"I am deeply concerned about the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk considering the placement of land into trust for the United Keetoowah Band within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation.

Federal courts have consistently and repeatedly acknowledged that the UKB does not have the same governmental or jurisdictional status as the CN within those boundaries. Nothing has changed since those decisions were made.

The UKB has tried many times over the past three decades to circumvent legal decisions and have land put into trust for them. However, all students of Cherokee history know we only have to look to UKB v. Secretary of the Interior, Buzzard v. OK Tax Commission, and UKB v. Mankiller to see that the courts have consistently ruled that the 14-county area in northeastern Oklahoma is exclusively under the jurisdiction of the CN."

Get the Story:
Sara Hoklotubbe: Citizen concerned about EchoHawk decision (The Cherokee Phoenix 3/1)

Bureau of Indian Affairs Documents:
May 24, 2011, Decision | September 10, 2010, Decision

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