They gave verbal recorded notice of what they meant by that language and why so there will be no confusion as to why that language is in there and what it really means. They did this last Friday and today and it's in there to place a rule against the perpetuities on every parcel the leases cover whether or not they ever vest and proper legal notice of intent of this language in both resolutions has been given and still these dopes voted for them without even so much as the advice of their own attorney and after being strongly warned and cautioned against doing so. If I haven't seen it all, I have today. This is about on the same order as the perceived unassailability of the Maginot Line in France by the French before Hitler's forces rolled right across it. Simply unbelievable!!!!!!! I think they just pulled a "Jim Gray." Anything to spite someone trying to help them from doing the most foolhardy things they could ever possibly choose to do.
It is imperative that the Chairman or other Council person explain the reasoning and the urgency for voting YES on this Top Lease Resolution. If they can with any intelligence I would be surprised. I agree that their own legal counsel should have advised them first. This is a complicated issue and I simply have no confidence that a single Council member, except for Talee perhaps, is capable of making such a far reaching decision. We really need more intelligent people on this Council.
Sorry I had to ask, but for whatever I couldn't hear all the votes. I will have to listen again tonite. I want to try to understand why they all said yes.
If all six that voted for these resolutions wanted to give the Chief an excuse to get rid of them for malfeasance while in office, they sure handed him the best excuse they ever possibly could have today.
I don't think Erwin or Boone are particularly smart. Their biggest weaknesses are lack of business acumen and skills & knowledge in the Oil & Gas Business. They clearly have had to learn OJT. WE are the damn fools for electing them all (except Talee).
You have the right to your opinion, Boone's been along time at this just as Talee. She's crazy ways sometimes, but she's for the shareholders. I'd like to see Talee run for chief. A lot of things to digest from this meeting.
Also, game over for those seven or more lease parcels of land in Osage County which now likely will have their mineral rights that are reserved to the Osage Nation in perpetuity, expire at the end of 21 years which may likely then revert back to the heirs and assigns of those original allottees who originally owned those parcels of land as a result of these careless, negligent, illegal and inexplicable decisions on the part of six of the Minerals Council members that voted today for these resolutions without so much as the benefit of the opinion of their attorney in writing or that of the BIA solicitor, Alan Woodcock, in Tulsa.
Anonymous 2:20PM. Just because someone is "For The Shareholders" does not qualify them to manage a multi-billion dollar business. I get so tired of this reasoning. We need technically (meaning engineering, finance and geology among other disciplines) skilled and knowledgeable oil & gas professionals to do the managing of the ME. Things ran much better when the OMC had professionals on the council and particularly when OMC1 hired a petroleum engineer to be the liaison between the BIA and OMC. When he passed away OMC1 and OMC2 for some unfathomable reason did not replace him. Instead of the $65.000 full-time salary (it would be much more now) the OMC2 and now OMC3 ended up paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees to clean up messes they are partly responsible for making without technical expertise. Last month the tab on attorney's fees alone had run up to $495,000 or something close to that. We could have hired engineers, auditors, geologists etc for that kind of money.
Listen to yesterday's OMC meeting: https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/news-events/news/3rd-osage-minerals-council-meeting-agenda-wednesday-august-19 The Agenda is located here: https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/who-we-are/minerals-council/meeting-information
A new lawsuit was filed by the Feds against Mustang Run wind farm. Bigheart Times is reporting this in a front page article in today's paper. Joe C. on the MC was making a case for the wind farms in the meeting and it got pretty heated so you should listen to the exchange. In any event, I don't see how the shareholders will ever benefit directly from it because even if payments were made they can't be paid to the Office of the Special Trustee for disbursement. The MC may benefit with any payment proceeds going into the S510 account like the land income from the land in Kansas that was willed to the Shareholders but I don't really know.
Listen. I'm still mad as h** about the Chief blowing into that meetting and hitting us up for some indirect cost thing to benefit the kids and the elders. That damn constitution was sold with the promise that the new Osage Nation would be taking care of all of the members of the Osage Nation and that the MInerals Agency and the new minerals council under it would take care of the Headright owners alone. Now this S*B comes into the meeting lecturing the attendees and those listening online trying to justify another broken promise once again encroaching on our perimeter and into our territory. Never mind anything else for the time being. When is the Osage Nation government going to start behaving in an HONORABLE WAY toward the HEADRIGHT OWNERS and the MINERALS COUNCIL? You Osage Nation s***bags can keep away from us and tell your Chief and his incompetent so called government to STAY OUT of MINERALS BUSINESS!
Yes. The Chief ought to get busy getting out that per-cap for all the members if the Osage Nation was put in place. Nine years later and that yearly money snowball throw at one another who work for the damn thing and where are we on this honorable promise that was made as well?
