Osage Nation casinos threatened by recent court decisionMonday, April 12, 2010 |
 In a recent tax case filed by the Osage Nation of Oklahoma, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Osage Reservation did not exist, a ruling that could affect the tribe’s gaming enterprise.
The Tulsa World reports that Osage casinos in Tulsa, Skiatook, and Ponca City are not on lands held in trust on behalf of the tribe. These three are their most profitable casinos. “Those three are our highest grossing casinos. It would pretty well devastate us. I estimate it would take half to three-quarters of our net income. Once those appeals run out, it’s illegal to game on that property,” Osage Nation Congressman Kugee Supernaw told the paper. “This land could have been put in trust a long time ago. It was probably an error in judgment someone made several years ago. They should have pursued it instead of assuming we were going to win the tax case.” The tribe has asked the 10th Circuit to rehear the case. If it’s not accepted, the tribe could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. The National Indian Gaming Commission won’t take action until the tribe exhausts its appeals, a spokesperson said. |
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ELHomer had two responses in the comment section of an article in the Tulsa World about this same subject 3 days after this article and I think it is a great response. Just in case you can’t get to the link at the end of her comments I copied and pasted them both for everyone to read.
ELHomer, (3 days ago)
This writer would indeed be surprised if the Clerk for the Federal Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit anticipated that her comments to the Tulsa World would be characterized as the expression of an opinion as to the outcome of the court’s decision in the litigation between the Osage Nation and the Oklahoma Tax Commission. The foregoing article, however, suggests that the Court Clerk has expressed just such an opinion, something that no doubt will prove a bit of an embarassment to both the individual and the appeals court.
If the Osage Nation Chief is indeed confident, it likely arises from a belief that justice may be found in the federal courts of the United States. The Osage Nation as much as any party has a right to expect the court’s adherence to basic principles of fundamental fairness, due process of law, and controlling standards of American jurisprudence, such as the application of judicial precedent. If the Osage Nation is unable to rely on tbe federal courts to adhere to these principles, then nobody can. Chief Gray would indeed be a cynical person to presume that the federal appeals court would not at least fairly consider its petition for review.
Until the issue between the Osage Nation and the Oklahoma Tax Commission arose, there was never any serious question as to the existence of the Osage Reservation, which was confirmed by the United States Congress in 1872. It can be found on every map from the Indian Country map published by the U.S. Department of the Interior to those handed out by car rental companies. It is acknowledged in the Oklahoma Enabling Act, by court opinions, by federal agencies, and, until recently, the State of Oklahoma.
To those readers, such as the previous commenter, who are not students of history, the fact is that much of present-day Oklahoma is within the aboriginal territory of the Osage, which between 1808 and 1868, ceded over 80 million acres to the United States through a series of treaties. Funds from the Nation’s land cessions to the U.S. were used to purchase the Nation’s reservation in Oklahoma from the Cherokee Nation. In 1873, Congress authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer $1,650,600 of Osage trust funds on deposit in the U.S. Treasury to pay the Cherokee Nation for the lands purchased by the Osage. On March 3, 1883, an additional $300,000 of Osage funds were authorized to be paid to the Cherokees for this and other lands on condition of their executing a proper deed. On June 14, 1883, the Cherokee Nation executed the deed, conveying to the United States in trust for the Osage (with a specific set-aside for the Kansas or Kaw Indians) the area bounded on the east by the ninety-sixth meridian, on the south and west by the north line of the Creek country to the left bank of the main channel of the Arkansas river, and bounded on the north by the south line of the state of Kansas.
By purchasing its reservation outright, the Osage Nation secured fee title, which is the most complete form of legal ownership and which is protected by the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. As a result, unlike other tribes, the Osage Nation was not subject to allotment under the Dawes Act, and when the Reservation was allotted in 1906, it was allotted wholly and only to Osage members. These facts are critically important to a fair analysis of the status of the Osage Reservation because the Supreme Court’s standard for determining whether an Indian Reservation has been diminished or disestablished hinges on these very facts.
Good readers, think of it like this: you have purchased your home, paid for in full with cash money. Years later someone comes along and says, “gee that was a long time ago and we don’t think the law that applies to everyone else should apply to you. For you, we’re going to do something very different that applies just to you, so that home you thought was yours just doesn’t exist anymore.” The trouble is that if something new can be made up to apply just to the Osage, then something new can be made up to apply to anyone.
ELHomer, (3 days ago)
One additional point: this case was never tried. Federal Distict Court Judge Payne ruled against the Osage Nation on what is called a motion for summary judgment filed by the Tax Commission and he did this prior to the deadline for the filing of the Osage Nation’s brief. In other words, neither the Osage Nation’s brief or the arguments in it were even considered before the decision was issued. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the Osage Nation’s position, shouldn’t it at least have had an opportunity for a fair hearing? Isn’t this something every American has a right to expect?
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=14&articleid=20100415_11_A9_Gamble887007
That was a great read. The nuances of that case need to be added to the press releases being sent out because if everything said there is correct, we have once again witnessed an abomination of the legal system in the United States. Thanks for reposting that. I don’t believe the majority of our people were aware. If anyone else has insight regarding the facts of this case I would encourage them to post them.
The Decision from the court holds that the Osage Reservation was disestablished by the Allotment Act. However our argument is that it would take an explicit act of Congress to disestablish the Osage Reservation.
That Act of Congress never happened. The court ruled that there was an implicit dissolution of the Osage Reservation based on the Allotment Act, of which we were never a party to. That’s my rudimentary understanding of the case.
I definitely agree with us appealing this case; please mistake me if I”m wrong but wouildn’t the NIGC allow the casinos to remain open if we are in the “process” of putting the land into trust. Just from an economic standpoint, I can’t see any way the casinos would be shut down. It would take some really bad blood from the state to even attempt to shut them down. Everyone benefits, in the form of tax dollars and jobs; worst case scenario in my opinion would be that the three that aren’t yet on trust land would taxed really bad by the state but even this is a stretch. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
And one last point, I was talking to my brother and we were discussing the fact that if there could be some Republican lawmakers come in who are so anti-gaming they would press this issue regardless of who benefits from the casinos. In their eyes this is a moral issue and gambling is bad so it must go away, end of story. An interesting thing to watch will be the race for Osage County D.A. The Osage Tribe really needs Jeff Jones in there because I heard the guy he is running against (Rex Duncan) is totally opposed to gambling. All it would take for something major to happen would be if Duncan gets elected office and then goes after the casinos’. This could very well happen early in Duncan’s tenure if he chooses to pursue this. But one thing that really works in our favor is the fact that the NIGC allowed these casinos to remain open for so long; before the court ruling we had assumed the casinos were on trust land due to our reservation status so I don’t see how we could be penalized for that.
Wouldnt it be nice to have the courts rule in favor of the Osage for no other reason than to take this unique opportunity to cause an act of reparation towards Native America.
Given the history of squatters , the land rush, Osage murders of(headright owners) and the endless theft of trust managed assets that Osages have in their history with the US government, it would still only be a small act of aknowledgement compared to the treatment bestowed upon our families for decades.
Unfortunately law does not work in that fashion. Standards exist that are not subject to sentiment and at times, even right from wrong.
The saving grace for The Osage may very well be our outright ownership as described in the boundries in the deed of trust. The internal boundries that changed ownership, either fairly or swindled, may or may not imapact the courts decision, time will tell.
Neither Congress nor Chief Gray asked for any of this , and any other person ( if in any Osage gov. capacity at the time) would have had the same difficult decisions and challenges. Being forced to engage lawyers to defend what was a given for 100 years was not by choice.
Our tribe should band together when it comes to this incredibly important attack upon our status as a reservation. Not throw it into the political arena and be used to direct blame or responsibility to any one individual.
If there ever was an issue to draw us together, this is it.
“Not throw it into the political arena and be used to direct blame or responsibility to any one individual.”
When the individuals responsible for this fiasco are running for reelection, then individual responsibility becomes quite crucial. Politicians are judged by the outcomes of their actions. That is the very essence of democracy. Chief Gray had many opportunities to exercise due diligence in this matter and failed to do so. The various ill advised lawsuits, and mis-steps and outright procrastination in bringing the land into trust status have brought us to this juncture. We all agree that the situation must be rectified. Sitting around and complaining about the unfairness of our history will not achieve those goals.
The nation should definitely stand together on this one. There is nothing to do but fight this unjust ruling based on racism and a false version of history. The nation prevailed on every legal point, but the court chose to base its ruling on falsehoods and irrelevant information. However, I will say that after reading the comments from Ms. Homer, it is truly unfortunate she will not be serving on the gaming board.
Honestly I don’t see this as an issue of reparations. It’s a case of justice. It’s a matter of our people being effected by activist judges. The law is the law. Justice is not supposed to be influenced by demographics or historians. It’s written down for a reason. And since when did our legal system start moving so fast that they don’t wait till after brief deadlines have passed to make decisions on cases? I was under the impression this was one of the slowest moving parts of the U.S. Govt.
I was told by someone that worked in the Pawhuska abstract office that every land deed issued in Osage Country says that this is a reservation. Which means there are at least 104 years of land deed transactions that have that phrase on them including every current Osage county land deed. If anyone can verify that I’d be interested to know if it is true, as I am not a landowner.
I still believe the way to erode the powers that are fighting us on this is for the tribe to start a wholesale buy back of every piece of property that comes up for sale within our boundaries. Until we start doing that we will always be fighting an uphill battle against the cattleman’s associations, the EPA, the oil companies etc.
a little faith and confidence in the system. We are right and will prevail on several fronts.
We fight for this and it seems it also reveals the strenght of some and the condition of others.
We find ourselves during times of strife not of serenity.
EXAMPLE ALLOTMENT DEED filed for record on the 10 day of Aug, 1909:
Homestead Deed
Osage Reservation, Oklahoma
Allotment No. XXXX
To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting:
Whereas, The act of Congress approved June 28, 1906, entitled “An Act for
the division of the lands and funds of the Osage Indians in Oklahoma
Territory, and for other purposes” (34 Stat. L., 539), provides that all
the lands belonging to the Osage Tribe of Indians in Oklahoma, except as
therein provided, shall be divided among the members of said tribe; and
Whereas, Said act of Congress further provides that all lands selected by
and allotted to each member (except his homestead) shall be designated
“surplus lands”; and
Whereas, XXXXXXXXXXX, a duly enrolled and recognized member of the
Osage tribe, has selected his homestead in accordance with law, and
Whereas, The Osage Allotting Commission, as provided for in the sixth
subdivision of section 2 of said act of Congress, has certified that the
lands hereinafter described constitute the surplus lands of said XXXXXXXX,
as contemplated by said act of Congress; and
Whereas, Section 8 of the act provides that all deeds to said Osage lands,
or any part thereof, shall be executed by the Principal Chief of the Osages,
but no such deed shall be valid until approved by the Secretary of the
Interior:
Now, Therefore, I the undersigned, Principal Chief of the Osage Tribe of
Indians, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the said act
of Congress have granted and conveyed, and by these presents do grant and
convey, unto the said XXXXXXXXX all right, title, and interest of
the United States and the Osage Tribe of Indians in and to the following described
lands situated on the OSAGE RESERVATION in Oklahoma, to wit:
Southwest 1/4 of Southeast 1/4 of Section Eleven (11); Southwest 1/4 of
Southwest 1/4 of Section Twelve (12); West 1/2 of Northeast 1/4 of Section
Fourteen (14), Township Twenty-five (25), Range Seven (7); Southeast 1/4 of
Southwest 1/4 of Section Twelve (12); East 1/2 of Northeast 1/4, Northeast
1/4 of Northwest 1/4 of Section Fourteen (14), Township Twenty-five (25),
Range Seven (7); Southeast 1/4 of Section Thirty-six (36), Township
Twenty-four (24), Range Seven (7); West 1/2 of Northwest 1/4 of southwest
1/4 of section fourteen (14), Township Twenty-eight (28), Range Ten (10);
all North and East of the Indian Base and Meridian,
Containing 500 acres, more or less, according to the Untied States survey
thereof, to have and to hold the same unto the said XXXXXXXXXXX, her
heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, forever; subject, however,
to all the conditions, limitations, and provisions of said act of Congress,
one of which is that the oil, gas, coal, or other minerals covered by the
lands for the selection and division of which provision is herein made are
hereby reserved to the Osage Tribe for a period of twenty-five years from
and after the eighth day of April, nineteen hundred and six.
In Witness Whereof, I, the Principal Chief of the Osage Tribe of Indians,
have hereunto set my hand and seal this 5th day of June, 1909.
Peter C. Bigheart
Principal Chief of the Osages
Witnesses:
Woodie Connor
Robert C. Block
Department of the Interior
July 26, 1909
The foregoing is respectfully submitted to the Secretary of Interior with the
recommendation that it be approved.
FH Abbott
Assistant Commissioner
Department of the Interior
July 30, 1909
The foregoing deed is hereby approved.
Frank Pierce
Acting Secretary
I think that we are putting way too many eggs in one basket. Preparing for a possible loss is not a lack of faith, or a spiritual shortcoming, it is insurance. Many lawsuit outcomes seem less than legal or ethical but they still stand. We need to find out exactly and honestly where we are in the process of placing the land in trust status. We need to see if any of our federal legislators would be willing to sponsor a bill accelerating the process. We need to look at the timelines of both the lawsuit and the trust application and see how they overlap or don’t. We (thank god) did not spend our reserves, can they be used to fill the gap during the emergency? Identify what programs are essential and prioritize based on the worst case scenario. You don’t buy car insurance because you are a good driver, you buy it because you know that out there is a driver who is not.
The point was , that it is hard to say what would have occurred no matter who . Congress and Exec each have endured a learning curve.
There has to be credit given for what has been accomplished from all sides and grow from that.
And yes ones actions should always have consequences.
Kelly how can you blame Chief Gray for this? Ryan is right, you look at any federal map and also look at various court documents and Osage County is indeed a Reservation. Even the NIGC acknowledged that the three casinos in question were indeed operating on “reservation” land. How was Chief Gray supposed to put these casinos in trust land when we assumed we already were operating legally according to the law and the governing body of the NIGC. It’s now time not to dwell on the past but to band together and move forward from this. Like I said earlier, in my heart of hearts I just can’t see anything that serious happening to the three casinos, worst case scenario-getting taxed more by the state.
I am going to quote Congressman Supernaw’s Notes to the Nation, dated 04 03 2010. I think it says what I would like to say far more accurately and with timelines. So yes I hold Chief Gray accountable. When you take a course of action that could possibly result is disaster, you cover all the bases. BTW, in my heart of hearts I don;’t think my children and I will be in a horrible car accident…I still wear a seatbelt.
“The land for the Tulsa casino was purchased in August 2001 and plans began to construct a casino. The Osage tribe had a contract with a company to develop this facility and another at Sand Springs. The Sand Springs property was already in trust status, so it was started first even though the Tulsa property was thought to have the greatest potential. The tribe submitted an application to the BIA to place the Tulsa property in trust at a time when the process was estimated to take about 2 years to complete.
Sometime during 2002 an attorney by the name of Bill Rice at the University of Tulsa did an analysis and concluded that, in his opinion, the Osage reservation had never been disestablished and was still in existence.
By 2002 time preliminary work and possibly even construction on the Tulsa casino had started. The developer was concerned about the status of the site and wanted assurance that the casino would be allowed to open when it was completed, so they encouraged that the Nation move on two courses: (a.) Proceed with the land into trust application, and, (b.) Get an opinion from a reputable attorney that the reservation did still exist—if the reservation did still exist this would permit gaming and would be a quicker process than the land-in-trust application.
An opinion was obtained from attorney Gary Pitchlynn that stated that the Osage reservation still existed. Meanwhile the tribe was involved in a lawsuit with the State of Oklahoma over income taxes on employees of the Osage that lived on the reservation. Central to this suit was the question as to whether or not the reservation still existed.
During this period is when things begin to take some twists; the land-into-trust application was rejected because it was incomplete. According to the BIA, an incomplete application is no application. There was no attempt to resubmit a completed application. This apparently was a conscious decision to rely on the reservation opinion. People involved then have said that there may be no written record of the decision, but the consensus seems to be that to pursue the application would in some way weaken the tribe’s tax case. I do not know if the developer was ever told that the trust application was not resubmitted..
The Pitchlynn opinion was sent to NIGC and on July 28, 2005 a letter was received from the acting staff attorney of the NIGC that said that she concurred with the opinion, but she sent it on to the Interior Department for a final determination. The department has never acted on it. Five days later, August 3, 2005, the Tulsa casino opened.
1 I am told that John Red Eagle and Geoffrey Standing Bear raised the issue in New Mexico.
The Osage Congress may be pressured to fork over even more money to appeal to the Supreme Court. This Congress and the next will need to consider these things as we examine the future of this suit:
We have lost the tax case in Federal District Court.
We have lost on appeal at the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In the opinion of some attorneys our chances of winning a further appeal are slim. Some say we never had a chance and the law was always that the Osage surface Reservation was disestablished in 1906.
It is estimated that if the U.S. Supreme Court declines to accept the case then the entire matter will be over in less than 9 months, some say 6 months, and the final law will be the Osage Reservation is disestablished.
At the present time the NIGC appears to be holding off until the appeals process is completed.
If we lose all appeals the NIGC will probably conclude the three casinos: Tulsa, Skiatook and Ponca City are not on Indian land and are therefore are not in their jurisdiction. Then, we will be dealing with the State of Oklahoma where our type of casino gambling is a crime and State and County taxes are due.
Every since we have been in Congress, I and former judge, Doug Revard have encouraged that the application for trust status be started. Geoffrey Standing Bear was briefly our Congressional attorney and he advised that we apply immediately to place our casino lands in federal trust and in April 2009 the entire Congress voted to pass a resolution authorizing the Chief to begin the process of getting the sites in trust.
You may be told that a trust application is in the BIA “fast track”. There is no such thing and as of today’s date there are no applications with the BIA on these sites.
You may be told that trust applications are pending or even that there was a moratorium on accepting applications. There has never been a time that applications have not been accepted.
You may be told that the NIGC has ruled that Osage County is a reservation. Actually, the NIGC Commission has never considered the issue. Only the acting staff attorney has issued an opinion that she forwarded to the Dept. of the Interior for a final determination and they have never acted on it.
It cannot be ignored that the Chief’s mishandling of the EPA legislation caused U. S. Senator Coburn to visit Pawhuska in August 2007 and point out that 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.”
Candidates are talking about 10 to 20 years in the future. The next year is where the focus should be. Closing of three casinos would take over half our income. Of course we hope that doesn’t happen, but because it could, we have to prepare. The planning for that possibility began during the budget process when some of Congress fought to hold the spending down to actual needs. Remember the resistance we encountered? Some in the Congress wanted to change the meaning of “projected revenue” so that they could spend all the reserves. A further effort in preparation would be to drop the Chief’s suit against the Office of Fiscal and Performance Review and use it to help improve efficiency, get the accounting mess at the casino solved and begin to work on reducing the bloated size of the bureaucracy
Kelly who’s side are you on. To hear you and Kugee talk you would think you were speaking for the other side.
Enough of the conspiracies. How about we deal with facts.
Really don’t think scaring Osages or dividing our nation is useful. If candidates want to come up with solutions that’s great, But, throwing mud serves no purpose.
We should be one voice. Let’s bring our people together. The enemy is not each other, its the guys coming after us.
Why is it that every time someone holds your brother accountable for his deeds and actions that have lead to the Nation being harmed by them, you call it mudslinging? Or worse, accusing others of taking the other side. You Grays exhibit a real problem accepting responsibility for your actions and it’s high time for an intervention.
Let’s keep this on track. This thread topic is not mudslinging or taking sides. Thanks Kelly for posting Kugee’s notes. I wrote Congressman Supernaw an email earlier this week requesting permission to post them and was awaiting his decision, he seemed reluctant of the possibility non-Osages would see it on this site. You might want to double check with him and see if that’s ok with him (being publicly published)
for historical perspective, I am copying and pasting something I found while digging around for unrelated information. We have overcame obstacles in the past. And forgive me if I’m wrong but I would venture to guess most of us believe we are better off now than we were as a people in the mid 1990s. I would agree that one possible option we should pursue is the option of a congressional law to reinforce our status, despite the fact that two outside attorneys and NIGC attorneys agreed that this is a reservation. This is how we solved this problem last time. Regardless of the direction we go, we should do it in a unified fashion, and actively participate in the media war that will be needed in order to push this through. I was there when coburn talked in Pawhuska. That guy is as two faced as they come. He was asked 5 times in that meeting about the reservation status (1 by John Red Eagle, 1 by Jim Gray, and 3 times by non-Indians) and then the quotes listed above were said on the news after everyone cleared out. The woman that reported the story was not even in the room half the time for the meeting.
——
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
This message is being sent to all Osage People, to those in the free press that might assist us, and to our representatives in Washington.
