The Supreme Court Decision That Could Return Half Of Oklahoma To Native Americans

WAMU 88.5

Published July 8, 2019 at 9:40 AM CDT

Rebecca Nagle is a citizen of Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.

One Supreme Court decision could cause the largest restoration of tribal land in American history.

The case is Carpenter v. Murphy. It hinges on a murder case, early American history and varied interpretations of tribal land rights.

The court is set to rule on the case next term.

That’s the story behind the Crooked Media podcast This Land, hosted by journalist Rebecca Nagle. Nagle is a citizen of Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.

She told Splinter that her goals were broader than just telling people about the case, and about the potential for land restoration to the five tribes.

My goal has been that when Native people listen to it, they hear themselves, they feel themselves and that that is empowering. And also that non-Native people, who may not know what a federally recognized tribe is, don’t know what a reservation is—I mean technically; like, that they’ve heard of it, but they don’t know what it is legally—that people are also learning. That’s one of the things that’s neat about this case. It has this really interesting backstory and all of these pieces, but it’s also a way to explain what’s happening to Native rights in 2019 and in a way that’s bigger than just this one case. The case is the entry point.

We talk with Nagle about her project and the implications of the court’s ruling next term.

Produced by Kathryn Fink.

GUESTS

Rebecca Nagle, Host, “This Land”; @rebeccanagle

For more, visit https://the1a.org.