Sometimes the truth is hard.

For me, as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, this truth is not even a speed bump: The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma is an active threat to the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation. That threat and the UKB are putting public safety at risk. Maintaining law and order and our legal rights are worth protecting. I will do so as long as I hold this office.

Cherokee Nation existed before the founding of the United States. For every “Cherokee” treaty with the United States, the Cherokee Nation was the exclusive tribal nation involved. All of our treaty rights – including our final and binding Treaty of 1866 – as well as every other inherent, judicially, or congressionally recognized attribute of “Cherokee Nation” sovereignty belongs solely to the Cherokee Nation.

Two bands were recognized after Cherokee removal – and after our hard-fought and enduring path to unity. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians was recognized in the late 19th century and, in the early 20th century, was granted sovereignty over a reservation known as the Qualla Boundary. The UKB was created by an act of Congress in 1946, with a single sentence that allowed for its recognition to happen in 1950.

Neither of these bands have treaty rights with the United States. Neither band has any jurisdictional authority over the Cherokee Nation Reservation, save some ill-defined administrative authority the UKB exercises at its government complex.

All of this means that the federally recognized Cherokee Nation and the two Cherokee bands are sovereign Indian Nations with governmental authority. We simply do not possess the same authority.

Notably, UKB lacks any criminal jurisdiction over the 7,000-square-mile Cherokee Nation Reservation. None.

The citizens of Cherokee County found that out the hard way. Recently, a person passing through Tahlequah, and alleged to be driving under the influence, was arrested and charged with a DUI. The defendant’s attorney moved the court to suppress all evidence related to the traffic stop on the basis that the UKB officer lacked jurisdiction and the legal authority to detain or arrest anyone.

It is all on the public record in an otherwise obscure case of Oklahoma v. Force.

The employee of UKB, like all UKB Lighthorse “Police” staff, lacked the legal authority to pull over vehicles, much less detain anyone, which she did.

Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The people of Cherokee County – indeed the entire state – may never get their day in court to determine whether the defendant was putting lives at risk by driving drunk. The sole reason for this is that the UKB, posing as a police force, ruined a prosecution of an alleged drunk driver.

In the twisted priorities of the UKB leadership, the perceived gains of creating a perception of authority outweighs the clear risk posed by knowingly botching a DUI arrest. The UKB has spent decades investing, not in the public good, but in a fact-free theory to invent history in service of accruing power that UKB stands on equal or superior footing with the Cherokee Nation when it comes to tribal sovereignty and jurisdiction. It spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on lobbyists and lawyers to spin this fantasy, at the expense of their people and public safety.

This theory is not supported by facts or law. The U.S. Courts and Congress have never adopted it. A federal agency bought into it briefly, but quickly reversed.

The UKB is so invested in its absolute lie that it stands in the shoes of the Cherokee Nation and takes the lie to its farcical conclusion at every turn. For the UKB “officer” involved, this means someone who I can only imagine is eager to serve the public in law enforcement is put in a position where they are essentially wearing a police costume. It means people like the defendant in the alleged DUI case, if he was guilty, will likely escape accountability. It means people can get hurt, lives can be lost, and justice cannot be served. The UKB Lighthorse – possessing no legal authority – “polices” areas in and around Tahlequah every day. It has to stop.

At Cherokee Nation, we take not only tribal sovereignty seriously, but we also take public safety seriously. That is why we invest around $75 million per year in public safety, law enforcement, criminal justice, and victim services. That’s why we have cross-deputization agreements with every law enforcement agency within the reservation. UKB has zero. It is why we provided huge law enforcement partner grants to all these jurisdictions in recent years and signed memoranda of understanding with each of them, reaffirming Cherokee Nation’s role as the exclusive tribal sovereign in the reservation. It is why we provide funding through motor vehicle tag revenue to law enforcement agencies each year.

This dispute is not about pride or ego. It is about right and wrong. I cannot meet my oath of office if I do not defend Cherokee sovereignty against all attackers. We have many. Some hold powerful positions in state government, the federal government, and in the private sector. You have gotten to know many of these figures by name in recent years. As a result, many Cherokee citizens have spoken out in defense of your tribe’s sovereignty.

Because we descend from the same people who endured so much together, and who share in all of the good, the bad, the joy, and the heartache and hope of our shared society – including belonging to the same families in many cases – it is painful that I must again report that the government of the UKB poses a serious and active threat to the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation. The UKB, with its frivolous claims to our treaty rights, is an existential threat to the Cherokee Nation.

It is painful for me to write this, but it is not difficult. I know my oath. I know the facts. I know the law. I know the truth. As long as I hold this office, I will defend Cherokee Nation sovereignty against any attack, including those of the UKB. But all Cherokee Nation citizens and our allies can stay vigilant against those who seek to write a false history.

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