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Overcoming The Politics Of Reform: The Story Of The Cherokee Nation Of Oklahoma Constitutional Convention, Eric Lemont

American Indian Law Review

A pressing international challenge is developing processes of constitution-making that manage the politics of reform and produce legitimate and effective constitutions. This challenge is of special concern for numerous American Indian nations that have been embroiled in dual governments and constitutional crises over the past several decades. This article traces the recent constitutional reform process of the second largest Indian nation in the United States, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. During the middle of its own constitutional crisis in 1999, the Nation formed an independent constitution commission and held a nine-day constitutional convention. The inclusiveness and independence of these two …