Oklahoma court ruling affirms Wyandotte Nation as sovereign, reestablishes reservation
WYANDOTTE, Oka. — More than 150 years after the Wyandotte Tribe settled in northeast Oklahoma their reservation was officially recognized – again.
On Thursday, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the Wyandotte Reservation.
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“We are more than excited,” said Wyandotte Chief Billy Friend, of the ruling. “We look forward to working alongside the federal government and the State of Oklahoma to ensure criminal law enforcement on the Wyandotte Reservation is coordinated and robust.”
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“Through the affirmation of the Wyandotte Reservation, the Wyandotte Nation is Empowered to exercise its territorial jurisdiction over its lands and people,” the tribe released in a statement on Friday.
“March 7 will always be a special day for our people.”
Wyandotte Chief Billy Friend
The Wyandotte Reservation was established through the Treaty of 1867, he said.
“When Oklahoma became a state in 1907 it was a belief statehood disestablished the reservation – it didn’t, Friend said.
The case heard by the Appeals Court centered round Steven Fuller.
On November 1, 2022, Fuller was charged with driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol – his second offense after a felony conviction, driving while license suspended, failure to wear a seatbelt and transporting an open container of alcohol.
Read here about Fuller’s case.
Fuller, who is 1/32 Cherokee, sought to have the charges dismissed saying the State lacked criminal jurisdiction because he is an Indian and the charged offenses occurred on the Wyandotte Reservation.
The 2020 Supreme Court Decision known as the McGirt Decision reaffirmed the Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole Nations reservations and the Lawhorn ruling reestablished reservations for the Quapaw Nation.
