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Here are tribal nation elections to watch in Oklahoma this weekend

KOSU | By Allison Herrera

Published June 1, 2023 at 1:23 PM CDT

This spring and summer, several tribal nations in Oklahoma, including some of the larger tribes in the state, will hold elections for key positions including tribal leaders and district council seats. This includes the Cherokee Nation, the Choctaw Nation and the Muscogee Nation among others.

Saturday will be a particularly busy day for elections, with voters from The Cherokee Nation, Sac & Fox Nation and Iowa Tribe heading to their respective polls.

Even if you're not a citizen of one of these tribal nations, these elections still affect you.

A 2022 economic impact report shows tribes have billions of dollars in economic impact on the state. Tribal nations employ citizens and non-citizens, provide health care through that employment, and employ people in the healthcare field.

Tribal nations are also key funders of social service organizations. For example in Shawnee, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation funds House of Hope, which is available to anyone living within CPN boundaries.

These factors and the landmark McGirt v. Oklahoma decision, which says that much of eastern Oklahoma remained a reservation for the purposes of criminal justice, intertwines people's lives on the reservation. Tribal leaders’ decisions ripple out far further than in their respective nation.

Here are some of the elections to watch around the state this weekend: