Ned Christie's War

For me, Conley's novel brought up a number of questions about historical jurisdictional issues in Indian Territory. In particular, I was interested in Conley's portrayal of the "hanging judge" Parker, since it conflicted with other interpretations I had heard. Since the major conflict of the book involves Ned Christie's antagonistic relationship with the US government, Conley's portrayal of the federal law enforcement and judicial officials in Indian Territory was more distinctly negative than others I've gotten. The other narrative seems to emphasize Parker's role in bringing order and cracking down on lawless whites in the territory, rather than US meddling in Indian affairs. In the official Cherokee Nation history course we took, I felt like this issue was glossed over somewhat, and I imagine both sides of the story lack a bit of nuance. If anyone has any insight on this issue, I'd be pretty interested to hear it. Today, as we learned at the presentation with the Cherokee Marshals, jurisdiction is a sticky issue in the Cherokee Nation and has big implications for tribal sovereignty issues. Unfortunately, I feel like the historical development of these jurisdiction problems is one of the remaining holes in my knowledge of the Cherokee nation.