Minerals Council votes to help fund lawsuit that could abolish Osage Constitution

Posted on 30 September 2010 by sshaw on OsageNews.org

Newly elected Minerals Council members take a group photo on July 7 in the Congressional Chambers in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

By Shannon Shaw
Osage News

The Osage Mineral’s Council passed a resolution Sept. 29 to give a donation in the amount of $50,000 to support a lawsuit that could abolish the Osage Constitution.

“We will be going to court, and it will be a settlement [conference],” said Cora Jean Jech, plaintiff in the case Jech vs. United States. “If we settle, the whole thing is to restore the 1906 act and the protection of the minerals trust – and the way this last election came, the headright owners didn’t really have the chance to vote the government in.”

Jech said further, “[Principal Chief John Red Eagle] said he was going to remove the trust from the constitution. He hasn’t gotten it done yet, I think this of [Red Eagle], if he tells you he was going to do something, he’s going to do it.”

A statement issued from Red Eagle’s office the morning of Sept. 30 said he fully intended to defend the Osage Constitution.

“I took an oath and I am obligated to support and uphold the Constitution of the Osage Nation,” Red Eagle said. “While there may be debate over the need to amend our Constitution, that will be a decision made by the Osage people through the proper process.

“I have agreed to reaffirm the responsibilities of the Minerals Council under the Constitution and I continue to support greater independence of the Minerals Council. However, the Osage Nation is not a party to the ‘Jech case.’ The Nation does not support plaintiff’s position and neither does it provide any financial support to the plaintiff. I prefer a more cooperative process for solving differences.”

OMC members voting for the resolution, sponsored by Councilman Curtis Bear, were Cynthia Boone, Bear, Melvin Core and Myron Red Eagle. Voting against the resolution were Sonny Abbott, Galen Crum and Andrew Yates. Whitehorn abstained.

All members of the OMC took oaths of office to uphold and defend the Osage Constitution.

Boone stated during the meeting Sept. 29 that it was not her intention to overthrow the Osage Nation, but to do everything in her power to make sure the mineral’s estate is secure and protected. She did not see the harm in donating $50,000 to the Jech plaintiffs because it would not be shareholder money the OMC would be spending.

However, Councilman Crum disagreed and said that the shareholders should be aware that the $50,000 donation would be coming from the OMC’s S-510 account, which is the revenue generated from Kansas land lease payments.

“It still is shareholder money,” Crum said. “We’re still using shareholder funds funding the lawsuit. [However], it will not affect your payment in any way.”

OMC Councilmen Abbott, Crum and Yates said they wanted to exercise caution and hire general counsel before committing to support the Jech case. Crum said Chief Red Eagle, Osage Congressmen Geoffrey Standing Bear and Raymond Red Corn had all agreed to sponsor or support congressional resolutions that could possibly bring amendments to the Osage people to amend the Constitution and give more authority to the OMC.

Upon hearing the actions of the OMC Sept. 29, Congressmen Standing Bear and Red Corn sent their resolutions back to committee during the Tzi-Zho Congressional Session Sept. 30. In Standing Bear’s view, the actions of the OMC on Sept. 29 showed “hostility” and not cooperation and urged all members of Congress to read the plaintiff’s complaint and noted that one of the exhibits is the Osage Constitution.

In a draft letter to Chief Red Eagle dated Sept. 22, Whitehorn reminded Red Eagle that during his inauguration speech he promised to restore the 1906 Act for the benefit of the Osage shareholders, which was why the OMC was sending the letter.

The letter further requested for the return of “all Minerals monies and land, including the land in Kansas” – this would also include land that currently house Osage casinos. It also asked that a letter on this subject be sent to all appropriate Bureau of Indian Affairs officials and officials within the Department of the Interior and that the Osage Trust Team be comprised of OMC members only. Currently the trust team is comprised of the Principal Chief, Speaker of the Congress, Whitehorn, Boone and Crum.

Jech case

The case, Jech vs. United States, is asking that the 1906 Act be restored according to the Code of Federal Regulations, which could mean the abolishment of the Osage Constitution, the current three-branch government and the Nation would go back to be the Osage Tribe of Indians functioning under a chief, assistant chief and an eight-member tribal council – the only voting members of the tribe would be shareholders.

The plaintiff’s in the case are Jech, former Principal Chief Charles Tillman, OMC Chairman Dudley Whitehorn, Joe Hall, Joanna Barbara, R.E. Yarbrough, Cody Tucker and John Johnson.

Both Whitehorn and Jech ran in the 2006 Osage Nation elections. Whitehorn ran for principal chief and Jech ran for the Osage Nation Congress.

To view the OMC draft letter to Chief Red Eagle, click here: