Choctaw Nation Reservation

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is the largest of the three federally recognized bands of Choctaws and is the third largest federally recognized tribe in the United States.

The Choctaw Nation’s reservation covers nearly 11,000 square miles in southeastern Oklahoma. The region’s topography includes mountains, rivers, lakes and woodlands. Fishing, hunting and camping are popular activities, especially in the eastern part of the reservation. It is a place rich in natural resources and the home to people of deep faith, strong ties to family and a resilient cultural heritage.

The Choctaw Nation Tribal Headquarters building is located in Durant, but the capital of the Choctaw Nation is in Tuskahoma. The original capitol building now houses the Choctaw Nation Museum, and the grounds host thousands of people at the annual Labor Day Festival each year. The Tribal Council also holds monthly meetings at the Tuskahoma capital grounds. The Tribal Council is made up of one representative from each of the Nation’s 12 districts. Both the executive and judicial branches of the Choctaw Nation’s government operate in Durant near HQ.

In 2018, the Choctaw Nation’s economic impact in Oklahoma was over $2.75 billion. The Tribe employs over 10,000 people and operates several businesses, including three casino resorts and multiple casinos, travel plazas and restaurants. In addition, the Nation owns and operates health, manufacturing and recycling facilities.

Traditionally, the Choctaw Nation has used “10.5 counties” to describe its jurisdiction or geographic boundaries because it is the most common geographic area for tribal services and program eligibility. As a result of the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision, however, “10.5 counties” is no longer the same as our reservation’s geography or jurisdiction. The geographic boundaries of the Choctaw Nation have reverted to the original reservation boundaries as established by the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Please see this map showing the boundaries of the reservation in relation to the Choctaw Nation’s service area.

Tribal services and programs will continue to use the 10.5 counties to determine eligibility for programs and services.

Jimcy McGirt was convicted by an Oklahoma state court of three serious sexual offenses. In postconviction proceedings, McGirt argued that the State lacked jurisdiction to prosecute him because he is an enrolled member of the Seminole Nation, and his crimes were committed on the Creek Reservation. Under the Major Crimes Act (MCA), which states that, within “the Indian Country…any Indian who commits” certain offenses “shall be subject to the same law and penalties as all other persons committing any of [those] offenses, within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States.” McGirt sought a new trial in federal court based upon this language and the premise that the United States did not dissolve the Creek reservation when Oklahoma became a state in 1907.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the July 9, 2020 decision, “For MCA purposes, land reserved for the Creek nation since the 19th century remains “Indian Country.” This decision is based on language in an 1833 treaty which outlines borders for a “permanent home to the whole Creek Nation of Indians…so long as they shall exist as a. nation and continue to occupy the country hereby assigned to them.”

Article II of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (1830) between the Choctaws and the U.S. contains similar language:

The United States, under a grant specially to be made by the President of the United States, shall cause to be conveyed to the Choctaw Nation…to them and their descendants, to insure to them while they shall exist as a Nation, and live on it…”

Article IV of the Treaty states further:

The government and people of the United States are hereby obliged to secure to the said Choctaw Nation of Red People and their descendants: and that no part of the land granted them shall ever be embraced in any territory or state, but the United States shall forever secure said Choctaw Nation from and against all laws, except such as from time to time, may be enacted in their own national councils, not inconsistent with the constitution, treaties and laws of the United States; and except such as may and which have been enacted by Congress to the extent that Congress under the constitution are required to exercise a legislation over Indian Affairs.

Because the Supreme Court ruled in McGirt v. Oklahoma that the Creek reservation was still intact, that means the U.S. did not officially dissolve any of the reservations it created in prior treaties when Oklahoma became a state. In short, those reservations, and all the rights and privileges of the people who live on them, still exist.

This decision has already had a major impact on the Choctaw Nation’s interpretation of its sovereignty and its relationships with other communities and the State of Oklahoma. The decision will continue to influence the Choctaw Nation government’s laws and policies.

According to the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the boundaries of the Choctaw Nation’s reservation are as follows:

… a tract of country West of the Mississippi River in fee simple…beginning near Fort Smith, where the Arkansas boundary crosses the Arkansas river running thence to the source of the Canadian fork; if in the limits of the United States, or to those limits; thence due south to Red River, and down Red River to the West boundary of the same to be agreeable to the treaty made and concluded at Washington City in the year 1825.

Please see this map showing the boundaries of the reservation in relation to the Choctaw Nation’s service area.