Tribal nation sounds alarm over potential legislation hindering its economic, trust land rights
The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians is sounding the alarm over a draft of Congressional language.
UKB leaders say the language would terminate the tribe’s right to trust land as well as its basic economic development rights within its reservation, which the Department of the Interior said is shared with the Cherokee Nation — though that status is in flux. The tribe said the language of the legislation emerged from Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s office.
The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians learned these details from a Freedom of Information Act request they received from the Department of the Interior, according to the tribe’s press release.
Klint Cowan, the tribe’s attorney general, said Mullin — a Cherokee Nation citizen — is trying to circumvent letting the courts decide whether the UKB can have land held in trust for gaming.
“Congress can just do whatever it wants with Indian tribes and Indian country,” Cowan said. “He [Mullin] submitted this legislation to the Department of the Interior for technical assistance. But the aim of it would be to attach it to an appropriations bill and essentially terminate the UKB, because we would no longer have the right to have land interests at all, whether for gaming or otherwise, and which would completely deprive us of the ability to do economic development and raise revenue to provide services for our members.”
KOSU obtained the email chain that the UKB received in its FOIA request. It includes an email sent by Jason Freihage, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior, which shared bill language from the Senate Appropriations Committee.
UKB is demanding the legislative provision draft be retracted.
“This is genocide by redline,” UKB Chief Jeff Wacoche said in a statement. “And it is being carried out not with muskets or manifest destiny, but with a secret pen in a Senate office.”
Mullin’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. accused the UKB of fabricating “claims of possessing Cherokee Nation’s treaty rights and history.”
“Fortunately, neither the Congress, the courts, nor the federal executive branch have agreed with the UKB’s phony narrative,” he said in a statement.
“We appreciate Senator Mullin, a proven defender of tribal sovereignty, advancing the legislation and we look forward to it being signed into law,” he said.
If a bill containing the draft language were to pass, Cowan said it would hamper the tribe’s efforts to build a casino in Tahlequah and weaken its ability to provide social services to UKB citizens.
This is the latest twist in jurisdictional fights between the two tribes.
The Department of the Interior issued what’s known as an M-Opinion in January, stating that the UKB and the Cherokee Nation have concurrent jurisdiction over the Cherokee reservation in Northeast Oklahoma, giving the UKB more momentum to re-establish a casino in Tahlequah.
It was a decision that Hoskin Jr. disagreed with.
“But the truth remains: the Cherokee Nation has sovereign authority and exclusive tribal jurisdiction over our 7,000 square-mile Reservation in Oklahoma,” Hoskin Jr. said in a statement, following the opinion’s release. “We look forward to working with the members of our congressional delegation to ensure this ill-advised opinion is not implemented.”
After President Trump took office in his second term, he suspended all of the opinions made under the Biden administration for further review. That includes the M-Opinion.
“That M-Opinion is not a final agency action,” Cowan said. “So the idea is the opinion will tee up a federal decision so that the Cherokee Nation can sue, and we can go to court, and the courts will resolve all this. … Senator Mullin is now trying to circumvent that legal process.”
Chickasaw Cultural Center’s 10th annual Holba' Pisachi' Native Film Festival set Aug. 8-9
SULPHUR, Okla.— Acclaimed First American films and filmmakers will be in the spotlight during the Chickasaw Cultural Center’s 10th annual Holbaꞌ Pisachiꞌ Native Film Festival, Friday, Aug. 8-Saturday, Aug. 9.
The Chickasaw Cultural Center is located at 867 Cooper Memorial Road, Sulphur, Oklahoma. This special event will feature a variety of films, Q&A sessions with filmmakers, a youth film workshop, autograph and red-carpet opportunities and much more.
Holba' Pisachi' means “Showing Pictures” in Chikashshanompa' (the Chickasaw language). The theme for the 2025 film festival is “Native Creatives Come Together: Continuing to Thrive for Future Generations.”
For the past decade, Holbaꞌ Pisachiꞌ Native Film Festival has provided a dynamic avenue to share Chickasaw and First American culture, Fran Parchcorn, Chickasaw Cultural Center Executive Officer, said.
“The goal of the Holba' Pisachi' Native Film Festival is to promote the art of First American cinema through cultural awareness using mass media,” Parchcorn said.
“The film festival is important because it allows us to carry on a form of storytelling, which is important in First American traditions. We are celebrating and uplifting Indigenous filmmakers who are working to preserve our culture.”
Indigenous artists from First American nations throughout the United States are anticipated to attend Holba' Pisachi'.
A youth filmmaking workshop, “Filmmaking with an Indigenous Lens,” will be conducted 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday, Aug. 8. Filmmakers LaRonn Katchia (Warm Springs/Wasco/Paiute) and Ryker Sixkiller (Cherokee Nation) will lead the workshop. Several films and a Q&A session with filmmakers will be featured in the Anoli' Theater from 1-5 p.m., Aug. 8.
