Osage Nation Files Lawsuit Against United States Department of Interior Alleging Unlawfully Excessive Oversight of Osage Minerals Estate, Seeks Self-Governance
OSAGE NATION RESERVATION, OKLA. (August 7, 2024) - On March 11, 2024, the Osage Nation filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of the Interior (DOI) in response to extensive negotiation delays that interfere with and threaten the Nation’s right to self-governance under the 1975 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA), P.L. 93-638. That Act provided Indian tribes the legal authority to contract with the Federal government to operate programs serving their tribal members and other eligible persons.
“The Department of Interior’s stalling tactics are well known among Indian Country,” said Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear. “The Osage Nation and our Attorney General Clint Patterson will not sit idle while they continue micromanaging the Osage Nation Minerals Estate. Consistent with the United States and Osage Nation Constitutions, the Osage Nation has the right to self-governance and the Osage Minerals Council has the right to administer and develop the Osage Minerals Estate. The Osage Nation will continue our one-hundred-year-plus battle for these rights. It is time for the Department of the Interior to respect tribal sovereignty and stop violating the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. Our Minerals Council can and will receive autonomy over our Osage Minerals Estate.”
The DOI manages public lands and minerals and upholds Federal trust responsibilities to Indian tribes and Alaska Natives. The DOI established the Osage Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in 1906 to assist the Osage Nation Minerals Estate governed by the federal trust responsibility. This trust responsibility mandates the BIA to act in the best interest of the Osage Nation. Since its establishment, the Interior Department has assumed the federal authority to collect and oversee the distribution of royalty funds to Osage headright owners from Osage minerals leases.
Osage Nation Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear has prioritized self-governance throughout his administration. Self-governance authority allows Native Sovereign Nations to take over the administration of federal functions and funding, providing flexibility to build and develop programs to fit the Nation's needs rather than continuing with a one-size-fits-all federal model. In 2016, the Osage Nation made a historic switch from BIA land management to Osage Nation land management under the Self Governance Title IV Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act by assuming most of the tribal share of Real Estate Services, which includes the programs, functions, services, and activities (PFSAs) as well as the funding to operate the program. This switch has dramatically benefited the Osage people. It serves as a model to continue assuming more Osage Nation tribal shares from the BIA to fit the needs of Osage Nation. The trust responsibility of the DOI/BIA remains intact for all programs assumed by the Osage Nation.
During his third inaugural address on July 9, 2022, Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear stated that preempting the state is critical for self-governance: "That is the challenge of the Wahzhazhe people now. We know the (United States) Supreme Court has said if we preempt the state, we can win. Minerals Council: It's time for you to fully manage our Mineral Estate for our people. Congress: The Supreme Court of the Osage Nation has shown us already how it works. We need you to enact the laws of the Osage people to do this. For my part, the Assistant Chief and I will do everything we can to claim this territory, to preempt this territory in Osage law managed by our Minerals Council."
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