Notes for "Their Ancestral Lands" Part 2
Here are more notes for "Their Ancestral Lands."
As research continued, the other Oklahoma reservations were confirmed. These included the Kaw, Tonkawa Nez Perce, Ponca, Otoe-Missouri, Pawnee, Osage, Miami, Peoria, Ottawa, Eastern Shawnee, Modoc, Wyandotte, Seneca-Cayuga, Cheyenne-Arapaho, Caddo-Wichita-Delaware, Iowa, Sac and Fox, Kickapoo, Citizen Potawotami-Absentee Shawnee, and Kiowa-Comanche-Apache.
The Kaw Nation is in north-central Oklahoma just east of the Osage Nation. Its northern edge is the Kansas border. Its eastern and southeastern edge is the Osage Nation. It southwestern and western edge is the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet. The Kaw Nation is in Kay County. It covers the towns of Kaw City and Hardy. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Tonkawa Nez Perce Nation is in north-central Oklahoma, just northwest of the Ponca Nation. The reservation is a small squarish area surrounded by the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet except for a small part of the southwestern edge that border the Ponca Nation. The Tonkawa Nez Perce Nation Nation is in Kay County. This covers the town of Tonkawa. The habitat is all Tallgrass Prairie.
The Ponca Nation is in north-central Oklahoma, just southeast of the Tonkawa Nez Perce Nation. Its northern edge is the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet. Its eastern edge is the Osage Nation, a wavy line roughly following the Arkansas River. Its southern edge is the Otoe-Missouri Reservation. Its western edge is the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet (southerly) and the Tonkawa Nez Perce Nation (northerly). The Ponca Nation includes parts of Kay and Noble Counties. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Otoe-Missouri Reservation is in north-central Oklahoma. Its northern edge is the Ponca Nation, northeast is the Osage Nation, and southeast is the Pawnee Nation. The rest is the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet. The Otoe-Missouri Reservation is in Noble and Pawnee Counties. This includes the towns of Billings and Red Rock. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Pawnee Nation is in north-central Oklahoma. Its northeast edge is a long wavy line roughly following the Arkansas River, bordering the Osage Nation. The southern edge is the Muscogee Creek Nation (easterly) and the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet (westerly), with the Otoe-Missouri Reservation at the northwest edge. It lies in the counties of Noble, Payne, and Pawnee. This covers various towns including Perry, Ralston, Pawnee, Jennings, and Cleveland. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Osage Nation (the only reservation in L-Oklahoma and one of three in T-Oklahoma acknowledged before the settlement) is in north-central Oklahoma. Its northern edge is the Kansas border. Its eastern edge is a straight line bordering the Cherokee Nation, a little west of US Route 75. Its southern edge is a short straight line bordering the Muscogee Creek Nation, a little north of US Route 412. Its southwestern edge is a long wavy line roughly following the Arkansas River. Its western edge is short line straight north from Oklahoma Highway 11 to the Kansas border. The Osage Nation is contiguous with Osage County. This covers multiple cities and towns includes Shidler, Burbank, Pawhuska, Fairfax, Hominy, Skiatook, and part of Bartlesville. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Miami Nation is in the northeast corner of Oklahoma. Its northern edge is the Kansas border. Its western edge is the Quapaw Nation (northerly) and the Peoria Nation (southerly). The rest is the Cherokee Nation, a long wavy line roughly following the Neosho River. The Miami Nation is in Ottawa County. It covers the town of Miami. The habitat is all Tallgrass prairie.
The Peoria Nation is a skinny rectangle in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, just south of the Quapaw Nation. Its northern edge is the Quapaw Nation. Its western edge is the Missouri border. Its southern edge is the Modoc Nation (easterly), the Eastern Shawnee Nation (central), and the Ottawa Nation (westerly). Its western edge is the Cherokee Nation. The Peoria Nation is in Ottawa County. This covers part of the city of Miami. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Ottawa Nation is in the northeast corner of Oklahoma. Its northern edge is the Peoria Nation. Its eastern edge is the Eastern Shawnee Nation. Its southern edge is the Wyandotte Nation. Its western edge is the Cherokee Nation. The Ottawa Nation lies in Ottawa County. It has no significant towns. The habitat is all Oak-Hickory Forest.
The Eastern Shawnee Nation is in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, between the Ottawa Nation (westerly) and Modoc Nation (easterly). Its northern edge is the Peoria Nation. Its western edge is the Modoc Nation (northerly) and the Missouri border (southerly). Its southern edge is the Wyandotte Nation and its western edge is the Ottawa Nation. The Eastern Shawnee Nation lies in Ottawa County. It has no significant towns. The habitat is all Oak-Hickory Forest.
The Modoc Nation is a small squarish block in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, just west of the Eastern Shawnee Nation. Its northern edge is the Peoria Nation. Its western edge is the Missouri border. The rest is the Eastern Shawnee Nation. The Modoc Nation lies in Ottawa County. It has no significant towns. The habitat is all Oak-Hickory Forest.
The Wyandotte Nation is in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, just north of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation. Its northern edge is the Ottawa Nation (westerly) and Eastern Shawnee Nation (easterly). Its western edge is the Missouri border. Its southern edge is the Seneca-Cayuga Reservation. Its eastern edge is the Cherokee Nation. The Wyandotte Nation lies in Ottawa County. This covers the town of Wyandotte. The habitat is all Oak-Hickory Forest.
The Seneca-Cayuga Nation is in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, between the Wyandotte Nation (northerly) and the Cherokee Nation (southerly). Its northern edge is the Wyandotte Nation. Its eastern edge is the Missouri border. The rest is all the Cherokee Nation border, including a long wavy stretch roughly following the Neosho River. The Seneca-Cayuga Nation includes parts of Ottawa and Delaware Counties. This covers about half the town of Cayuga. Habitat types include Oak-Hickory Forest and Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest.
The Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation is in west-central Oklahoma, between the Cherokee Strip and the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation. Its northern edge is a straight line along the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet. Its western edge is an almost straight line bordering the Unassigned Lands. Its southern edge is the Chickasaw Nation (easterly), a big wedge shape around the Caddo-Wichita-Delaware Reservation (east-central), the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache (west-central) and Old Greer County (westerly). Its western edge is the Texas border. This includes 9 counties: Beckham, Blaine, Canadian, Custer, Dewey, Ellis, Kingfisher, Roger Mills, and Washita. It covers many cities and towns including Sweetwater, Sayre, Carter, Elk City, Longdale, Canton, Okeene, Watonga, Geary, Okarche, Calumet, El Reno, Yukon, Mustang, Hammon, Butler, Arapaho, Clinton, Vici, Seiling, Camargo, Trail, Leedy, Taloga, Oakwood, Arnett, Harmon, Hennessey, Loyal, Omega, Kingfisher, Crawford, Roll, Reydon, Cheyenne, Foss, Canute, Burns Flat, New Cordell, Sentinel, and Corn. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest, Loblolly Pine Forest, Shinnery Oak, Tallgrass Prairie, and Sandsage Grassland.
