As Long as the Waters Flow: Native American Water Policy in Oklahoma

• In Event: Indigenous Challenges to the State: Organization and Policy Opposition

Abstract

Native American tribes in Oklahoma have developed a variety of approaches to watershed management and water policy in their national lands. Over half of the land in Oklahoma falls within tribal national boundaries and approximately 7% of the population has a tribal affiliation. Therefore, tribal approaches to water policy especially in the water-rich Eastern portion of the state influence the choices for the entire state. This research draws on semi-structured interviews with tribal water policy making elites in Oklahoma including officials from the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Caddo, Seminole, Pawnee, Muscogee Creek, and Citizen Potawatomi Nations. We analyze tribes’ approaches to water policy in contrast with non-tribal stakeholders. We found differences in tribal and non-tribal officials’ view toward water as a cultural resource, future use of the land, toleration of pollution, and motivations for sustainability. We also found a variety of different approaches to creating and enforcing water policy among the tribes. These approaches include writing a Water Atlas to protect culturally important sites, cooperating with state and federal agencies on water quality programs, seeking Treatment as a State under the Clean Water Act, and permitting oil and gas activity on tribal lands. The pending US Supreme Court jurisdiction case Sharp v. Murphy makes this research all the more relevant because tribes may soon have more jurisdiction to direct environmental regulation in their lands.

Author

• Christine Pappas, East Central University