And political clout? Today’s tribes enjoy monumental influence. That clout extends beyond the 30-plus Oklahoma Native Americans elected or appointed to influential state and federal positions over the past two decades. One of those tribal members, Cherokee citizen and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, got a dose of the tribes’ political power shortly after taking office in January 2019. Stitt entered into a high-stakes battle against his own tribe and others over how much casinos pay the state. But last July, a federal judge handed tribes a victory, ruling tribal compacts automatically renewed on Jan. 1, 2020, stopping Stitt from trying to renegotiate the current 4% to 10% fee on gambling revenue that tribes pay to exclusively operate casinos.