Cherokee Nation, UKB Clash Over Tribal Jurisdiction In DUI Case

A long-standing dispute between the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians has now turned to Tribal Jurisdiction after a letter from Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.

"This is a David and Goliath situation. We have 14,000 members. If that the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has almost half a million members." said Tori Holland, an Attorney for the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.

Chief Hoskin Jr. wrote a letter calling the UKB a threat to Cherokee sovereignty and public safety.

The Nation believes the UKB is trying to take Cherokee Nation treaty rights that Chief Hoskin Jr. says the tribe isn't entitled to.

"I cannot keep my oath of office as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, the only Cherokee Nation, the Cherokee Nation that's existed before anyone ever heard of the United States. I can't do that and turn a blind eye to the United Keetoowah Band sending out people with police officer uniforms trying to arrest people, ruining DUI arrests and making us all unsafe," said Chief Hoskin Jr.

The DUI case out of Cherokee County Hoskin Jr. referenced is a case filed back in January, Oklahoma v. Force. The initiating officer on the stop was a UKB police officer. During the course of the case, UKB jurisdiction has been in question. This week the defense attorney for David Force filed a motion to dismiss based on those jurisdictional issues.

Tori Holland is an attorney for the UKB but was not involved in Oklahoma v. Force.

She says both the case and the letter are frustrating for the UKB who constantly have to defend the tribe's legitimacy.

"The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma can't point to anything other than its own documents they have created saying that we lack jurisdiction. Second of all, even without cross deputation agreements, under the US v Cooley case, tribal officers can detain non Indian so there are several legal arguments that could have been made," said Holland.

You can read the full letter HERE.

The UKB released a statement in response: