Three of Oklahoma’s largest tribal nations are asking a federal court to block the state from enforcing its hunting and fishing laws on tribal citizens within Indian Country reservation boundaries, arguing that Oklahoma is unlawfully intruding on treaty rights and tribal sovereignty.
Filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, the lawsuit from the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Cherokee nations seeks a judicial declaration affirming that their citizens hold federally protected rights to hunt, fish and gather within their own reservations under tribal law — rights they say the state cannot limit or criminalize.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation director Wade Free, ODWC assistant director Nels Rodefeld, ODWC law enforcement chief Nathan Erdman, Gov. Kevin Stitt and Russell Cochran, the special counsel Stitt appointed to prosecute wildlife tickets against tribal citizens in eastern Oklahoma.
The lawsuit asks the court to prohibit state officials from applying or threatening to apply state wildlife laws to tribal citizens exercising treaty rights, to those participating under the Five Tribes’ reciprocity agreement and to other Native Americans regulated by the tribes. It also seeks an injunction preventing the state from interfering with tribal jurisdiction or initiating or continuing state court cases tied to these activities.
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“Gov. Stitt’s attack of our members is causing harm and distress, and we won’t let this overreach continue,” Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton said in a joint statement issued by tribal leaders. “We remain committed to conserving, protecting and enhancing wildlife resources, including our continued strong working relationship with ODWC.”
Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby said treaties and federal law protect tribal citizens’ rights to hunt and fish on their own reservations, while Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said Stitt is choosing confrontation over collaboration.
“By targeting hunters and fishers legally exercising their treaty rights, against the advice of the Oklahoma attorney general, Gov. Stitt is once again showing Oklahomans he cares more about attacking tribal sovereignty than helping the state,” Hoskin said.
The suit lands at the same time ODWC is caught between conflicting directives from Stitt, Free and Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who has warned the agency that its enforcement actions against tribal members are unlawful” and jeopardize state-tribal relations.
Abegail Cave, director of communications for the governor’s office, expressed confidence a judge would side with the defendants.
“The courts have continued time and time again to clarify that the misguided SCOTUS McGirt decision is for major crimes only,” Cave said in a statement. “The governor welcomes the opportunity to continue to protect the rule of law in Oklahoma.”
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Citations, prosecutions fuel claims of violated treaty rights
The lawsuit cites three examples of tribal citizens from the Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw nations who have already been affected by Oklahoma’s effort to enforce state hunting laws on reservation land.
Cherokee citizen Larry Soap planned to take his 9-year-old grandson on his first deer hunt this season, relying on their Cherokee Nation hunting licenses. But after learning that Oklahoma game wardens intended to cite tribal citizens who hunted within the Cherokee Reservation with tribal licenses, Soap asked a warden for clarity. He was told both he and his grandson would be cited without state licenses. Fearing a confrontation in the field and potential citations for his grandson, Soap purchased state licenses he did not believe he should need. The lawsuit argues Soap was coerced into a financial burden from the threat.
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Within the Choctaw Reservation, Shawn Robertson was bowhunting Oct. 14 at the Hugo Wildlife Management Area with his Choctaw Nation license when he was met at his truck by a state game warden who insisted the state “had done away with tribal licenses,” the suit states.
Robertson received a citation, a $264 fine, and an order to appear in state court. Although the initial case was taken over and dismissed by Drummond, Cochran initiated a new prosecution for the same offense. The suit states Robertson bought a state license so he could keep hunting but now avoids certain areas where he fears further confrontations with wardens.
In the Chickasaw Reservation, Kodie Shepherd hunts to help provide food for his wife and three children. On Oct. 27, after hunting at the Chickasaw National Recreation Area with his tribal license, he returned to find a waiting ODWC warden, who issued two citations totaling $513 for lacking a state license and a state deer tag. The charges were briefly dismissed before Cochran filed a new case that remains pending. Despite the threat of further prosecution, Shepherd says he cannot stop hunting because his family relies on the meat, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs filed affidavits from those citizens to demonstrate how tribal citizens have been injured by ODWC actions.
“Using these and other enforcement efforts and strategies, ODWC game wardens, acting at the direction and under the supervision of one or more of defendants, are currently enforcing state fish and game laws against Indians throughout the nations’ reservations and coercing Indians into complying with state fish and game laws on the nations’ reservations in order to avoid a citation for allegedly violating those laws by relying on a tribal hunting and fishing license,” the suit states. “Defendants’ denial of nation members’ treaty right to harvest deer on their reservations and their actions in furtherance of that denial impose injuries in fact on the nations and their members.”
ODWC commissioners divided on next steps
ODWC commissioners met Monday morning in Oklahoma City to discuss Drummond’s letter, but procedural issues kept them from entering executive session. Without the correct statutory language on the agenda, the commission was limited to open discussion with no official decisions made.
The meeting came after Drummond sent a letter Nov. 13 to Free warning the department must rescind what he called a “misguided and unlawful policy” of issuing citations to tribal citizens hunting or fishing within Indian Country without a state permit. He said Stitt’s directive ignores federal law and “exposes individual ODWC officers to personal liability.”
Drummond gave Free a deadline of 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, to reply in writing and confirm ODWC has “rescinded or will immediately rescind its Oct. 7, 2025, directive and any related enforcement policies regarding tribal members hunting and fishing in Indian Country.”
Some commissioners during Monday’s meeting said the agency needs outside legal counsel before acting. Others argued that the attorney general provides adequate representation.
According to reporting from KOSU, District 7 Commissioner Rick Holder said wardens should hold off on arrests or property seizures involving tribal members until the agency receives independent legal advice.
“I’m not suggesting that tickets should not be issued for violations — they should. I’m suggesting that arrest and property confiscation should be avoided until we have received further legal counsel,” Holder said.
District 1 Commissioner Jess Kane criticized the Attorney General’s Office and questioned ODWC’s assigned legal counsel, Deputy Attorney General Niki Batt. He read aloud a voicemail Batt left for Free about the missing agenda language and argued it showed her inability to “effectively communicate with the department.”
“If we can’t get straight advice out of the Attorney General’s Office, I don’t know how any of us can expect to move forward without effective legal counsel, because it’s all in jeopardy,” Kane said.
District 6 Commissioner John Zelbst pushed back, saying the commission should follow the attorney general’s legal guidance.
“As a lawyer, I think we ought to follow our lawyer’s advice, which is the attorney general’s advice,” Zelbst said. “I read the Stroble opinion. I don’t think it applies to us in this situation, but the court’s going to have to decide that. But I think that we’re making a big mistake when we don’t follow our lawyer’s advice.”
Kane said the commissioners needed more time to figure out their next move and to spend time with new counsel and that Drummond’s timeline to respond was unreasonable.
Court records show Free, Rodefeld, Erdman, Stitt and Cochran will have 21 days after the summons is served to respond to the lawsuit.
Read the Choctaw, Cherokee and Chickasaw nations’ lawsuit