The Caddo-Wichita-Delaware Reservation is in west-central Oklahoma and has an odd wedge shape. Its northeastern edge is a long wavy line roughly following the Canadian River. Its eastern edge is a straight line along the Chickasaw Nation. Its southern edge is a wavy line along the border of the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation, roughly following the Washita River. The Caddo-Wichita-Delaware Reservation includes parts of 6 counties: Caddo Blaine, Canadian, Grady, Washita, and Custer. This covers several towns including Hinton, Lookeba, and Binger. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest, Loblolly Pine Forest, and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation is in southwest Oklahoma. Its northern edge is the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation (westerly) and the Caddo-Wichita-Delaware Reservation (easterly). Its eastern edge is a straight line along the Chickasaw Nation. Its western edge is a long wavy line bordering Old Greer County, possibly along the North Fork Red River. The Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation includes 5 counties: Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Kiowa, and Tillman. This covers multiple cities and towns including Carnegie, Fort Cobb, Anadarko, Apache, Fletcher, Elgin, Medicine Park, Cache, Lawton, Geronimo, Walters, Temple, Devol, Randlett, Mountain View, Carnegie, Hobart, Lone Wolf, Roosevelt, Mountain Park, Snyder, Tipton, Frederick, Davidson, and Grandfield. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest, Loblolly Pine Forest, Tallgrass Prairie, and Mesquite Grassland.
The Iowa Nation is a small squarish space in central Oklahoma. Its eastern edge is the Sac and Fox Nation. Its southern edge is the Kickapoo Nation and a little of the Unassigned Lands. Its western and northern edges are the Unassigned Lands. The Iowa Nation lies in parts of Lincoln, Logan, and Oklahoma Counties. This covers the towns of Tryon, Anderson, and Carney. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Sac and Fox Nation is a tall rectangle in central Oklahoma. Its northern edge is the Unassigned Lands, a wavy line roughly along the Cimarron River. It eastern edge is a straight line bordering the Muscogee Creek Nation. Its southern edge borders the Seminole Nation (easterly) and Citizen Potawotami-Absentee Shawnee Reservation (westerly), in a wavy line roughly following the (South) Canadian River. Its western edge borders the Kickapoo Nation (southerly) and Iowa Nation (northerly). The Sac and Fox Nation lies in the counties of Lincoln, Payne, and Pottawatomie. This covers several towns including Cushing, Chandler, Stroud, Meeker, and Prague. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Kickapoo Nation is in central Oklahoma. Its northern border is the Iowa Nation. Its eastern border is the the Sac and Fox Nation. Its southern border is the Citizen Potawotami-Absentee Shawnee Reservation. Its western border is the Unassigned Lands. The Kickapoo Nation lies in Oklahoma, Pottawatomie, and Lincoln Counties. This covers several towns including Midlothian, Rossville, and Meeker. The habitat is all Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest.
The Citizen Potawotami-Absentee Shawnee Reservation is in central Oklahoma. Its northern edge borders the Unassigned Lands (westerly) and Kickapoo Nation (easterly), a long wavy line roughly along the North Canadian River. Its eastern edge is a straight line bordering the Seminole Nation. Its southern edge borders the Chickasaw Nation, a long wavy line roughly following the (South) Canadian River. The Citizen Potawotami-Absentee Shawnee Reservation lies in Cleveland and Pottawatomie Counties. This covers several towns including McCloud, Shawnee, Tecumseh, Macomb, and Wanette. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
One small angle of Unassigned Lands remained in the middle of Oklahoma. This has a western edge almost straight north from the (South) Canadian River, possibly near Oklahoma State Highway 4 and then closer to Oklahoma State Highway 74. Its northern edge is a straight line that is also the northern edge of the Muscogee Creek Nation, partially parallel to US Route 412, and running to the northwestern corner of the Muscogee Creek Nation. The southern edge of the northeast leg is the Cimarron River (crossed by Dunkin Bridge), south of which lie the Sac and Fox Nation (easterly) and Iowa Nation (westerly). Part of the western edge is the border with the Iowa Nation, then to the south the Kickapoo Nation, then to the south the Citizen Potawotami-Absentee Shawnee Reservation. The Unassigned-Potawatomi border is nearly a straight line north from roughly where US Route 77 comes near the (South) Canadian River, along the road NS 323. The Unassigned Lands lie in parts of Cleveland, Oklahoma, Logan, and Payne Counties. This covers many cities and towns including Noble, Norman, Moore, much of Oklahoma City, Harrah, Edmond, Cashion, Seward, Guthrie, Cedar Valley, Cimarron City, Crescent, Mulhall, Marshall, Orlando, and most of Stillwater. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
Old Greer County in the southwest, much bigger than modern Greer County, was also outside the reservations because it was disputed with Texas for a while. It has part of its eastern edge along Armstrong Creek, ending at Red River with the Texas border which is the southern edge of Old Greer County. The western edge is also the Texas border. The northern edge is harder to find, possibly along the North Fork Red River. Old Greer County lies in the modern counties of Greer, Jackson, Harmon, and part of Beckham. This covers several cities and towns including Magnum, Reed, Blair, Duke, Altus, Olustee, Elmer, Eldorado, Gould, Hollis, Vinson, Delhi, Hext, and Erick. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest, Shinnery Oak, Loblolly Pine Forest, Tallgrass Prairie, Mesquite Grassland, and Sandsage Grassland.
The Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet in the north was returned to the Cherokee, giving them two large pieces of territory since it was not contiguous with their active reservation. Its northern edge is the Colorado border. Its eastern edge borders the Kaw Nation, Osage Nation, Ponca Nation, Tonkawa Nez Perce, Otoe-Missouri Reservation, and Pawnee Nation. Its southern edge borders the Unassigned Lands (easterly) and Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation (westerly). Its western edge is the Texas border (southerly) and Beaver County of the Panhandle or Cimarron Territory (northerly). The Cherokee Strip has 11 counties: Harper, Ellis, Woodward, Woods, Major, Alfalfa, Grant, Garfield, Kay, Noble, and Payne. It covers many cities and towns including Laverne, Buffalo, Selman, Shattuck, Gage, Fargo, Fort Supply, Sharon, Woodward, Mooreland, Freedom, Waynoka, Alva, Burlington, Cherokee, Dakoma, Helena, Jet, Fairview, Wakita, Renfrow, Medford, Pond Creek, Lamont, Kremlin, North Enid, Enid, Lahoma, Waukomis, Covington, Garber, Billings, Braman, Newkirk, Glencoe, and the northern part of Stillwater. Habitate types include Bottomland, Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest, Loblolly Pine Forest, Shinnery Oak, Tallgrass Prairie, Sandsage Grassland, Shortgrass Highplains, and Stabilized Dune.
