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Sovereignty and Sobriety: The Intersection of Temperance, Statehood, and Native American Disenfranchisement in Oklahoma
DeMars, Emily
DeMars, Emily
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Abstract
On November 16, 1907, Oklahoma was admitted to the Union, merging Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory into a singular, unified state. While Oklahoma’s journey to statehood might appear rather straightforward, a complex story lies beneath the surface of its history. This study examines the story of Oklahoma statehood and the effects it had on Indigenous peoples through the lens of the Temperance Movement. Oklahoma, unlike any other state, had Prohibition inscribed in its constitution, a crucial factor in this complicated history. Temperance actors were pivotal factors in influencing statewide Prohibition in Oklahoma, but it also ended up playing a part in the infringement on Indigenous peoples. Thus, the impact of Temperance on Indigenous peoples then became extremely convoluted. Temperance was first utilized by Native Americans to leverage sovereignty and in hopes to secure statehood separate from Oklahoma, but as statehood was achieved and Native nations were dispossessed and had their self-governance eliminated Temperance was then utilized more so as a tool of control of Indigenous bodies. Native peoples, however, resisted these attacks by advocating for themselves at both the Sequoyah and Oklahoma Constitutional conventions.
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Submitted to the Department of History of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for departmental honors
Date
2024-04-26
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Department of History, University of Kansas