The Oklahoma Supreme Court today announced the transfer of The Sovereignty Symposium to Oklahoma City University. The Sovereignty Symposium was established by the Oklahoma Supreme Court to provide a forum in which ideas concerning common legal issues among federal and state officials and the state’s Native American tribes can be exchanged in a scholarly, non-adversarial environment. The Oklahoma Supreme Court espoused no view on any of the issues, and the positions taken by symposium participants were not endorsed by the Supreme Court.
The next symposium will take place June 13-14, 2023, at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City. Titled “Treaties,” the keynote speaker will be Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne, a Life Peer and a member of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom. More details will be released later on the event website at thesovereigntysymposium.com.
The Oklahoma City University School of Law has a long history of teaching and working in Oklahoma Indian Country. OCU Law houses the American Indian Law and Sovereignty Center, as well as its American Indian Wills Clinic.
“Oklahoma City University is honored to be able to host and administer The Sovereignty Symposium for the years to come,” OCU President Kenneth Evans said. “Our School of Law and our university at-large emphasize collaboration with Oklahoma’s 39 tribal governments and their citizens. Hosting the symposium is a natural extension of our continuing efforts.”
Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Darby said that “the transfer enables OCU to expand the event in a more robust way and offer even more educational opportunities to students and the legal community.”