Sunday, April 27, 2014

Archive #9: Osage Shareholder Matters--April-May 2014

198 comments:

  1. Patricia Spurrir-BrightApril 27, 2014 at 8:57 PM

    THIS IS MY MINERAL COUNCIL DREAM TEAM. EACH HAS SOMETHING TO BRING TO THE COUNCIL.

    1. Everett Waller
    2. Kathryn Red Corn
    3. Galen Crum
    4. Ray McClain

    5. Talee Red Corn
    6. Myron Red Eagle
    7. Andrew Yates 

    8. Joe Cheshewalla

    I do believe that none of the above candidates would never put themselves in a position of accepting any money from the Gas & Oil Producers pay to represent them. I believe that none of the candidates would ever want to compact the BIA. I believe that all these candidates will work TOGETHER to get me, a Shareholder the most money for my share.

    MY CHOICE FOR CHIEF AND ASSISTANT CHIEF

    Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear 
and for Assistant Chief Amanda Proctor

    I believe these two individuals will work to bring peace to our Nation and will work to make the changes to the Constitution and reorganize how the executive branch is setup to make it more efficient and productive, which are two things needed for us to grow.

    CHOICES FOR CONGRESS

    1. Alice Buffalohead
    2. W. Jacque Jones
    3. Cecelia Tallchief

    I personally like these ladies and I know they will work for the majority of the people, not for themselves or a certain groups. We have too many people who serve in Congress that just sit there for that paycheck or they have some agenda. That is something you can't say about these ladies and most important they have experience working for the Nation. This is not my final list, all subject to change after the May 3 & 4 debates.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Particia. You sure shot your foot clean off with your choices for Congress. Pee you!!! Now I will have to take your choices for the rest of the candidates with a huge grain of salt.

      Delete
    2. As far as the MC choices I would not pick Kathryn Red Corn. She is in charge of the museum and frankly it'd nothing to brag about. With a little effort and things brought out of storage, that have been there forever, it could be updated and improved. I don't see her doing any better on the MC but she would be a better choice than Ms Boone, Stephanie or Linda.

      Don't sgree with any of the ones you pick for Congress except for Alice Buffalohead.

      I totally agree with your choice of Amanda for asst. Chief.!! I have many reservations about Ipad Ray. One is he has shown to be a big spender of Osage money and a supported of throwing money at the LLC while they were loosing money hand over fist. Second... I shudder to think of him ever being principal Chief either by default or if he should run for the position in the future. He will talk to you about things but doesn't listen.

      Delete
    3. To the 12:26 poster. You have the right to vote for whoever yo want but just because you don't agree with Patricia's complete slate doesn't mean we should not give some thought to the rest of her choices. With the exception of as few II think she is pretty much right on.

      Delete
    4. No way. Kathryn Red Corn was double-dipping when she was on the Minerals Council before and nothing has changed. It's why she wasn't reelected last time and why she shouldn't be elected this time.

      Delete
    5. Particia. I thought Cynthia was on your dream team the last time. So much for your gross lack of judgment then and now. Cynthia! Cynthia! Cynthia! You have my vote and always will!!!!!! Galen's just as misguided if he's supporting StandingBeer as he claims the others are and foolish to believe in people who have been using him to their own purposes all along. Cynthia! Cynthia! Cynthia! You have my vote and always will!!!!!!

      Delete
    6. By the way, sign that post “Cynthia Boone”!

      Delete
    7. Naaaah. No can do. It wouldn't be true. She has a lot more supporters out there than you think she does.

      Delete
    8. Patricia Spurrir-BrightApril 27, 2014 at 9:01 PM

      To Anonymous 1:50 pm
      I have never vote for Cynthia. I meant too, but didn't. Cynthia had us all buffaloed during Mineral Council 1. We thought she was the only one who cared enough to come talk to us at OSA. We didn't know that she had run the rest of the council off by her actions. Be my guest and vote for Cynthia and her buddies. When your quarterly check arrives and it is $7.50 don't come crying. Cynthia has been bought and paid for by the Gas Producers. Only wish I could prove it.

      Delete
    9. To the poster at 1:50 I voted for JRE and that turned out to be a mistake, so sue me. Don't know about Patricia's dream team last time but sounds like she has seen through all this crap Cynthia puts out and her smoke screen of "I work for you" which we now see who she really works for and it ain't us! SO..I guess, no matter how many lies Cynthia tells, how much turmoil she causes ,how many deals she try's to get through the MC benefiting the producers and costing us money, how many good employees she runs off, and how many dope heads she recommends to handle our trust papers, you still want her to represent you ? AMAZING !! I don't care about Patricia's choices in the past, she is dead on target about Cynthia. I just hope those people outside of Pawhuska are reading all the enlightening and negative post that are getting the facts brought out in the open.

      Delete
    10. IN addition about the previous post about Kathryn Red Corn I will not be voting for her. She is probably a fine well intended person but to weak to be on the MC. We need people with knowledge of the oil and gas business, people that are strong enough to do research and form opinions based on that. Don't she has what we are looking for especially after coming across so weak in the debate. I just don't see her as a MC representative. As far as the debate went it is interesting to hear Curtis Bear trying to explain his trip to Washington. He only started back tracking on his actions after he got back and discovered how upset people were about their actions. Don't need him back to stab us in the back again ! First time out shame on you...second time around shame on me.

      Delete
    11. We need doers no belly itchers. Aggressive MC members who will get the job done from the start to finish. Team players. Policies and produres required.expect non the less or simply be replaced by consequence of insubordination to the Shareholders in the first by proxy. Enforce what the shareholders expect and we do this by voting out the cancer out witn the old and here comes innovation of fresh ideas. We want and need shareholder representation. Simple. Can someone tell me what the OSA does for the Shareholders?

      Delete
    12. to the poster at 12:31
      Our experience with the OSA in Pawhuska was a way to meet fellow shareholders and keep informed on issues. Having said that the current OSA , the chairman and board is run entirely by Cynthia Boone and her band of supporters. Their little group usually outnumbers others and can bring to vote what they want or vote down what they want. When they got Cynthia's husband in as Chairman, because no one else wanted to run and ran Patricia off the board, Stephanie Erwin who is on the board, made the statement that we are no longer going to run by Roberts Rules of Order and we'll run things like we want. The "We'll " in that being their little group with Tom as chairman. Therefore be advised that any statements coming from the OSA is what their little group wants to put out. At one time the OSA was showing signs of improvement with more speakers from the BIA, the MC and Congress but even then Cynthia's group would not follow proper procedures and kept interrupting people when they spoke from the floor. It got so bad at one meeting that two congressmen said they weren't coming back ! And so there you have it. No rules, no procedures and several members termed the meetings as a " free for all." and haven't been back either. In my opinion, this is exactly the type of turmoil Cynthia and Stephanie would bring to the MC if elected.

      Delete
    13. Ms Bright ---What you got right. .

      1. Everett Waller MC
      Assistant Chief Amanda Proctor EXECUTIVE
      1. Alice Buffalohead CONGERSS
      three our of sixteen is pretty good for you.

      Delete
    14. ha ha ha ho ho ho he he heApril 28, 2014 at 11:14 AM

      Particia, What do you mean when you say- I have never vote for Cynthia. I meant too, but didn't. Did you lose your way to the voting booth?

      Delete
    15. Patricia acts like she's so all that too. Plus she must think we're a lot less intelligent than she is because the checks have been $9,000 to $10,000 a quarter for quite some time while under the old CFRs. $7.50? Really? Like I really care how she's going to vote. Putting her choices out there like she's the voice of Shareholders. She's really the voice of Sonny Boy Abbot and what the new government wants to make happen. It has nothing to do with what's best for the Shareholders or what they want or how it will affect them in the long run. Not to mention how she constantly goes after Cynthia like she's a mental case who has no perspective of reality and is fixated on Cynthia like someone in the process of having a prolonged psychiatric incident. She says nothing of the others who where involved that went to Washington. It's sick and weird. She's the last person I would take advice from about my vote for the members of the Minerals Council.

      Delete
    16. If the MC had been throwing away $4 million at a whack plus drilling commitments like Boone, Bear, and Whitehorn were trying to do with Sullivan and Company several months ago, we wouldn’t be getting those $9 and $10 thousand per headright checks now, either. When that sweet little deal got scrapped, I’d bet that put a crimp in Cynthia’s campaign financing that she had so planned on from Sullivan. Poor Curtis probably never did get a dime, either. Also, I wish you would explain exactly “who” this new government is that you keep talking about. Looks to me like it changes every 2 years, so who is the “who” behind this new government you keep referring to? Surely you don't think Abbott runs it all, do you?

      Delete
    17. You act like negotiated concessions are something new. They've gone on since the new government took over and long before that too. If you don't know the answer to who this new government is and what their agenda is and has been since the takeover of the Mineral Estate, I can't help you.

      Delete
    18. I didn’t think you could help. Just thought I’d be polite and ask.

