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A federal judge has declined to re-open a case that previously ruled the Osage Nation Reservation was disestablished.

In 2001, the Osage Nation filed a lawsuit against the Oklahoma Tax Commission alleging the state agency did not have the right to tax income earned by tribal members within Osage County. The tribe lost the lawsuit after a federal court ruled the Osage Reservation was disestablished by Congress.

Following the landmark 2020 McGirt decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Osage Nation requested the case be re-opened. The court denied the request.

In the Monday ruling, federal judge John D. Russell said the question remains whether or not the Osage Nation Reservation still exists, and ruled against reopening the tax case. Russell says the Osage Nation has the option to file a new lawsuit rather than appealing this case.

Osage Nation Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear had the following to say on an Osage Nation Facebook post:

“We continue to uphold that the Osage Nation Reservation is intact and was never disestablished. The Osage Nation paid for this reservation with our own money and with the United States’ blessing, and we are asking the United States not to forget.”

Here is the full court order from Monday.