A key difference between Terramagne-America and local-America is that T-America was obliged to account for remnant populations of collapsed tribes and for people of Native American descent who did not qualify for tribal membership. Historically, these people held the Cimarron Territory in the "Neutral Strip." It fills the counties of Cimmaron, Texas, and Beaver. It covers multiple towns including Kenton, Wheeless, Boise City, Keyes, Texhoma, Guymon, Hooker, Turpin, and Beaver. Habitat types include Distribution of Pinus Edulis, Pinion-Juniper Mesa, Sandsage Grassland, Shortgrass Highplains, and Stabilized Dune.
In modern times, that had been reduced to two recognized reservations:
The Cimarron Reservation of Oklahoma Indians or "Cimarron Chip" is in the upper northwest corner of the Panhandle. Its eastern boundary is US Highway 287 / 385. From Boise City west and north, the boundary is Oklahoma Highway 325; the final western boundary is Oklahoma's border with New Mexico and the final northern boundary is Oklahoma's border with Colorado. It covers the towns of Kenton and Boise City, along with the areas of Black Mesa Peak and Black Mesa Preserve but not Black Mesa State Park. Habitat types include Distribution of Pinus Edulis and Pinion-Juniper Mesa. The Cimarron Reservation is primarily for members of collapsed tribes or those disenrolled from Oklahoma tribes.
The Albert Reservation of Tribeless Indians or "the Armpit" is in the lower southeast corner of the Panhandle, roughly between Elmwood and May. Its northern boundary is US Route 412, eastern US Route 283, southern Oklahoma State Highway 15 then the Oklahoma-Texas border, and western NS 159 Road. It covers the towns of Slapout and Catesby. Habitat types include Sandsage Grassland, Shortgrass Highplains. The Albert Reservation is primarily for people of tribal descent without membership.
Like the other reservations, the Neutral Strip was never formally disestablished, only overrun. So all of that territory was returned to Indian hands as well. This became by far the largest intertribal reservation, even bigger than many tribal ones.
The Cimarron Reservation of Oklahoma Indians membership includes 27 people disenrolled from the Osage Nation, 16 from the Modoc Nation, 2,800 (descendents of black Freedmen) from the Cherokee Nation, the Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band, among others. Many do not live on the reservation.
After the ruling, the 2,800 former members of the Cherokee Nation established themselves as the Cherokee Freedmen of Oklahoma and staked out part of the former Neutral Strip for their territory, in the southwest corner of the Panhandle. (The T-American government agreed to this because it is much easier to administrate benefits for a cohesive group than for scattered individuals.) Its northern border is Oklahoma State Highway 325 from Boise City west to where it joins E0190 Road / EW 19 Road and continuing the same line to the New Mexico border which defines the western edge. The southern edge is the Texas border. The eastern edge is US Route 385 to where it joins US Route 412 which runs into Boise City held by the Cimarron Reservation of Oklahoma Indians. The Cherokee Freedmen now have two settlements, Felt (93) and Wheeless (no listed population). About 500 of the Cherokee Freedmen have moved into those settlements or the surrounding area since their disenrollment from the Cherokee Nation in 2012, seeking to form a new community of their own. The ruling has encouraged a new wave of immigration as scattered members converge.
The Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band took the wedge of territory just south of Boise City between US Route 385 and US Route 287, with the south edge as the Texas border. It has no towns other than the southeast corner of Boise City, but does include the Cimarron Ranch Airport in the south which some members hope to develop further. It also has a number of current or former farms and farmhouses.
In addition to their rights as Native Americans, the Freedmen also have rights as African-Americans. The T-American government has provided them with assistance toward building up Felt and Wheeless enough to qualify for town status, as reparations for slavery.
In local-America, the Chickasaw Nation never enrolled Freedmen in their tribe. In Terramagne, the Chickasaw Nation simply established a separate band of Chickasaw Freedmen, now numbering about 1,000, who have their own settlement within the reservation. The Cherokee Nation disenrolled their Freedmen, many of whom moved to the Panhandle. The Muscogee Creek Nation, Choctaw Nation, and Seminole Nation are still arguing over theirs.
Tribal disenrollment is a huge problem. It narrows the breeding pool and speeds extinction. If the children and grandchildren can't enroll in a tribe, it will die out.
Membership requirements can vary greatly across tribes.
In Terramagne-America, some tribes use a point-based system that accounts for genetics, culture, and other aspects. See "Sheltered and True" for a detailed discussion of the system used by the Chippewa-Cree tribe on Rocky Boy's Reservation in Montana.
Minimum Viable Population refers to the number of breeding individuals needed to sustain a group over the long term. It is difficult to estimate, and it varies by species. 1,000 is a common number cited for terrestrial vertebrates. (Some prey species need a lot less. One buck and one doe rabbit can successfully colonize an island, which has happened more than once.) Estimates for humans vary radically. Some estimates for a generation ship crewed by humans are also low, such as this one for 98. This worldbuilding discussion includes many estimates, along with some real-life examples including one with only 15 adults. To start a colony, this article recommends 10,000 and preferably 40,000. The usual MVP estimates range between 150 and 40,000 individuals. Now consider that humanity has already survived at least two major bottlenecks, one at around 10,000 individuals and the other 1200. So figure something like these points:
5,000 – Viable population size without interventions.
500 – Genetic counseling may be necessary to avoid inbreeding.
50 – Maximizing offspring from different partners is necessary to provide genetic diversity.
Of the federally recognized tribes in Oklahoma, the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma is the smallest with 200 members. Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town has 380. Kialegee Tribal Town (Muscogee Creek) has 439. Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma has 607. Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (Nez Perce) has 611. Fort Sill Apache Tribe has 650. Thlopthlocco Tribal Town (Muscogee Creek) has 845. Bear in mind that these are membership numbers, not fertile breeders and not necessarily living on a reservation together; the in-state numbers are lower. All of these tribes would struggle to survive long-term even without artificial barriers such as blood quantum, if they could not obtain mates from other gene pools. Use of the blood quantum means they will almost certainly either crossbreed or inbreed themselves out of existence within the foreseeable future.
Tribes between 1,000 and 9,999 members include:
Delaware Nation (1,440)
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma (2,263)
Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma (2,500)
Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians (2,554)
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (2,564)
Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma (2,630)
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma (2,801)
Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (2,925)
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians (3,050)
Kaw Nation (3,126)
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma (3,240)
Quapaw Nation (3,240)
Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (3,581)
Sac and Fox Nation (3,794)
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma (3,908)
Wyandotte Nation (4,957)
Seneca-Cayuga Nation (5,059)
Caddo Nation of Oklahoma (6,406)
Note that the Seneca-Cayuga Nation would have higher numbers in Terramagne than here, due to winning a court case earlier that gave them much more resources which thus enabled them to support more members, childbearing, improved health care leading to longer lifespans, etc. These tribes are more secure than the smallest ones, but the blood quantum still threatens them over the long term. Young single members often struggle to find a suitable mate within the tribe, who is not too closely related and wishes to start a family with them, and whose children together would qualify for membership.
