A single traffic stop could rewrite how the state of Oklahoma deals with the 39 federally recognized Native American tribal nations within its borders.
On Nov. 7, Crystal Deroin, one of the 3,300 members of the Otoe-Missouria tribe, was stopped by a state highway patrol officer near Enid, a city about an hour and a half north of Oklahoma City. In addition to being cited for speeding, The Associated Press reported, she got another ticket: $249 because of her license plate.
The alleged crime? Failure to pay state automobile taxes because she had a tag issued by her tribe but didn’t live within its geographic boundaries. Under a 1993 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Native American tribes have been allowed to issue their own valid tags to members. An estimated 34 of the tribes in Oklahoma have done so.
But now Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt’s administration is calling the system into question, the latest in what some tribal leaders see as a series of provocations against their governments…