(CONCHO, OK) Today, June 4, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes signed an agreement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to place tribal property located in Geary, Okla. into trust status. Making this the first successful land into trust application process since the 2006 Constitution was enacted and years prior.
“The tribes have a long history of trying to place purchases fee lands into trust status for self-determination and to improve the Tribes’ economic development,” Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes’ Gov. Reggie Wassana stated.
Wassana said over the past several years the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes have purchased and/or acquired several properties in fee status that are within the original reservation boundaries. Specifically, the tribes’ own prime tracts of land along Interstate 40 in El Reno, Geary, Clinton and Elk City, Okla.
“Additionally we purchaes two different tracts in the northwestern part of our original reservation in Woodward, Okla., as well as other properties in fee status throughout our original reservation boundaries. Research going back over 40 years has shown that the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes have never successfully placed one single acre of land into trust status,” Gov. Wassana said.
The tribes’ acquired the building and property in Geary, Okla. on Jan. 10, 2006. The property is home to the Geary Community Center, giving tribal citizens their own venue to host events for the community.
Shortly after taking office in January 2018, Gov. Wassana’s executive administration began efforts to take several of the tribes’ properties into trust, including the Geary property.
“This property should have been much easier to get placed into trust because a survey is not required for lot block property. Nonetheless, it took us over a year before we finally made any significant progress with the trust application for this parcel of land,” Gov. Wassana said.
After waiting several months the tribes’ finally received a Preliminary Title Opinion (PTO) from the Office of Solicitor and was given the go ahead to conduct a Phase I Environmental Assessment.
“Because this report stated that there might be or was a possibility of contamination, we were advised by the Concho Agency and Regional BIA office we had to get a Phase 2 Environmental Assessment completed to confirm that there is not any contamination underground,” Gov. Wassana stated.
On April 16, 2020 the Notice of Decision to acquire this land into trust was issued by the BIA and a public notice was published in the May 1, 2020 issue of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal Tribune.
“Although this parcel of property is a ½ acre in size, today is a monumental day for our people because it marks the first time in our tribes’ history that we have been able to successfully get any of our fee land placed into trust status,” Gov. Wassana said.
The governor thanks both the Seventh and Eighth Legislature for approving the resolution to take the property into trust for appropriating the necessary funds for his administration to move the process forward. He also thanked the BIA, Concho Agency and Southern Plains Regional Office, and their staff to get the application approved.
“I want to especially thank my General Counsel Hershel Gorham and his Office of Tribal Attorney for their role in the application process and doing the legal work. Going forward, I feel confident that we now have the blueprint, knowledge and the necessary relationship with the BIA to successfully get our other fee properties into trust status,” Gov. Wassana said. “As always thank you to our elders and our youth, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes have survived countless attempts to terminate us as a people, including small pox epidemic and scalp proclamations. As we continue to overcome this coronavirus pandemic, I have no doubt we will survive this as well with the same tenacity of our ancestors … tomorrow starts today.”
Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribal Tribune 