On September 19, 1997, Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary -Indian Affairs sent the following facsimile to the Honorable George E. Tallchief, President of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma. With a stroke of a “pen” the Osage Nation was written off the books as an entity of the OsagePeople. Over 13,000 Osages were denied the right to vote or have a say in their government. Since 1994 they have had this right. Can an Indian Tribe that had these rights be denied them by the stroke of a pen. Yes, they can….. and so can other Indian Tribes!!! You can wait and see if it happens to your tribe or you can join in an effort to stop this from happening to your tribe. The United States Government has broken every treaty that they have ever made with an Indian tribe. And now they are slowly but surely in the process of “cutting their budget” by removing those “extra expenses” that they were obligated to carry out in their trust responsibility to those Indian tribes.
Read on and listen carefully to what your ears hear and your eyes see as to what is “written on the walls of history”. It is not good for us, the Indian people that have tried for centuries to get along with the white man and has looked to the Great White Father in Washington and believed what has been told us. It is over for the Osage Nation….. will it be over for you also?
The Osage Indian is not dead…… nor will they ever die. They will live on, but their right as an individual to vote and have a say in their government has stopped for this moment in time. They will be back. Presently only those who have inherited a share in the mineral estate can vote…. less than 4,000. The other larger group of over 13,000 have been annihilated, removed from having a say in how things should be run. The Osage Tribal Council, who, according to the 1906 Act of Congress[not a treaty or constitution of an Indian tribe] are to handle “ONLY” the administering of the “Minerals Estate” are now wanting to administer all of the Federal Programs that the Osage Nation established and tripled the income of in the past three(3) years.
Another thing that most do not want to believe is, that when the LAST of the Original Allottees dies, the trust responsibility of the government CEASES!!! Read it in the 1906 Allottment Act. It says, “… and the said roll as above provided, after the revision and approval of the Secretary of the Interior, as herein provided, SHALL CONSTITUTE THE APPROVED ROLL OF SAID TRIBE:and the action of the Secretary of the Interior in the revision of the roll as herein provided SHALL BE FINAL”. COULD IT BE ANY PLAINER? Under the Osage Nation Government, we wrote, passed into Law, and established a membership roll. NOW, there is no membership roll…… wiped away by the stroke of a pen. Under the 1906 Act a new membership roll cannot be established. Only under the new Constitutional form of government could this be acomplished….. and it was.
The title of the 1906 Act is, “An Act For The Division Of The Lands And Funds Of The Osage Indians In Oklahoma Territory”. This Act directly ties the ownership of property, through the shareholder process, to the right to vote. And for the most part this can only come about when a relative dies. As a citizen of the United States of America are you required to own property before you can vote. No you are not. So is this process established under the 1906 Act, by the way which was written by Congress, a true process that enables a person to have the right to vote? We, the Osage, are the only tribe of Indians that have had an Act of Congress written for them to establish an allotment of land and distribution of funds. In 1881 we had a constitutional government for our People. This constitution was the basis for the 1994 Constitution. It was good enough for us prior to 1906, shouldn’t it be good enough for us today? Should not we vote it back in?
Another quote from the same Act enforces what was stated above on what the AUTHORITY of the tribal council is……” This act provided for the SELECTION and DIVISION of the land, in the OSAGE NATION [wait a minute, isn't that the name of the government voted in by 66% of the Osage People and established a constitution] to the INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OF THE ENROLLED Osage tribe. Including the reservation of the MINERALS, for the tribe as a whole”. IT DOES NOT SAY, ANYWHERE in the 1906 that the tribal council can carry out any other duties. So what they are attempting to do HAS NO BASIS UNDER THIS ACT.
The OSAGE NATION needs your help. It must be in writing and sent to me as soon as possible. This way you need not send out many letters to members of the Osage Nation government. I will make copies of them and bring them to the next meeting of the Osage National Council. When you receive this correspondence, contact ten (10) other members of the Osage Nation and ask them to contact ten more members. In this way we can get the word out faster and at less expense to each individual member of the Osage Nation.
REMEMBER, a government is not a few members of the Executive, Legislative, or Judicial Branches, it is the PEOPLE. You are the Osage People. If you want your children, grandchildren and their children to have a VOTE and a SAY in OUR government, IT IS UP TO YOU. I can’t do it by myself. The other members of the Osage Nation government can not do it by themselves. ONLY you can make the difference. Please join with us to save our OSAGE PEOPLE. As individual members we stand alone. You are the only ones who can make a difference. If the government fails, the people as a Nation falls. I don’t want this, do you?
Send this message loud and clear to our People. Send it you our representatives in Washington. If you need addresses, contact me and I will furnish them to you. Most of you I have already sent this information.