Tribes between 10,000 and 99,999 members include:
Shawnee Tribe (10,000)
Delaware Tribe of Indians (10,500)
Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma (12,000)
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes (12,185)
Osage Nation (13,307)
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (14,300)
Comanche Nation (14,700)
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma (16,338)
Citizen Potawatomi Nation (29,155)
Chickasaw Nation (49,000)
Muscogee Creek Nation (69,162)
These tribes have a more secure future. It is easier for their young people to find suitable mates within their tribe. The blood quantum would still cost them members over time, but they could maintain a core population much longer. They have enough to withstand small to medium losses of population. The two largest of these, Chickasaw Nation (49,000) and Muscogee Creek Nation (69,162), are both well over the most conservative MVP of 40,000 and can be considered stable over the long term, even against large losses.
Two tribes have over 200,000 members: Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (223,279) and Cherokee Nation (299,862). They are secure against even very large population losses. Their young people have little difficulty finding suitable mates within the same tribe.
Note that some groups, like the Delaware and Apache, have more than one tribe registered. While this allows them to choose mates from a wider pool of people with similar cultural background, it does not help them maintain the blood quantum within each individual tribe: an example of "divide and conquer" genocide through institutional racism. Conversely, some tribes of the same group share a reservation, and could conceivably merge if their numbers were threatened. Some completely unrelated tribes also share a reservation, which may push their cultures together over time, such that they may also decide to merge their tribes in the future; but this is probably farther out due to cultural differences. These factors will greatly complicate the geopolitical issues facing the many sovereign nations inside the boundaries of former Oklahoma.
Compare the populations of recognized nations with indigenous nations. There are 23 recognized nations smaller than the Cherokee Nation, starting with Barbados (281,200 in 2021); and 22 smaller than the Choctaw Nation, starting with Sao Tome and Principe (223,107 in 2021). There are 10 recognized nations smaller than the Muscogee Creek Nation, starting with Greenland (56,243 in 2021); and 9 smaller than the Chickasaw Nation starting with Saint Kitts and Nevis (47,606 in 2021). The smallest recognized nation is Vatican City at 511 in 2021. Only the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma (200), Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town (380), and Kialegee Tribal Town (Muscogee Creek) (439) are smaller than that. But international recognition grants many more rights to those small independent nations than to under-recognized nations, even though some tribal nations are bigger than the small independent ones. This is a problem supported by the unfair infrastructure of the United Nations with its frankly cliqueish membership requirements. It is directly addressed by the efforts of the Maldives and Thalassia to create a fairer international organization so that under-recognized nations can enter the global political sphere. The Oklahoma ruling is a tremendous gain for this objective.
Here is a map of Oklahoma Indian Territory Boundaries in 1889.
This map shows national lands like the Osage Nation, national grasslands, national forests, and wildlife refuges. Publicly held wilderness areas within reservation boundaries had to be returned to the tribes because they were illegally taken, although this did not include ousting people from privately held land which some of those areas permitted.
This map of towns and roads also shows state parks. As with national lands above, these had to be returned to the relevant tribes, except for the ones outside of reservations like Quartz Mountain State Park in the Old Greer County area.
Here is a general map of the Citizen Potawatomi Reservation. This one shows municipal boundaries. Here is their land base. The farthest north road is EW 103 and the farthest south road is EW 146. The farthest west road is NS 323 forming the western edge of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. The farthest east road is NS 349; the actual edge is east of that but is a straight line which parallels that road. The northern edge is the North Canadian River and the southern edge is the Canadian River.
This is a map of Black Mesa.
See a list of Oklahoma state parks. Oklahoma lands include parks, forests, wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, and scenic byways.
In local-America, there are many federally recognized tribes in Oklahoma, but the Osage Nation maintains the only federally recognized Indian reservation.
For references to the Chickasaw Nation, see "The Health of the People" in Calliope. This reservation was already active.
For some references to Seneca-Cayuga legal histories, see "As Glorious Reminders." For Cherokee in Tennessee regarding right of first refusal, see also "Bound in Primal Longings." In T-America, The Black Smoke Reservation belongs to the Black Cherokee Tribe of Tennessee and the Ross Ridge Reservation to another group. These cases meant that those tribes already held active reservations in Oklahoma.
Almost all cities in Oklahoma have been affected by the changes. The southern part of Stillwater lies inside the Unassigned Lands, but its northern part is in the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet. Part of Oklahoma City is in the Unassigned Lands too, but part of it spills over into Cheyenne-Arapaho land. Tulsa is almost entirely inside Muscogee Creek land, with some parts in Osage and Cherokee lands. Lawton is in Kiowa-Comanche-Apache land. While private land remained private, changing legal jurisdiction influenced homes, businesses, and institutions. When the (mostly white) residents of Oklahoma squalled about the "land grab," the tribal people just said, "Now you know how we feel."
Local-America has a bad habit of trampling tribal rights with plain brute force. Terramagne-America never got quite as bad, although it was plenty bad enough. In modern times, the federal government can no longer get away with the kind of rampant abuses that it used to. Since it did not formally disestablish the reservations back when that sort of behavior was widely tolerated, now it cannot do so, because that behavior is now greatly frowned upon in the international community. In particular, T-America cannot afford to offend the Republic of the Maldives and Thalassia, both of whom have helped to build a coalition of under-recognized nations. The huge gains in territory once held by the state of Oklahoma have improved the status of many tribal nations, giving them a better chance of international recognition.
The American government has long pursued genocide against the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island, using everything from germ warfare to institutionalized racism to kidnapping. Some tribes have later contributed through self-destructive actions like disenrollment. Regarding reservations in particular, the government has systematically shirked its responsibilities and tried to stamp out tribal nations. Sometimes it simply stole land, other times it resorted to chicanery such as selling Joseph's horses. Reservations have been attacked and fragmented by such policies as termination, allotment, and fractionation.
Terramagne-America has somewhat better outcomes than here. It has more reservations and has taken steps to repair some of the damage. One very important difference is a cluster of features designed to reintegrate fragmented reservations and restore stolen land. Each tribe gets right of first refusal for any internal or adjacent property offered for sale. They have the option of rolling it into the commons, or keeping it private. Many tribes have chosen a combination of both. This gives the tribe some land which can be sold, mortgaged, or otherwise handled more typically but still falls within reservation lines for legal purposes.
Another approach with legal disputes or offenses. A tribe will almost always settle a case by taking a sufficiently large piece of land that is adjacent or at least near their reservation, or even farther away if it holds a place of spiritual significance. For example, "To Prevent Future Tragedies" (2020) shows the Blackfeet negotiating to take the former Merry Acres Ranch as payment for offenses against the tribe, and they also offer to take in up to a dozen victims besides Spotted Deer. Some cases against federal or state governments have required them to replace stolen land from government holdings, since they can't simply steal privately owned land. See "Bound in Primal Longings" for examples of the government restoring land to Cherokee tribes.
[To be continued ...]