      Delete
    19. The ha ha ha ho ho etc. must be Jose Tallchief. When my family asks me who to vote for (they do not live here) I give them a list. I said to vote for Cynthia because she came to the OSA meetings and keep us informed. I had a little trouble with Cynthia's campaign because instead of letting everyone know she was a team player, she spent most of her time bad mouthing Jewell, That bothered me quite a bit. So when I went to vote, I realized I had left my list at home. That forced me to take another look at all the candidates and I ended up not voting for Cynthia. Now I know what a number she was doing on us Shareholders. If you don't like who I have selected, that's fine with me. All I want is for everyone to vote. You don't know how precious that right is, until you have lived in a county where they (the government) tells you who to vote for.

      Delete
    20. Anyone who asks such a ridiculous question is beyond help.

      Delete
    21. The statement was made above that the headright checks have recently been $9 or $10,000 dollars under the old CFR’s, the implication being that those Council members that opposed the new CFR’s are the right people to keep those kind of payments coming. If you check the voting records of those people opposing the new CFR’s you will see that those big checks would never have happened if they had been able to get their way.

      It’s no accident that those high payments started coming after we began granting exploration agreements to promote horizontal drilling. There have only been 13 quarterly payments in the history of the Osage that topped $9,000 and 10 of them (including last quarter) came after we began granting those agreements in 2011-12, with the resultant $25 million in bonus payments and more than 2000 barrels per day of new production.
      Cynthia Boone, Dudley Whitehorn and Curtis Bear fought hard against granting those exploration agreements. With no Council vote to back his statement, the then Chairman Dudley Whitehorn announced several times in open session that we weren’t going to do them so don’t ask. And at Cynthia’s prompting I suspect, Curtis twice tried introduce resolutions that would have placed a moratorium on even talking to any companies about the offers they were bringing us. The reason given most often for their opposition was that these big agreements would somehow hurt the existing smaller producers. Pretty much the same reason they now use to oppose the new CFR’s.
      At first, most of the other Council members were also skeptical, but I was able to convince them that we should at least hear their proposals. It didn’t take long for the majority to see the great potential in promoting these agreements. But had we followed the lead of Cynthia and Dudley, as Curtis did, none of those big payments and added production would have accurred.

      Delete
    22. Good post Galen.

      Delete
    23. To poster at 12:09
      You must live in la-La land and be delusional if you think Patricia is the only one going after Cynthia on the blog. I guess all of them are mental cases and psychiatric ? Patricia and others have simply been pointing out the facts so the same mistake is not made again.! And if you are so upset about it why don't you start rebutting their accusations about her and back them up with facts. I am sure we would like to hear your excuses.

      Delete
    24. I thought the horizontal well idea wasn't working out too good.

      Delete
    25. Oh, I know. It's the family of that jailbird they keep arresting over and over again that are as crazed as Patricia.

      Delete
    26. Good post Galen !! Here again we have someone spouting off when they don't have any facts to prove what the are saying !

      Delete
    27. Cynthia isn't the issue here anymore. It's Patricia and her support of Geoffrey Standing Bear, candidate for Principal Chief, who has advocated in the past and undoubtedly still does to end the BIA run OME Trust and put in a chartered corporation instead. The game has changed, people. Try and keep up.

      Delete
    28. To Anonymous April 28, 2014 at 8:32 PM
      I find it amusing when people find they can't argue with the truth, they resort to calling someone names. too bad! There are people out there who want to hear the truth.

      Delete
    29. The truth is Patricia, you are promoting a candidate for Chief who has made it plain over the last four or five years that he wants to bust the OME Trust. You are also promoting other candidates like Galen and Alice who want him elected too. What are you thinking? Don't you have family in California? You're the one at issue here. Not Cynthia. What? Is it really that Cynthia will stand in the way of your big plans to end the government trust? You and Galen both seem so desperate to get Cynthia out of the way. Is ending the trust your real agenda?

      Delete
    30. What kind of kool-aid are you drinking and where did you get your information that Galen and Patrica are trying to end the government trust? You are so full of hate that it is obvious you will post anything ! One needs to ask "What is your agenda" posting such lies...as if we don't know. Is this Cynthia ?

      Delete
    31. Read Standing Bear's campaign literature. "No Compacting of the Minerals Estates or BIA"

      Delete
    32. Anonymous April 28, 2014 at 8:32 PM
      Who are you talking about? What family, what jailbird who keeps getting arrested time and again? Cynthia is the only one I know of, whose brother was wanted for murder and that is why he has to get permission to come back here. Is he the one you are telling about?

      Why don't you stand up tell all your name and say you are supporting Cynthia. If Cynthia is such a good choice, you should be proud to stand by your convictions and not hide.

      Delete
    33. To Anonymous April 28, 2014 at 9:04 PM

      Why would I or my family want to end what my family was instrumental in starting?

      Delete
    34. That's a good question. Why are you putting out a list of candidates, one of whom wants to end the current Mineral Estate Trust and replace it with a Federally chartered corporation? Read StandingBear's campaign literature. See it for yourself on page 2 under the Section titled, Our Mineral Rights Must Be Protected:
      http://edigital.iserver.net/osages/Standing_Bear_Campaign.pdf There are others who are in support of StandingBear who are on your list to vote for as well. So my question to you is this, why are you going to vote for a candidate for Chief who wants to end what your family was instrumental in starting?

      Delete
    35. To Osagebloger April 28, 2014 at 10:40 PM--- http://edigital.iserver.net/osages/Standing_Bear_Campaign.pdf This says absolutely NOTHING about ending the ME trust and replacing it with ANYTHING! Why would you publish a false statement like that?

      Delete
    36. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    37. It says absolutely everything about it but you must be able to think logically to understand it. There can't be a Federally (BIA) managed and administered Trust for the Minerals Estate and an Osage Nation Federally Chartered Corporation running the Mineral Estate at the same time. It's either one or the other. Now, connecting the dots, Galen Crum wrote this paragraph acknowledging the difficulty of busting the Trust by replacing it with a Federally Chartered Corporation:

      "The Federally chartered corporation idea would be very problematic and probably impossible for anyone to try without U.S. Congress action to clear the way, but it is interesting you should mention it. When Cynthia, Dudley, Curtis and Melvin when to Washington with the producers to demand that somebody “do something” to stop the BIA from ruining the Osage oil industry with the new CFR’s, that is exactly the solution that Sen. Inhoff came up with to solve the problem. Andrew and I spent hours talking on the phone with his chief of staff trying to convince them that first of all, that the CFR changes were reasonable and necessary so there no need for them to get involved at all. And secondly, any move to bust the Osage Trust and create a chartered corporation would meet with very strong Osage opposition, probably even from the misguided Council members that had been in his office demanding that he “do something”."

      Now, going back to Geoffrey StandingBear's ON Congressional campaign literature created on 3/17/2010, it states on page 2, paragraph 2, under the heading, "Our Mineral Rights Must Be Protected."

      "I propose we separate the governance of day-to-day activities of the Mineral Estate from the Government of the Osage Constitution. How this is done will require cooperation of the Chief, the Osage Congress, the Osage Minerals Council, and the United States Department of the Interior. There are solutions which will provide close federal supervision and Osage Shareholder control of the Osage Mineral Estate while also respecting the new laws enacted by the Osage Constitutional Government. I believe the answers are in a variant of the Corporate Charters (for Federally Chartered Corporations) authorized by the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, but must be unique to the Osage and with stronger protections of Indian sovereignty. This cannot be similar to the Osage LLC, but rather a federally protected entity."

      In other words, if I have it correctly, the elected government officials, including the members of the Minerals Council would have to agree to end the Minerals Council itself as an elected body of the Osage Nation Government in order to create a Board of Directors in a Corporate setting for the new Corporate entity created under the new Corporate Charter for the new Federally Chartered Corporation under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act that would then take over the reigns of the day-to-day running of the OME. This is his proposal for the future of the Osage Mineral Estate. The presumption is, that in order to accomplish this task, it would also have to end the current BIA managed trust, getting rid of any direct control of the OME by the Feds, the U.S. Congress, the DOI and the BIA. To my knowledge, there is no Federal government Indian Trust that I am aware of that allows it to be managed and administered by any entity other than the BIA under the Department of the Interior. A Federally Chartered Corporation apparently offers some kind of supervision and unspecified protections on the part of the Federal government but Geoffrey does not specify in his campaign literature for the ON Congress what he means by that statement.

      Delete
    38. Patricia Spurrir-BrightApril 29, 2014 at 1:47 PM

      I do not want to put words in Standing Bear’s mouth, but we have sat down and had a one-on-one on this very subject. He may have made some remarks about the inefficiency of the BIA, but has never said he wanted to compact them. This rumor has been going around and Geoff said he has heard Cynthia Boone, Stephanie Erwin, Mel Core, Curtis Bear and Marie Whitehorn repeated this over the years. It might have been was started when he made some comments about the Superintendent and the BIA not doing their job in a timely manner etc. We all realize that dealing with the land owners etc, we need the power of the US Government behind us, so the bottom line is the BIA is a necessary evil. Anyway if you listen to Standing Bear he will tell you because of Federal Fraud finding involving WIC and Cindy Willard, then last year a second fraud finding involving WIC, we can’t compact for three years anyway. Also he has repeated many times he does not want to compact the BIA period. If you are still worried, better look at Congress because it is from them, I keep hearing the words compact. Watch Ms Whitehorn, because she is walking around with a proposed bill to have Congress approve all compacting and be doubly afraid because they include the Mineral Estate. Also remember that Standing Bear and his wife are Shareholders and they like their nice checks just as much as we all do.

