Oklahoma governor’s tribal fight raises Cherokee ancestry questions

When Republican Kevin Stitt was elected Oklahoma governor in 2018, many Cherokee Nation members felt proud that one of their own had accomplished such a feat, even if their politics didn’t necessarily align with his.

But in less than a year in office, Stitt began facing fierce blowback, particularly from fellow tribal citizens, for engaging in a battle with the Cherokee Nation and other Oklahoma-based Native American tribes over the amount of casino gambling revenue they were giving to the state.

Many of the 39 federally recognized tribes in the state quickly united and launched a slick, multimillion-dollar ad campaign touting the benefits the tribes bring to the state. One fellow Cherokee Nation member launched an online petition that labeled Stitt a “traitor” and sought to have his tribal citizenship revoked.

And several Cherokee genealogists have separately questioned Stitt’s ancestry, providing documents that indicate that the governor’s ancestor fraudulently got the family on the tribe’s citizenship rolls more than 100 years ago.

The fight is the first real test of power for the mortgage company CEO-turned-governor, and it is raising questions about tribal citizenship and identity, and the role that plays in politics.

“It’s one thing to be able to claim a heritage, and it’s a whole other thing to respect what that heritage means,” said state Rep. Collin Walke, a Democrat from Oklahoma City who is a Cherokee Nation citizen and the co-chairman of the state’s Native American legislative caucus.