As research continued, the other Oklahoma reservations were confirmed. These included the Kaw, Tonkawa Nez Perce, Ponca, Otoe-Missouri, Pawnee, Osage, Miami, Peoria, Ottawa, Eastern Shawnee, Modoc, Wyandotte, Seneca-Cayuga, Cheyenne-Arapaho, Caddo-Wichita-Delaware, Iowa, Sac and Fox, Kickapoo, Citizen Potawotami-Absentee Shawnee, and Kiowa-Comanche-Apache.
The Kaw Nation is in north-central Oklahoma just east of the Osage Nation. Its northern edge is the Kansas border. Its eastern and southeastern edge is the Osage Nation. It southwestern and western edge is the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet. The Kaw Nation is in Kay County. It covers the towns of Kaw City and Hardy. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Tonkawa Nez Perce Nation is in north-central Oklahoma, just northwest of the Ponca Nation. The reservation is a small squarish area surrounded by the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet except for a small part of the southwestern edge that border the Ponca Nation. The Tonkawa Nez Perce Nation Nation is in Kay County. This covers the town of Tonkawa. The habitat is all Tallgrass Prairie.
The Ponca Nation is in north-central Oklahoma, just southeast of the Tonkawa Nez Perce Nation. Its northern edge is the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet. Its eastern edge is the Osage Nation, a wavy line roughly following the Arkansas River. Its southern edge is the Otoe-Missouri Reservation. Its western edge is the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet (southerly) and the Tonkawa Nez Perce Nation (northerly). The Ponca Nation includes parts of Kay and Noble Counties. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Otoe-Missouri Reservation is in north-central Oklahoma. Its northern edge is the Ponca Nation, northeast is the Osage Nation, and southeast is the Pawnee Nation. The rest is the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet. The Otoe-Missouri Reservation is in Noble and Pawnee Counties. This includes the towns of Billings and Red Rock. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Pawnee Nation is in north-central Oklahoma. Its northeast edge is a long wavy line roughly following the Arkansas River, bordering the Osage Nation. The southern edge is the Muscogee Creek Nation (easterly) and the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet (westerly), with the Otoe-Missouri Reservation at the northwest edge. It lies in the counties of Noble, Payne, and Pawnee. This covers various towns including Perry, Ralston, Pawnee, Jennings, and Cleveland. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Osage Nation (the only reservation in L-Oklahoma and one of three in T-Oklahoma acknowledged before the settlement) is in north-central Oklahoma. Its northern edge is the Kansas border. Its eastern edge is a straight line bordering the Cherokee Nation, a little west of US Route 75. Its southern edge is a short straight line bordering the Muscogee Creek Nation, a little north of US Route 412. Its southwestern edge is a long wavy line roughly following the Arkansas River. Its western edge is short line straight north from Oklahoma Highway 11 to the Kansas border. The Osage Nation is contiguous with Osage County. This covers multiple cities and towns includes Shidler, Burbank, Pawhuska, Fairfax, Hominy, Skiatook, and part of Bartlesville. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Miami Nation is in the northeast corner of Oklahoma. Its northern edge is the Kansas border. Its western edge is the Quapaw Nation (northerly) and the Peoria Nation (southerly). The rest is the Cherokee Nation, a long wavy line roughly following the Neosho River. The Miami Nation is in Ottawa County. It covers the town of Miami. The habitat is all Tallgrass prairie.
The Peoria Nation is a skinny rectangle in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, just south of the Quapaw Nation. Its northern edge is the Quapaw Nation. Its western edge is the Missouri border. Its southern edge is the Modoc Nation (easterly), the Eastern Shawnee Nation (central), and the Ottawa Nation (westerly). Its western edge is the Cherokee Nation. The Peoria Nation is in Ottawa County. This covers part of the city of Miami. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Ottawa Nation is in the northeast corner of Oklahoma. Its northern edge is the Peoria Nation. Its eastern edge is the Eastern Shawnee Nation. Its southern edge is the Wyandotte Nation. Its western edge is the Cherokee Nation. The Ottawa Nation lies in Ottawa County. It has no significant towns. The habitat is all Oak-Hickory Forest.
The Eastern Shawnee Nation is in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, between the Ottawa Nation (westerly) and Modoc Nation (easterly). Its northern edge is the Peoria Nation. Its western edge is the Modoc Nation (northerly) and the Missouri border (southerly). Its southern edge is the Wyandotte Nation and its western edge is the Ottawa Nation. The Eastern Shawnee Nation lies in Ottawa County. It has no significant towns. The habitat is all Oak-Hickory Forest.
The Modoc Nation is a small squarish block in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, just west of the Eastern Shawnee Nation. Its northern edge is the Peoria Nation. Its western edge is the Missouri border. The rest is the Eastern Shawnee Nation. The Modoc Nation lies in Ottawa County. It has no significant towns. The habitat is all Oak-Hickory Forest.
The Wyandotte Nation is in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, just north of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation. Its northern edge is the Ottawa Nation (westerly) and Eastern Shawnee Nation (easterly). Its western edge is the Missouri border. Its southern edge is the Seneca-Cayuga Reservation. Its eastern edge is the Cherokee Nation. The Wyandotte Nation lies in Ottawa County. This covers the town of Wyandotte. The habitat is all Oak-Hickory Forest.
The Seneca-Cayuga Nation is in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, between the Wyandotte Nation (northerly) and the Cherokee Nation (southerly). Its northern edge is the Wyandotte Nation. Its eastern edge is the Missouri border. The rest is all the Cherokee Nation border, including a long wavy stretch roughly following the Neosho River. The Seneca-Cayuga Nation includes parts of Ottawa and Delaware Counties. This covers about half the town of Cayuga. Habitat types include Oak-Hickory Forest and Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest.
The Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation is in west-central Oklahoma, between the Cherokee Strip and the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation. Its northern edge is a straight line along the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet. Its western edge is an almost straight line bordering the Unassigned Lands. Its southern edge is the Chickasaw Nation (easterly), a big wedge shape around the Caddo-Wichita-Delaware Reservation (east-central), the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache (west-central) and Old Greer County (westerly). Its western edge is the Texas border. This includes 9 counties: Beckham, Blaine, Canadian, Custer, Dewey, Ellis, Kingfisher, Roger Mills, and Washita. It covers many cities and towns including Sweetwater, Sayre, Carter, Elk City, Longdale, Canton, Okeene, Watonga, Geary, Okarche, Calumet, El Reno, Yukon, Mustang, Hammon, Butler, Arapaho, Clinton, Vici, Seiling, Camargo, Trail, Leedy, Taloga, Oakwood, Arnett, Harmon, Hennessey, Loyal, Omega, Kingfisher, Crawford, Roll, Reydon, Cheyenne, Foss, Canute, Burns Flat, New Cordell, Sentinel, and Corn. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest, Loblolly Pine Forest, Shinnery Oak, Tallgrass Prairie, and Sandsage Grassland.