      Once Geoff becomes Chief he is going to have his hands full with just getting this Nation in working order.

      Delete
    39. Of course he doesn't want to compact the BIA. He wants to terminate the Osage Mineral Estate Income Beneficiary Trust and get rid of the BIA altogether by replacing it with a Federally Chartered Corporation that will run everything associated with the Mineral Estate just like any other corporation does in the United States of America. He has put this plan down IN WRITING in his campaign literature with his name on it four years ago. I trust what I read and because I do, I fully TRUST and EXPECT Geoffrey StandingBear to implement this very plan as soon as humanly possible if he is elected Chief of the Osage Nation. You are intelligent enough to understand what this all means for the future and take measures to act to protect your own interests where your headright share is concerned by not voting for anyone who will act in a way that will damage or destroy your Headright interest in the current Mineral Estate Trust. It's important not to get stupid about this situation that you are facing right now. You also thought, as did I, that Johnny Red Eagle was destined to be the last great full-blood Chief of the Osages. How did that work out for us?

      Delete
    40. We shouldn't have to battle it out. Geoffrey StandingBear is perfectly capable of answering for himself here. He's posted to this Blog before right over at http://osageblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/conversation-part-2-march-2014.html under the username ndnlawyer. Geoffrey, account for yourself and give us an explanation of what is going on here.

      Delete
    41. I too would like Geoffrey to answer for himself right here on this Blog. I don't care to have Patricia speak for him or come to his defense.

      Delete
    42. OMG! Do you get the implications of what is happening here? That crooked Osage Congress scrambles up this primary election and now it comes down to two candidates for Chief who are probably of the same mind with the same or similar proposed plan about what to do with the future of the Mineral Estate by ending or compacting the M/E Trust. For safety sake, wouldn't it be in Shareholder best interest right now to be capable of voting for Tom Boone who pledged not to compact or to harm or destroy the fed minerals trust? We're stuck in a hellofa vise now.

      Delete
    43. I think Galen Crum should be commended for inadvertently popping this whole scheme of Standing Bear's off. At least we know where he stands in overall the scheme of things where trustbusting could be involved in the future. And don't ever vote for that Inhofe guy either if you live out that way.

      Delete
    44. Nothing but scorpions in this new government, I'm telling you.

      Delete
    45. By God, you're right! Looking at the last campaign literature Standing Bear sent out, it says - No compacting of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) - He could safely say that if there was no necessity to do so because of the BIA being completely out of the picture as a result of a Fed Chartered Corporation to replace and substitute for the BIA. How slick is that? Huh?

      Delete
    46. How loathsome!!!!!!! Lawyers....... Radix enim omnium malorum est cupiditas ---> For the root of all evils is cupidity (greed).

      Delete
    47. Woah! This is the biggest Osage news story of year! Where are editor Shannon Shaw and news writer Benny Polacca of the Osage News and why aren't they on this right now? Standing Bear and the future of the Osage Mineral Estate by ending the government trust and slipping in a Chartered Corporation. This is a story of interest to every single Osage Shareholder in the U.S.

      Delete
    48. Asleep at their fry bread and meat pie?

      Delete
    49. I am not a lawyer but I have been doing some thinking and it seems to me that the ON Congress or the chief can't compact the Mineral Estate no matter how much they want to. The Mineral Estate was created by the 1906 Act and the Estate is operated by the CFRs. All of this is Federal and federal trumps tribal everyday of the week. So if Congress wants something from the Mineral Estate they have to come to the Mineral Council not the other way around. They also can not make bills or resolutions that are contradict the CFR's or the 1906 Act.

      Delete
    50. You really haven't the vaguest idea of what is being discussed here do you? There will be no compact under Geoffrey's proposal because there will be no BIA and no Federal trust any longer. It will be replaced and substituted with a Federally Chartered Corporation approved by the U.S. Congress and this same Federally Chartered Corporation will then manage and run the Osage Mineral Estate and that will be the end of it. Who the actual Osage shareholders will be then, who knows. The Trust that exists today under the 1906 Act will no longer exist because the U.S. Congress will have done away with it and terminated it just like the 1978 Act to amend the 1938 Act that amended the 1906 Allotment Act that says that it can when so provided by the same U.S. Congress. If this is what you want then vote for Geoffrey StandingBear. If not, I would suggest that you not cast your vote for him. He may never go in this direction but are you actually willing to take the chance that he won't and elect him to office with a government that cannot stop him as Chief of the Osage Nation if he does?

      Delete
    51. Look, Patricia. You belong to other forums like the ones at Facebook. Post something about this over there and have them come here and share their thoughts about what we have been discussing. Believe me, I may not like Standing Bear's politics but I have never doubted that what he suggests isn't doable because I know that it is and I know that he is professionally trained and fully capable of making it happen. Just because you don't want it to be a certain way doesn't mean that it can't happen that way. Being naive and trusting is not only foolish in this situation, it's inexcusably stupid. You don't want to have to live with that and neither does anyone else with a headright share in the Mineral Estate Trust.

      Delete
    52. What i want to know is why is Geoff not responding to all this

      Delete
    53. MIA? Maybe you can take this issue to Jim Gray's Osage Candidates Forum on Tuesday, May 20, 2014 at 6:00pm - 9:00pm in CDT at the Skiatook Osage Casino and ask Geoffrey about it when you are there.

      Delete
    54. Osageblogger so what you have been telling me is don't vote for Geoff, but vote for Cynthia. I don't think so. Talk about someone who is misinformed! Have you EVER sat down with them and talked one-on-one or is someone telling you what they have said?

      I have another question, why would someone want to get rid of the BIA when it does not cost us? Do you know how much it would cost the Nation to replace and pay the salaries of all those people that are needed to handle the Mineral business, because no matter who is in charge we need them to operate? Or are you saying we don't want any oil or gas money and to shut it all down and plug the wells? Look if it could have been done, Jim Gray would have done it a long time ago. All this conversation continuously about someone trying to take the Trust away is getting a little boring. It has been around for over one hundred years and I am sure that many groups over the years have tried many times to dissolve the Trust and it hasn't happen. The government after losing that lawsuit aren't going any place. What is happening, is they are putting even more money into the BIA facility here and hiring a lot more people. So move on and find another subject.

      Delete
    55. What makes you think I haven't had direct communication with either of them? Second of all , the only person I have suggested that you not vote for is Geoffrey because he has put in writing a proposal that will bring to an end the Mineral Estate Trust. This is about you, not Cynthia, and it becomes incredibly difficult to try to get through what appears to be this obsession you have with her. You've made your point about her ad nauseum. Moving on, if you don't know the answer to why Osages would want to rid themselves of Federal government control over their financial assets then you better hit the history books. There are many in this age and time that don't care what it might cost us to get rid of the BIA. There are actually some who would move to do so at any price. And no, I won't move on until everyone knows about what Geoffrey has advocated for doing with the Minerals Trust in the past because they need to be kept informed and this Blog, in part, is about the election and what the Candidates are doing. It's our mission to keep the new government honest and aboveboard about what it's doing and what it plans to do. Geoffrey is an elected member of the new government and is seeking it's highest office. Should he attain that office with a law degree and much experience in the past with a Tribal Constitution that as it stands today will permit him to do pretty much as he pleases with the mineral estate should the Federal government, for whatever it's reasons, decide to transition it over to be run by some entity of the Osage Nation. Despite what you may convince yourself of that has nothing to do with reality, the United States government can unilaterally terminate the Mineral Estate Trust at any time no matter what the BIA may or may not be doing because this very provision is in an Act of Congress signed by the President. It does not take another act of Congress to do it and such a decision lies in the hands of and will be in future as provided by the U.S. Congress. WHATEVER THAT MAY COME TO MEAN. Geoffrey can sit down and tell you anything he wants. Certainly, in conversations with me in the past, he has decried all the salary spending in the Gray administration for both the Congress and those who work for the new Osage government UNTIL he got elected to Congress. Since that time he has sponsored or approved by his vote or both, bills that have increased salaries in the last four years, in some cases, 25% higher than they were before he took office. I believe what I see and I trust what I see in writing. All that legislation is there as a public record of what he has actually done despite what he has SAID in the past. It is my personal assessment that Geoffrey will say or do anything to be elected Chief and some of his colleagues completely agree with that assessment. I believe that he has harbored the dream of becoming Chief of the Osages for the last twenty or more years and has been doing everything he can with people all over the country to make that dream come true. I've got no problem with that as long as he proves to be a good and honest Chief, does not involve the Osage Nation in potentially damaging lawsuits and litigation with the State of Oklahoma, and leaves the Federal Mineral Estate Trust alone, in place and intact with the Minerals Council to run Minerals business without his interference. From what I have READ in his campaign literature, past and present, he has every intention of doing the exact opposite. I am a constituent of the Osage Nation and I don't want a Chief elected who will probably do more harm than good to the Osages and the Shareholders once the dust settles and the history of this period is written down for posterity.

      Delete
    56. I hope everyone reads and understands your post. What you say is very well stated and necessary information for the Osage People.