Saturday, Aug. 9 activities begin at 10 a.m. in the theater and include a stomp dance demonstration from Chikasha Hilhaꞌ Himittaꞌ followed by four short films, a filmmaker discussion and a Q&A session featuring Martin Sensmeier (Tlingit/Koyukan/Athabascan), Steven Paul Judd (Kiowa/Choctaw), Gus Palmer Jr. (Kiowa), Katchia and Sixkiller.
The afternoon features several films representing many genres.
Headliner Michael Spears (Lower Brulé Sioux) will participate in a Q&A session following screenings of two episodes of the History Channel documentary “Sitting Bull.”
Holbaꞌ Pisachiꞌ Native Film Festival concludes in the early evening with an opportunity for red carpet photos and autographs.
The film festival is open to the public at no cost and the schedule is subject to change.
For the past decade, Holba' Pisachi' Native Film Festival has welcomed several acclaimed First American filmmakers including: Wes Studi, director Chris Eyre, Jolie Proudfit, Ph.D., DeLanna Studi, Tatanka Means, Steven Paul Judd, Martin Sensmeier as well as John Fusco, James Landry Hébert and many others.
For more information, visit ChickasawCulturalCenter.com or call (580) 622-7130.
FireLake Fireflight Balloon Festival Returns for Eighth Year
The eighth annual FireLake Fireflight Balloon Festival will return to the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Festival grounds Aug. 8-9, 2025. The festival offers two days of balloon glows, balloon launches and rides, live music and family friendly entertainment. In 2024, the festival drew over 60,000 attendees.
Admission to the festival and parking are free, as are several live music performances.
Oklahoma country music band Ricochet will headline the 2025 festival. Inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame last year, the Oklahoma natives boast an impressive resume of awards and touring stats. The band shot to stardom in the ‘90s and hasn’t stopped performing since.
Ricochet will perform Saturday at 9 p.m. at Raymond Peltier Park, located at 1702 S. Gordon Cooper Drive in Shawnee.
Other artists performing throughout the weekend include Cam Allen, Craig Wayne Boyd and Jesse Keith Whitley.
Guests are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn chairs for the outdoor concerts.
In addition to live music, festival guests can enjoy food trucks and artisan vendors from across Oklahoma, a 5K fun run, kids’ inflatables and carnival rides, a Dock Dogs competition, helicopter rides, a drone show and other activities for families.
Twenty-five hot air balloons will fill the balloon field for evening glows, and tethered balloon rides will be for sale on a first come, first served basis, weather permitting. Balloon launches on Friday and Saturday mornings are another way festival guests can enjoy the hot air balloons.
FireLake Fireflight Balloon Fest is held in conjunction with the Outdoor Nation Expo, which offers family friendly hunting and fishing activities, demonstrations and vendors at FireLake Arena.
This year, festival goers traveling to Shawnee will also have the option to stay at the new FireLake Hotel located at 41170 Hardesty Road, next to the Festival grounds. To make a reservation, contact 405-878-8770.
To learn more about the 2025 FireLake Fireflight Balloon Fest and view an event schedule, visit firelakeballoonfest.com or download the app via the App Store or Google Play.
Choctaw Nation’s Drone Program Celebrates Proposed FAA Rule
DURANT, Okla. – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed a new rule Tuesday that addresses and enables Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations for drones, also called unmanned aircraft systems or UAS. This is part of larger efforts to safely integrate new emerging aviation technologies into the national airspace system.
This proposed regulation will usher in new opportunities for facilities like the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma’s (CNO) Emerging Aviation Technology Center on Daisy Ranch, and more broadly, the CNO reservation.
The CNO Emerging Aviation Technology Center is a one-of-a-kind test facility in southeastern Oklahoma that utilizes 44,600+ acres of remote, tribally owned land. The facility supports innovation in emerging aviation technologies, including drones and advanced air mobility technologies.
“This Part 108 rule enables regulation that will allow the United States to have a path toward safe and normalized operations of drones,” said James Grimsley, executive director of advanced technology initiatives for CNO. “This is one of the biggest leaps forward in FAA regulations to address this emerging technology in decades. We applaud the FAA for bringing the Part 108 rule forward.”
Previously, drone operators were required to request individual waivers or exemptions to operate drones for BVLOS applications. These were approved on a case-by-case basis, and the process was cumbersome and expensive.
“Package delivery, agriculture, surveying, innovative healthcare and public safety are just some of the uses we expect to see grow in the UAS space as a result of eliminating previous restrictions,” said Grimsley. “We’re looking ahead to all the additional research and development we will be able to do under these guidelines.”
The proposal also includes a clear regulatory path for manufacturers, operators and UAS traffic-management (UTM) services to keep BVLOS operations safely separated from each other and legacy manned aircraft.
