PART 1: THE CANDIDATE AND THE RECORD
By Troy Littledeer | Originally posted by Kituwah Punk
N’Kiyla “Jasmine” Thomas, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Oklahoma, described a federal land dispute affecting housing and healthcare for a tribal government as “abstract” in a Sept. 11, 2025 email, then declined to take a position, citing potential impact on her campaign. On Jan. 5, 2026, she posted a video about tribal sovereignty. This is what the record shows.
In the video, she made a corn husk doll and described tribal sovereignty as cultural, sacred and passed through generations. She said no senator should ever pick sides between tribes.
The video got shared. It looked good. It sounded right.
But on Sept. 11, 2025 – four months before that video – that same candidate told a journalist that the 20-year effort of the tribe at the center of that issue was – and this is her word, in writing – “abstract.”
This punk was that journalist.
Before we go any further, let’s be clear about something.
Indian Country is not a talking point. It is not a campaign backdrop. It is not a demographic to court between now and November.
Indian Country is the elder who drives 45 minutes to dialysis because the clinic on her side of the county closed. It is the family that hauls water because the line never got extended to their road. It is the child learning Cherokee syllabary at a kitchen table because the language program lost its support again. It is the father who carries his tribal ID everywhere now because federal agents have been stopping people who look like him and not recognizing the card that proves he is a citizen of a sovereign nation with treaty rights older than Oklahoma statehood.
Indian Country includes the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (UKB), one of 574 federally recognized tribal governments in the United States. The UKB applied in 2004 to take 76 acres near Tahlequah into federal trust — land developed for housing, healthcare facilities, cultural grounds, a museum, an elder center, and economic infrastructure for its members. The Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the application in 2011. The Tenth Circuit affirmed the Interior Department’s authority to proceed in 2019. The Supreme Court declined review in 2020. The land is now in trust. The fight that followed is over what the UKB can do with it and whether future applications will face the same obstruction.
Seventeen years to trust status on a non-gaming trust parcel. The wait is documented. The dispute is not over.
That is not abstract. That’s a Tuesday.
WHAT THIS IS ABOUT – FOR READERS ANYWHERE
The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, known as the UKB, is a federally recognized tribal government headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Federal recognition means the U.S. government has a legal trust relationship with that tribe – an obligation, written into treaties and statutes, to protect their land and sovereignty.
THE LEGAL RECORD
The UKB purchased 76 acres near Tahlequah in 2000 and developed it for community services, cultural grounds, a museum and an elder center. In 2004 the tribe applied to take that land into federal trust. The Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the application in 2011. The Cherokee Nation filed suit. A federal district court ruled against the UKB in 2017.
The Department of Justice appealed. On Sept. 5, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit overturned that ruling – affirming the Interior Department’s authority to take land into trust for the UKB and holding that the Cherokee Nation had no veto power over that decision. The Cherokee Nation petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court. On June 22, 2020, the Supreme Court declined review, leaving the Tenth Circuit ruling intact.
WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
Then proposed congressional language emerged from the Senate appropriations process that would have required, if enacted, the Cherokee Nation’s written consent before the UKB could place any land into trust – the same consent requirement federal courts had said was not required.
The language read in part: “No funds appropriated under this or any other Act shall be used to take land into trust within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation in Oklahoma without the written consent of the Cherokee Nation.”
According to a June 2, 2025 Interior Department email obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, the language was circulated through Senate Appropriations and not disclosed to the UKB prior to its discovery through that FOIA request.
UKB officials said the tribe learned of the provision only after filing it. The proposed language was described by UKB leadership as occurring “without consultation.”
On April 3, 2026, the UKB filed five new land-into-trust applications covering 112 acres – including Diamondhead Resort on the Illinois River, the Echota Behavioral Health Administrative Building and the Goingsnake Community Building and Behavioral Health Clinic. Chief Jeff Wacoche said: “The law is on our side. The courts have spoken. We anticipate an expeditious process to accept these lands into trust, as is our treaty-based right – affirmed by the Tenth Circuit and left intact by the Supreme Court.”
The proposed congressional language, if enacted, would have required Cherokee Nation consent for land-into-trust decisions that federal courts had said did not require that consent – affecting not just the original 76 acres but every one of those applications.
That is the backdrop. Keep it in your hand as you read what follows.
THE EMAIL
On Sept. 11, 2025, N’Kiyla “Jasmine” Thomas contacted this punk.
Thomas had questions about the UKB. She said she had gone through documents. She said she had scheduled a Teams meeting with UKB Chief Jeff Wacoche – but he wasn’t able to make it or follow up, despite her call.
She was given a full briefing that evening. The proposed congressional language. Interior Department Solicitor’s Opinion M-37084 – the January 2025 federal opinion addressing the UKB’s jurisdiction and status within the Cherokee Reservation.
The $2.1 million in property transfers from Mullin family companies to the Cherokee Nation recorded with the Adair County Clerk in early 2024. And what happened in Okmulgee on Aug. 23, 2025 – covered firsthand by this punk.
At that Muscogee (Creek) Nation National Council session, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. appeared personally before elected Muscogee representatives and said supporting the resolution would cause “irreparable damage to the relationship between the Cherokee Nation and the Muscogee Nation.” Four council members – Representatives Dode Barnett, Patrick Freeman Jr., Mark Randolph and Robyn Whitecloud – voted against tabling the resolution and in support of the UKB position. Nine council members voted to table the resolution. It failed to advance. According to this punk’s firsthand observation, Hoskin’s delegation left the chamber immediately after the vote.
The UKB delegation stayed.
Thomas replied to the briefing the same evening at 7:35 p.m. Her campaign staffer Jozlyn Jones was copied.
“While I do value tribal sovereignty for all tribes and nations,” Thomas wrote, “this is a very abstract situation. Touching on this topic while I’m a candidate can be very detrimental to my candidacy because I could ultimately lose voters on both sides.”
She added: “It would not be in the best interest of my campaign to take a definitive stance at this moment.”
Those emails are retained by Candy Mink Springs Media LLC.
Four Muscogee Nation council members voted in support of the UKB position. Thomas said the issue was too abstract to address.
THE CONTACT QUESTION
Twenty-three days after the email exchange, on Oct. 4, 2025, the UKB held its 75th Annual Keetoowah Celebration at the tribal complex in Tahlequah. The theme was “Inherently Sovereign.”
Victoria Holland, UKB Congressional Delegate and attorney – the person whose job is to know which federal candidates have reached out to the tribe – said to this punk that no candidate had contacted them.
Thomas said she attempted contact. Holland said no candidate had contacted the tribe. Those are two different accounts of the same fact. The record does not resolve them.
Part 2 examines how those facts align with Thomas’ public statements and political positioning.
Troy Littledeer is a journalist and photographer based in Candy Mink Springs, Oklahoma. A member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, he reports on tribal governance and public accountability, with work previously appearing in Osage News, Cherokee Phoenix, and NDNSports.com. His reporting centers on primary documents and a passion for high school sports, NCAA athletics, and women’s basketball, serving both Native and non-Native communities. Littledeer is the recipient of the 2025 Tim Giago Free Press Award.
He was present at the Muscogee (Creek) Nation National Council session on Aug. 23, 2025, and at the 75th Annual Keetoowah Celebration on Oct. 4, 2025.
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