Oklahoma court recognizes Wyandotte reservation in response to McGirt ruling

The Wyandotte Nation reservation still exists in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, the state’s highest criminal court has found.

The decision comes nearly four years after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark ruling on tribal reservations in Oklahoma. State courts lack the power to prosecute Native Americans accused of committing crimes in those areas.

In the latest case decided earlier this month, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that a lower court correctly determined the Wyandotte reservation fit the definition of Indian Country under federal criminal law. The district court pointed to a 2023 appeals court decision that found the nearby Ottawa and Peoria reservations also remained intact. 

All three small reservations were created by an 1867 treaty, and Congress restored the tribes’ rights under that treaty in 1978, the appeals court found.

How many reservations in Oklahoma have been recognized by the courts?

Courts have now recognized a total of nine reservations in Oklahoma, all in the eastern half of the state. Tribal and federal courts have the jurisdiction to prosecute Native Americans accused of committing crimes in those areas. Federal courts also can take on cases involving Native American victims.

Billy Friend, the chief of the Wyandotte Nation in Wyandotte, said he and other leaders had been anticipating the decision for weeks and preparing for it for years. The tribe has its own police force and court system and has had cross-deputization agreements in place with local law enforcement agencies for years, Friend said.

"Now that we’ve had the reservation affirmed, it’s pretty much a seamless transition," he said.

The ruling followed the arrest of a Cherokee man accused of driving under the influence, as well as several other related offenses, within the historical boundaries of the Wyandotte reservation. The man asked for the case to be dismissed from state court because he is Native American.

One of the five judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals dissented from the majority holding that affirmed the Wyandotte reservation status. Judge Gary Lumpkin said the court’s ruling amounted to an advisory opinion, something it does not issue.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt pushes back with task force

Gov. Kevin Stitt has pushed back for years against the growing recognition of tribal reservations in Oklahoma, saying he believes state laws should apply statewide. In December, he formed a task force to discuss questions about jurisdiction on tribal lands. No elected official from a tribal nation has yet agreed to participate in the talks.

Stitt has also worried the state could lose its ability to tax tribal citizens who live on the reaffirmed reservations. The Oklahoma Supreme Court is set to decide a case that would determine whether a Muscogee Nation citizen who lives on her tribe’s reservation and works for her tribe owes state income taxes.

Friend said Wyandotte leaders have been getting ready for the influx of cases that will flow to the tribe's court and have worked with Ottawa County prosecutors to make sure case information gets where it needs to go.

"I know a lot of the focus has been on the challenges this creates, but we're focused on solutions and coming up with solutions to those challenges," Friend said.

Molly Young covers Indigenous affairs. Reach her at mollyyoung@gannett.com or 405-347-3534.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Court rules Wyandotte reservation still exists in northeast Oklahoma