The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled Congress disestablished the historic Citizen Potawatomi reservation in Oklahoma, rejecting a state prisoner’s claim that his crimes occurred in Indian country and were therefore outside state jurisdiction.
In Wahpekeche v. Pettigrew, the court denied federal habeas relief to petitioner, Thomas Roye Wahpekeche, who argued Oklahoma lacked authority to prosecute him for child-sex offenses because the conduct occurred on reservation land. The panel concluded an 1891 agreement between the tribe and federal government, through which the tribe agreed to “cede, relinquish and forever and absolutely surrender” its interests in the reservation, clearly demonstrated congressional intent to terminate the reservation.
Because the land was no longer a reservation, the court held it was not “Indian country,” leaving criminal jurisdiction with the state.
The decision highlights the continuing legal fallout from McGirt v. Oklahoma, which recognized the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation was never disestablished. While McGirt expanded federal and tribal jurisdiction across large parts of eastern Oklahoma, the 10th Circuit’s ruling underscores reservation status remains a statute-by-statute historical inquiry. Courts will uphold state jurisdiction where congressional acts show clear intent to terminate a reservation.