Now you are talking. This was not based on premise. The truth of the matter is all of you are right. This Nation gave the premise that a per-cap was to go out. As soon as the Government was organized. Organized Government lost our money with the Osage LLC. So, I say we have a organized Government if it can lose that kind of money like that or not punish the five man board and not with just a slap on the hand like our prior Chief. Thats the truth. Thats true cronyism. And intent was there as well. Because thats why we became a Nation. That was tbe premise. So now you have a Chief who is asking for a hand. You know what happens who suffer is the Charity because everyone feels they do not trust our and that is the root. When you get caught between the cross hairs of right and wrong thats when your constituency knows your leadership is failing. You sometimes forget where you came from and or how you got there. Then the lie reveals itself. The History of not telling the truth has transcends and unfortunately resonates loud and clearly and behaves like Hillary Clinton but worse because they hide under Sovereignty used like a wet sponge. Look, everyone who had an elder and listened, knew that they did not like the Government so, it took only one phone call to become what they feared. Thats the truth. I say from all fronts this has to stop now! Oh by the way have we collected on all that money our last Chief gave away? Like from the IT guy? Just an Osage for fiscal responsibility, accountability.
Do not ask how that posted twice was having issues with my tablet, I would like the first post erased. Sorry for the double post. Do not know what happened with my first edit. Wierd.
Osage oil producers file second lawsuit against BIA http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/energy/osage-oil-producers-file-second-lawsuit-against-bia/article_6c353ea8-9bdf-554e-8463-960a8651d9e5.html
It seems the only way to get the lead out for the local Osage Agency to get moving and stop dragging their feet is to file a lawsuit. Playing games was always inappropriate but overlaying regulations and overreach on this basis when others are still in effect with new ones that never should have come into being or should have applied in the first place until the Donalson lawsuit is concluded has lead to real financial damages all over Osage County and it's now time for the phantom Osage Superintendant to get back on the ball and start approving drilling permits so the damage can reach containment. Now the press are labeling this debacle a "saga." An outrage if you ask me that this word is even being applied to the situation. http://journalrecord.com/2015/08/19/osage-county-drilling-saga-continues-with-new-lawsuit-law/
You might try contacting Mr. Michael Overall @ 918-581-8383 and have him give you a call His a reporter for TW. Or e-mail him @ michael.overall@tulsaworld.com. He's keeping up with this mess in Osage county, and I have seen some of the docs on his reporting. Hope it helps.
Our illustrious Osage Nation is nothing more than another EPA/ BIA burdensome bureaucratic nightmare. Not only does the OMC have to fight wind energy, the BIA, the EPA, the DOI, land barons, idle rich attorneys, they also have to fight a hostile Nation, along with its lap dog of paper, bent on justifying its bureaucratic salaries. The Chief's question, the AG's opinion, and most of all the papers reporting is shameful. It's apparent on it's face that it's nothing more than a fishing expedition on the part of the Nation and the Chief to find another reason to haul the Minerals into court. Chief Geoff says "he hasn't looked at it [if the OMC is violating his laws]." Then why the hell is he wasting the AG's time on researching something he doesn't even know is going on or disagrees with? Doesn't the AG have something better to do such as litigate the theft millions of dollars.
The Nation can barely get individuals to court, if that, over the common knowledge theft of $806,000 dollars from the Pawhuska casino/ village. But Jesus strap in!, the OMC gets a ham and blanket it's already headed to the Osage Supreme Court. And now, now the Nation has it's rag of paper out fishing to find someone to file another suit against the Minerals ...please. The Chief and the Nation's priorities are apparent and they are completely out of touch. I would say that this opinion and article is nothing but a clumsy move by bunch of "slimy politicians" but they aren't even good at the politics part of that phrase.
As a Shareholder I agree but there may be improprieties exist whether there is or not the Shareholders need to know. It cannot be the same any more. I want the S-10 account audited and turned over to the Shareholder's it does not belong to the M.C. Leadership has failed in a grand way and this is why we need to get an Audit. Its no longer business the old way. Our Council needs to start playing ball. I will ask for each member to be removed and replaced.I know a few who are ready and willing to step up to the Plate in your communities. I may not live close but my ties are strong back home. And I'm listening loud and clearly.
"ask each member to be removed and replaced"?? Great another distraction for the OMC when all their focus should be on CFRs, Donelson, the BIA, and dung beetles or whatever they are. Reporting is fine, but if we aren't laser focused on the threats to the Mineral Estate there may be nothing left to audit. Priorities folks ...I know we come from a Nation that has its priorities completely out of wack but we can't lose focus right now or we may well lose everything. These pettifogger issues can be dealt with later.
