Content about Second Osage Nation Congress

The new Grayhorse arbor project is underway with its first crucial milestone – removing the current arbor – scheduled for Monday Oct. 22.

A demolition crew is scheduled to begin taking down the 48-year-old arbor on Monday, according to George Pease who sits on the Grayhorse Indian Village Five-Man Board. The demolition start time was not immediately known.

Five-Man Board Member Judy Johnson said family benches were removed from the current arbor and temporarily relocated under the Pawhuska and Hominy district camp arbors east of the dance area.

The Osage Nation has assumed control of the former Wah-Sha-She State Park in northeastern Osage County after Principal Chief John Red Eagle signed a contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to maintain the park.

Fundraising for the second phase of the Pawhuska Skate Park has been completed, according to the entity, which manages the facility’s donated funds.

Mike McCartney, executive director of the Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce, said the Make it Happen in Pawhuska Committee raised approximately $30,000 for the second phase of the skate park in Lynn Park. McCartney is co-chairman of the Make it Happen in Pawhuska Committee.

If you’re good friends with Principal Chief John Red Eagle, or married to a member of the Osage Congress, you might get to travel the country on the Nation’s dime.

According to records obtained by the Osage News, Principal Chief John Red Eagle authorized for Rod Hartness, a local professional steer roper, who reportedly attends Chief Red Eagle’s church in the Pawhuska Indian Village, to travel to Portland, Ore., to attend the prestigious annual conference of the National Congress of American Indians last November at the expense of the Nation.

Olivia Deal Thompson, an Osage with several years of government work experience turned 100 years old on Jan. 9 and the Second Osage Nation Congress marked the occasion by naming the day in her honor.

Thompson is the last living grandchild of Osage Chief James Bigheart and now resides in Norman. During the 12th Special Session held on Dec. 12, Congressman Archie Mason motioned for Jan. 9 to be declared “Olivia Deal Thompson Day.”

The Grayhorse District can breathe a sigh of relief.

The Second Osage Nation Congress unanimously passed ONCA 12-20 Jan. 20, a bill that appropriates $550,000 to the Grayhorse Five Man Board to begin design and construction on a new Roundhouse for the district.

Upon signature of the Principal Chief, the Osage Nation Properties Department in the Nation’s Executive Branch can begin bidding out construction on the project which will level the current arbor and construct a roundhouse in it’s place.

Osages may have a new structure to dance under at Grayhorse come June.

Legislation filed by Congressman Archie Mason Jan. 4 asks the Second Osage Nation Congress to give $550,000 to the Grayhorse Village Five Man Board for the demolition and construction of a new dance arbor in the Grayhorse Indian Village.

For the first time in the Osage Nation’s history, the Second Osage Nation Congress is beginning the process to consider the removal for a principal chief’s appointee.

Osage Nation Treasurer William Kemble is the target of a forthcoming Congressional investigation to determine whether allegations concerning his department’s operations warrant his removal from office.

Osages who are age 65 and over may receive a $500 increase to their use of the health benefit card program, pending Congressional approval.

The Second Osage Nation Congress will convene for its 13th Special Session on Jan. 4 to set the maximum payable amounts for the Nation’s health benefit card program available to all enrolled Osages.

A Congressional resolution, ONCR 12-05, will be considered to raise the maximum amount for Osages who are age 65 and older to $1,000 in the 2012 calendar year. The maximum amount for those under 65 will remain at $500.

An appropriation bill for the Second Osage Nation Congress to take over a former state park's operations in northeastern Osage County has been withdrawn.

Wah-Sha-She State Park was closed earlier this year due to state budget cuts.

The legislative bill, ONCA 11-130, did not receive unanimous support from the Congressional Committee on Government Operations, which has reviewed the bill twice. On Dec. 7, the committee voted to pass the bill onto Congress with a do-not-pass recommendation.

Several legislative items, including a budget to appropriate money for the 2012 higher education scholarships and the health benefit card, are at risk of not being considered because the Second Osage Nation Congress and Treasurer William Kemble are at odds over whether the Nation has an adequate amount of money to consider the appropriations in the Special Session.

The debate between the Second Osage Nation Congress and the Executive Branch over Treasurer William Kemble’s subpoenaed emails is heading for the courtroom.

A Congressional subpoena demanding emails from Kemble’s work computer concerning any aspect of his job since February is being challenged by the Executive Branch. Court papers from both government branches have been filed to either contest or defend the subpoena. Now both sides must wait for the Nation’s Trial Court to hear the case.