In parts of Oklahoma it has been decided the Indian Nation members can follow wildlife rules made up by the Nation. Means of take and bag limits differ quite a bit from the state regulations. So if a person is a member of a Nation and also holds a state lifetime license which bag limits and means of take does he follow? Can you mix and match the ones you want to follow? Can you combine the bag limits? For instance a Choctaw member has a bag limit of 10 cats, state license holders have a bag limit of 20 cats. Can you catch your 10 on the Choctaw license and then another 20 on your state license? Choctaw license allow snaring, state does not. So can you snare 10 cats and then trap 20? Anyone else have this in their state? This is just one example, there are many more scenarios.

In all of the states I’ve lived, tribal law ONLY applies to tribe members on tribal land. Anyone and anywhere else must follow state law.

We are all hunting/trapping/fishing the same land just different rules. So which rules do you follow if you are a member of the Indian Nation? Another example: Choctaw Nation turkey season is April 1 - May 10, state season is April 16-May 16. So if you are Choctaw can you start hunting April 1, switch over to your state license on May 11 and continue hunting til May 16? If so can you tag one turkey as a Choctaw and another with your state license?

I would think it’s one or the other. If you’re a member of the tribe you are bound by tribal law, if not then you are bound by state law.

Most places I've been the Indians have much more liberal rules than whites off reservation, and neither state nor feds will prosecute them even when they don't follow their rules, so they basically have free rein. On the reservation, each reservation is different, and some of the rules are defined in their treaty, the others are written by the Indians of that tribe, and if they allow whites on the reservation they set the rules for them, usually much different than those for the Indians, which are enforced by the Indian tribal police, so enforcement on tribal members varies wildly from reservation to reservation.
For example, one fairly local reservation, is open to everybody, but whites have to follow the same rules as in the rest of the state and the tribe owns quite a bit of ground both on and off the reservation, which they do not allow whites to hunt or trap on. While the rules for the Indians are much more liberal, and enforcement by tribal police against tribal members is lax, unless the tribal member has ticked off tribal police or tribal council. Another reservation had written into their treaty that there is NO harvest of furbearing animals on the reservation, this applies to both whites and tribal members. But the tribe doesn't enforce it against tribal members and while technically federal law enforcement could, (and as a treaty violation, would actually be quite a serious offense) they don't want to ruffle any feathers and have an unofficial complete hands off policy.

We don’t have reservations but I guess it is sort of similar to what bearcat is describing. This is a new concept here in Oklahoma. Just doesn’t feel right to have two sets of rules to manage wildlife.

In my experience, all of the hundred plus "Native Americans" I have met have mostly European genetics and only a handful looked like they had any Native American genetics at all. The only way I knew most were Native Americans is because they told me. I have 2 friends I have had since college, who had curly blonde hair (they're mostly bald now), blue eyes and pale skin like me, who got scholarships for being Native American. I recently read where in the next 50 years, the Alaskan seal harvest will be almost non existent because there may not be even any people who have enough Native American blood to qualify to take part.

It seems stupid to me to let a bunch of white people, with minute amounts of Native American DNA play Injun and have special rights. I don't care about the old treaties. I thinks it's time for us to all just be Americans. There's to much division amongst Americans. You can't fix old wrongs, that happened long before any of us were born, by giving special benefits and privileges now. Doing so just creates more division.

Keith

Where I was it depends on the land u were trapping on. Tribal lands have a different set of rules than the state.

Here we have "ceeded lands" in addition to "reservations", so they get to hunt, fish, spear all over not just on the res.

Keith, I 100% agree.

You might think it's one or the other, but most likely it's one and the other for tribal members.

Agreed In early years of the European settlers coming to America nearly all of them arrived here with only the few things they could carry . They left their old home behind and where going to a place they had only heard about .They did not have a particular destination in mind . Of course they knew what city their ship was sailing to .And may have had some idea where they where headed once they got here Once they actually settled and established a home they had no choice but to become a part of the local community It was only a few homesteads spread out across the country side Yes the people where very self sufficient but they still needed help from their neighbors It was not a case of people only associating with only those that where of the same nationally .Once they settled in to their new environment they quickly became Americans It was not to their advantage to avoid each other .I will say though that the Native Americans where often the ones that where taken advantage of. They where repeatedly made promises of things that where not lived up to where it turned out those in charge broke those promises .I sometimes wonder though if those in authority in some of those organizations are not doing more harm than good They are promoting ideas that help themselves while neglecting society in general