Ah change needs to come..everyone knows of our circumstances and you would think wrong if the people who would rplace them were not skilled..and no one said at this time. When cooler rivers rise then the stream will flow.
To August 20, 2015 at 9:37 PM. The AG cites a lot of Osage Nation law but is far from accurate related to the 1906 Act. He asserts that the Osage Minerals Council was "created" by the Osage Nation, which is contradicted in the same sentence by the phrase "continuing its previous duties". The very next sentence states that it is an "independent agency" and yet the overall opinion renders the OMC a subordinate and dependent unit of the Osage Nation.
The 1906 Act allotted the Minerals Estate to the Osage Tribe. This act failed to address the matter of the inheritance of headrights, giving tribal membership status to the owner of the headright. The public law which authorized the Osage to create the Osage Nation and determine its own membership expressly prohibited any act which diminishes the rights of the shareholders in the Minerals Estate.
The AG needs to review the applicable Federal laws, as these trump the Osage Nation Constitution and its subordinate laws. If the new Osage Nation government is in violation of the public law which authorized it, then it is not a lawful government and can be disestablished. The last major lawsuit to be decided in Federal courts rendered the decision that the reservation was not just diminished, but disestablished (making tribal lands held in trust by the BIA little more than a Federal park).
I'd be surprised to see such an opinion from a competent attorney. However, the question of competence is likely mitigated by the conflict of interest when taking into consideration that the AG represents the Osage Nation and not the shareholders.
Indirect costs is the term used for combined payroll services, IT, HR services and other support services. The Minerals Council should hire their own staff or contract it out.
In actuality, these expenses would only be classified as indirect costs when applied to the direct costs incurred by the Osage Nation for the portion of the budget allocated for the Osage Minerals Council. If the OMC otherwise provides for its own direct costs, the traditional overhead allocations become a direct cost and should be accounted for as such. This would have the net effect of lowering the Osage Nation indirect cost rates.
Yes. Contract it out for much less than $60,000 to $80,000 per year. Hell of a nerve to ask that kind of money of the Shareholders and MC. The cost of things like this didn't go up 10 times since 2005. Highway robbery. Inflate your own budgets to keep the money away from 80% of the rest of the membership but don't expect the MC to be stupid enough to pay through the nose just because you want to bash them and give them hell because they won't do your bidding outside of constitutional perimeters. And this lawsuit against them for a blanket the MC gave to itself and a ham that doesn't even have to be reported until next year? How much of the $806,000 has the Osage Nation recovered from Joe Don? How much of the $19 million from Carol Leese on the Osage, LLC? Please, stay in your own backyard that looks a lot like a junk yard of Osage Nation funding misappropriation and malfeasance and stay out of Mineral Business. Is that polite enough for ya?
Just curios, did you type this from your new (last year) $10,000 fully loaded Apple computer? I'm sure as Chief of the great Osage Nation you do a lot of graphics heavy rendering to justify such a machine. Why don't you go back to picking out curtains for your newly decorated office. Office decoration is important you know. If must convey the self righteous importance and proper authority of your high office.
Are you serious about his computer? Miss use of gross funds by far. Looking like we got ourselves an oppotunist as a leader and a hypercrite and this is why line items matter. Chief you are not looking like a Chief sir.
OK. Tempers are running high here but if we nuke the Chief with our comments in response to his, every time he comes to post here, he won't come back. In order to have a proper dialog here that will keep the Osage Blog a viable communication tool, we must have all points of view represented. If we can't always be nice, we should at least be civil to him and if possible, respectful going forward. Thank you.
Osageblogger, I respect that but these are not unrelated issues and it is my opinion that when someone speaks of fiscal restraint and accountability they need to be called on the carpet for their own spending/ management of public money. I for one do not begrudge anyone their point of view but I don't feel I should sit quietly if I believe the view is questionable, particularly when that person is a public official. I have said my piece and shall hold my tongue in that regard, it's your blog.
Having said that though, it is vitally important that the Chief, the Nation and whatever powers that be know there are those out here extremely unhappy with their actions and constant attacks. We do not move forward on adulation and love alone. As with any relationship there is hard work and there are hard question to answer for and I don't believe anything is gained or growth happens by politely overlooking them.
I guess you are right my temper is running high but in my defense, I feel that we (the shareholders) have been under attack and my instinct is to attack in kind. My apologies is that offends.
The Chief needs to answer. He cannot escape the inevitable he is in that position. I am asking him to step up his Game to a different commitment of truth. Yes our tempers are there and I am not going to sugar coat the truth. It is true what poster @ 11:57 has pointed out and we should always seek out the truth. We are Shareholder's United. The truth is why you opened this blog.
