American Indian Laws & Treaties

• Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties by Charles Kappler 
  Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler, is an historically significant, seven volume compilation of U.S. treaties, laws and executive orders pertaining to Native American Indian tribes.
   
• Guide to Law Online: Indians
  A compilation of Indian legal materials from the Library of Congress

• Native American Constitution and Law Digitization Project 
  The University of Oklahoma Law Center Library and the National Indian Law Library work with tribes to place tribal documents online. Some materials are Government Documents in the Public Domain.
   
• Early Recognized Treaties with American Indian Nations 
  Texts of the nine treaties, created between the years 1722 and 1805, are offered courtesy of the University of Nebraska.

• Treaty with the Cherokee, 1866

The following links go directly to the portion of Kappler's for treaties with the Five Civilized Tribes.

• Treaty with the Choctaw and Chickasaw, 1866

• Treaty with the Creek, 1866

• Treaty with the Seminole, 1866

• Native American Constitution and Law Digitization Project

Some material are available through the Tulsa City County Library. For Tribal Constitutions, Codes, and other legal documents, go to the Native American Constitution and Law Digitization Project web site.

Tribal Jurisdictions in Oklahoma

• Article 9 of Treaty with the Cherokee, 1866

  Notes the abolition of slavery amongst the Cherokees and the rights of Freedmen living on Cherokee lands.

The following are links to the portions of Kappler's collection. These are the treaties with the Five Civilized Tribes that recognize the abolition of slavery and the rights of the Freedmen.

• Article 4 of Treaty with the Choctaw and Chickasaw, 1866

• Articles 2 & 3 of the Treaty with the Creek, 1866

  Proclaims "henceforth neither slavery nor involuntary servitude... shall ever exist in said [Creek] nation".

• Articles 2 & 3 of Treaty with the Seminole, 1866

  Provides much the same agreement that was reached with the Creeks.
   

Final rolls of citizens and freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory

Announcement of preservation project 1902 for recently procured Historic Creek Freedmen Cemetery, aka the Thomas Smith Cemetery.

• List of Federally Recognized Indian Entities (pdf) 
  Current list of 564 tribal entities recognized and eligible for funding and services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs by virtue of their status as Indian tribes.
   
• Indian Claims Commission 
  The Indian Claims Commission was a judicial panel for relations between the U.S. Government and Native American tribes. It was established in 1946 by the U.S. Congress to hear claims of Indian tribes against the United States.
   
• Office of Tribal Justice 
  The Office of Tribal Justice is the primary point of contact for the Department of Justice with federally recognized Native American tribes, and advises the Department on legal and policy matters pertaining to Native Americans.
   
• National Indian Law Library 
  The National Indian Law Library (NILL) is a public law library devoted to federal Indian and tribal law.
   
• American Indian Law Review 
  First produced in 1973, the American Indian Law Review is published biannually by the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

Sharp v. Murphy (previously known as Carpenter v. Murphy and Royal v. Murphy)
Judgement on this case was reached in 2020 by the Supreme Court of the United States. It raised the question of whether Congress disestablished the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation, or whether the 1866 territorial boundaries of the Creek Nation within the former Indian Territory of eastern Oklahoma constitute an “Indian reservation” today under 18 U.S.C. § 1151(a).

Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) Blog Sharp v. Murphy

Supreme Court Docket 17-1107
Original docket of Tommy Sharp, Interim Warden Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Petitioner v. Patrick Dwayne Murphy

SCOTUS won’t reconsider McGirt decision
Cherokee Phoenix 1/21/2022

Life, tribal sovereignty at forefront of Oklahoma case before U.S. Supreme Court
Tulsa World 11/27/2018

Sharp v. Murphy (Tribal Supreme Court Project)
 

McGirt v. Oklahoma was a United States Supreme Court case which ruled that, as pertaining to the Major Crimes Act, much of the eastern portion of the state of Oklahoma remains as "Indian country" of the prior Indian reservations of the Five Civilized Tribes, never disestablished by Congress as a part of the Oklahoma Enabling Act of 1906. McGirt was related to Sharp v. Murphy.

Supreme Court of the Untied States (SCOTUS) blog McGirt v. Oklahoma

Slip Opinion 18-9526, McGirt v. Oklahoma

Tribal Jurisdictions in Oklahoma map

State, Muscogee (Creek), Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole Nations Release Joint Statement in Response to SCOTUS Decision in McGirt Case

Oklahoma Corporation Commission: After the U.S. Supreme Court decided the McGirt v. Oklahoma, (104 S.Ct. 2452) case in 2020, Gov. Kevin Stitt directed state agencies to report potential impacts related to that case, issuing Executive Order 2020-24. 

City of Tulsa amicus brief

Oklahoma Watch The Supreme Court Affirmed Native American Rights in Oklahoma. Here’s What That Could Mean

SCOTUS won’t reconsider McGirt decision
Cherokee Phoenix 1/21/2022

7/2/2021: Governor Stitt Says State Might Sue Federal Government Over McGirt Jurisdiction Interpretation

Tulsa City-County Library's American Indian Resource Center (AIRC) is one of only two centers in public libraries across the nation that provides cultural, educational and informational resources, activities and services highlighting the American Indian culture. The AIRC, which began in 2003, provides access to more than 4,000 books, periodicals, and media for adults and children by and about American Indians, including historical and rare materials, new releases, films and music with a focus on native languages.