By Carol Berry, Today correspondent
Story Published: Mar 14, 2010
Story Updated: Mar 12, 2010
DENVER – After years of litigation and controversy, the Osage Nation was told by a federal appeals court March 5 that its reservation was dissolved a century ago and that the court therefore did not need to address whether its residents were exempt from state income tax.
The tribal nation northwest of Tulsa contended that Osage County also constitutes the Osage reservation and that tribal members who live and work there should not have to pay state tax.
The category on articles and in particular this one, is arguably the most important of all on this web site because it deals with our uncertain future from an economic standpoint and I welcome it. As each elected official will have to come to terms with the outcome of the 10th Circuit Court decision to one degree or another, I pose this scenario, sent to me by another concerned Osage and together we ask the following questions of all of the candidates who have filed for election: If we move forward with the case to the Supreme Court and lose, it may have a negative effect on the reservation status of every single Tribe in the 10th Circuit Court District that includes OK, CO, UT, NM, WY and KS. We will be lucky to be on speaking terms with them if this takes place. In addition, if we lose the case and cannot get the land into Trust with the BIA, the gaming compacts with the State of OK could be voidable on their end. Remember, the 10th Circuit has ruled without qualification that our reservation was disestablished by the Congress. In that event, we could be faced with a cease and desist order on the front door of every one of our Casinos. At that point, we could be strapped to pay the salaries of the 22 elected officials of the Osage Nation at the current cumulative rate of pay ($1,200,000). Where will you come up with the money to pay the salaries of those employed by the Osage, LLC when at least one of them is rumored to be in the neighborhood of $200,000 + a year, not to mention the Board? In two short years, we could be facing fiscal Armageddon in the Osage. What’s your economic plan if we are knocked back to $2 million a year in generated income and what we have left in reserve? For two years the current elected officials with a few notable exceptions just ignored the economic crisis and spent money like there was no tomorrow. Now it’s time to face the reality of our situation and take it seriously. The candidates that don’t address this situation don’t need our vote because we can’t any longer afford to have them elected to office.
More unintended consequences and broader that originally believed to exist? http://64.38.12.138/News/2010/018927.asp
“Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided. The concept has been discussed, debated and questioned throughout history, from the time of the Romans through to the present day, although it has changed in its definition, concept, and application throughout, especially during the Age of Enlightenment. The current notion of state sovereignty was laid down in the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), which, in relation to states, codified the basic principles of territorial integrity, border inviolability, and supremacy of the state (rather than the Church). A sovereign is a supreme lawmaking authority”
If the Osage people are sovereign then congress has no more right to
remove our’s then it has the right to remove any other country’s.
Sovereignty resides with us and can only be removed if we allow it.
Sovereignty is a relative concept and with the Osage Nation it is directly relative to the plenary power of the U.S. Congress. In an article published by KTUL, “Senator Coburn says sovereignty is determined by the U.S. Congress, not the treaty. But the tribe shouldn’t apply pressure. “If they push the sovereignty issue, risk is they lose sovereignty because Congress will change it,” Coburn said. “They are walking a tight line.” Now you can live in Never Never Land or you can deal with the prevailing reality in with which you actually live. Right or wrong from your point of view, as far as the Osage Nation is concerned, this is the prevailing reality.
I was at that “town hall” meeting when Coburn came to Pawhuska. I saw him get asked the same question 5 times that day. All concerning the same issue of whether or not this was a reservation. He was asked 3 times by white people and 2 times by Osages. All 5 times he stated he did not know enough about the issue to comment. Immediately following that meeting he stepped outside, waited for the people to clear out and started saying exactly the quotes Cathy stated. I also saw the woman there that ran that story. I think it’s fair to say she was in the room 30% of the time.. she kept leaving to go outside for whatever reason. That story that aired heavily favored the non-Osage cattle ranchers.
The best thing we can do to combat this problem is buy back as much of the surface land as possible. The land is the power base being used to fight us in our own back yard. Buying back the land erodes the political and legal framework of speculative evidence that capitulated us in this case.
Sovereignty can only be taken by force or given up voluntarily by a free people. Congress can choose to not recognize our sovereignty for the USA but this makes us no less sovereign.
Senator Coburn is right that our relations with Congress are delicate and I do not mean to belittle this.
Though sovereignty is the art of what is possible between nations pushing ahead when you can pulling back when you must.
Now would seem a time to carefully push ahead.
This is the most important issue that we are facing today. Why aren’t there more comments on this topic?
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Well I agree with you Ryan about i favoring cattle ranchers. The matter of the fact is that I don’t believe anything Senator Coburn says because he does not like Indians at all.
Cathy is there something specific you would like to discuss? This is undoubtedly an important issue but I fail to see what point there is left to make unless someone dissents for the sake of conversation or is dumb enough to think its ok to not have sovereign status? Just curious to see where you would like this thread to go…
Sorry On my last post, my daughter was trying to help me type. What was meant was that I agree with Ryan about them favoring cattle ranchers. I am not favoring them.
This issue is key to our entire future. I just want to make certain that it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
Cathy I would say the best thing you can do, if you have the financial means, then as an Osage is buy a piece of land back from a non-Osage on the rez.
Ryan, thanks for this suggestion and hopefully other Osages will do the same.
To reiterate, this issue is key to our entire future. I just want to make certain that it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
As too Ryan’s suggestion the tax forfeited county land this would seem a good cheap place to start and if this land is then donated to the tribe i would stipulate that donation be contingent on placing the land in tribal trust.