We have some important issues. I know this. This is your site as much as ours and if you want communication with those who can actually make the changes we need to have happen, it's not in our best interest to run them off. That's the bottom line and we can vent but then when we have the Chief take the time to come in and comment, we should at least be civil to him in a direct exchange. It's in our best interest and if he feels that he needs to engage with us here, we should at least be respectful of that. OK? Please. Let's do this. Again, thank you.
ndnlawyer is my user name. Chief Standing Bear. P.S, Don't criticize the Osage Nation then ask the Nation to support you for free. As a headright owner I want the annual million dollars taken from our checks to support our minerals Council to be used for just that. What the heck are they spending it on? They want free services from the Osage a Nation and make our programs pay for it?? Use part of the one million dollars please.
Chief Thank you for posting here. When you are in the position you are in if you are not criticized means you would not be doing the job that you are doing. Of all people you should know. That being said Chief your intent has looked otherwise as a threat and confrontational at times. Shame on you for not paying more attention closely to your constituents, you have been absent. Everytime, leaders fail with a big F for a lack of communication. Long over due should the M.C follow the rule of ethics , by-laws and be held accountable by the Shareholder's. We need term limits as well. We should not be where we are at and the Ball has dropped big time and no longer can we go forward without change in a big way. I am a wrecking ball to be reckoned with I am one of those people if you've ever seen Bar rescue that's my experience or skill coming into organizations and getting to the root of the problem to restructure and organized to be profitable. We were and are a disaster waiting to happen. All the markers point in that direction. Where we are at if we had the skilled people in the right positions we would not be having this Conversation. You would not be studying the Ute way of Business. You built that wall of untrust. Not the M.C, not the Constituency and for the most the thread from Jim Gray looms heavily over are heads as J.R.s policies were a Great Failure. This needs to change. You must not turn a blind eye to the truth. You only succeed if your people succeed. When you hire friends and when you put family members in positions of authority you lose credibility right off the get go. That was your first mistake. The llck of oversite when it came to the refurbishing the Casinos, the Arbor, the Pagoda looking ugly building you should have gotten the opinion from the Constituency on that one. Does the Arbor have heated toilet seats ror the price the Arbor should. To the Five man Board, what are the Charges Chief and what will the fine be sir? Ban them. You know and we all know they took the money and stole feom their own People. It was never business another day when ww became a Narion. So the excuse is we did not know is like Hillray on the hill that card will not suffice. You were fully warned by so many on Carol Leese on many occasions yet to the tune of 20 million is gone. Airports and parks are doonboggles is anyone doing the diligence at the Nation? And I do hold you responsible as well as the Council for the mess we are in. You know and I know that Per-cap needs to happen. Your excuses will not suffice any longer listen to your heart for your people not Big Government. I am ashame how Fairfax is lokking non of our communities should look in disrepair. Clean up our surroundings as promised. Thats a start as well. Raising the minimum wage and or not looking at the minimum household income in your area and I have done the proxy and cost of living in your area given the economy and where it is at was in no way warranted. So what are you doing. A leader is supposed to welcome success and when in need be there for support and communicate something we are not seeing..You can be that leader that we can all appreciate you do not do that by inserting yourself in a mural. You act as if you have all the answers when in fact you don't. Your interpersonal skills are lacking so elementary to communication. So , you expect respect it is earned not by the Position you sit. You are one of us, I suggest you start acting like one of us you just might realize and see the forest for the trees. At this point my opinion one phone call all it takes to re-write our Constitution. I will say this, you are recognized by what you do, that's 90%.10% is living. This is not my opinion alone sir. And our elders and our Sovereignty is in the people not tne Government, The Nation. You can do better and aspire to be a Great Chief and makes us proud to want to build a Bust in your Honor. Oh by the way M.C I support the Chief when it comes to ethics the open records act and so forth.
OK. Thank you for posting here, Chief. As I understand it, the Nation gives the other departments, offices, and so forth the money from the ON Treasury to operate most of them unless they involve a Federal funding of some kind. Many if not most are given the money from Tribal funds to begin with in their budgets appropriated by the ON Congress. I was under the impression that the MC also submits a budget yearly for appropriation to the ON Congress as well. Has this changed or is it still the same? Please advise. If so, is this yearly budget not available for Shareholder review by the ON Congress or by the Minerals Council?
"What heck are they spending it on?" What the heck are they spending it on... how about the fight to save our Mineral Estate. All this Nation affair has muddied the water and the OMC is in how many courts, on how many fronts? For God's sake, don't take us for such simpletons. You made a good living off tribes, excuse me, "Nations," you know exactly what legal fees are and what it costs to fight in Federal Court and you seem committed, for your part, on spending the OMC into the ground. But, I guess that's apropos, that's the one and only thing this Nation is good at, spending money.
