Ambassador Jonodev Chaudhuri
Muscogee (Creek) Nation

As a child, I understood our communities’ need for services before I understood sovereignty. Growing up at my mother’s side and watching her and the family’s work in and for Native communities, I witnessed a constant state of triage. The families she advocated for were rooted in culture and language but were prevented from accessing even the smallest modicum of services and support. As I grew older, I realized that strengthening tribal governments is essential to supporting our grassroots Native communities.

My mother, Jean (Hill) Chaudhuri, was a powerful Mvskoke woman born on her grandfather’s allotment land on our Reservation in Oklahoma. She grew up going to our ceremonial grounds. She always taught me that when our people were forced to leave the graves of our ancestors in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, we carried our ceremonial fires to our new home in Indian Territory. My mom knew that our nation’s fate was intertwined with the fate of our Mvskoke culture. If we lose one, we lose the other.

I went to law school because I wanted to help her. I wanted to be her sidekick.

Although her trauma from boarding school meant she never completed anything further than an eighth grade education, I knew I would use my education and training to continue her fight: preserving our Mvskoke culture and protecting our nation’s sovereignty.

Mom passed during my first year in law school. The loss of my mom nearly sidelined me, but I persevered, and since graduating from law school, I have dedicated my life to the fight to preserve our culture and sovereignty.

This path led me to work on tribal economic development, particularly in Indian gaming, because economic growth has always been about more than money — it is about protecting our inherent right to self-govern, our culture, and the vital programs and services our governments provide for our people.

Indian gaming and other economic development avenues have presented remarkable opportunities for tribal self-governance and cultural preservation. Yet, we now face difficult choices where economic progress may seem at odds with cultural preservation. As a former regulator of Indian gaming and proponent of tribal economic development, I have always seen economic development as a means to an end. The end goal is, and always has been, the preservation of our sovereignty and our cultural identity. But now we are being asked whether destroying the essence of who we are to achieve financial gains is justifiable. It is up to us to decide, and whatever choice we make, our children and grandchildren will be forced to live with the consequences. I can still hear my mom’s voice and know where she would stand.

I often say that while economic development is a tool for protecting sovereignty and culture, that doesn’t mean we are locked in a time capsule. Tribal customs evolve, as they have for all nations. But if our efforts to ensure our future destroy our identity, we need to step back and ask: Are we doing right by our communities and our ancestors? And what about our future generations?

I support my nation’s fight to save Oce Vpofv (Hickory Ground). As a member of Nuyakv, I know our ceremonial grounds are the lifeblood of our nation. Nuyakv is a daughter ground to Oce Vpofv, and we stand in solidarity with our Oce relatives. If mom were still with us, she would have been the first to speak out against the ongoing destruction of one of our most sacred Mvskoke sites. Although many hesitate to speak out since the desecrator is another tribe engaged in Indian gaming, Mom would have spoken without hesitation. Like her, I understand that economic development cannot come at the cost of losing sight of who we are.

Indian gaming was always meant to protect our culture and lifeways, not destroy them.

This issue extends far beyond gaming. When tribes misuse tribal sovereign immunity to shield unlawful acts, they undermine the sovereignty of all tribal nations. Sovereign immunity is an essential doctrine, granting our governments the same protections from lawsuits the states and the federal government enjoy. However, it is not a license to violate the federal laws that safeguard our sacred sites and Native burial grounds. When tribes exploit sovereign immunity to escape accountability, they weaken its legitimacy and jeopardize our ability to defend it in courts and Congress.

For sovereign immunity to remain a powerful protection, it must serve the purpose of upholding the fundamental aspects of who we are as Native people.

We engage in Indian gaming to protect our most sacred. We own casinos because, as tribal governments, it is our inherent right. But when we operate casinos that desecrate another tribe’s most holy of holies, we are no longer practicing Indian gaming; we are simply perpetuating a colonial pattern of destruction. If allowed to continue, this behavior will threaten the continued cultural survival of all tribal nations.

At this crossroads, we must remember what is truly at stake. If mom were here, she would remind us that nothing less than the soul of Indian Country hangs in the balance.

Jonodev Chaudhuri is the Ambassador for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and served as the Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission from 2013 to 2019.

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