ADA, Okla. – The Duane C. Anderson Hedgehog & Fox Lecture, a longstanding tradition at East Central University, is scheduled to return, April 17 at 3 p.m. in the Estep Multimedia Center, located inside the Bill S. Cole University Center.
The event is free and open to the public.
Dr. Christine Pappas and Dr. Jacintha Webster will be discussing a book chapter the two wrote entitled “Modern Sequoyah: Native American Political Power in Oklahoma Politics.”
This chapter was featured in the 8th edition of “Oklahoma Government & Politics,” which was edited by a team of political scientists at the University of Central Oklahoma, was published by Kendall Hunt in 2024, and is currently used in political science classes across the state.
The concept of “Modern Sequoyah” is based on the Sequoyah Movement of 1905, when tribes came together to petition the US government to become an all-tribal state that would have been known as the State of Sequoyah.
“It passed Congress but President Theodore Roosevelt rejected the idea,” stated Pappas. “It is likely that if the Sequoyah Movement was successful, tribal treaty rights would have been terminated. Today, tribal governments in Oklahoma have leveraged these treaty rights to become more self-governing and politically powerful. They have created a “modern Sequoyah” with their sovereignty and economic might.”
The chapter explains the history of tribal political power in Oklahoma and discusses current political challenges. It is also timely because of the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision of 2020, which granted certain tribes much more criminal jurisdiction in Oklahoma.
“Jacintha Webster is one of the leading experts on this case and its aftereffects,” Pappas added.
There will be a short Q&A following the lecture.
For more information on the lecture, contact the ECU Office of Academic Affairs at 580-559-5202.