners , which eventually became the state's official nickname. George Washington Steele was appointed the first governor of the territory of Oklahoma in 1890. Attempts to create an all-Indian state named Oklahoma and a later attempt to create an all-Indian state named Sequoyah failed but the Sequoyah Statehood Convention of 1905 eventually laid the groundwork for the Oklahoma Statehood Convention, which took place two years later. On June 16, 1906, Congress enacted

11934-611: The territory being handed over. Therefore, the Poteau River serves as the Oklahoma-Arkansas boundary for approximately 1 mile, reducing the Choctaw Reservation and later Oklahoma by 57 acres as established in the treaties of the early 1800s. Oklahoma is between the Great Plains and the Ozark Plateau in the Gulf of Mexico watershed, generally sloping from the high plains of its western boundary to

12051-441: The tribe was illegally pressured into relinquishing its tribal authority to Rhode Island. Some historians disagree that the action was illegal because, although not sanctioned by Congress, it was "desired" by the tribe members. The tribe did not receive federal recognition until 1983, after the 1934 passage of the IRA. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with the State. In a challenge to the U.S. DOI's decision to take land into trust for

12168-486: The very people whose problems so preoccupied him." Historians have mixed reactions to the Indian New Deal. Many praise Collier's energy and his initiative. Kenneth R. Philp praised Collier's Indian New Deal for protecting Indian freedom to engage in traditional religious practices, obtaining additional relief money for reservations, providing a structure for self-government, and enlisting the help of anthropologists who respected traditional cultures. However, he concludes that

12285-569: The western United States. Over a twenty-year period ending in 1950, the state saw its only historical decline in population, dropping 6.9 percent as impoverished families migrated out of the state after the Dust Bowl. Soil and water conservation projects markedly changed practices in the state, leading to the construction of massive flood control systems and dams to supply water for domestic needs and agricultural irrigation. As of 2024, Oklahoma had more than 4,700 dams, about 20% of all dams in

12402-537: The western edge of Fort Smith Arkansas, with one line running northeast from the Red River and the other running southeast from the Oklahoma-Arkansas-Missouri border. The Choctaw-Arkansas border was established in the 1820 Treaty of Doak's Sand , and later refined in the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek . These treaties left a 57-acre exclave of the Choctaw reservation bounded by Arkansas,

12519-601: The western frontier traveled through Indian Territory. Increased presence of white settlers in Indian Territory and their demand for land owned and guaranteed to Indian tribes by treaties with the U.S. government prompted the United States to enact the Dawes Act in 1887 and the Curtis Act of 1898 . The acts abolished tribal governments, eliminated tribal ownership of land, and allotted 160 acres (65 ha) of land to each head of an Indian family. An objective of

12636-415: The western movement of the Cherokees, UKB traditional territories include the above-mentioned states with the addition of Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. The UKB members are composed primarily of descendants of the "Old Settlers," Cherokees who settled in present-day Arkansas and Oklahoma around 1817. They were well established before most of the Cherokees were forcibly relocated by

12753-544: The world's tallest hill; at 1,999 feet (609 m), it fails their definition of a mountain by one foot. The semi-arid high plains in the state's northwestern corner harbor few natural forests; the region has a rolling to flat landscape with intermittent canyons and mesa ranges like the Glass Mountains . Partial plains interrupted by small, sky island mountain ranges like the Antelope Hills and

12870-565: Was a member of the UKB, but due to these issues, the tribe revoked his membership in 2005. The United Keetoowah Band maintains a one-quarter-blood requirement for members. It requires all members to have verifiable Cherokee descent either from a person or people on the Dawes Rolls or the UKB Base Roll of 1949. Beginning in the 1970s, the UKB made some people honorary, adopted and associate members, to recognize their services to

12987-686: Was a part of the Arkansas Territory from 1819 until 1828. During the 19th century, the U.S. federal government forcibly removed tens of thousands of American Indians from their ancestral homelands from across North America and transported them to the area including and surrounding present-day Oklahoma. The Choctaw was the first of the Five Civilized Tribes to be removed from the Southeastern United States . The phrase " Trail of Tears " originated from

13104-425: Was begun using UKB's federally recognized status. Even the casino enterprises, which have for decades given the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma a motive to try to destroy or "de-recognize" the UKB and its membership, emerged from precedent set by the cooperation of the UKB. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma received approval of their constitution and federal recognition in 1975. The two nations pursued independent paths;

13221-466: Was considered communal tribal lands. By assigning plots to individual households among the Five Civilized Tribes , they intended to encourage the European-American model of subsistence farming. Afterward the US government appointed certain Cherokee chiefs to administer tribal lands and holdings, rather than allowing the people to continue with their practice of hereditary chiefs. Under the Curtis Act of 1898 ,

13338-474: Was officially approved in 1890, two years after that area was opened to American settlers . Indigenous peoples were present in what is now Oklahoma by the last ice age . Ancestors of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (including Teyas and Escanjaques and Tawakoni ), Tonkawa , and Caddo (including Kichai ) lived in what is now Oklahoma. Southern Plains villagers lived in the central and west of

13455-478: Was then Indian Territory. McCabe discussed with President Theodore Roosevelt the possibility of making Oklahoma a majority-Black state. By the early 20th century, the Greenwood district of Tulsa was one of the most prosperous African-American communities in the United States. Jim Crow laws had established racial segregation since before the start of the 20th century, but Tulsa's Black residents had created

13572-517: Was westward, the turmoil caused by the rapid advancement of the disease quickly overwhelmed both health workers and local governing bodies. In Oklahoma City, shortages of both supplies and personnel were mitigated, in part, by the mobilization of the American Red Cross. Rough estimates based on contemporary reports indicate that approximately 100,000 people fell ill with the disease before the pandemic ebbed in 1919. Of those 100,000 cases, it

13689-488: Was wide-ranging legislation authorizing tribal self-rule under federal supervision, ending land allotment, and generally promoting measures to enhance tribes and encourage education. Having described the American society as "physically, religiously, socially, and aesthetically shattered, dismembered, directionless", Collier was later criticized for his romantic views about the moral superiority of traditional society as opposed to modernity. Philp says after his experience at

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