The Choctaw are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands,in what is now Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today,Choctaw people are enrolled in four federally recognized tribes:the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma,Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians,Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana,and the Yowani Choctaws enrolled under the confederacy of the Caddo Nation.
The Chickasaw are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands,United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi,northwestern and northern Alabama,western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classified as a member of the Muskogean language family. In the present day,they are organized as the federally recognized Chickasaw Nation.
The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by the United States government in the early federal period of the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast:the Cherokee,Chickasaw,Choctaw,Muscogee (Creek),and Seminoles. White Americans classified them as "civilized" because they had adopted attributes of the Anglo-American culture.
Chadwick "Corntassel" Smith is a Cherokee Nation politician and attorney who served as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. He was first elected in 1999. Smith was re-elected to a second term as Chief in 2003 and a third term in June 2007 with 59% of the vote. He was defeated in his attempt to get elected to a fourth term in office by Bill John Baker 54% to 46% in the 2011 election and he lost again to Baker in 2015,receiving 28% of the vote. Prior to being elected Principal Chief,he worked as a lawyer for the tribe and in private practice.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is a Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly 6,952,960 acres,it is the second-largest reservation in area after the Navajo,exceeding that of eight U.S. states. The seat of government is located in Durant,Oklahoma.
The Cherokee Nation,formerly known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma,is the largest of three federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Old Cherokee Nation who relocated,due to increasing pressure,from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who were forced to relocate on the Trail of Tears. The tribe also includes descendants of Cherokee Freedmen and Natchez Nation. As of 2024,over 466,000 people were enrolled in the Cherokee Nation.
Billy Joe Anoatubby is the 32nd Governor of the Chickasaw Nation,a position he has held since 1987. From 1979 to 1987,Anoatubby served two terms as Lieutenant Governor of the Chickasaw Nation in the administration of Governor Overton James,after being popularly elected to office. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
The Cherokee Freedmen controversy was a political and tribal dispute between the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and descendants of the Cherokee Freedmen regarding the issue of tribal membership. The controversy had resulted in several legal proceedings between the two parties from the late 20th century to August 2017.
Gregory Eli Pyle was a Native American politician who was a long-term political leader of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He was elected as Principal Chief in 1997 and re-elected since by wide margins,reigning for almost 17 years. He resigned effective April 28,2014. Prior to serving as Principal Chief,he had served as Assistant Chief for 13 years. He began to work for the Choctaw Nation in 1975 as a personnel officer.
The Muscogee Nation,or Muscogee (Creek) Nation,is a federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy,a large group of indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands. They commonly refer to themselves as Este Mvskokvlke. Historically,they were often referred to by European Americans as one of the Five Civilized Tribes of the American Southeast.
The Choctaw Freedmen are former enslaved Africans,Afro-Indigenous,and African Americans who were emancipated and granted citizenship in the Choctaw Nation after the Civil War,according to the tribe's new peace treaty of 1866 with the United States. The term also applies to their contemporary descendants.
Bill John Baker is a Cherokee politician who served as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. First elected in October 2011,Baker defeated three-term incumbent Chief Chad "Corntassel" Smith. Prior to his election as Chief,Baker served 12 years on the Cherokee Tribal Council. In 1999,Baker unsuccessfully ran for Deputy Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
Hollis E. Roberts was a Native American politician whose career was highlighted by his 19-year period as Chief of the Choctaw Nation. His reign saw the tribe modernize its social services and develop independent business partnerships in and beyond Oklahoma.
On the eve of the American Civil War in 1861,a significant number of Indigenous peoples of the Americas had been relocated from the Southeastern United States to Indian Territory,west of the Mississippi. The inhabitants of the eastern part of the Indian Territory,the Five Civilized Tribes,were suzerain nations with established tribal governments,well established cultures,and legal systems that allowed for slavery. Before European Contact these tribes were generally matriarchial societies,with agriculture being the primary economic pursuit. The bulk of the tribes lived in towns with planned streets,residential and public areas. The people were ruled by complex hereditary chiefdoms of varying size and complexity with high levels of military organization.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Oklahoma since October 6,2014,following the resolution of a lawsuit challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage. On that day,following the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to review Bishop v. Smith,a case that had found the ban unconstitutional,the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Oklahoma to recognize same-sex marriages. On January 14,2014,Judge Terence C. Kern of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma declared the state's statutory and constitutional same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional. The case,Bishop v. Smith,was stayed pending appeal. On July 18,2014,a panel of the Tenth Circuit upheld Kern's ruling overturning Oklahoma's same-sex marriage ban. However,the panel put its ruling on hold pending disposition of a petition for certiorari by the U.S. Supreme Court. On October 6,2014,the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the request for review,leaving the Tenth Circuit Court's ruling in place. State officials responded by implementing the Tenth Circuit's ruling,recognizing same-sex marriage in the state.
John Kevin Stitt is an American businessman and politician serving as the 28th governor of Oklahoma since 2019. A member of the Republican Party,he was elected in 2018,defeating Democrat and former state Attorney General Drew Edmondson with 54.3% of the vote. Stitt was reelected to a second term in 2022,defeating Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister,a Republican turned Democrat,with 55.4% of the vote.
Chuck Hoskin Jr. is a Cherokee Nation politician and attorney currently serving as the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation since 2019. He was re-elected to a second term in the 2023 Cherokee Nation principal chief election.
The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Oklahoma were held on November 8,2022,to elect the five U.S. representatives from the state of Oklahoma,one from each of the state's five congressional districts. The primary elections for the Republican. Democratic,and Libertarian parties' nominations took place on June 28,2022.
The 2022 Oklahoma gubernatorial election was held on November 8,2022,to elect the governor of Oklahoma. Incumbent Republican governor Kevin Stitt was re-elected to a second term,with 55.5% of the vote,defeating Democratic candidate Joy Hofmeister.
David Walkingstick is a Cherokee Nation politician who served on the Cherokee Nation tribal council between 2011 and 2019.
