Native American Rights Fund Donates Osage Ancestral Lands Back

[Photo (L to R): Osage Nation Assistant Principal Chief Raymond Redcorn, Osage Nation Historic Preservation Officer Dr. Andrea Hunter, Osage Nation Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, NARF Executive Director John E. Echohawk, NARF Director of Development Donald M. Ragona, former Osage Nation Chief Jim Gray, Osage Nation Attorney General Clint Patterson, Assistant Attorney General Adam Trumbly]

20-Acres of Ancestral Osage Missouri Lands are returned to Osage Nation, Mounds Visible

OSAGE RESERVATION, OKLA. (September 17, 2021) – The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) donates 20 acres of ancestral Osage lands, in the state now known as Missouri, back to Osage Nation. NARF Executive Director John E. Echohawk and Director of Development Donald M. Ragona came to the Osage Reservation on Wednesday, September 15, 2021 to sign over the deed alongside Osage Nation Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, Assistant Principal Chief Raymond Redcorn, Historic Preservation Officer Dr. Andrea Hunter, Attorney General Clint Patterson, Assistant Attorney General Adam Trumbly and former Osage Nation Chief Jim Gray.

NARF has been working with Osage Nation since 2013 with the goal of returning the land to Osage Nation. Osages have a rich and varied geographical history. Origins begin in the Ohio River Valley with a slow western migration, due to forced removal, towards what is now the Osage Reservation in Northeast Oklahoma. The state of Missouri holds culturally significant areas in the Osage settlement pattern. Osage Nation Historic Preservation Officer Dr. Hunter verified that the land, known as the Nelvada Dean Trust Property in Lafayette County, is ancestral to the Osage and has identified visible mounds on the property.

“This is at the core of what we do,” said Dr. Hunter. “We are here to protect our people and protect our ancestors.”

NARF, headquartered in Boulder, CO, is a non-profit organization that focuses on applying existing laws and treaties to guarantee that national and state governments live up to their legal obligations. According to their website, NARF has successfully asserted and defended the most important rights of Indians and tribes in hundreds of major cases, and has achieved significant results in such critical areas as tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, natural resource protection, and Indian education.

“Our focus is on tribal existence, sovereignty and asserting our rights,” said NARF Executive Director John E. Echohawk during the deed signing.

The donation was received the day after “Picture Cave,” a property also verified as Osage ancestral land located in Missouri, was auctioned off and sold to a non-Osage bidder.

Anyone interested in supporting the efforts by NARF, can find donation information at www.narf.org/support/us.