A Promise Kept: The Muscogee (Creek) Nation and McGirt v. Oklahoma
At the end of the Trail of Tears there was a promise, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the decision issued on July 9, 2020, in the case of McGirt v. Oklahoma. And that promise, made in treaties between the United States and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation more than 150 years earlier, would finally be kept. With the Court’s ruling, the full extent of the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation was reaffirmed—meaning that 3.25 million acres of land in Oklahoma, including part of the city of Tulsa, were recognized once again as “Indian Country” as defined by federal law. A Promise Kept explores the circumstances and implications of McGirt v. Oklahoma, likely the most significant Indian law case in well over 100 years. Combining legal analysis and historical context, this book gives an in-depth, accessible account of how the case unfolded and what it might mean for Oklahomans, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and other tribes throughout the United States.
Bio
Robert Miller is an expert in Federal Indian Law, international law, civil procedure and sustainability law.
He is a professor of law at the Sandra Day O'Connor School of Law.
Professor Miller's research focuses on the economic development of Native American land, Indian Law, indigenous land, and the international law of colonialism.
Additionally, Miller is the Willard H. Pedrick Distinguished Research Scholar and the Faculty Director of the Rosette LLP American Indian Economic Development Program at ASU.
