Tribal sovereignty limits hinder resistance to Oklahoma nickel refinery

Protesters and local tribal citizens continue to oppose Westwin Elements, a nickel refinery in Lawton, Oklahoma, but say their efforts are restricted by longstanding legal and political barriers, according to KOSU. Comanche Nation Chairman Forrest Tahdooahnippah indicated the tribe lacks Treatment as a State status due to a federal appropriations rider, limiting its ability to regulate environmental impacts.

The refinery operates on fee simple land, reducing the jurisdiction of the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache tribes, whose reservation was significantly diminished following the 1903 Lone Wolf Supreme Court ruling. Kiowa Chairman Lawrence SpottedBird told KOSU, “The only entity that has plenary authority over any person is God himself, and Congress is not God.” Protest organizer Kaysa Whitley (Kiowa/Absentee Shawnee) said the movement will continue, stating, “We’re not here to be a part of their system or to even uphold it. We exist outside of it.”