      Delete
    57. Get together to talk about it: http://www.osagecasinos.com/entertainment for FREE CONCERTS at the Osage Casinos.

      Delete
    58. Geoffey Weffey! Wherrre are YOOOU? Cat got your computer? Hmmmmmmm?

      Delete
    59. He and Sonny and Andrew and Galen and that lot with that Particia scheming all the time - they all got caught. If they hadn't kept after Cynthia they would have been alright but Galen blew it and now they're all hoist by their own petard. How funny is that?

      Delete
    60. the cat must've got his iPad. bought for him with our money by iPad Ray.

      Delete
  2. Galen, you wrote, "It states in part “The Osage Nation seeks to acknowledge that any shares or fractionated shares of the mineral estate returned are part of the mineral estate administered by the Osage Minerals Council.”" What fractionated shares are you writing about specifically?"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To Osage Blogger:
      Nearly all of the original 2229 full shares are now “fractionated”. That is the reason we have 4600+ eligible Osage headright voters and 2000+ non-Osages (excluding those in lifetime estates and Osage legal adoptees) that possess Headright interests. When you add in the ones in lifetime estates, probate, adoptees and Osages headright owners that are not yet 18 yrs. old, I’d conservatively estimate that the original 2229 are now broken into somewhere north of 7500 pieces.

      So the language in the bill means that any returned headright share or portion of a share is part of the mineral estate administered by the Minerals Council.

      Delete
    2. Thank you. Returned by what process? The Fletcher/Pratt lawsuit or does this have anything whatsoever to do with the Cobell settlement?

      Delete
    3. Any reason actually, but nothing to do with Cobell that I can imagine. It is mainly aimed at the letter the BIA sent out for the Council seeking voluntary return of Non-Osage held headrights and with Fletcher if it is sucessful.

      Delete
  3. PUBLIC NOTICE FROM THE OSAGE NEWS--ATTENTION: The Osage News needs questions for its 2014 General Election candidate debate for the congressional candidates. We will only accept one question per entry. Please include your first and last name and your city and state. All questions are due by Friday, May 2, by 4:30 p.m. Please send all questions to osagenews@osagenation-nsn.gov or call us at (918) 287-5668.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Osage News staff has drawn the order for the debate schedule for the general election candidates who will debate May 3-4 at the Wah-Zha-Zhi Cultural Center. See https://www.facebook.com/OsageNews

      Delete
    2. See also http://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/news-events/events/osage-news-congressional-candidate-debate#zoom=9&lat=36.4257&lon=-96.66046&layers=T0B00

      Delete
    3. To Osageblogger. If you have any influence at all, PLEASE contact the Osage News and the ON communication dept and beg them to please bring in Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse or someone that knows how to set up an audio system where we can hear the questions asked and the responses for the debates. When you could hear the candidates there was usually an echo. You can't put a speaker behind whoever is speaking and then one on the back wall without getting fed back through the microphone. I don't know what we are paying the communication people but for this problem it continue time after time it's obvious they don't know what they are doing. We have pointed out this problem after several debates and yet the problem persist. It does none of us or the candidates any good to not be able to hear what is being said. It was obvious during the last debate that the problem wasn't only a bad microphone or two or a woman with a weak voice asking the questions. The bad audio doesn't help the candidates get their message across either. Why should we come if we are not going to be able to hear. Point in fact, the televised broadcast for the last Principal Chief and asst Chief debate was so terrible that most of the time you could not understand what they were saying. Please help !

      Delete
    4. OK. Thank you for your input. I'll do my best.

      Delete
    5. Really. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to undersrand how a sound system works. Lol.

      Delete
    6. Evidently we don't have any rocket scientist working in the ON communication dept. maybe they can hire one ? This is a lack of service both to the candidates and the constituents. that they can't seem to get this corrected !

      Delete
    7. April 28, 2014 at 9:05 PM, on your behalf, I sent your comment and tried to get a polite and professional response from Shannon Shaw of the Osage News as to your constructive criticism but I'm afraid she's just too difficult to have to deal with from my point of view. Perhaps you will have better luck. Please contact her directly with your concerns and criticism about the audio at the Mineral Council debates at sshaw@osagenation-nsn.gov

      Delete
    8. Shannon Shaw, like the rest of us, depends entirely on the ON’s IT department to get the sound, and all other things they are responsible for, done in a professional manner. If you want anything done, tell the Chief. He hires and FIRES the IT director. I suggest you also cc the IT director. If something isn’t done by the time the next two day round of debates happen, heads should roll

      Delete
    9. Good suggestions from both of you and thank you. I'll follow thru with both.

      Delete
    10. Once again, pass that darned buck. I thought Shannon Shaw was still the editor of the Osage News. That's like being its president. The Osage News is the sponsor of these debates going on and as the head of the news outfit, she has to take responsibility for anything that goes wrong. Does anyone working for the Osage government have the maturity to accept their responsibilities including taking responsibility for any negatives that might come along?

      Delete
  4. Available on demand: Video - Osage News Sponsored Minerals Council Candidate Debat - See more at: http://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/news-events/news/video-osage-news-sponsored-minerals-council-candidate-debate

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jim Gray is hosting a shindig called the Osage Candidates Forum on Tuesday, May 20at 6:00pm - 9:00pm in CDT at the Skiatook Osage Casino. More information is available at https://www.facebook.com/events/251888561662578/?ref=3&ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

    ReplyDelete
  6. Osage News Debates Flyer. See https://www.facebook.com/OsageNews/photos/a.153834188010750.33094.134873493240153/686517191409111/?type=1&theater

    ReplyDelete
  7. Colorado fund to administer (Cobell) Indian scholarships. See http://www.reznetnews.org/article/colorado-fund-administer-indian-scholarships

    ReplyDelete
  8. If you can, attend the Osage County Commissioners meeting on Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. Will someone take the leadership initiative to call the Osage Agency and ask the Superintendent to attend it too? Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This too http://barnsdalltimes.com/http:/barnsdalltimes.com/news/county-clarifies-wind-rules

      Delete
    2. What a compelling read.

      Delete
  9. Get behind this:
    http://www.ProtectOsage.com/
    http://www.ProtectOsage.com/support.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. When is Mineral Council Election Board Supervisor, Faren Revard going to get off her duff and put out a certified or official list of Minerals Council Candidates? http://www.osagenews.org/article/candidates-file-third-osage-minerals-council

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is this the complete list? William St. John, Galen Crum, Cheryl Potts, Kathryn Redcorn, Curtis Bear, Everett Waller, Linda Heskett, Myron Red Eagle, Melvin Core, R.E. Yarbrough, Joe Cheshewalla, Talee Redcorn, Ray McClain, Kenneth B. Bighorse, Andrew Yates, Cynthia Boone, Stephanie Erwin.

      Delete
    2. It has been available for quite awhile: http://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/what-we-do/elections/minerals-election

      Delete
    3. Thanx - It would be nice to be able to follow links on that weird new web site the Osage Nation put up recently. How did you finally get there?

      Delete
    4. I found it from the big menu. Go under "what we do" and you can see "minerals election". I also used the search and it seems to find things faster than the old website's search... that might be because my new laptop is faster though?

      Delete
    5. OK. Good deal.

      Delete
    6. And here is who you should vote for.

      William St. John, Cheryl Potts, Curtis Bear, Everett Waller, Linda Heskett, R.E. Yarbrough, Cynthia Boone, Stephanie Erwin.

      Delete
    7. Ray Mcclain has more information about the MC election on his web site at http://www.osages-you-need-to-know.com/ Once you arrive there, click on the text "2014-03-19 Info - Minerals Election Office.pdf (PDF — 10 KB)"

      Delete
    8. To Anonymous 5/2/14 @ 1:20 PM----This is quite a “ticket” you came up with here. With the exception of Everett Waller, this is a “one way ticket” to Disaster, Delux! zip 00000-0000

      Delete
    9. Agree with 4:56 poster. The poster at 1"29 evidently has not done ANY homework OR is a big Boone fan!. What a recipe for disaster! Cynthia, Stephanie and Linda will raise so much havoc there will be no controlling them and Curtis will just follow what ever Cynthia does as he has in the past. The thing to do is to not have Cynthia's or any of her pals on the MC with her.

      Delete
    10. I propose that the a fore mentioned "Ticket to disaster' Should be looked at very carefully before voting for these people. Elsewhere on this blog there has been a great deal of talk about compacting the BIA and the Minerals Estate. The thought has been put forward that even with out compacting there could be a plan where a Govt entity,approved by the US Congress, would take over the administration of the whole thing, MC included. I would not want to see that happen BUT ...if the MC would become such a mess as I believe it could, if we vote in the wrong people, in spite of the best efforts of Galen and a few others I can see the Fed's coming in as they did when they saw what a mess Melissa had the BIA in. Melissa was no where near educated or qualified to be superintendent and look what happened. We need people on the MC that are knowledgeable and educated in the way the oil and gas industry works AND people on the MC that can work together and not just run around with their little agendas as a few have in the past. Just something to think about when you vote? We certainly do not want to give the Feds any reason to take over!

