Drivers find relief from high gas prices on tribal lands from Seattle to New York

The gasoline squeeze during the Iran war has led some drivers to look beyond nearby stations and instead for tribally owned stores with gas pumps, where fuel-tax rules and court rulings can translate into lower posted prices.

In the Seattle area, Junelle Lewis said she drove to the Tulalip Reservation after an app showed cheaper options, filling up at the Tulalip Market for $4.84 a gallon. She said she purposely drove “just for the gas,” adding that “Gas is ridiculous,” while also describing the station as consistently cheaper than other nearby options. Other drivers have also reported that they find better deals on Native American reservations, particularly in states where tribes operate stations along busy corridors.

The price pressure is not limited to a single region. Nationwide, AAA said gasoline prices have risen by “well over $1” since the Iran war began Feb. 28, reaching an average of $4.15 a gallon, according to the Associated Press report. The AP story also noted that prices topped $5 during the summer of 2022 and that economists expect they could keep climbing as geopolitical tension persists.

One example outside Washington came from central California, where the AP reported that $5.09 gas at the Chukchansi Crossing Fuel Station & Travel Center between Fresno and Yosemite National Park was “60 cents less than nearby stations.” In New Mexico, the story said Mescalero Apache Reservation gas could be as low as $3.79 this week for Jamie Cross. In eastern New York state, the report said the cheapest gas was about $3.65 on the Cattaraugus Indian Territory between Buffalo and Erie, Pennsylvania—about 50 cents less than towns nearby.

The AP story said the legal basis for many of those differences is “tax exemptions,” grounded in U.S. court decisions. Dan Lewerenz, a University of North Dakota assistant law professor who specializes in Native American law, said courts have found that states do not have authority to collect taxes from Native Americans on their land. He described that as an enduring principle in federal Indian law, and said the Supreme Court has consistently held to that view.

Lewerenz also pointed to how specific cases can turn on treaty language and how the tax authority is applied. The AP report cited a 2005 Supreme Court ruling involving Kansas that allowed off-reservation distributors to charge state tax on sales to tribes for on-reservation fuel purchases, and it also cited a 2019 Supreme Court decision involving an 1855 treaty between the U.S. and the Yakama Nation, which the court said prohibited state fuel taxes on tribal lands in Washington state. Lewerenz said the treaty reservation of off-reservation rights made the situation “a little bit different” from the general principle that Indians are not taxed within Indian Country.

Beyond the tax question, the AP report described how gas sales fit into a broader business model for many reservations. Convenience store gas sales, it said, are often less profitable than getting customers to buy food and other items once they arrive, and some tribal businesses increasingly offer groceries in areas considered “food deserts.” Matthew Klas, a consultant with Klas Robinson Q.E.D. who consults for tribal businesses, told the report that gas stations and convenience stores can be “the nearest, best place to purchase affordable food or household supplies.”

According to the AP story, Klas tracks the 245 tribes nationwide that, as of 2025, operated 496 convenience stores with gas stations, and it said Oklahoma, California, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Michigan and New York have the most. It also said some tribes run their own store chains, including the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma and the Oneida Indian Nation in New York. The report added that some tribal businesses generate additional revenue through drive-through smoke shops, car washes, truck stop amenities, and casinos, including “gasinos” with gambling machines.

For tribes, the AP report said higher sales can be reinvested into reservation services. On the Tulalip Reservation near Seattle, the story said rising gas sales were being reinvested in the community, helping cover the cost of roads, police, health care, education, housing and other needs, citing a statement from Tulalip Tribes Federal Corporation CEO Tanya Burns. Burns said, “Like any government, we provide critical services to our people.”

While drivers described fuel savings, the AP report also portrayed the relationship as practical rather than purely celebratory. Todd Hall of Paden, Oklahoma, said it was “terrible” what he was paying for diesel when filling a tow truck at a Citizen Potawatomi Nation station, but he also said, “They’re cheaper here than anywhere else.” Mark Foster told the report he saves about $5 a week buying fuel at a tribally owned station, describing the tribe as a “good community partner” and pointing to both the pricing and the relationship.

At Tulalip Market, the AP report included a different frustration: Jared Blankenship said he was not complaining about a particular price difference so much as having to buy gas at all after his electric car was totaled. He said, “Yeah, well, my electric car just got totaled,” adding that it left him choosing between Costco and “looking wherever’s cheap, like the rez.” The story also noted that other contributors, including Lindsey Wasson in Seattle and Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed reporting.