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Oklahoma tribal leaders respond to Gov. Stitt's State of the State address

Tribal leaders from Delaware, Cheyenne and Arapaho, Chickasaw, Muscogee Creek and Cherokee Nations in the House gallery.
Sarah Liese
/
KOSU
Tribal leaders from Delaware, Cheyenne and Arapaho, Chickasaw, Muscogee Creek and Cherokee Nations standing in the House gallery.

Gov. Kevin Stitt’s seventh State of the State address noticeably made little mention of Oklahoma’s tribal nations, unlike in years past.

Instead, Stitt centered his speech on principles supporting the American Dream, including launching DOGE Oklahoma and cutting income tax.

“In order to do that, we need to commit to these four principles that Oklahomans voted for,” he said. “We need to, one, protect Oklahoma taxpayers. Two, be the best state for business. Three, safeguard our savings… and four, protect the Oklahoma way of life.”

Tribal leaders in attendance had mixed responses.

Cherokee Nation Deputy Chief Bryan Warner said he wished Stitt’s speech highlighted the tribe's collaborative efforts with the state.

“He talked about four principles and one of those was to protect the Oklahoma way. Well, without collaboration and without talking about tribal values and different things like that I think you're missing a key ingredient,” he said. “But yet I'm always hopeful. I think he hit a lot of good notes.”

Second Chief of the Muscogee Nation Del Beaver said he’ll believe these values Stitt mentioned when he sees them.

“It’s a good speech, but it's like everything else—proof is in the pudding,” he said.

Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Annoatubby had a measured response to the speech.

“He’s the leader of this state, he’s our governor, and he’s setting his agenda,” he said. “We’re going to follow that and hope it’s good for Oklahoma.”

Non-tribal leaders admonished Stitt for omitting the tribes from his policy-setting agenda.

“I found it interesting although, again, not surprising that he did not mention anything about our tribal nations. ” said Democratic House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson. “Our tribes are great partners with the state of Oklahoma. They invest billions of dollars in communities all across our state when it comes to childcare, healthcare (and) workforce. They take care of their people, they take care of the state of Oklahoma. And to not acknowledge the tribes and their leaders, who were sitting in the gallery, is a disgrace to his leadership."

In the new legislative session, tribal leaders said they hope the more than 30 new lawmakers will work with them to better the state.

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Katie Hallum (ᏧᏟ) covers Indigenous Affairs at KOSU.
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