      Delete
    11. “I think it’s all very juvenile,” Dudley Whitehorn said. “I think this should be handled in a different manner.” I agree! These office girls your "dream team" has CHOSEN to hire and supports who are in and out of jail like a revolving door. Utterly revolting. ----->>>> http://barnsdalltimes.com/http:/barnsdalltimes.com/news/minerals-council-recommends-phillips-for-agency-head

      Delete
  11. Will we be here one day. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/05/02/bird-conservation-group-challenges-feds-over-wind-farm-eagle-deaths/

    ReplyDelete
  12. Earlier in a thread above I told about how Dudley and Cynthia tried to influence other Council members into not even considering exploration agreements with companies wanting to try horizontal drilling into the Mississippi formation. The main objection given was that these agreements would somehow be harmful to existing small operators. It was pointed out to me that I may have made it sound like Cynthia, Dudley and Curtis also voted against all of these agreements once the rest of us insisted on hearing what was being offered. I want to set the record straight. In fact with one glaring exception, (Devon, a story that deserves a post of its own) that is not what happened. Indeed most of time they also saw how beneficial the offers were to the Headright holders. But after voting to accept an offer, Cynthia and Dudley would then fall back into their mantra of “no more agreements” we must protect the little guy, even at the expense of not growing our production opportunities. And no proof was ever given as to how these agreements would hurt existing producers.

    And another person above also stated that "they had heard that horizontal drilling had not worked out that well for us."

    It is true that because of the high costs associated with horizontal operations, our horizontal wells have not yet proven to be totally reliable in producing the maximum return on investment that some producers are seeking. But no one can say that they are not producing oil and gas and a lot of it. And for the Osage headright holders, higher production is how our bottom line is increased. We get paid for production, regardless of what it cost to produce.

    Some producers feel that drilling a new conventional vertical well that costs $150,000 dollars and may initially produce 7 barrels a day is a better economic bet than risking $3 to $5 million dollars on a horizontal well that may produce 100’s of barrels a day. Others are still willing to shoot for the big payoff by going after the vast reserve of oil that we have now proven is in this hard rock formation, and can’t be produced by any other method.
    Either way the Osages win, but I’m rooting for the ones willing to shoot for the 100’s of barrels a day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great Post Galen. Tku.

      Delete
    2. You fail to admit the concessions given for these producers reserved for these producers assets without penalty for failure to follow through on the commitment. My payment does not reflect the increase you claim.

      Delete
    3. To Anonymous @ 7:39 pm:

      Your statement that there were no penalties for producers not living up to their exploration commitments is inaccurate. Each concession we granted included a sizable payment for the exclusive right to explore in their given area during the life of the agreement. This “concession bonus” was paid up front at the time the agreement was begun. Each agreement also included specific drilling commitments that had to be met each year or the agreement was voided with no return of the exclusivity prepayment. Nor could they exercise other concession rights, like taking down leases, if they were not current with their drilling commitments. They also included an additional cash penalty to be paid if the last years drilling commitment was not met. This was to ensure that the producer could not just stop drilling in the final year of the contract with no consequences.

      As to your statement that your payments do no reflect the additional production, one only has to look at the more or less steadily falling production totals over decades prior to the implementation of these agreements. That trend has been arrested and we are now on an increasing production trajectory. And as I stated earlier, there have only been 13 quarterly payments above $9,000 dollars and 10 of them (including last quarter) have been since we established these agreements.

      Delete
    4. Does any of you analysis consider the increase in the price of crude oil world wide? Maybe you control that also.

      Delete
    5. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brent_Spot_monthly.svg after 2005 the time frame you refer to the price of oil is greatly increased not the result of decisions made by the MC.

      Delete
    6. To anonymous 6;07 & 7:04 am:
      No we can’t control the price of oil, except that when the new regulations take effect we will not longer be forced to accept bottom of the area market for our royalty share. And by the way, we can't sell oil on the Brent market, wish we could but that is just not available inland.
      When I talked about production being up as a result of the exploration agreements I was referring to about 2000 more barrels per day being produced by these companies, not the price of oil. You are the one that stated the money wasn’t up. So I talked money also in an effort to inject some facts into that discussion instead of just your opinion.

      Also if you are the anonymous “expert” that a few weeks ago stated as fact that producers are leaving “left and right”, I’m still waiting for you to answer my challenge and tell us just who these departed producers are? Oh and also please tell how my tables and graphs are skewed? Surely several weeks are enough time for you to provide the proof that your statements of "fact" aren’t really just pure baloney.

      Delete
    7. You go back. It's all right here on this Blog. Do your homework, Galen. Don't make us have to review over and over again, points that have already successfully been made against your position in the past.

      Delete
    8. Go here http://osageblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/osage-shareholder-matters-december-2013.html Galen will never go to the trouble to find it for you.

      Delete
    9. Is The Journal Record in Tulsa a liar or are you, Galen? Osage County groups seek to restart rule-making process
      Read more: http://journalrecord.com/2013/09/19/osage-groups-seek-to-restart-rule-making-process-energy/#ixzz30gLjHw3b 59 MORE pages you probably really like too, Galen, at http://www.bia.gov/cs/groups/xregeasternok/documents/text/idc1-025586.pdf and MORE with the Draft Osage Operators Manual and the Osage Operator's Environmental Reference Manual Draft 2014 with and additional 127 pages at http://www.bia.gov/WhoWeAre/RegionalOffices/EasternOklahoma/WeAre/Osage/OperatorsManual/index.htm Who is the cancer on Osage oil production since YOU and your side-kicks; Sonny Boy Abbott and Andrew Yates that other Red Eagle brother got elected to the Minerals Council? This is gross. You have been the Reg/Neg Chairman and that's when the lid blew off of everything.

      Delete
    10. "It is true that because of the high costs associated with horizontal operations, our horizontal wells have not yet proven to be totally reliable in producing the maximum return on investment that some producers are seeking..." AND NEW REGULATIONS--AND NEW REGULATIONS--AND NEW REGULATIONS. http://www.osagenews.org/article/horizontal-wells-too-costly-two-companies-osage-county YOUR new regulations, Reg/Neg Chairman Galen Crum.

      Delete
    11. Galen Crum 271 350 th Rd. Tampa, KS 67483 Cell: 918-504-3275 galen.crum@galencrum.com -
      spent 31 yrs. in the Fire Service, retiring as a Fire Captain/EMT -- now Oil & Gas expert? Really

      Delete
    12. He can't blame Cynthia for the new CFRs. They wouldn't let her anywhere near that Reg/Neg Committee.

      Delete
    13. Really is right. True to his actual experience, he has lit it up in Osage County.

      Delete
    14. To 1:54 -Poster. Probably for the same reason she was kicked off of committees during MC-! She can't get along with any body !!!

      Delete
    15. And everyone of them that she can't get along with are in league with Geoffrey StandingBear. I'm no dunce. I want her to fight these people back and down and if you had a brain in your head, so would you.

      Delete
    16. In the end the OK energy commissioner will be shut out and the Federal Government will retain it's authority over the ME. The new CFR'S will govern that we get the top end price of the barrel not the bottom of the barrel and no more flaring without compensation and so forth. And no more kickbacks or any of the sort will be a conflict of interest to the Sbareholders in the first. What this means, is better Governing of our ME. Win win situation. And to think once there is transparency, lets see how transparency your revenue increases by 50% and lets here you complain now. Because that's whats going to happen. It took a couple of months and after examining said changes of CFR'S with my lawyer, after she contacted a friend she knew, a Lawyer in the oil business could not believe how we were soooo behind the times and the untold monies lost to this day is jaw dropping. So there are some of us who are doing the diligence. Make no mistake this is a cut throat business, there will be psople always wanting to get their hand in the cookie jar at the expense to the Shareholderkas you can see.

      Delete
    17. Good post. But...I guess we just shaft our oil producer partners who came in under the old CFRs, made a deal on the basis of them, and then had a lease approved by the BIA without the possibility of grandfathering them in in future?

      Delete
    18. Sbareholders is soooo right. Bare of any money in our quarterly checks. It took twenty years to get the small producers back in the Osage oil field who can least afford it and now they want to flush them down the toilet. So typical of everything they do because there is only one fair and that's the Osage version of fair and no other exists in Osage County.

      Delete
  13. The election has already been decided if you didn't know. When the Irby case disestablished the reservation it pretty much ended the 1906 Act. People you need to get to Washington and make sure that Congress knows that you very much want our reservation status back. The reason being is that being a reservation takes all the power away from the tribal government. The ex-chief and members of congress and probably mc had the attorney's or firm present that case where they did not mention our 1865 Treaty at Canville or the Drum Creek treaty which gave us vested rights that protected the people. The Osage are getting ready to be dis-established totally which means the govt.. Their needs to be an audit of all the members of the tribal govt. and the LLC, which was just a shell business. It was a business to hide money. If you don't get an attorney that has handled this sort of thing out of state then those head rights are going to be disbursed to everyone and we will probably get a big land payoff from whomever sold our land to the state and that will be it. It started during the first administration and all our monies have been going into that foundation and wherever else it can be hidden. The only way to find out who is honest and who is not is to have them audited. Everything has already been set in motion for the state to take everything over and it was done by the big landowners in our Osage country. You need the FBI. This is way more serious than this farce of an election. There has been money reserved back to sustain the tribe maybe for a year if you didn't see the resolutions or bills and the tribe has a new e-mail that is suspiciously state. Don't wait and if either one get to be chief we are doomed. The thing is we will have missed the chance to catch all of them once there is no representation of the Osage. Make one of the Minerals council call in an audit of the government because their has been foul play and embezzlement. All it would take is this to be done and if you can show any sort of fraud then you can have that Irby case overturned and that is the only thing that is going to save those head rights. Indian Country status gives all the power to the tribe. Reservation status gives it to the people and that is exactly what we are. There were permanent markers of our boundary lines to be placed conspicuously and permanently. This was in the Deed from the Cherokees. This was not even brought up in that case. It was all for the state to get control of our lands and oil. The tribe has been splitting down the ad valorem taxes with the state also. Which by the way all Osages are tax exempt from the state. Whether it is property or Income. Absolutely tax exempt everyone of us from state tax. Read that case and you will see that we did not have or present one historical defense and tribal law is all about the history of the treaties.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmmmmm. Have you stopped taking your meds? This is a jumble of half-truths and complete falsehoods in as bi-polar a manner as it could every possibly get. Stand down and get a hold of yourself. Come back in a month when you have it back together.