What else can I say. Time is of the utmost importance. Now is the time… tomorrow may be to late. Your prayers and assistance is needed now.
Thank you,
Raymond A. Theis, II
Second Speaker
Osage National Council
2640 Evergreen Drive
Bartlesville OK 74006-4702
Phone/FAX: (918) 333-4073
E-mail address: [email protected]
United States Department of the Interior
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
Washington, D.C. 20240
September 19, 1997
Honorable George Tallchief
Chairman, Osage Nation of Oklahoma
Post Office Box 53
Pawhuska, Oklahoma 74056
Dear Chairman Tall Chief:
This office has been informed that the mandate has been issued by the Tenth
Circuit Court of Appeals in Fletcher v. United States, No. 95-5208 (10th
Cir.dec. June 10, 1997, reh. den. August 18, 1997), thus making the June 10,
1997,decision by the Tenth Circuit court immediately effective.That decision
held that the work of the Osage Commission, which culminated in the 1994
Constitution, and the ratification of the 1994 Constitution was void. As you
are no doubt aware, by order dated October 28, 1993, the federal court
required this office to review the draft constitution to determine if any
provision was contrary to federal law.
By letter dated November 5, 1993, we advised the Federal District Court
that the draft constitution was in compliance with federal law and also that
the Osage Commission would be permitted to conduct a referendum on the
adoption of theconstitution. Thereafter, my approval of the ratified
constitution on June 1, 1994, was in furtherance of the Federal District
Court’s process.
It is now clear from the ruling of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
that the constitutional process was contrary to federal law and that this
office must take actions to restore the government established by the 1906
Act “by striking down the inconsistent form created by the 1994
Constitution.” Thus, as of this date the Bureau of Indian Affairs is
constrained from recognizing the Osage Nation as established by the 1994
Constitution, and my approval of the 1994 Constitution is rescinded. Please
be advised that this office formally recognizes the Osage Tribal Council as
the governing body of the Osage Tribe.
We are concerned that contracts entered into with the Osage National
Council for the operation of federal programs be terminated in such manner
so as not to interrupt services to individual members of the Osage Tribe.
Therefore, the Area Director, Muskogee Area Office, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, is directed to work with the Osage National Council and the Osage
Tribal Council to insure the orderly contracting of programs pursuant to
Self-determination and Education Assistance Act, referred to as Pub. L.
93-638.
Sincerely,
Ada E. Deer
Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs
The law is on our side, but you still have to be risk averse and put the land on trust. The consequences would be too great to have not done this. I understand that our legal counsel probably thought that it would make our case stronger if we didn’t because “the reservation is still there right, it’s already on trust land” but you have to cover all your bases.
I’m deeply troubled by the 10th Circuit’s opinion and the complete disregard of the Congressional intent test per Solem. In reading the amicus briefs the tribe has a very good argument that the 10th Circuit judges were not following law and relyin too heavily on demographics and what not. The law is already against Native Americans, from the “discovery” doctrine and the taking of our lands to the abrogating of our treaties, it is time that Natives for once get justice in a court room.
Well, as a backup plan… I know of 80 acres of ‘trust land’ a few miles down the road east of the Ponca City casino, right on the highway, if we start now we can build a larger gaming casino and smoke shop… ; )
Exactly Jen! There is ‘trust land’ all around our three casinos that are in jeopardy.
Out of respect for the Admin I will be happy to continue any personal debate elsewhere on the OSA blog. In the meantime I would appreciate people sticking to the facts and not my motivations. As for a unified front, I would say there are none here who wish to see us lose. The question about how we go about protecting our casino’s is obviously not a settled tactical question and it needs to be debated by all of us. That is not divisiveness, it is democracy.
Admin. I will call Kugee tomorrow and talk with him about the Notes. I assumed that since they were widely distributed, that fair use quotations would be ok.
here are 3 stories that came out in the Osage news related to this topic
http://osagenews.org/2010/04/nation-asks-judge-to-reconsider-decision-on-reservation-status/
http://osagenews.org/2010/01/osage-tax-case-arguments-heard-jan-11-in-denver-appeals-court/
http://osagenews.org/2010/03/chief-says-nation-will-file-motion-to-recon
sider-in-reservation-tax-case/
Admin. how to I contact you for a private message? I have a question. Thank you.
I talked to Kugee and he has no problem with me posting this excerpt.
I’m glad he responded to you. I never heard from Congressman Supernaw again regarding my request.