Osage Indian War - History - Federal Law Involving The Osage

Federal Law Involving The Osage

In 1889, the US federal government claimed to no longer recognize the legitimacy of a governing Osage National Council, which the people had created in 1881, with a constitution that adopted some aspects of that of the United States. In 1906, as part of the Osage Allotment Act, the US Congress created the Osage Tribal Council to handle affairs of the tribe, as part of the devolution of tribal governments to enable the admission of the Indian Territory as part of the state of Oklahoma.

Under the Act, initially each Osage male had equal voting rights to elect members of the Council, and the principal and assistant principal chiefs. Because the Osage owned their land, they negotiated under the Allotment Act to keep their communal land, above the then-common allotment the government was making of 160 acres per person. They allocated this land as well, so that each of the 2,228 Osage members and one non-Indian on the 1906 tribal roll received 657 acres. The rights to these lands in future generations was divided among legal heirs, as were the mineral headrights to mineral lease royalties. Only allottees and their descendants who held headrights could vote in the elections or run for office (originally restricted to males). The members voted by their headrights, which generated inequalities among the voters.

A 1992 district court decision ruled that the Osage could vote in a process to reinstate the Osage National Council as citizen members of the Osage nation, rather than being required to vote by headright. But, this decision was reversed in 1997 with the United States Court of Appeals ruling that ended the government restoration. In 2004, Congress passed legislation to restore sovereignty to the Osage Nation and enable them to make their own decisions about government and membership qualifications for its people.

In March 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that the 1906 Allotment Act had disestablished the Osage reservation established in 1872. This ruling potentially affected the legal status of three of the seven Osage casinos, including the largest one in Tulsa, as it would mean the casino was not on trust land, which is generally required under the law for the tribe to operate a gaming casino.