      Delete
  14. There was a post in this section giving an opinion on Stephanie Erwin's campaign flyer. I guess whoever runs this blog didn't agree because I can't find it anymore. Fancy that ! I guess when it's your blog you can support who you wish and delete unfavorable comments that you don't agree with.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Right I noticed. Thought this site was for the truth, this was no diatribe its simply the truth of which our opinion for shareholder insite.

      Delete
  15. I attended the Executive candidate debate yesterday, the clearly outstanding candidate was Amanda Proctor. Her statement "quit talking about it and
    roll-up your sleeves and get to work" points out a major failing of the Osage Nation at all levels.

    Standingbear was supported by the Sonny Abbott group, remember this group supported RedEagle in the last election and the Nation has gone downhill every since.

    It looks like the voter are about to repeat the same mistake and hope for a different outcome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If this is the case, then we gather our cahonies Start to formulate our own special commitee to exam weather to abolish this Gov. And have that Osage Constitutional Convention. There is strong support for this to happen. The money trail needs to be followed and we are not getting the support we need for accountability and transparency, especially when it comes to the Osage LLC, in addition to the cost overruns the buildout our Casino.

      Delete
    2. BIG DARN DEAL !...In the last election, If I remember correctly, the concern was that Tim would bring in or retain a bunch of Jim Gray's people so I voted for JRE. And no... things didn't turn out well but I don't think one can attribute all the Nations problems to JRE. There is plenty of blame to go around and lots to fix. All we can do is vote the best as we see it at the time. This time I'll vote for Standingbear and Amanda and hope for better results. Remember ti's not just the Chief and Asst Chief but we need to make wise choices for Congress and MC.
      I would like to add, that removing opinions on this blog about a candidate goes against the concept of an open forum that I thought this Blog was dedicated to. If we can't get different points of view posted so others can read, then this can become very one sided and opinionated depending on whof the moderator likes.

      Delete
    3. It probably went away because you people keep blathering on and on and on and on about Cynthia and bash anyone who you perceive to be in the same camp. The point has been made about her 50 to 100 times and enough is enough. One note over and over and over is ridiculous. I too want it removed because I get tired of the same note you people play when Cynthia is against ending the Mineral Estate Trust. You clearly are for getting rid of it. Why don't you have honesty to come out and say so. She is against Standing Bear who is for getting rid of the ME Trust because it's in his campaign literature. What really needs to happen is that we need to get rid of this new government and all of the people who are in power and who work for it because ending the Mineral Trust what they want and they've wanted it all along. The issue is the Trust and the Trust is at stake and it's in danger and at risk and whether the Chief is Standing Bear or Margo Gray, the situation is the exactly the same. This Osage government under the leadership of either one of them is a threat to the mineral estate trust either by termination or compacting the BIA and that's the most important issue not infighting about these candidates. By the way, the debates for the Congress are streaming live now and it's going well. Patricia's question on the Osage LLC has just gotten real good play. Good question Patricia.

      Delete
    4. I do agree with your assessment on who to vote for and we all know where when and why and truly how this all got started but JRE lies were exposed and no different should the MC members, should not be protected from scrutiny as well. Or how is anyone make a formative decision of that person. And as I have stated before these individuals who in my opinion went rouge deserve some consequnce of removal. Insubordination, to a cancer is a conflict of interest to the Shareholders and a disgrace and some behavior of one individual on the MC who has been caught lying and can't keep the lies straight put this out for all to see publicly. So the question is why would you want to cover up the truth. After you are right this is a public forum.

      Delete
    5. How many times do we have to be horse whipped with the same comments time and over again. At some point it just becomes vindictive crap slung all over us. Let's get past it and move on to the most important issue we have to face. You are just trying to throw up smoke and mirrors to cloud this main issue and nobody is fooled. The trust is at risk. Focus on that. If you want to end it keep on about Cynthia and Stephanie and we will know what you really want to have happen in the next four years. The underground plan has been to take over the Mineral Estate and redivide it among Osages who live in Osage County. They have self-styled themselves the real Osages and this ONO plan has been in play since the 1960's. If this is what you want then keep up your bellyaching about candidates who what to protect the Federal Osage Shareholders Beneficiary Mineral Estate Trust. If not, like them or not as people, keep up what you're doing and we'll know you're one of them who wants to end the Trust.

      Delete
    6. Kegee said he thought Standing Bear was for what he listed we need to have become a power on the plains. He just lost my vote. The next group in the debates is coming up.

      Delete
    7. Osage News Debates for Congressional Candidates:

      First group:
      1. Ron Shaw
      2. Tony Whitehorn
      3. John Star Bighorse
      4. William "Kugee" Supernaw
      5. Doug Cowan
      6. John Free
      7. Clair Wood

      Second group:
      1. Beverly Brownfield
      2. Homer Troy Big Eagle
      3. Justin Mays
      4. Teresa Rutherford
      5. Joe Conner
      6. Michael Kidder
      7. Otto Hamilton

      Third group:
      1. Daniel Boone
      2. Jacque Jones
      3. James Norris
      4. Angela M. Pratt
      5. Alice Buffalohead
      6. Cecelia Tallchief
      7. Rick Luttrell

      Delete
    8. John Free wasn't at the podium in the first group. He's known as a big spender and as far as I know, he has funded that Osage LLC every single time.

      Delete
    9. Why don't they ever mention Osages in the middle who aren't either old or young? Don't we exist for these candidates?

      Delete
    10. There have been some starts and stops but by and large, the production values on the live stream of the debates today have been really good.

      Delete
    11. Third group is going up at the podium now. Good comments from the second group especially Joe Connor who wants the Congress to start listening to the Osage people again like they did at the very beginning.

      Delete
    12. The May 3, Debate is available at Video - Osage News Sponsored Principal Chief and Assistant Principal Chief Candidate Debates. See http://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/news-events/news/video-osage-news-sponsored-principal-chief-and-assistant-principal-chief-candidate

      Delete
    13. Running for Legislative office and some of them still don't even know the basics about our laws on the books?

      Delete
    14. Cut your salary, Jacque Jones because services to the Osage people in and out of Osage County have not increased exponentially with the salaries of those who work for the government. You're the problem, not the solution. Cut budgets cuts benefits? Give us a break!

      Delete
    15. The Congressional Debate has just concluded. More reactions?

      Delete
    16. Yeah. I didn't particularly like the answer of Clair Wood when she was saying the Chief had been treated disrespectfully by the attorneys. They were paid to keep digging until he broke and admitted he had violated the law which he did. They were successful. He was more disrespectful to everyone in that trial than they ever were to him including flipping the bird to one of the members of the Congress and raising his voice and talking down to the attorneys with comments like--Did you hear what I said. Good riddance!!!! Clair Wood is like StandingBear, looking to buy votes. In particular, from the Red Eagles and those who supported Johnny during his trial.

      Delete
    17. Congressional Candidate Debates are now up for on demand watching on the internet too at http://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/news-events/news/update1-video-osage-news-sponsored-principal-chief-assistant-principal-chief-and

      Delete
    18. Agreed on Wood's comments. She seemed to be pandering for votes, but instead made herself look phoney or just inept.

