Copyright © 1998 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Cherokee Press Association
Wednesday, January, 28 1998
Copyright © 1998 CPA
All Rights Reserved

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 28, 1998

TAHLEQUAH, OK - In a 17 page opinion the Supreme Court of the Cherokee Nation held that the Cherokee Nation Courthouse is "Indian country" pursuant to federal law.

The Courthouse was the scene of two clashes between Cherokees and local law enforcement agencies including city and state police officers on June 20 and August 13, 1997. Justice Birdwell of the Cherokee court in the case of Brett Crawford vs Diane Barker-Harrold wrote that opinion which was released this afternoon (Wednesday, January 28, 1998).

Brett Crawford was one of scores of Cherokees physically thrown by City of Tahlequah, Cherokee, Adair and Sequoyah County Deputies and Highway Patrol officers from the back porch of the Courthouse on August 13, 1997 when Cherokee Nation Marshals lead by Pat Ragsdale attempted to enforce a tribal court order to open the Courthouse to the public. Principal Chief Joe Byrd seized the courthouse from the Marshal service on June 20, 1997. Brett Crawford's attorney, Chad Smith, was arrested during the June 20 siege of the Courthouse and was charged in state court with two crimes. In response to the Court's decision Smith stated, "Our Court looked at the history and status of the Courthouse from when it was built after the civil war and properly found that it was Indian country. It was obvious to everyone that it was Indian country."

It was Indian country to everyone except Principal Chief Joe Byrd and other defendants in the lawsuit including District Attorney Diane Barker-Harrold and BIA officials. Byrd and his staff had told a federal judge in a related case that the Cherokee Courthouse was not Indian country. Former chiefs Ross Swimmer and Wilma Mankiller and legal scholar Dr. Rennard Strickland filed affidavits in the case stating that the Courthouse was Indian country.

Smith in his arguments stated that the "Courthouse was the Cherokee's most sacred symbol of perseverance, pride and survival."