The Caddo-Wichita-Delaware Reservation is in west-central Oklahoma and has an odd wedge shape. Its northeastern edge is a long wavy line roughly following the Canadian River. Its eastern edge is a straight line along the Chickasaw Nation. Its southern edge is a wavy line along the border of the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation, roughly following the Washita River. The Caddo-Wichita-Delaware Reservation includes parts of 6 counties: Caddo Blaine, Canadian, Grady, Washita, and Custer. This covers several towns including Hinton, Lookeba, and Binger. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest, Loblolly Pine Forest, and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation is in southwest Oklahoma. Its northern edge is the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation (westerly) and the Caddo-Wichita-Delaware Reservation (easterly). Its eastern edge is a straight line along the Chickasaw Nation. Its western edge is a long wavy line bordering Old Greer County, possibly along the North Fork Red River. The Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation includes 5 counties: Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Kiowa, and Tillman. This covers multiple cities and towns including Carnegie, Fort Cobb, Anadarko, Apache, Fletcher, Elgin, Medicine Park, Cache, Lawton, Geronimo, Walters, Temple, Devol, Randlett, Mountain View, Carnegie, Hobart, Lone Wolf, Roosevelt, Mountain Park, Snyder, Tipton, Frederick, Davidson, and Grandfield. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest, Loblolly Pine Forest, Tallgrass Prairie, and Mesquite Grassland.
The Iowa Nation is a small squarish space in central Oklahoma. Its eastern edge is the Sac and Fox Nation. Its southern edge is the Kickapoo Nation and a little of the Unassigned Lands. Its western and northern edges are the Unassigned Lands. The Iowa Nation lies in parts of Lincoln, Logan, and Oklahoma Counties. This covers the towns of Tryon, Anderson, and Carney. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Sac and Fox Nation is a tall rectangle in central Oklahoma. Its northern edge is the Unassigned Lands, a wavy line roughly along the Cimarron River. It eastern edge is a straight line bordering the Muscogee Creek Nation. Its southern edge borders the Seminole Nation (easterly) and Citizen Potawotami-Absentee Shawnee Reservation (westerly), in a wavy line roughly following the (South) Canadian River. Its western edge borders the Kickapoo Nation (southerly) and Iowa Nation (northerly). The Sac and Fox Nation lies in the counties of Lincoln, Payne, and Pottawatomie. This covers several towns including Cushing, Chandler, Stroud, Meeker, and Prague. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
The Kickapoo Nation is in central Oklahoma. Its northern border is the Iowa Nation. Its eastern border is the the Sac and Fox Nation. Its southern border is the Citizen Potawotami-Absentee Shawnee Reservation. Its western border is the Unassigned Lands. The Kickapoo Nation lies in Oklahoma, Pottawatomie, and Lincoln Counties. This covers several towns including Midlothian, Rossville, and Meeker. The habitat is all Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest.
The Citizen Potawotami-Absentee Shawnee Reservation is in central Oklahoma. Its northern edge borders the Unassigned Lands (westerly) and Kickapoo Nation (easterly), a long wavy line roughly along the North Canadian River. Its eastern edge is a straight line bordering the Seminole Nation. Its southern edge borders the Chickasaw Nation, a long wavy line roughly following the (South) Canadian River. The Citizen Potawotami-Absentee Shawnee Reservation lies in Cleveland and Pottawatomie Counties. This covers several towns including McCloud, Shawnee, Tecumseh, Macomb, and Wanette. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
One small angle of Unassigned Lands remained in the middle of Oklahoma. This has a western edge almost straight north from the (South) Canadian River, possibly near Oklahoma State Highway 4 and then closer to Oklahoma State Highway 74. Its northern edge is a straight line that is also the northern edge of the Muscogee Creek Nation, partially parallel to US Route 412, and running to the northwestern corner of the Muscogee Creek Nation. The southern edge of the northeast leg is the Cimarron River (crossed by Dunkin Bridge), south of which lie the Sac and Fox Nation (easterly) and Iowa Nation (westerly). Part of the western edge is the border with the Iowa Nation, then to the south the Kickapoo Nation, then to the south the Citizen Potawotami-Absentee Shawnee Reservation. The Unassigned-Potawatomi border is nearly a straight line north from roughly where US Route 77 comes near the (South) Canadian River, along the road NS 323. The Unassigned Lands lie in parts of Cleveland, Oklahoma, Logan, and Payne Counties. This covers many cities and towns including Noble, Norman, Moore, much of Oklahoma City, Harrah, Edmond, Cashion, Seward, Guthrie, Cedar Valley, Cimarron City, Crescent, Mulhall, Marshall, Orlando, and most of Stillwater. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest and Tallgrass Prairie.
Old Greer County in the southwest, much bigger than modern Greer County, was also outside the reservations because it was disputed with Texas for a while. It has part of its eastern edge along Armstrong Creek, ending at Red River with the Texas border which is the southern edge of Old Greer County. The western edge is also the Texas border. The northern edge is harder to find, possibly along the North Fork Red River. Old Greer County lies in the modern counties of Greer, Jackson, Harmon, and part of Beckham. This covers several cities and towns including Magnum, Reed, Blair, Duke, Altus, Olustee, Elmer, Eldorado, Gould, Hollis, Vinson, Delhi, Hext, and Erick. Habitat types include Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest, Shinnery Oak, Loblolly Pine Forest, Tallgrass Prairie, Mesquite Grassland, and Sandsage Grassland.
The Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet in the north was returned to the Cherokee, giving them two large pieces of territory since it was not contiguous with their active reservation. Its northern edge is the Colorado border. Its eastern edge borders the Kaw Nation, Osage Nation, Ponca Nation, Tonkawa Nez Perce, Otoe-Missouri Reservation, and Pawnee Nation. Its southern edge borders the Unassigned Lands (easterly) and Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation (westerly). Its western edge is the Texas border (southerly) and Beaver County of the Panhandle or Cimarron Territory (northerly). The Cherokee Strip has 11 counties: Harper, Ellis, Woodward, Woods, Major, Alfalfa, Grant, Garfield, Kay, Noble, and Payne. It covers many cities and towns including Laverne, Buffalo, Selman, Shattuck, Gage, Fargo, Fort Supply, Sharon, Woodward, Mooreland, Freedom, Waynoka, Alva, Burlington, Cherokee, Dakoma, Helena, Jet, Fairview, Wakita, Renfrow, Medford, Pond Creek, Lamont, Kremlin, North Enid, Enid, Lahoma, Waukomis, Covington, Garber, Billings, Braman, Newkirk, Glencoe, and the northern part of Stillwater. Habitate types include Bottomland, Postoak-Blackjack Oak Forest, Loblolly Pine Forest, Shinnery Oak, Tallgrass Prairie, Sandsage Grassland, Shortgrass Highplains, and Stabilized Dune.