I do agree with you we (shareholders & OMC) can take care of our I.T. and H.R. as long as it gives you one less thing to b*tch about or exert your Nationhood over or spend money fussing about. It's just my two cents but how about you go deal with theft, fraud, waste, NEPOTISM (*clears throat*) and try to make us a little money instead of looking for something to mortgage. Get out of the way and let the OMC and shareholders fight for their survival. If this is what "unity" and "being friends" with the Nation is like we sure as hell don't need it.
The same Policy goes to Nation are to submit for public view the budget by the M.C as well as it should be the Policy of the M.C. Not just that the Chief has lost his ability to be effective because he has lost his value, purpose, vision. This is because he is not self-aware of his weaknesses and strenghts. This is why he resorts to child play. He's book smart but not people smart. This is why the force and I would say the Moral Majority Shareholder's and M.C iare moving away and the harder he presses he may cause more harm than good. His approach is all wrong. Had he came to this site and explain and not just make a blanket statement left the door open for speculation. This has to stop. The Chief knows what he is doing and so do I. The real power is in the 1906 ACT. And it is we that can turn over this Government. We are the threat not him. (See the oranges and the lemons). Everyone is singing but is anyone listening. Lastly we are entitled in more than one way to the TRIBAL FUNDS CHIEF THIS NATION WOULD NOT EXIST IF THE 30TH AND 31ST DID NOT ALLOW FOR THIS NATION TO EXIST IN THE FIRST. OF WHICH THE SHAREHOLDER'S HAVE NOT BEEN COMPENSATED FOR.THE M.E WAS USED AS COLLATERAL. IN THE REAL WORLD THIS WOULD NOT HAPPEN.
11:14, you say the Chief is "book smart." Well, personally I have to seriously question that. With regard to the Wind Industry, remember this is the man that bullied the congress into passing a law that allowed him to go out and arrest non-Osages on non-Osage land. Something even non-attorneys know is completely illegal and wouldn't hold up in any court in the land. That doesn't show to many book smarts in my book. I guess at least he stopped short of following through on all his bluster in that regard. Oh and lest we forget that this is the same man who's myopic refrain at the OSA years past use to be "You can't sue the government" and "paying all these lawyer's is a waste." Well here we are $380,000,000 later. Just food for thought.
He is book smart. My son is book smart still does not have a clue. There are people like that. On the issue of the wind farms spells corruption. And for the lack of knowledge regarding the non-Osage on Non-Osage land arrest wow. People who are book smart think they are entitled . Just my experience.
Actually, I wish Chief StandingBear had followed through and thrown those mineral rights squatters off that land the minute the first arm of one of those wind machines arrived. How many oil wells can you dig on top of one of those things? How many of them are now set up on the land? How many more are anticipated to be built and we have received NO COMPENSATION from these squatters from the loss of the mineral rights associated with the square footage of each one of them on those huge pedestals including the square footage around them that can't be drilled on either. It's an illegal taking, people, make no mistake about it. If Chief would have acted then, it probably wouldn't have been so bad now. Out there praying in the field is good but kicking some *** would have been a lot better, you ask me!
Add if that had happened and one person stubbed his toe or scratched his wrist in the process of a "wrongful arrest" they may own our casinos now. We can't do things just because they "feel good."
Silly. You can't sue the Osage Nation so what difference would it have made? No one can take our Casinos away due to litigation. We are a sovereign and the constitution of the Osages says no monetary damages if a lawsuit is filed in Osage Courts anyway.
A federal court wouldn't give one whit of care about what the Osage Constitution says. If you believe I'm wrong go lobby your Chief. They have to service those things, they are still trespassing, tell him to go out there and arrest them. Let's see what happens.
While they are servicing the units on the wind farms, they aren't trespassing. They have a lease with the land owner which grants them contractual authority to access the property. The only authority the Osage Nation has for arrest is under Federal law when its police are operating on land held in trust by the BIA or under state law in all other areas of Osage County. The Osage Nation Constitution clearly states that its laws apply "on the reservation" and the Federal courts have held that the Osage reservation was not just diminished but was disestablished by act of the U.S. Congress.
Should the Osage Nation arrest anyone for trespassing the arrest would constitute a criminal act of kidnapping and a civil act of tortious interference of a contract. If anyone feels foolish enough to test those waters then go ahead and dive in head first.
Sue the landowners who bought and took possession of the property knowing the Mineral Rights have been reserved to the Osage Nation that are held in trust Federally, you dope. Who's talking tortious interference here to whom, hmmmm? Go kidnap and torture someone else with your crazy legal assumptions and threats you boob.
