The Quapaw Tribe signed agreements today with law enforcement agencies, giving them jurisdiction to enforce tribal law and operate within the tribe’s newly defined reservation.

The reservation boundaries cover about half of Ottawa County.

The tribe signed agreements with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office, the Miami and Commerce Police Departments, Grand River Dam Authority Police, the Miami Tribe, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

“There’s 114 years of criminal jurisdiction that has now shifted, that’s what the reality is. These collaborative arrangements are necessary. Whenever I hear there’s not justice for all, I see things differently. If you cut out all the political rhetoric, there is a willingness, up here in Ottawa County, to partner with those (non-tribal) law enforcement agencies," Chairman Joseph Bird said.

The Quapaw Reservation covers 13,000 acres, mainly in far Northeast Oklahoma.