Oregon’s proclamation is part of a longer return of authority after decades of state involvement under Public Law 280.
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are moving closer to full civil legal jurisdiction on their own reservation.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has signed a proclamation supporting the return of sole legal jurisdiction in civil matters on the Umatilla Indian Reservation to CTUIR. The next step is federal review by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
If accepted, the change would return civil legal authority to the Tribes in an area where state jurisdiction has remained for decades.
That may sound technical. It is not. Civil jurisdiction can shape family matters, private disputes, contracts, property questions and other legal issues that affect daily life. For a Native Nation, it also speaks to a larger question: whose law governs on tribal land?
The CTUIR request comes from a long history of imposed jurisdiction. In 1953, Congress passed Public Law 280, a federal law that transferred certain criminal and civil jurisdiction in Indian Country from the federal government to some states. Oregon was one of the states affected. The law was passed during the Termination Era, when federal policy was aimed at weakening tribal governments, ending federal responsibilities and pushing Native Nations under state systems.
The result was not simple order. It created overlapping authority and confusion. In many places, it also made it harder for tribal governments to develop and exercise their own justice systems.
For CTUIR, criminal jurisdiction was retroceded in the early 1980s. Civil jurisdiction remained. That left the Tribes with a partial return of authority but not the full measure of jurisdiction over legal matters on their own reservation.
This new proclamation is part of correcting that split.
The Umatilla Indian Reservation was created through the Treaty of 1855. The Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla peoples ceded millions of acres to the United States while reserving a homeland and retaining rights to fish, hunt, gather foods and medicines, and pasture livestock. Those rights were reserved by the Tribes. They were not granted later by the United States.
That treaty history matters because jurisdiction is not a modern favour. It is part of the continuing governmental relationship between Native Nations and the United States.
Native reporting from Underscore and ICT notes that CTUIR is the first Oregon tribe to use a newer state process for requesting retrocession of civil jurisdiction. The Tribes made the request in November 2025. Governor Kotek’s proclamation accepts the request and commits the state to petition the Department of the Interior.
CTUIR Board of Trustees Chair N. Kathryn Brigham has said the Tribes have exercised criminal jurisdiction since retrocession in the early 1980s. The civil jurisdiction request, she said, represents another step in that work.
The issue reaches beyond one government office or one court system. Native Nations have long had to navigate federal law, state law, county systems and tribal law at the same time. That complexity is not an accident. It is the residue of federal Indian policy, including policies that were designed to reduce tribal authority.
A return of civil jurisdiction does not erase that history. But it does mark a shift in power.
It means more legal matters can be handled by the government of the people whose land and community are directly affected. It means tribal courts and tribal law are treated not as secondary, but as central. It also gives other Native Nations in Oregon a path to watch, study and possibly follow.
The proclamation still needs federal acceptance. Until that happens, the change is not complete.
But the direction is clear. CTUIR is not asking for a symbolic statement. It is seeking the return of practical governing authority over legal matters on tribal land.
That is sovereignty in its everyday form: law, courts, families, land, disputes, responsibility and the right of a Native Nation to govern itself.
Sources
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation — Gov. Kotek Signs Proclamation Returning Civil Legal Jurisdiction to CTUIR: https://ctuir.org/news/gov-kotek-signs-proclamation-returning-civil-legal-jurisdiction-to-ctuir/
Oregon Governor’s Office — Governor Kotek Signs Proclamation Returning Civil Legal Jurisdiction to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation: https://apps.oregon.gov/oregon-newsroom/OR/GOV/Posts/Post/governor-kotek-signs-proclamation-returning-civil-legal-jurisdiction-to-the-confederated-tribes-of-the-umatilla-indian-reservation
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation — Brief History of CTUIR: https://ctuir.org/about/brief-history-of-ctuir/
Underscore Native News — Oregon Governor Signs Proclamation to Return Civil Legal Jurisdiction to Umatilla Tribes: https://www.underscore.news/justice/oregon-governor-signs-proclamation-to-return-civil-legal-jurisdiction-to-umatilla-tribes/
ICT — Oregon Governor Returns Civil Legal Jurisdiction to Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation: https://ictnews.org/news/oregon-governor-returns-civil-legal-jurisdiction-to-confederated-tribes-of-the-umatilla-indian-reservation/
