Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Gaylord News

Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Gaylord News

Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Gaylord News

Boundaries of six state tribes now on Google Maps

Boundaries of six state tribes now on Google Maps

Jessie Christopher Smith, Reporter September 24, 2020

WASHINGTON — A landmark Supreme Court case is already changing how Oklahoma shows up on Google, with the reservation boundaries for six of the tribal nations represented on maps for the first time in...

Native American tribes in Oklahoma are working to increase participation in the census. (Gaylord News Photo)

Oklahoma in ‘final sprint’ before census deadline

Bennett Brinkman, Reporter September 23, 2020

As the Sept. 30 deadline for census responses approaches, a number of Oklahoma groups are working to ensure as many people as possible are counted. Oklahoma currently has a response rate of 93.8%, ranking...

Census awareness raised in immigrant communities despite bureau troubles

Census awareness raised in immigrant communities despite bureau troubles

Jessie Christopher Smith, Reporter September 15, 2020

WASHINGTON – Oklahoma may have been spared missing thousands of immigrants in the 2020 census when a federal judge temporarily stopped the Trump administration from ending the census early, according...

Campus culture on the University of Oklahoma continues to adapt around coronavirus restrictions. Photo courtesy OU.

Bars, parties and football during a global pandemic

Zaria Oates, Reporter September 10, 2020

When the University of Oklahoma Sooners kick off their season Saturday night against Missouri State, the stadium will feel empty,  but nearby Campus Corner will not. OU is limiting attendance inside...

The Cherokee Nation will allocate COVID-19-related funding toward improving healthcare facilities.

Cherokee tribe using COVID-19 funds to improve health facilities

Nancy Marie Spears, Reporter September 9, 2020

The Cherokee Nation plans to construct or remodel 12 tribal buildings devoted to healthier outcomes as part of the tribe’s COVID-19 recovery plan.  Using $25 million in CARES Act funds allocated...

Rev. T. Sheri Dickerson, head of Black Lives Matter OKC, reflects on the shooting of Jacob Blake and the case of Julius Jones. Jessie Smith/Gaylord News

Black Lives Matter rallies for Julius Jones at Washington march

Emma Sears and Jessie Christopher Smith August 28, 2020

WASHINGTON — Thirteen members of the Black Lives Matter OKC chapter called for clemency of Oklahoma death row inmate Julius Jones while joining others marching to protest police brutality and racial...

Kiowa Tribe Chairman Matthew Komalty sits next to Angela McCarthy, Kiowa legislative speaker, with members of the tribe’s executive branch and legislators during a discussion earlier this year about tribal safety during early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. Photo courtesy of The Kiowa Tribe

Court order blocking COVID-19 funds spending by Kiowa tribe lifted

Nancy Marie Spears, Reporter August 28, 2020

The Court of Indian Offenses lifted the court order that halted the Kiowa chairman from spending COVID-19 CARES Act funds following a lengthy legal battle between the Kiowa Legislative and Executive branches. The...

Chairman Komalty (pictured, center) sought injunction over concern about COVID-19 exposure. Photo courtesy of the Kiowa Tribe.

Kiowa Chairman’s impeachment hearing delayed

Nancy Marie Spears, Reporter July 30, 2020

The impeachment trial for Matthew Komalty, chairman of the 14,000 member Kiowa Tribe was halted Thursday after the Court of Indian Offenses ordered a delay. Komalty sought the delay because of a concern...

Edibles made from low THC strains of cannabis, such as these gummies, are typically recommended for patients over 65 who are not accustomed to smoking. Photo courtesy of Lawrence Cagigal.

For Oklahoma seniors, legal marijuana is a new frontier

Wendy Weitzel, Reporter July 29, 2020

Back doors, secret shops, shady exchanges, cryptic messages on bulletin boards. This is how Belinda Davis remembers the underground weed sales in Fayetteville, the Arkansas college town where she came...

Osage Nation maintains the only remaining reservation of tribal territory in Oklahoma. Headquarters for the government is centered in Pawhuska. (Photo Credit U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau)

Exiled to Indian Country: Osage Nation

Jim North, Reporter July 27, 2020

The exchange of lush, green woodlands for the dry, unwanted land of Indian Territory came with plot twists. Osage ancestral territory east of the Mississippi included the Ohio Valley region, taking...

Jurisdictional issues are fairly clear-cut after the McGirt decision with no federal legislation, but they become more muddled with the agreement in principle. Graphic courtesy of Rebecca Nagle, Mary Kathryn Nagle and Carly Griffith Hotvedt.

Post McGirt, the plan of action remains unsettled

Breanna Mitchell and Wendy Weitzel July 26, 2020

A small chink has emerged in the united front coming from Oklahoma’s tribes and the state Attorney General’s office.  Two of the so-called Five Tribes say they are opposed to an agreement that...

Kiowa Tribe Chairman Matthew Komalty sits next to Angela McCarthy, Kiowa legislative speaker, with members of the tribe’s executive branch and legislators during a discussion earlier this year about tribal safety during early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. Photo courtesy of The Kiowa Tribe

Kiowas seeking to impeach chairman

Nancy Marie Spears, Reporter July 23, 2020

The Kiowa Tribe chairman is facing impeachment over his handling of coronavirus relief funds by the tribe’s 7-member legislative branch. The mishandling of the money, distributed by the federal government...

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