OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The House Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight hearing titled “Examining 50 Years of the Indian Self-determination and Education Assistance Act in Indian Country” on April 4 in Oklahoma City. The field hearing highlighted positive impacts that the Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance law (ISDEA), or Public Law 993-638, has had on Indian Country as a whole. Among the tribes represented at the hearing was the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, where MCN Principal Chief David Hill delivered testimony on how the law has shaped tribal policy.
Joining Chief Hill on the panel were Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton, and Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby. In addition to discussing self governance, the committee discussed food distribution, life expectancy rates, Medicaid cuts, Indian Education and emergency management.
ISDEA was enacted into law by Congress in 1975. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s website, ISDEA allows “Indian tribes to have greater autonomy and to have the opportunity to assume the responsibility for programs and services administered to them on behalf of the Secretary of the Interior through contractual agreements.” This law gave federally-recognized tribes the ability to direct federal funding to programs that they believe best serve their citizens and communities.
In his opening remarks, Arkansas Representative and Chairman of the Committee on House Natural Resources Bruce Westerman discussed a roundtable that was hosted last November that revealed “considerable interest” in Congress and tribal leaders to increase dialogue on promoting tribal self governance. This included a range of topics: economic opportunities, and improving quality of life for tribal communities.
“At the end of the 118th Congress I expressed my desire for our first field hearing this year to focus on engaging with tribes and continuing a meaningful discussion on how Congress can best collaborate to uphold the United States’ trust responsibilities to Native American communities,” Rep. Westerman said. “Each tribal nation is unique. As such, the federal government must not adopt a ‘one size fits all approach.’. I hope this hearing will provide us with a better understanding of the role self-determination agreements play enabling tribes to serve their people most effectively.”
New Mexico Representative Leger Fernandez is a member of the committee. She expressed how she was impressed with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s accomplishments through self governance, including the health system that serves over 40,000 patients.
“We know that when you exercise self-determination and build all these health clinics, it not only serves your people, and you know how to best serve your own community, but it benefits everybody in the surrounding areas,” Rep. Fernandez said. “It’s the neighbors, it’s the non-Indians who are also benefiting from your work.”
Over the past five years MCN has been in the national spotlight since the historic 2020 McGirt v. Oklahoma decision was handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court. In particular, that decision made huge changes to how Native crime is handled within Mvskoke jurisdiction and throughout Indian Country.
“In 2020 on July 9, the Supreme Court ruled that Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s reservation was reestablished. That affected Indian Country, that affected Muscogee (Creek) Nation. That affected the State of Oklahoma,” Chief Hill said. “We’ve had to govern our own ever since. Before with our first treaty in 1733 with England, we were the first to have a treaty with the United States with President Washington in 1790, the Treaty of New York. We still have the same government.”
Chief Hill also discussed operations at the Eufaula Dormitory, an institution operated by MCN that is at risk of losing federal funding. According to Chief Hill, it is an institution that many students rely on for structure and growth they otherwise do not receive at home.
“It would be devastating if those funds were taken away from the Eufaula Dorm,” Chief Hill said. “A lot of them (students) would rather stay at the dorm to help, get more education or assistance rather than go home and that’s a big tragedy. Eufaula Dorm has been a great system. We had several elected officials attend the Eufaula Dorm. Funding for education is one of the best opportunities the students have.”
The topic of meat processing and distribution came up as well. MCN joined Cherokee Nation and Choctaw Nation in building a meat processing plant on the Mvskoke Reservation through the Looped Square Meat Co. in 2022.
Language is also a strong goal that MCN tribal leadership has kept a priority. According to Chief Hill, not only is it the MCN’s goal to keep the language alive, it’s also a way to create jobs and preserve Mvskoke culture.
“We created our language program to create more job opportunities, more jobs working with the schools and college,” Chief Hill said. “We had a liaison department created in order to protect and preserve our language. Since Covid in a one year span we probably lost 225 elders who knew the language, knew the culture and knew the history. That’s why we created the position, which is a lifetime position, the Secretary of Culture and Humanities. That department has grown probably three times as of today.”
In closing remarks, Chief Hill addressed a question regarding the nation’s top priorities in self governing.
“Public safety, that definitely affected Creek Nation first. With the cooperation with the other four tribes we have been able to acknowledge that and working with the State with cross deputization, increasing our law enforcement personnel from 30 to 140, and jail agreements,” Chief Hill said. “Our law enforcement had to learn state, federal and tribal law. Everyone else just knows the state and federal law. That’s the unique thing. They can go within city limits, or county to county within the 11 counties (within the Mvskoke Reservation) where we can help.”
A recording of the full hearing can be found at c-span.org.
