Uploaded May 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This session is part of “Perspectives in History,” the 2021 Oklahoma History Conference. The discovery, extraction, and production of oil have played a central role in the story Oklahoma tells about itself. From the icons of Tulsa’s Golden Driller to the names of sports teams (Drillers, Barons, Energy), oil is central to Oklahoma’s identity. Behind the celebration of oil as a symbol of progress, however, lies a darker story. This story concerns the legalized theft and swindles of land allotments granted to citizens of the Five Tribes. This presentation will examine two cases that exemplify the crosscurrents of Indigenous sovereignty, oil production, and cultural relations between American Indians, African Americans, and white settlers between 1907 and 1922. Speaker Russell Cobb will tell the stories of two Muscogee (Creek) women: Millie Neharkey and Minnie Atkins. Expanding on the work of Angie Debo, Cobb will reveal the machinations by which oil barons took possession of tribal lands through Oklahoma’s unique guardianship laws. This presentation will consider the larger implications of how this historical period affects Oklahoma’s petro-cultures after the Supreme Court’s McGirt v. Oklahoma decision.
Russell Cobb is an associate professor at the University of Alberta. He is the author of “The Great Oklahoma Swindle: Race, Class, and Lies in America’s Weirdest State” (Bison Books, 2020) and editor of “The Paradox of Authenticity in a Globalized World” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). His journalism has appeared in the “New York Times,” “The Guardian,” “Slate,” and “The Nation,” and on NPR.
This session is part of “Perspectives in History,” the 2021 Oklahoma History Conference. The discovery, extraction, and production of oil have played a central role in the story Oklahoma tells about itself. From the icons of Tulsa’s Golden Driller to the names of sports teams (Drillers, Barons, Energy), oil is central to Oklahoma’s identity. Behind the celebration of oil as a symbol of progress, however, lies a darker story. This story concerns the legalized theft and swindles of land allotments granted to citizens of the Five Tribes. This presentation will examine two cases that exemplify the crosscurrents of Indigenous sovereignty, oil production, and cultural relations between American Indians, African Americans, and white settlers between 1907 and 1922. Speaker Russell Cobb will tell the stories of two Muscogee (Creek) women: Millie Neharkey and Minnie Atkins. Expanding on the work of Angie Debo, Cobb will reveal the machinations by which oil barons took possession of tribal lands through Oklahoma’s unique guardianship laws. This presentation will consider the larger implications of how this historical period affects Oklahoma’s petro-cultures after the Supreme Court’s McGirt v. Oklahoma decision.
Russell Cobb is an associate professor at the University of Alberta. He is the author of “The Great Oklahoma Swindle: Race, Class, and Lies in America’s Weirdest State” (Bison Books, 2020) and editor of “The Paradox of Authenticity in a Globalized World” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). His journalism has appeared in the “New York Times,” “The Guardian,” “Slate,” and “The Nation,” and on NPR.