A key difference between Terramagne-America and local-America is that T-America was obliged to account for remnant populations of collapsed tribes and for people of Native American descent who did not qualify for tribal membership. Historically, these people held the Cimarron Territory in the "Neutral Strip." It fills the counties of Cimmaron, Texas, and Beaver. It covers multiple towns including Kenton, Wheeless, Boise City, Keyes, Texhoma, Guymon, Hooker, Turpin, and Beaver. Habitat types include Distribution of Pinus Edulis, Pinion-Juniper Mesa, Sandsage Grassland, Shortgrass Highplains, and Stabilized Dune.
In modern times, that had been reduced to two recognized reservations:
The Cimarron Reservation of Oklahoma Indians or "Cimarron Chip" is in the upper northwest corner of the Panhandle. Its eastern boundary is US Highway 287 / 385. From Boise City west and north, the boundary is Oklahoma Highway 325; the final western boundary is Oklahoma's border with New Mexico and the final northern boundary is Oklahoma's border with Colorado. It covers the towns of Kenton and Boise City, along with the areas of Black Mesa Peak and Black Mesa Preserve but not Black Mesa State Park. Habitat types include Distribution of Pinus Edulis and Pinion-Juniper Mesa. The Cimarron Reservation is primarily for members of collapsed tribes or those disenrolled from Oklahoma tribes.
The Albert Reservation of Tribeless Indians or "the Armpit" is in the lower southeast corner of the Panhandle, roughly between Elmwood and May. Its northern boundary is US Route 412, eastern US Route 283, southern Oklahoma State Highway 15 then the Oklahoma-Texas border, and western NS 159 Road. It covers the towns of Slapout and Catesby. Habitat types include Sandsage Grassland, Shortgrass Highplains. The Albert Reservation is primarily for people of tribal descent without membership.
Like the other reservations, the Neutral Strip was never formally disestablished, only overrun. So all of that territory was returned to Indian hands as well. This became by far the largest intertribal reservation, even bigger than many tribal ones.
The Cimarron Reservation of Oklahoma Indians membership includes 27 people disenrolled from the Osage Nation, 16 from the Modoc Nation, 2,800 (descendents of black Freedmen) from the Cherokee Nation, the Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band, among others. Many do not live on the reservation.
After the ruling, the 2,800 former members of the Cherokee Nation established themselves as the Cherokee Freedmen of Oklahoma and staked out part of the former Neutral Strip for their territory, in the southwest corner of the Panhandle. (The T-American government agreed to this because it is much easier to administrate benefits for a cohesive group than for scattered individuals.) Its northern border is Oklahoma State Highway 325 from Boise City west to where it joins E0190 Road / EW 19 Road and continuing the same line to the New Mexico border which defines the western edge. The southern edge is the Texas border. The eastern edge is US Route 385 to where it joins US Route 412 which runs into Boise City held by the Cimarron Reservation of Oklahoma Indians. The Cherokee Freedmen now have two settlements, Felt (93) and Wheeless (no listed population). About 500 of the Cherokee Freedmen have moved into those settlements or the surrounding area since their disenrollment from the Cherokee Nation in 2012, seeking to form a new community of their own. The ruling has encouraged a new wave of immigration as scattered members converge.
The Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band took the wedge of territory just south of Boise City between US Route 385 and US Route 287, with the south edge as the Texas border. It has no towns other than the southeast corner of Boise City, but does include the Cimarron Ranch Airport in the south which some members hope to develop further. It also has a number of current or former farms and farmhouses.
In addition to their rights as Native Americans, the Freedmen also have rights as African-Americans. The T-American government has provided them with assistance toward building up Felt and Wheeless enough to qualify for town status, as reparations for slavery.
In local-America, the Chickasaw Nation never enrolled Freedmen in their tribe. In Terramagne, the Chickasaw Nation simply established a separate band of Chickasaw Freedmen, now numbering about 1,000, who have their own settlement within the reservation. The Cherokee Nation disenrolled their Freedmen, many of whom moved to the Panhandle. The Muscogee Creek Nation, Choctaw Nation, and Seminole Nation are still arguing over theirs.
Tribal disenrollment is a huge problem. It narrows the breeding pool and speeds extinction. If the children and grandchildren can't enroll in a tribe, it will die out.
Membership requirements can vary greatly across tribes.
In Terramagne-America, some tribes use a point-based system that accounts for genetics, culture, and other aspects. See "Sheltered and True" for a detailed discussion of the system used by the Chippewa-Cree tribe on Rocky Boy's Reservation in Montana.
Minimum Viable Population refers to the number of breeding individuals needed to sustain a group over the long term. It is difficult to estimate, and it varies by species. 1,000 is a common number cited for terrestrial vertebrates. (Some prey species need a lot less. One buck and one doe rabbit can successfully colonize an island, which has happened more than once.) Estimates for humans vary radically. Some estimates for a generation ship crewed by humans are also low, such as this one for 98. This worldbuilding discussion includes many estimates, along with some real-life examples including one with only 15 adults. To start a colony, this article recommends 10,000 and preferably 40,000. The usual MVP estimates range between 150 and 40,000 individuals. Now consider that humanity has already survived at least two major bottlenecks, one at around 10,000 individuals and the other 1200. So figure something like these points:
5,000 – Viable population size without interventions.
500 – Genetic counseling may be necessary to avoid inbreeding.
50 – Maximizing offspring from different partners is necessary to provide genetic diversity.
Of the federally recognized tribes in Oklahoma, the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma is the smallest with 200 members. Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town has 380. Kialegee Tribal Town (Muscogee Creek) has 439. Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma has 607. Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (Nez Perce) has 611. Fort Sill Apache Tribe has 650. Thlopthlocco Tribal Town (Muscogee Creek) has 845. Bear in mind that these are membership numbers, not fertile breeders and not necessarily living on a reservation together; the in-state numbers are lower. All of these tribes would struggle to survive long-term even without artificial barriers such as blood quantum, if they could not obtain mates from other gene pools. Use of the blood quantum means they will almost certainly either crossbreed or inbreed themselves out of existence within the foreseeable future.
Tribes between 1,000 and 9,999 members include:
Delaware Nation (1,440)
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma (2,263)
Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma (2,500)
Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians (2,554)
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (2,564)
Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma (2,630)
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma (2,801)
Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (2,925)
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians (3,050)
Kaw Nation (3,126)
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma (3,240)
Quapaw Nation (3,240)
Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (3,581)
Sac and Fox Nation (3,794)
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma (3,908)
Wyandotte Nation (4,957)
Seneca-Cayuga Nation (5,059)
Caddo Nation of Oklahoma (6,406)
Note that the Seneca-Cayuga Nation would have higher numbers in Terramagne than here, due to winning a court case earlier that gave them much more resources which thus enabled them to support more members, childbearing, improved health care leading to longer lifespans, etc. These tribes are more secure than the smallest ones, but the blood quantum still threatens them over the long term. Young single members often struggle to find a suitable mate within the tribe, who is not too closely related and wishes to start a family with them, and whose children together would qualify for membership.
