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<blockquote data-quote="BobbyV" data-source="post: 4161920" data-attributes="member: 32629">As a member of the Cherokee Nation who is married to a member of the Choctaw Nation and as someone who has worked in Indian Health Care for over 28 years I have never felt that anyone in any Oklahoma tribe has a clue what they mean when discussing a &quot;reservation&quot;.&nbsp; Oklahoma might have tribal reservation boundaries on a map, but the state most definitely doesn&#039;t have what most would consider an actual reservation.&nbsp; On an actual reservation nobody can own the land except the BIA.&nbsp; Folks can&#039;t finance building a house because they don&#039;t own the land . . . all they can do is lease the land and pull in a trailer.&nbsp; Business development on an actual reservation takes years.&nbsp; Infrastructure development takes years.&nbsp; The best thing to happen to Oklahoma tribes was to get rid of the &quot;reservation&quot; designations and let people actually own the land.&nbsp; There is no way we&#039;d be happier living on a true reservation like the Navajo Nation.&nbsp; We&#039;re too spoiled.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="BobbyV, post: 4161920, member: 32629"] As a member of the Cherokee Nation who is married to a member of the Choctaw Nation and as someone who has worked in Indian Health Care for over 28 years I have never felt that anyone in any Oklahoma tribe has a clue what they mean when discussing a "reservation". Oklahoma might have tribal reservation boundaries on a map, but the state most definitely doesn't have what most would consider an actual reservation. On an actual reservation nobody can own the land except the BIA. Folks can't finance building a house because they don't own the land . . . all they can do is lease the land and pull in a trailer. Business development on an actual reservation takes years. Infrastructure development takes years. The best thing to happen to Oklahoma tribes was to get rid of the "reservation" designations and let people actually own the land. There is no way we'd be happier living on a true reservation like the Navajo Nation. We're too spoiled. [/QUOTE]

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