You think this is a Spanische Windtorte or something like it? These are real mineral rights and there will be a taking of 8,000 acres of land with the mineral rights associated with them on Mustang Run that we likely won't be paid for as Shareholders and who knows how many acres of mineral rights have been legally taken away with that first wind farm that they went lickety-split to put up that we haven't been paid for either. Don't talk to me about what the Chief didn't do that he should have done to stop this abomination upon our land in Osage County. I totally agree with the earlier poster, you B O O B!
The current owner of the land has the surface rights while the ME is limited to the subsurface rights. There is no theory by which access to minerals can block development of structures on the surface without fairly compensating the landowner. The simple reality is that the Osage once owned all of Osage County but when the reservation was disestablished and placed into private ownership there soon began a sell off of the land, which continued until the Osage own only a tiny fraction today.
In 1920 the Osage were recognized as "the richest nation, clan or social group of any race on earth, including the whites, man for man." No one forced the elders to squander their great wealth or sell off their land, and there's no undoing what has been done.
Sadly, the situation is what it is. Some laws work in favor of the Osage while others work against.
The wind farms are most certainly an eye sore, and the noise will prove to be a real nuisance to the land owners who live near them. They likely didn't think of the down side when negotiating the leases to permit erection and operation, but they too have made their own bed and must now sleep in it.
All said, the wind farms do not occupy as much acreage as claimed, nor will they have a major impact on the ME. Once removal of the temporary areas used for construction is complete, the typical wind turbine requires about 0.3 hectares (3/4 of an acre) per MW on a permanent basis. As an example, Mustang Run has 9,500 acres under lease for a wind farm of 136 MW which requires only 190 acres for the turbines, power lines, maintenance buildings and access roads on a permanent basis. This land is referred to as "out of service."
I don't see where 190 acres out of more than 1.4 million acres in Osage County being restricted will have a significant effect on access to mining (which includes drilling for oil).
Well I do. 190 acres of mineral rights including the land around them that can't be drilled on by law, haven't been paid for by anyone for the permanent loss of income due to the Headright owners from either the landowners or the wind farm company. 160 acres is a lot of land to some people including me. You can't take that mineral rights income away on 190 acres plus on a permanent basis without just compensation. A little here, a little there and soon the minerals estate is certainly diminished and it is diminished today. There should be a lease on this land to compensate the headright owners from the loss of the income from these mineral rights gone forever.
The 190 acres includes the total land required for operation and maintenance. There are far more thousands of acres covered over by roads, houses, barns, and other structures which prevent access directly beneath them and for which no similar complaints have ever been voiced or pursued. Chasing after this type of lawsuit would be very costly and the likelihood of prevailing is low.
But then, the Osage Nation Government has a history of spending massive amounts of money on frivolous lawsuits. The case of Osage Nation v Irby et al comes to mind, which resulted in a decision that the reservation had not just been diminished but disestablished. A possible outcome of any suit against leasing of surface rights by the landowner could be more difficult and more expensive access to surface land in general, lowering the net income of exploiting the minerals.
The value of the land diminishes over time anyway, as the subsurface minerals are diminished. The most valuable mineral in Osage County is oil, and there is only so much that you can extract beneath any given tract. Once the oil beneath a tract is gone, the residual value is for rock, limestone, and rare earths (which are rare enough to make mining for them impractical).
Maybe you could sell tickets to the trial. Some people would get a good laugh at seeing a demand for the landowner to make lease payments for using the property which he already has rights to.
If the deed restrictions had included provision that no structures could be erected, then it would have been next to worthless and very difficult to sell. How will the owners of the surface rights be compensated if they are denied fair use?
Yeah, watching, the economy is not as robust as this Administration purported. Americans are waking up to a nightmare of 30 years of some big Tales. Over taxed and over worked complicated by a burocracy with the looming rate hike. Here comes the Great Resession.
Just read the update in The Osage News regarding the Wind Farms..as I understand it the U.S has ordered along with the BIA, Robin Phillips has sent a letter to to stop the further development of the Wind Farms. It is understood the reasoning on facts alone the Judge has yet to issue his Opinion or Oder why? What I still fail to understand is how the BIA allowed for this to happen in the first not protecting the interest of the M.E or the the Shareholders interest and how and why the Osage Board of Commissioners could approve these squatters on our Reservation? These Commissioners should be replaced period. And should be held liable as well. I would hate to see these Wind Farms at this stage where they are at in the game use as a tactic in Court they had already built there towers to stay on our M.E. So I want to know who got paid under the Table to allow for this to happen. Everyone knows there is a permitting process and everyone knows including the Osage Commissioner's know there is The requirements by and of the. CFR's, and why the Nation if I have right did not fight this aggressively fdom the Start? The Drummonds were not authorized period.
