Tribal Justice: The Struggle for Black Rights on Native Land

Imagine being a citizen of a nation and not being allowed to have your case heard in that nation’s courts—because of your race. This is happening now, in Oklahoma, to a group of Black citizens of the Cherokee Nation. They’re called Freedmen, and Michael Hill is one of them.

On September 26, 2020, Michael was in a great mood. He’d recently returned home to Oklahoma after years in the military. He’d bought a house and had a job teaching and coaching basketball at the local high school.

But that night, Michael’s life would turn upside down. Around two o’clock in the morning, he heard people banging on the doors and windows of his home. He called 911 for help.

This is the story of what happened next, and why. To understand it, we have to go back to the Trail of Tears that the Five Tribes were forced to walk. To the enslaved Africans those tribes brought with them on that trail, who became Freedmen after the Civil War. To the 2020 US Supreme Court ruling that Oklahoma had illegally claimed more than three million acres of tribal land. And to what the restoration of that land has meant for policing and the courts.

Tribal Justice is essential storytelling that brings a new lens to understandings of race, sovereignty, power, and belonging.

This documentary is part of the Audible Podcast Development Program.