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Oklahoma

A Native American Nation Says a Republican Lawmaker Is Blocking It From Getting Its Land

“To me, it’s more of a control issue than it is doing what’s right for the general public,” the governor of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes told NOTUS.

Reggie Wassana

Earlier this year, Reggie Wassana, the governor of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, spoke with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about a potential land deal. Courtesy of Reggie Wassana

By Em Luetkemeyer

September 30, 2025 05:23 a.m.

A Native American nation in Oklahoma is incensed that a Republican lawmaker is requesting millions of dollars to fund renovations at the Oklahoma and Central Plains Agricultural Research Center, or OCPARC.

It’s not that the nation opposes the research, but it sees the funding request as a way to stymie efforts to get its land back from the federal government.

The land near El Reno, Oklahoma, belongs to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and overlaps with about 10,000 acres of land that the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes have been trying to get back for more than 150 years.