What Is Oklahoma Doing To Its Native American Population?

When last November's election results became known, many political pundits proclaimed Oklahoma's Legislature as the "most conservative in the nation." They didn't realize that it quickly would earn another "most" award within a matter of months into the new legislative session for its work in dealing with the state's Native American population.

Recent activity has now placed Oklahoma at the front of the line for recognition as the most anti-Indian state legislature in the nation. In fact, the Legislature's actions and non-actions of May 18 probably make that single legislative day the second greatest in the history of anti-Indian activity for any legislative body. Of course, the single worst legislative day for Indians came during the Administration of President Andrew Jackson when the Congress of the United States enacted the Indian Removal Act leading to the relocation of tens of thousands of American Indians away from the East Coast. While the good news for Indian