"Osage Chief Jim Gray believes his tribe has a reservation and that its boundaries are the same as Osage County’s. This means Pawhuska and even parts of Tulsa are in a reservation.

Reservation status is at the heart of a legal dispute pitting Gray against the state. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is weighing arguments in a case that has the potential to affect the lives of every Osage County resident, Indian and non-Indian.

Some are calling the tribe’s move a land grab. Gray denies it. He claims the reservation was created by the federal government in the 19th century and has never been disbanded.

As one of the state’s most radical tribal leaders, Gray has previously asserted sovereignty in attempting to regulate environmental standards in Osage County. He’s also said that no state agency can enforce consumer protection laws at businesses within "the reservation.”

We assume that if reservation status is granted by federal courts, Gray won’t allow the state to maintain highways in Osage County or send Highway Patrol troopers to investigate accidents and crime. Would the sovereignty claim also extend to school funding and health care? How far is Gray willing to go to separate Osage County from the rest of the state?"

Get the Story:
Editorial: Plenty of reservations regarding Osage claims (The Oklahoman 1/14)

Related Stories:
10th Circuit hears arguments over status of Osage land (1/11)
Osage Nation files brief in reservation status case (7/28)
Osage Nation to appeal reservation status case (3/17)
Osage Nation seeks new ruling in reservation case (2/11)
Osage chief blasts ruling on reservation status (1/27)
Osage Nation loses state taxation lawsuit (1/26)
Supreme Court won't hear Osage Nation case (10/6)