ADA, Okla. – The Duane C. Anderson Hedgehog & Fox Faculty lecture recently returned to East Central University.
Dr. Christine Pappas and Dr. Jacintha Webster presented the annual lecture, where they discussed a book chapter that was authored by the duo, titled, “Modern Sequoyah: Native American Political Power in Oklahoma Politics.”
This chapter was featured in the 8th edition of “Oklahoma Government & Politics,” which was edited by a team of political scientists at the University of Central Oklahoma, was published by Kendall Hunt in 2024, and is currently used in political science classes across the state.
The concept of “Modern Sequoyah” is based on the Sequoyah Movement of 1905, when tribes came together to petition the US government to become an all-tribal state that would have been known as the State of Sequoyah.
“It passed Congress but President Theodore Roosevelt rejected the idea,” stated Pappas. “It is likely that if the Sequoyah Movement was successful, tribal treaty rights would have been terminated. Today, tribal governments in Oklahoma have leveraged these treaty rights to become more self-governing and politically powerful. They have created a “modern Sequoyah” with their sovereignty and economic might.”
The chapter explains the history of tribal political power in Oklahoma and discusses current political challenges. It is also timely because of the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision of 2020, which granted certain tribes much more criminal jurisdiction in Oklahoma.
“Jacintha Webster is one of the leading experts on this case and its aftereffects,” Pappas added.
The lecture is named for former ECU Provost Duane C. Anderson and provides a campus-wide forum on exemplary faculty research and other academic experiences. Dr. Anderson established the lecture series during his time at ECU and originally named it for an essay by Isaiah Berlin that he read in graduate school. The essay’s title, “The Hedgehog and The Fox,” was pulled from a line in the work of Greek poet Archilochus. That line roughly says, “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”
Cutline: From left to right, Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Jeffrey Gibson, Department of Politics, Law and Society Professor and Chair Dr. Christine Pappas, Department of Politics, Law and Society Assistant Professor Dr. Jacintha Webster, Dr. Duane C. Anderson and ECU President Wendell Godwin