This article was originally published by KOSU, an independent news service based in Oklahoma.

Thomas Pablo
KOSU

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt reaffirmed calls to limit tribal sovereignty during his final State of the State address on Monday, dismaying tribal leaders in attendance.

Stitt said Oklahoma’s criminal and taxation laws should apply to every Oklahoman without exception, giving the state government sole sovereignty.

“Many of us in this room have decried the DEI programs of the Biden administration yet stand quietly by when some say an Indian should be subject to a different set of laws,” Stitt said. “We either believe in equal rights for all or we don’t, and it’s time to choose.”

Tribal leaders respond

Following the address, Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton released a statement saying Stitt misrepresents the relationship between tribes and the state government.

“Tribes and tribal members have sovereign rights, which are based not on race, but on treaties and other agreements between our nations and the United States,” Batton said. “Gov. Stitt must recognize this history and respect what it means today.”

Leaders from the Cherokee, Muscogee and Chickasaw Nations attended the address, along with other tribal representatives.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr., called Stitt’s view antiquated, saying the state recognizes the importance of tribal nations.

“Everything he said in there was really to erode some of the most meaningful attributes that are left of tribal sovereignty, that we’re trying to regain and exercise,” Hoskin said. “He would wipe all of those out in service, not to some great day for Oklahoma, but to some diminishment of tribes that really amounts to termination.”

Hoskin also referred to Stitt as the most “anti-Indian tribe governor in the history of the state.”

David Hill, Muscogee Nation principal chief, said the tribes expected negative rhetoric from Stitt. Hill also took issue with Stitt’s reference to the Land Run of 1889, in which he said the land claimed during the Land Run was “unassigned.”

“Our forefathers chased opportunity in the Land Run of 1889, staking claims on unassigned lands and building communities from the ground up,” Stitt said.

Hill said the Land Run should not be aspirational.

“The one comment that I did like, that: ‘When you’re young, you learn to read. As you get older, you read to learn,’” Hill said. “Maybe he should start reading and especially on the Land Run. If you read the history, that’s when more land was taken away from the Native people.”

Oklahoma House Tribal and External Affairs Leader Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, also released a statement criticizing Stitt’s comments. He said the end of Stitt’s tenure will give the state opportunities to build relationships with tribal governments.

“When the governor, in his last State of the State speech, had the opportunity to correct the wrongs he has inflicted on our state’s tribes, he instead chose to exacerbate the divide and ignore the partnerships that have benefited Oklahomans for years in health care, public safety, education, infrastructure and many other areas of potential collaboration,” Fetgatter said.

Addressing reporters after Stitt’s address, House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, called the governor’s comments “extremely disturbing.”

“We are all aware of the governor’s refusal to work with tribes, but today’s speech highlighted something much darker,” Munson said. “It’s more than apparent that he does not understand the history of our country and our state, and does not respect tribal sovereignty. Tribes do more than enough, not only for their citizens and members, but also the state of Oklahoma.”

Stitt continues vocal opposition toward McGirt

Stitt’s statements continue to challenge the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma. That case determined around half of Oklahoma is reservation land and reaffirmed the Muscogee Nation’s reservation was never disestablished, providing a win to the state’s Five Tribes and their ability to govern their citizenry. In the years since, courts have affirmed that other tribal reservations in Oklahoma were also never disestablished.

Stitt, a Cherokee Nation citizen, has battled tribal sovereignty in the courts since McGirt, calling for a single set of laws that spans the state’s area and supersedes tribal jurisdiction. During his 2021 State of the State address, Stitt asked tribes to work with the state to find clarity over the McGirt ruling.

Now, Stitt said he wants to protect the vision established upon statehood in 1907, adding every resident should be subject to the Oklahoma Constitution.

“This issue will continue to split our state, both literally and figuratively, unless we address it head on,” Stitt said. “It will be uncomfortable, and you’re going to have to face down the state’s largest political donors, but we must continue to fight for one Oklahoma.”

The tribal representatives in attendance did not join the applause following that statement.

Hoskin said he hoped Stitt would engage and learn about the tribes throughout his governorship due to his Cherokee citizenship.

“You don’t often see a leader who actually seems to have a lower knowledge base and a lower understanding of the facts and the law and the policy on an issue than when he started,” Hoskin said in an interview after Stitt’s address. “I mean, I’ve got a lot of faults, but I think I’ve improved on some issues that I’ve really been curious about that have challenged me. I’ve seen the opposite out of Governor Stitt on tribal relations. So I can’t make sense of it.

“But I am his chief, and I’d love him to listen to me.”

Sarah Liese contributed to this report.

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