Anominousrumorcirculatedaround our area a few weeks ago: An I.C.E. detention center, potentially housing thousands of undocumented migrants, would be coming to Durant.
The rumor included just enough specific details to make it believable.
The center was to be located in a huge vacant building south of town, the former Big Lots Distribution Center, the rumor said.
Opposition was swift and vocal. First, the Choctaw Nation unanimously passed a resolution objecting to the facility on the basis that the proposed location was very near its tribal headquarters, where vulnerable members of the tribe, including children and elderly people, would often be present.
A few days later, the Durant City Council put the rumor on the agenda for its January meeting. Citizens opposed to having a detention center in Durant showed up, filling the chamber where the Council meets and voicing their opposition.
Council members passed an ordinance that same evening requiring city approval before any jail or detention center could be established in Durant.
The Council might well have acted as it did without the prior action by the tribe, as the citizens who showed up to protest were not all tribal members. Perhaps not many were.
But it certainly didn’t hurt that the Choctaw Nation, the county’s largest employer, led the opposition. The tribe swings some weight in Durant and Bryan County.
Named in 2024 by Forbes magazine as one of the best employers in Oklahoma, the Choctaw Tribe operates travel plazas, restaurants, and manufacturing operations that in 2023 (the last year for which complete data was available at this writing) contributed more than $4 billion to the state’s economy (www. kxii.com).
The tribe hasn’t always been so flush with money, of course. We’ve all heard about the Trail of Tears, the forced removal of members of the “Five Civilized Tribes”—the Cherokee, Seminole, Muscogee, Chickasaw and Choctaw— that happened in 1830-1850 (see National Park Service website: www.nps.gov).
Compelled to walk a very long distance (as much as 1,000 miles for some tribes), at times in freezing weather and without sufficient food, these Native Americans faced starvation and other privations before reaching their assigned lands in Indian Territory, which became Oklahoma.
And the Choctaws were the first Na- tive American tribe that traversed that sad trail.
Because of their ancestors’ suffering, one might expect current-day descendants of these Native Americans to hold a grudge against descendants of those who had caused their ancestors’ suffering.
If they do, it isn’t obvious from their current behavior.
Rather, they seem to do their best to be good neighbors. I heard a few years ago from someone who was friends with a leader in the Choctaw Tribe, telling of a discussion he had had about the prices charged at service stations owned by the tribe.
Because tribal nations get a tax exemption on moneys generated by businesses on lands owned by the tribes, they could easily undercut other stations on price, possibly even running other stations out of business.
But they don’t. They’re careful to keep their prices in line with non-Nativeowned stations.
“We want to be good neighbors,” the tribal leader explained.
Of course the tribal leaders are also canny enough to not pick a fight that might result in bad feelings and attempts to place restrictions on some tribal activities.
I’m old enough to remember when many Native Americans were dirt-poor, often living at subsistence level. But then casino gambling (with many casinos located on tribal lands), became a thing.
A huge thing. Now, with casino revenues, the Choctaws can afford to provide health facilities, food and housing assistance, and educational aid to tribal members. And they do so.
I’m not a huge fan of gambling, though I have occasionally bought a lottery ticket or risked a few bucks on a horse race. But sometimes I hear of an individual who develops an addiction to gambling and loses a family’s rent or grocery money.
However, I’m delighted when I learn that a casino’s proceeds are being used to assist families and individuals in providing basic necessities and education.
Why do Native American tribes get such a break on their casinos and other businesses? Because the tribes are considered sovereign nations, and therefore income generated on tribal lands is not subject to Federal taxes.
Individual tribal members do pay some taxes, including Social Security and Medicare. But the tribe, as an entity, is exempt from Federal taxes.
As for the proposed detention center in Durant? That isn’t ever going to happen. Because the Choctaw Tribe has now bought the old Big Lots building.
It’s a win-win situation, in my opinion. I’m grateful to have such good neighbors. Thanks, Choctaws.