Cherokee Chief criticizes Stitt veto of bill on missing and murdered indigenous people
Cherokee Nation Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. has voiced some strong criticism of the veto by Gov. Kevin Stitt of bill that would have helped the state with missing and murdered Indigenous people.
According to the National Institute of Justice, Oklahoma reportedly is the third highest state in the country for missing Indigenous people.
On Monday, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Day, Stitt vetoed a bill funding the OSBI unit focused exclusively on those cases.
“I cannot endorse legislation that singles out victims based solely on their race,” Stitt said in a message. “House Bill 1137 requires the creation of a unit within the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) that focuses exclusively on missing and murdered Indigenous persons.”
Stitt is a member of the Cherokee Nation.
Hoskin said in a statement on the Cherokee nation website: “Governor Stitt’s breathtaking ignorance of the issues facing tribes and existing teamwork to resolve those issues reached an absurd level today with his veto of HB 1137.
The existing “Ida’s Law,” a bipartisan reflection of the sort of teamwork needed to address missing and murdered indigenous persons cases, is an effective law that enables tribal law enforcement and OSBI to work better together on MMIP cases.”
Hoskin says Stitt’s veto message showed that he doesn’t understand the situation.
“HB 1137, a bipartisan amendment to Ida’s law, was a housekeeping measure designed to strip an unnecessary federal funding requirement,” Hoskin stated. “Governor Stitt’s veto message, issued on a day we raise awareness across the country on MMIP issues, exposes that he lacks the foggiest idea that Ida’s law is on the books, what it does on a low budget cost high impact basis, or what the simple amendment was designed to do.
Hoskin continued: “He also continues to conflate the political status of tribal citizens with “race,” a tired old subject meant to divide and confuse people. Native Americans are disproportionally victims of violent crime and disproportionally so in cases that go unsolved. Serious leaders across the state and the nation understand that and are taking action. Governor Stitt should do more thinking and less thoughtless reacting when the lives of native people are at stake.”
Chuck Hoskin, Jr. has served as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation since 2019. He was re-elected to a second term in the 2023 Cherokee Nation principal chief election.