      Delete
    19. The one thing I really liked about the debate yesterday is how a number of the candidates said that the Congress needs to be tied to what the Osage people want not the way it's been with them doing whatever they want with our money without even attempting to find out how we feel or what we think about it. I believe that Dr. Ron Shaw said something about making sure that the Congress finds out what we want on big expenditures where millions are spent and the other one was Dr. Joe Conners, who was the one hired to collate the Strategic Plan information from all of us within the first six months of the new government taking over, who said that the Congress has to get back to doing what the Osage people what them to do and start taking direction from our will not theirs. The Congress doesn't need to throw millions to get our opinion on how we want things done and what we want the money spent on. The reason they are doing things the way they do always boils down to money and the distribution of it to those who live or work in Osage County to almost the exclusion of the rest of us who are in the overwhelming majority. The one thing that is really unacceptable is when you talk with a member of Congress and they either hem and haw about things they don't want to do that you want them to do or when they tell you that no other member has contacted them about a particular thing you want them to do as if they have people contacting them all the time which they don't because most of them rarely if ever respond in a favorable manner if it's not what they want to do. The government does not, to any real degree, export the Osage Culture. Remember that we got the drum from the Ponca Tribe in the mid 1880's. Though the Congress and Executive Branch have run through one quarter to half a Billion dollars in the last 7-8 years, how much of it has been shared? They go to Colorado Springs for a language immersion session each year. Just to say they have one, I suppose, they have just started a new online language program for a select few but I defy you to find out any information about it online on their new Osage Nation web site though many all over the county have expressed an interest. Jim Ryan has been taking this course and you can e-mail him about it at https://www.facebook.com/groups/234024393278360/?ref=br_rs They could export shirt making, moccasins, roach making, the fundamentals about the dances and so on but they don't. Kathryn Red Corn has had that one exhibit for years and years at the museum but that's been the main attraction. Who gets to be paid to be in a leadership position at a museum with only one major exhibition for the last ten years or more? Does she not really know anything about the artifact history and what she has to display of what is still left in the basement of the Osage Museum? Why hasn't she put something together with Dr. Andrea Hunter or would that be too intimidating for her on the basis of turf sharing? Why hasn't Van Bighorse been working with the IT team out of the Cultural Center to export some of the suggestions above? In-as-much as we need to be interested, they need to interest us in what they are doing and how they do it. If government funds are spent AND THEY ARE, it's a two way street. If it isn't and it isn't for the most part, it should be and as soon as possible.

      Delete
    20. or they argue with you like iPad Ray because of leadership which is supposed to belong to the Executive Branch under the Constitution, not the Legislative because the Osage Nation Congressional mandate is to be the representatives of and represent the will of the people. At one point, Edwards sent out an e-mail to a constituent that stated that the constituent's opinion was so misguided or misinformed that she wouldn't do what was requested. These people are unreal half the time and we need to replace them with people who care about us and will do what what we want them to do but more importantly, not carry forward with what we don't want them to do. The last time I heard, the Osage LLC has been given $17 million. Just today, I read where the real number is, "$19.1 million dollars in cash. They also had the Pawhuska gift shop, the Fairfax Palace Grocery Store, and the air park office building next door to the Tulsa Casino." Correct me if I'm wrong; iPad Ray voted for every single one of those cash infusions. Many, if most of the constituents were against him voting to give the Osage LLC the money early on and he knew it and yet he and many others including John Free and Alice Buffalohead voted to give the money to it anyway. Insane. What will he do if he is elected to be the Asst. Chief? People who are this bad with money shouldn't ever be elected to be in a position to control it. $800.00 for every Osage man, woman and child lost by that Osage, LLC. Think very carefully about that when you vote in the election.

      Delete
    21. Actually, Raymond didn't vote for his own bill ONCA 08-30 that provided a $1,000,000 appropriation to the Osage, LLC.

      Delete
    22. Not voting for your own bill is just a ploy by I-pad Ray so he can say " I didn't vote for it" and not mentioning that it was his bill in the first place. You can't trust him !

      Delete
    23. Yeah. That's true. Next time you're over there, ask the Osage County Historical Museum why.

      Delete
    24. What's this all about? Does anyone know?

      Delete
  16. Just got home from a Osage County Commissioners meeting. One group "Protect Osage Coalition" has band together to oppose the Wind farm Energy development in western Osage County. They have retained a couple of high priced lawyers including Wilson Pipestem. I don't care how you feel about the wind farm but I question this as an investment of Mineral or Osage Nation money for these lawyers. Most of the claims made in rebuttal to the wind farm are filled with half truths and disinformation. Scott Bighourse, Galen Crum and Andrew Yates ( your elected officials ) were in attendece. Our government can't find better uses for this money???????????????????

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for this report. Are you certain that shareholder money is going to pay for these lawyers? Galen, will you please respond on this? Thank you.

      Delete
    2. Osage Nation notification: The County Commissioners have affirmed the Board of Adjustment's authority to hear debate and vote on the wind projects. This Thursday's Board of Adjustment meeting at 6pm is going to be pivotal. It is open to the public, so please plan to join us!

      Delete


    3. What better use could you find than protecting the mineral estate from a greedy, U.S. Taxpayer financed, private concern from Ireland who, if allowed, will make it virtually impossible to continue development of oil and gas prospects in that area? They already tried doing it on the cheap the first time and got laughed out of court. The executive branch, congress, the mineral council, and the producers need to team up, and hire the very best lawyers money can buy and try everything they know to get this stopped. You sound like a politician who is about to become very disappointed. You should put a wind turban in your back yard. You would make a lot of money, and it would cut down on your grass mowing chores.


      Delete
    4. Your comment reminds me "A fool and his money are soon parted". Your elders and youth and other Osage people do without because of your igornance. Oil production is completely compatable with the windfarm project. I do like having affordable electricity at my house.

      Delete
    5. The increased volumes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released by the burning of fossil fuels (coal to generate electricity and crude oil) , land clearing, agriculture, and other human activities, are believed to be the primary sources of the global warming that has occurred over the past 50 years.

      Delete
    6. To Osage Blogger: Yes of course minerals money is being spent on fighting these huge industrial wind developments being built on top of the Burbank oil field. It’s the biggest oil producing unit in the Osage, indeed it’s the biggest known oil deposit in Oklahoma, so we have no choice but to protect it. Next to the Burbank and still under the footprint of these giant industrial developments is also the area of our most consistent horizontal well production. We’ve been in this fight for three yrs now without stop and fought one company to a standstill, but they sold out to another conglomerate that is starting all over again and trying to add still yet another wind farm north of the first and other on the drawing board.
      The coalition we have been able to put together includes not only the Minerals Council and Osage Nation but also many area ranchers, oil producers, Audubon society, the Nature Conservancy, Scenic byway officials and many just plain area citizens working together for a common goal. All have contributed many hours of hard work and expertise in putting together some effective moral and legal objections to allowing the wind industry to take over Osage County. And with objections coming from the coalition, the fight is far more effective than if it was just coming from the Osages.
      As per the money spent by the Council, it is nothing compared to what we stand to loose in oil and gas production if these developments are allowed to be built. If we loose just one well set-up, just one, like the one across the road from Alco in Pawhuska it will cost the Osages twice as much oil royalty in one year as we have spent in three years of battling these development.

      Delete
    7. Some LIKE it hot

      Delete
    8. Another tip of the hat to Jim Gray who lost our Federal Reservation recognition. Think about that when you enter the voting booth. Do you think Jim won't be influencing the behavior of his sister if she's elected Chief?

      Delete
    9. Wichita Falls, Tx is at this time recycling waste water, their two supply lakes are nearly dry. Does use of fossel fuel and global warming have any contribution. They also claim oil well fracking is draining the water sources. When will the Osage County towns be in this condition? Windfams convert wind to electrical energy without the harmful emission coal and oil. Are the Osage People going to be part of the solution or part of the problem? We will all suffer when there is no more water..

      Delete
    10. I think Jim Gray has bigger fish to fry than Osage Nation government. Support Margo 100%

      Delete
    11. Ya think? I agree after he fried our reservation in Federal Court and we have wind farms starting up all over the place and land owners gating and shutting our producers out and other landowners holding shotguns on them. How much more fried could it get? Well, I think Margo could take a few times at bat and send us right into bankruptcy. With her business finances in tatters, it's to be expected. If it weren't for that detestable primary election in March which that low-down Osage Congress has savaged us all with, we'd have more than just these ruinous two to vote for in June. Support Margo 0%

      Delete
  17. Yet another post deleted about candidates. So much for a fair and impartial blog. I doubt this post will last long either.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You've been warned. You know why and that's how it is. Live with it and get past it. Some of us like having a place to go to share our thoughts and concerns without having to drub everyone with the same ones over and over again. In this instance, self-discipline and self-control are really good assets and set skills to have in the personal tool box in this life.

      Delete
    2. Funny, you should talk about self-discipline and self-control when Standing Bear, Galen and others are getting hammered every day, over and over. The point of an open and fair blog IS as you say having a place to share our thoughts and concerns. From where I sit only the views you agree with should be and are allowed. There is a saying that goes like this..."You get respect when you give respect" In other words, I respect your right to a different point of view and to voice it and you respect mine. :) But..I don't control this blog.

      Delete
    3. It is what it is. Don't pout, now. No one has taken a bigger beating that Cynthia here and elsewhere. These are big men and they can take it because they have put it in either their campaign literature or writings on this Blog. It's only going to make it harder to steal the Mineral Estate away from the current shareholders and that's a good thing. Perhaps you don't think so but I do.

      Delete
    4. No one is hammering either StandingBear or Galen. This is all about clarifying the issues that they support, not who they are.

      Delete
    5. Exactly my point concerning issues I support.

      Delete
  18. In the debate there was a great deal of discussion about the LLC money lost. In 2004 the Dow was around 10300 it is now around 16500. My 401K is in an index fund and I am very happy with the return. The Nation could contract a financial planner for a lot less than the fly by night ideas they seem to get in and do a lot better with your money.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Don't you find it coincidental that the US Attorneys lost the records for the fletcher case? Read the update in the Osage News.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Whats next after March 6th?