The problem with stopping construction and operation of the wind farms is that the Osage Tribe only holds a reservation to the subsurface mineral rights, and the cited section of the CFR only applies to mining (a term which includes drilling for oil). Even the use of rock and limestone at each site where a unit is erected is unlikely to meet the statutory definition of mining.
The argument that the wind farms prevent extraction of oil from the ME is hollow, as roads, homes, and commercial buildings have been erected all over Osage County with no similar claims having been made. The amount of surface area covered by these other types of structures are exceeds the rather negligible amount of land which the wind farms will prevent access to.
The reality is that the current claims against the wind farms were fabricated when no other course of action could be determined which might prevent these unsightly and highly undesirable structures from being erected. ENEL and other developers need only search the archives of this blog for references to the original complaints and letters to the BIA. However, they will get everything they need to defend their position from the BIA during discovery.
The land is not littered with buildings on open land everywhere you look at intervals so many feet away from one another. If there are regulations and permits required and these are ingnored then something has to be done or anyone can do anything they want. What's to stop anyone from doing anything they want as long as the land owner permits it. Each and every land owner should have been made a part of these two lawsuits filed by the BIA as well and believe me, if that had been the case, the outcome would have been far different.
The only regulations which are cited as a cause for the complaint are related to mining, and the wind farms are not required to comply with permitting requirements when no mining (as defined within the regulations) is being performed. Even if mining were performed, the only recourse is to negotiate a fair market value for the few tons of crushed stone being used and that wouldn't cover the cost of the lawsuits which have been filed.
It is more likely for the wind farms to be impacted by laws for protection of endangered species than nuisance suits.
"It is estimated that more than 40,000 cubic yards will be excavated and more than 8,000 acres of land will be used for the wind turbine occupation..." You're not building a sandbox here, buster, with this kind of earth movement.
I agree. You move minerals at this rate and volume, you're definitely mining for something whether you take it off the property or not and what is being mined is being used for commercial purposes at our expense all the way around. There you have it in a nutshell.
Why haven't we gone after the owners of the Property who sold out to Enel, Tradewind? Who owned Osage Wind? Why did the U.S Government drop the request to to stop building in 2014? Which spurred futher construction, Enel using the Excuse they already erected 80 some turbines already. Why haven't we gone in there and bull dose those ugly eye sore of monstrosity?
Children of the Middle Waters are everywhere.Many of us long to see and be part of the Mighty Osage but the path is long and at times seems forbidden.Many of us await for the Traditional Leadership which is needed for those of us who have awakened from a long sleep and those of us who have reawakened and no place in the world of the Osage.
MARK THE DATE: Mike Black from the BIA to hold a meeting in person and online on September 9, 2015 at 11:00 a.m., CSDT to bring the Headright owners up to date on what is going on with the OME: See http://osagenews.org/en/article/2015/08/25/bia-director-discuss-issues-involving-mineral-estate-sept-9/
To what end? Given that we are currently in litigation with these people is it wise to invite them here and talk to them? I hope we have consulted our attorneys about this.
Given he will not be taking or fielding questions about the Lawsuits, what more can he say about our economic plight? As if we are not already aware of our circumstances? Isn't it a conflict of interest at this point and juncture? What is he going to talk about the E.A? About the American Beatle bug? The BIA did its own E.A right is equivalent to Iran performing their own Nuclear hazzard test? Can he not talk about why the permitting process in Oct. Of last year nearly came to a halt when Prices were near a 100 dollars a barrel? And shouldn't we all take a Stand and not show up? He isn't our friend at this point.
Didn't read the Osage News link before I posted. Thank God it wasn't the OMC that invited him here. None the less I think it's a foolhardy move. It seems like it's action for the sake of false movement, with no greater bearing than for host to say, "see I did something."
Due to the litigation the OMC should stay as far away from this event as possible, that goes for the shareholders as well. However, I'm sure Crum and Yates will be there.
This brings up a point, if Crum and Yates (the pro-CFR team) take action that jeopardizes the OMC/OPA CFR case how are we to deal with that. At what point, if any, are they to be held to account?
More than likely they're going to run through the details of the hand over of the OME to the Osage Nation somehow. If it's a compact, then maybe it's being handled by the Minerals Council. Galen? Andrew? Wassup?
"Crucifixion?" I have a hammer and some nails. However, I would rather be proactive and stop them before they compromise our position than crucify them after they lose us everything.
