Tulsa’s director of tribal policy and partnerships says the city is still hoping to work through issues despite requests to intervene in a much publicized lawsuit.
Amanda Swope told a city commission Tuesday night that officials and the Muscogee Nation are close to finalizing language in a consent decree.
“Those discussions have gone really well so far,” said Swope, who assumed her role under the administration of Mayor Monroe Nichols in January.
The Muscogee Nation and the city met twice before Stitt last week requested a role in the civil lawsuit filed against Tulsa by the nation. The Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band also sought intervention in the case Tuesday through attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons.
Still, Swope said conversations around an agreement that would be court approved will move forward between the city and Muscogee Nation.
“I think we’re finally kind of at a point where we can start talking about the specific language in the consent degree. They’ve sent a draft and legal’s working on it and reviewing it to kind of see how we want to respond as a city, and where we’re in agreement, and where we need to still have conversation,” said Swope.
At issue in the 2023 suit filed by the Muscogee Nation is which entity has the power to prosecute tribal members for traffic violations on reservation land, including the city of Tulsa.
Even after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma establishing much of eastern Oklahoma as Indian Country, Tulsa continuously ticketed tribal members.
Historically, crimes on reservations are handled by the feds or tribal authorities, not by the state, which prompted the Muscogee Nation to sue.
When Nichols was elected mayor in November 2024, he swore to work with tribes and almost immediately announced his interest in settling the case.
But Stitt’s legal filing says Oklahoma has a vested interest in the outcome.
“The Mayor of Tulsa has made public statements indicating he is seeking to settle this lawsuit in a manner that will bring about a new, unprecedented era of ‘co-governance’ of Tulsa by the City of Tulsa and the Tribe,” court documents read. “The State and the Governor, on the other hand, are unwilling to even entertain sacrificing the long-term preservation of the State’s sovereignty interests in pursuit of a politically convenient, short-term ‘settlement’ whereby local City officials hand away core State police powers.”
Stitt has had a tense relationship with tribes during his tenure as governor, battling over issues from car tags to hunting compacts.
But Greater Tulsa Indian Affairs Commissioner Erica Waeltz told the group Tuesday night she was confused.
"I'm not understanding the argument where he's protecting Oklahoma's interest. We're looking at a municipality attempting to enter into negotiation with a tribe they are within the jurisdiction of," said Waeltz.
"Well, you are in the majority," replied Vice Chair Daniel Carter.
For their part, the Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band is looking to get involved in the case because they say protection is needed. Members of the band haven’t been formally admitted to the tribe since their successful legal citizenship bid has been stayed pending appeals.
The filing from the group who claims Muscogee citizenship through their enslaved ancestors says relief from state prosecution “needs to be pursued in equal force for those who are Indian under federal law but not acknowledged as such.”
The city and the Muscogee Nation are scheduled to meet again about the case next week.