      Delete
    2. Oops may 6th

      Delete
    3. http://osagenews.org/article/class-action-notification-fletcher-case-be-mailed-osage-headright-holders

      Delete
  20. The issue in 2010 was how to keep the governance of the Osage Mineral Estate out of the Osage Constitutional Government and still keep our federal trust and sovereignty because BIA and all federal agencies recognized only one Osage representative government, that being the Constitution Osage Government.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. During my term in the Osage Congress it was clear from constituents they did not understand the protections given for federally chartered and protected corporations which are created by the United States Congress so that option never went anywhere. In its place was the option of Amendments to the Osage Constitution which gave back most all the independence of the 1906 Act to the Osage Minerals Council. Those Amendments failed because they did not get 60% of the vote.

      Delete
    2. The BIA ruling two years ago recognizing terms in the Osage Constitution over terms in the CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) was challenged by some of the Jech plaintiffs and that challenge is still in the Department of the Interior. In the meantime, there is and will not be any move to ask the United States Congress for a federally protected corporation restricted to Osage Shareholder exclusive ownership. There also does not appear to be any more proposed Amendments to the Osage Constitution separating the Minerals Council powers. In summary, it appears the federal government will only extend trust protection and recognize only the Osage Constitution Government which declares the Minerals Council to only be an "Agency" of the Osage Nation and under Osage Nation laws. That is what the BIA and the Department of Interior believes.

      Delete
    3. As I have stated repeatedly, I am not seeking nor will I approve any compacting of the BIA. Osage Nation would never be allowed to run the mineral estate and not one Member of the Osage Congress has ever proposed that. The one Member who runs around telling people otherwise is making it up for who knows what reason.

      Delete
    4. And, the people saying I want to take my wife's headright and mine, along with yours and redistribute them are spreading falsehoods. I know one man who asked me if that was true and I said of course not. I then showed him how federal law, specifically the 1978 and 1984 Osage Acts governs distribution of headrights. Later, I learned this man was in my opposition's camp.

      Delete
    5. I think the current situation causes a lot of confusion with regard to the Headright and the Osage Nation government. Actually the trust of the mineral estate is with the U. S. Government. The BIA and Dept of Interior are apparently charged with the administration as a matter of history not supported by any law.. I don't know of any other Federal Trusts that are not BLM or BIA responsibility but the Osage mineral trust is not. HR2912 made no stipulation as far as I know but when the Osage Nation Constitution included the Mineral estate it has no authority to do so. Are any governing bodies legally authorized to act for this trust?

      Delete
    6. The BIA decision on how they view the Osage Constitution only applies to BIA. The U.S. Congress has what is called Plenary Power over Indian Affairs. They designate other agencies, such as EPA, Department of Justice, and others with authority. So far, BLM is not active here.

      Delete
    7. Thku ndiznlawyer

      Delete
    8. Good! I'm glad you've found us ndnlawyer (Geoffrey StandingBear) and are mounting a challenge to the comments posted on the Osage Blog. Welcome! I still have a few questions in order to understand what you mean by all of this because my understanding of what a Federally Chartered Corporation is and what it can and will do appears to be far different than what you are representing here. Apparently, Galen Crum has the same or similar ideas to mine. I will get back with you after I have my questions composed.

      Delete
    9. Wrong! May 6, 2014 at 11:07 AM The 1938 Act to amend the 1906 Allotment Act specifically states:

      "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
      That hereafter the Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be paid to each adult member of the Osage Tribe of Indians...his or her pro rata share, either as a member of the tribe or heir or devisee of a deceased member, of the interest on trust funds, the bonus received from the sale of oil or gas leases, and the royalties therefrom received during each fiscal quarter..."

      Clearly, this is a LAW of the U.S. Congress and this provision is in effect to this day. The Secretary of the Interior is the head of the Department of the Interior under which both the BIA and the BLM are located. The BIA has been charged with the management and administration of the Federal Osage Mineral Estate Income Beneficiary Trust created by the 1906 Allotment Act. The Secretary of the Interior is also the Trustee of the current Federal Osage Mineral Estate Income Beneficiary Trust.

      Delete
    10. You have just named the last two persons I would turn to for a correct answer to Osage mineral trust issues. StandingBear only claims to be a good lawyer and Crum wouldn't know a correct analysis of a problem if he was on fire. Poor mis guided Osage people.

      Delete
    11. That's your opinion. Others have a different opinion.

      Delete
    12. To ndnlawyer...I am also glad to see you respond on this blog, however as you can already see, you can talk until you are blue in the face and it will get twisted to present a totally different view regardless of reason or facts. BUT...I guess that just goes with the territory? Good luck in the election.

      Delete
    13. No one is twisting his words. What we are trying to do is get a clarification as to where he stands on moving forward with a Federally Chartered Corporation for the Minerals Estate that will replace the current Federal Osage Mineral Estate Income Beneficiary Trust if he is elected to become the next Chief of the Osage Nation. This is an important issue and deserves to be fully clarified by Geoffrey StandingBear BEFORE he is elected.

      Delete
    14. A vitally important issue.

      Delete
    15. Understood. Everyone was so polite to Obama when he ran on the concept of "Change" that no one ever asked him to clarify what he meant by that word and his political concept of it. As far as Geoffry goes, we don't have the luxury of finding out what he means by what he has written in his campaign literature after the next election. It's mandatory that we find out right now before we vote. I heard today from a very credible source that he is already promising his "friends" jobs in his administration if he is elected. I thought we just threw out one Chief, in part, for cronyism. Are these offers to buy votes or is he really serious about handing out jobs as political favors to his friends and supporters? In either event or both, it's bad news to be doing this kind of thing prior to the election.

      Delete
    16. Yes, clarification is important and I agree but a few on this blog including you don't want to accept his explanation no matter how he puts it.

      Delete
    17. To post at 8:29 Please explain your statements rather than throw out some rumors. Please name your "credible source: and the friends you refer to. Your creditability is in question when you throw out accusations that you don't back up. If you have information, let's hear it. If not you are just trying to muddy the discussion. I could say a number of things as being told to me by "credible sources" but it doesn't make them fact!

      Delete
    18. Welllll...I heard from a credible source, that if Margo gets in, she is bringing Deidre Bigheart back, one of the MOST unethical people to ever darken the Osage Nation executive branch.

      Delete
    19. Completely false. I, for one, do want to accept it but that won't change his campaign literature past and present. It's out there in the public domain now and it's in writing. Don't act against your own best interest. You are on a need to know basis and YOU NEED TO KNOW TOO! The worst part of having to accept that you have been fooled by another is having to admit and to acknowledge that you've been foolish to believe and trust in someone who has fooled you. Once you get past that point then you've come through the hardest part and can look at what has happened objectively. Like a lot of others, I initially voted for Tallchief in the last election until the runoff. Then I changed my vote to John Red Eagle because of his campaign promises that I felt were more in line with what I wanted the Chief to be doing for the next four years. Within a year, John had broken all of his campaign promises with the exception of one. I'm not going there again. If Standing Bear doesn't give me a good explanation about this Chartered Corporation, he loses my vote. I know of plenty of people who will not vote for either of the two running for Chief because they don't want to have to be responsible for what they do when they get elected. These voters are going to send a message by doing this and for my part, I can join them and send the same message of no confidence to both candidates right along with them.

      Delete
    20. How naive you are to think that politicians don't pay back their supporters with political favors. It's been going on since recorded time. When Presidents are elected, what do you think Ambassadorships and Cabinet Posts are all about? They are almost always political paybacks.

      Delete
    21. Still doesn't make it right.

      Delete
    22. To Post at 9:19...You ducked the question. I am assuming you are the same person that posted at 8:29? Your post then kept referring to Geoffry and used the words "He and his" yet when challenged to elaborate on your rumors, you replied concerning Margo. We are still waiting on an explanation of your rumors about Geoffry

      Delete
    23. There is no plan for a federally chartered corporation. I have been in the Osage Congress for four years and it has never been mentioned.

      Delete
    24. More lawyer speak? That doesn't mean there won't be one in the future and one of your making if you are elected Chief. This isn't about the past. It's about the future and you've put this idea forward before. We have no reason to think you won't do it again. Even if you were to swear that you will never develop a fed. chartered corp. or that you will never act to end the Mineral Trust, we've had candidates lie to us before. The best policy is to employ an avoidance strategy where you are concerned.

      Delete
    25. StandingBear is on here now. Ask him who he's been offering jobs to if he gets elected.

      Delete
    26. I'd like to see Standing Bear and iPad Ray Red Corn lose just for putting into law this partisan primary election who are now in a position to benefit most, that has left us with two bad choices for Chief and two more bad choices for Assistant Chief. This is so ugly it's hard to believe that they have put us all in this position. I heard that half the people who wanted to run for Chief didn't even know about that primary and missed getting to run for office. That's probably what they were counting on to get the edge, winnowing out any competition.

      Delete
  21. A word from HOUSEKEEPING: When you start a topic (thread) and want to reply to it, do so by clicking on the reply button underneath the last comment in line with that topic. Please don't begin one thread after the other with comments that belong under the original topic thread. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  22. This thread is now closed. Go to: http://osageblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/osage-shareholder-matters-may-2014.html

    ReplyDelete