Content about Osage Minerals Council

During the 14th Special Session, the Second Osage Nation Congress passed a resolution calling for a special election to be held Aug. 13. The special election date follows the recommendation of the ON Election Board, which decided on the Aug. 13 election during its Jan. 18 meeting.

There are six expiring Congressional terms up for grabs, so the June 4 ballot will contain names of those candidates seeking office and will also contain questions on seven proposed Constitutional amendments unrelated to the Minerals Estate.

An appeal is on the horizon to keep a proposed 94-turbine wind farm out of Osage County, which the Nation argues will harm the Minerals Estate.

Last month a federal judge ruled against the Osage Nation in U.S. District Court, which filed suit through the Minerals Council, to stop the project to be built by Wind Capital Group on approximately 8,500 acres near Burbank.

Trial dates have been set for Dec. 14 and 15 in the federal court case filed against Wind Capital Group over its proposed 94-turbine wind farm near Burbank, which the Osage Nation argues would harm the Osage Minerals Estate.

The Tulsa federal court dates were set after a judge heard from attorneys representing the Nation and Wind Capital Group on Oct. 26 during an expedited status and scheduling conference. According to the joint motion requesting the conference, construction of the wind farm is scheduled to begin Nov. 19.

The Osage Trust Case is over. Osage Nation Principal Chief John Red Eagle, the Second Osage Nation Congress and the Osage Minerals Council have approved the Osage Trust Case Settlement for $380 million.

“This is a pretty historic day . . . and should be a time of happiness, I believe,” said OMC Chairman Galen Crum at the beginning of the special meeting to approve or disapprove the settlement, held at the OMC Chambers Sept. 26.

The Second Osage Nation Congress posed a question to Attorney General Jeff Jones Jan. 25 that asked whether the Osage Mineral’s Council was subject to the Nation’s Open Meetings Act and the Open Records Act. His reply: yes they are.

His official opinion, issued April 29, said that although the OMC is an independent agency it is still an entity under the Osage Nation and its Constitution.

Osage Congresswoman Shannon Edwards is the subject matter of some angry Osage shareholders lately.

Edwards introduced a bill, ONCA 11-51, during the congressional Hun-Kah session that asked for an audit of the Nation’s S-510 account. She asked that the ON Treasurer audit and segregate the funds in the account.

The Osage Minerals Council will be having their monthly meeting April 20 at 10 a.m. in the council chambers. For more information contact the OMC offices at (918) 287-5433.

The Osage Minerals Council had yet another lucrative lease sale, selling more than $910,000 in oil and gas leases Feb. 16.

A crowd of more than 70 attended the OMC’s lease sale, held at the Wah Zha Zhi Cultural Center. The OMC’s previous lease sale, held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Tulsa for its 10^th Annual Osage Oil and Gas Summit Oct. 27, had more attendees but the Feb. 16 sale sold more than $45,460 in leases.

The Second Osage Nation Congress unanimously confirmed Jeff Jones as the Nation’s first Attorney General on Jan. 25 during the second day of its Fifth Special Session. Roughly two hours later the Chief’s Office e-mailed a statement that questioned the validity of Jones’s confirmation.

“While the Chief respects that the Congress may read the Constitution and legislation differently, he feels that the language in the Constitution is clear and that confirmation of appointments are to occur during the regular sessions,” according to the statement.

The Osage Minerals Council is seeking an attorney.

At the OMC Oct. 8 meeting, Chairman Dudley Whitehorn told the attendees that only one attorney had come forth after asking his fellow council members to submit names for consideration. That attorney was Tulsa-based attorney William “Bill” Grimm, attorney for Jech vs. United States. The Jech case, if won, could abolish the Osage Constitution and which Whitehorn is also a plaintiff.

The Osage Minerals Council has selected three members to be the OMC’s representation on the Nation’s five-member Trust Team. The trust team is made up of three OMC members, the principal chief and the speaker of the congress.

Dudley Whitehorn, Galen Crum and Cynthia Boone were unanimously voted in by the eight-member OMC July 21, and Whitehorn was voted to be the trust team chairman. They will join Principal Chief John Red Eagle and Speaker of the Congress Jerri Jean Branstetter.