Tribes File Federal Suit Against Gov. Stitt and Wildlife Department Over Prosecution of Hunting and Fishing on Tribal Land

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Chickasaw Nation, and Cherokee Nation filed a federal lawsuit in United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma naming Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt; his recently appointed special prosecutor, Russ Cochran; and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) as defendants.

The lawsuit argues that Gov. Stitt lacks the authority to appoint a special prosecutor for wildlife crimes on tribal land. It also claims his directives to ODWC violate tribal sovereignty and jurisdiction, as affirmed by the Supreme Court’s 2020 McGirt ruling.

Leaders from the state’s three largest tribes reacted to the continued unlawful citation of Indigenous hunters on tribal land.