Tribes between 10,000 and 99,999 members include:
Shawnee Tribe (10,000)
Delaware Tribe of Indians (10,500)
Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma (12,000)
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes (12,185)
Osage Nation (13,307)
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (14,300)
Comanche Nation (14,700)
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma (16,338)
Citizen Potawatomi Nation (29,155)
Chickasaw Nation (49,000)
Muscogee Creek Nation (69,162)
These tribes have a more secure future. It is easier for their young people to find suitable mates within their tribe. The blood quantum would still cost them members over time, but they could maintain a core population much longer. They have enough to withstand small to medium losses of population. The two largest of these, Chickasaw Nation (49,000) and Muscogee Creek Nation (69,162), are both well over the most conservative MVP of 40,000 and can be considered stable over the long term, even against large losses.
Two tribes have over 200,000 members: Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (223,279) and Cherokee Nation (299,862). They are secure against even very large population losses. Their young people have little difficulty finding suitable mates within the same tribe.
Note that some groups, like the Delaware and Apache, have more than one tribe registered. While this allows them to choose mates from a wider pool of people with similar cultural background, it does not help them maintain the blood quantum within each individual tribe: an example of "divide and conquer" genocide through institutional racism. Conversely, some tribes of the same group share a reservation, and could conceivably merge if their numbers were threatened. Some completely unrelated tribes also share a reservation, which may push their cultures together over time, such that they may also decide to merge their tribes in the future; but this is probably farther out due to cultural differences. These factors will greatly complicate the geopolitical issues facing the many sovereign nations inside the boundaries of former Oklahoma.
Compare the populations of recognized nations with indigenous nations. There are 23 recognized nations smaller than the Cherokee Nation, starting with Barbados (281,200 in 2021); and 22 smaller than the Choctaw Nation, starting with Sao Tome and Principe (223,107 in 2021). There are 10 recognized nations smaller than the Muscogee Creek Nation, starting with Greenland (56,243 in 2021); and 9 smaller than the Chickasaw Nation starting with Saint Kitts and Nevis (47,606 in 2021). The smallest recognized nation is Vatican City at 511 in 2021. Only the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma (200), Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town (380), and Kialegee Tribal Town (Muscogee Creek) (439) are smaller than that. But international recognition grants many more rights to those small independent nations than to under-recognized nations, even though some tribal nations are bigger than the small independent ones. This is a problem supported by the unfair infrastructure of the United Nations with its frankly cliqueish membership requirements. It is directly addressed by the efforts of the Maldives and Thalassia to create a fairer international organization so that under-recognized nations can enter the global political sphere. The Oklahoma ruling is a tremendous gain for this objective.
Here is a map of Oklahoma Indian Territory Boundaries in 1889.
This map shows national lands like the Osage Nation, national grasslands, national forests, and wildlife refuges. Publicly held wilderness areas within reservation boundaries had to be returned to the tribes because they were illegally taken, although this did not include ousting people from privately held land which some of those areas permitted.
This map of towns and roads also shows state parks. As with national lands above, these had to be returned to the relevant tribes, except for the ones outside of reservations like Quartz Mountain State Park in the Old Greer County area.
Here is a general map of the Citizen Potawatomi Reservation. This one shows municipal boundaries. Here is their land base. The farthest north road is EW 103 and the farthest south road is EW 146. The farthest west road is NS 323 forming the western edge of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. The farthest east road is NS 349; the actual edge is east of that but is a straight line which parallels that road. The northern edge is the North Canadian River and the southern edge is the Canadian River.
This is a map of Black Mesa.
See a list of Oklahoma state parks. Oklahoma lands include parks, forests, wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, and scenic byways.
In local-America, there are many federally recognized tribes in Oklahoma, but the Osage Nation maintains the only federally recognized Indian reservation.
For references to the Chickasaw Nation, see "The Health of the People" in Calliope. This reservation was already active.
For some references to Seneca-Cayuga legal histories, see "As Glorious Reminders." For Cherokee in Tennessee regarding right of first refusal, see also "Bound in Primal Longings." In T-America, The Black Smoke Reservation belongs to the Black Cherokee Tribe of Tennessee and the Ross Ridge Reservation to another group. These cases meant that those tribes already held active reservations in Oklahoma.
Almost all cities in Oklahoma have been affected by the changes. The southern part of Stillwater lies inside the Unassigned Lands, but its northern part is in the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet. Part of Oklahoma City is in the Unassigned Lands too, but part of it spills over into Cheyenne-Arapaho land. Tulsa is almost entirely inside Muscogee Creek land, with some parts in Osage and Cherokee lands. Lawton is in Kiowa-Comanche-Apache land. While private land remained private, changing legal jurisdiction influenced homes, businesses, and institutions. When the (mostly white) residents of Oklahoma squalled about the "land grab," the tribal people just said, "Now you know how we feel."
Local-America has a bad habit of trampling tribal rights with plain brute force. Terramagne-America never got quite as bad, although it was plenty bad enough. In modern times, the federal government can no longer get away with the kind of rampant abuses that it used to. Since it did not formally disestablish the reservations back when that sort of behavior was widely tolerated, now it cannot do so, because that behavior is now greatly frowned upon in the international community. In particular, T-America cannot afford to offend the Republic of the Maldives and Thalassia, both of whom have helped to build a coalition of under-recognized nations. The huge gains in territory once held by the state of Oklahoma have improved the status of many tribal nations, giving them a better chance of international recognition.
The American government has long pursued genocide against the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island, using everything from germ warfare to institutionalized racism to kidnapping. Some tribes have later contributed through self-destructive actions like disenrollment. Regarding reservations in particular, the government has systematically shirked its responsibilities and tried to stamp out tribal nations. Sometimes it simply stole land, other times it resorted to chicanery such as selling Joseph's horses. Reservations have been attacked and fragmented by such policies as termination, allotment, and fractionation.
Terramagne-America has somewhat better outcomes than here. It has more reservations and has taken steps to repair some of the damage. One very important difference is a cluster of features designed to reintegrate fragmented reservations and restore stolen land. Each tribe gets right of first refusal for any internal or adjacent property offered for sale. They have the option of rolling it into the commons, or keeping it private. Many tribes have chosen a combination of both. This gives the tribe some land which can be sold, mortgaged, or otherwise handled more typically but still falls within reservation lines for legal purposes.
Another approach with legal disputes or offenses. A tribe will almost always settle a case by taking a sufficiently large piece of land that is adjacent or at least near their reservation, or even farther away if it holds a place of spiritual significance. For example, "To Prevent Future Tragedies" (2020) shows the Blackfeet negotiating to take the former Merry Acres Ranch as payment for offenses against the tribe, and they also offer to take in up to a dozen victims besides Spotted Deer. Some cases against federal or state governments have required them to replace stolen land from government holdings, since they can't simply steal privately owned land. See "Bound in Primal Longings" for examples of the government restoring land to Cherokee tribes.
[To be continued ...]