Or even we show up with our blakets walk in and turn our backs to them as they have us. Now this is a Statement that the silence could be heard through Indian Country. To send a Message loud and clearly the Oasge has something to say, Osage for Fiscal Responsibility in the Name of Sovereignty the Osage stand United! Long live the 1906 Act and the Osage Tribe.
The members of the OMC owe a fiduciary duty of care and loyalty to the shareholders in the ME. Just as with any corporate entity, they can be held personally liable should they fail to exercise this duty. They can be criminally prosecuted under state or federal law, and assessed civil damages on top of criminal punishment.
I agree with 6:26 there needs to be some form of protest. Idle silence from the shareholders is what the Nation and the BIA are counting on. It's worth noting that the Nation is no longer hiding the fact that they are in bed with the BIA.
You couldn't be more wrong about the fiduciary responsibility of the MC. The Osage Nation Constitution created a Minerals Agency and a new Minerals Council under it. The loyalty and fiduciary obligation of the agents of any agency are to the government itself not the people. In this model, the MC is a creation of the new Osage Nation government and legally owes a fiduciary obligation to the Agency itself. The Minerals Agency is umbrellaed under the Executive Branch of the Osage Nation and therefore owes what it owes to the Osage Nation, not the shareholders. That's why they created an agency for the MC in the first place, just in case the loyalties got mixed up somewhere along the line after the ratification of the Osage Nation Constitution. The BIA owes a fiduciary obligation to the Shareholders under the OME Trust but it is now the only one that does since the new Osage Nation government was formed and the Osage Tribal Council was replaced by it.
This Osage Nation Constitutional construct that created the Minerals Agency in Article XV is in violation of Federal law; PUBLIC LAW 108–431—DEC. 3, 2004 118 STAT. 2609, because it deprives the Headright owners of the representation from the members of the Minerals Council which they once had as a right under the Osage Tribal Council government: "...provided that the rightS of any person to Osage mineral estate shares are not diminished thereby."
The OPA is pressing for the Okla Corp Commission to take over management of the Osage Mineral Estate. This could very well mean that our HR checks will come from the state instead of the BIA or the OST. This will mean that we will no longer be exempt from state and federal income taxes. The state is already doing a very poor job of oil production management in the other 76 counties. They are terribly under funded and under staffed. Where will the money come from to pay them to manage Osage county?
The only person that has been saying that is the Chief. The OPA has on numerous occasions, and in open meeting on record, stated that they are not seeking state involvement. The OPA as an organization knows that horse is dead.
Ditto to the blogger above. The OPA is NOT pressing the OCC to take over management of the Osage Mineral Estate. The OPA is focused solely on pushing back against the BIA and trying to find a way for the small producers to survive in a regulatory quagmire exacerbated by low oil prices. Period.
When it shows up in the local paper, it's not exactly fear mongering unless you are accusing the Standing Bear administration of it. http://barnsdalltimes.com/http:/barnsdalltimes.com/news/chief-keep-occ-paws-off-trust Hopefully we have that argument settled but the Shareholders need to think about what's next and what may be down the road with this new meeting coming up with Mike Black of the BIA.
Ute model or not, the Osages have no business running their own mineral estate out of a newly created Executive Branch department or the under the Minerals Agency on the basis of past experience and how they have handled themselves abysmally and lost millions upon millions of dollars. I certainly wouldn't work with the Osages in a managerial business capacity on this basis, would you?
The BIA has been judged by two different reports as being virtually incompetent under their management using the old CFRs, never mind the the new ones.
The OCC is now being proposed to be the Oklahoma State government Commission to handle the regulation of the wind farms in Osage County which is just another step closer to running the OM E. Keep in mind that you have those on the MC who are actually in favor of working out a deal with the wind farm people and it's more than just Joe Cheshawalla.
Nobody that I know of is actually asking the Headright owners what they want to see happen in the future but we know the new CFRs are out of the question at any point out ahead where our mature mineral estate is concerned and so also the bug regs and the new NEPA regs too.
Talk about the need for the old adage in OC, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Any fix we look at is not doable unless we go back to the old regulatory environment and the BIA cleans up their act and begins to enforce the old CFRs in a proper manner. Whether that's possible, we'll find out at the meeting with Mike Black. The whole damn thing should be on the basis of what's best for the Shareholders but I never ever hear anyone talking about that. Do you?
The local paper you refer to is run and or owned by vice-Chief Redcorn's wife. I wouldn't portray that paper as being entirely impartial. The OPA as an organization is not perusing our hand over to the OCC, despite the Chief's boisterous claims to the contrary. I think, the Chief, Crum, Yates and the like-minded aim is to get enough fear among the shareholders about the OCC that they hope we would run to the Nation to take us over.
There is a real simple fix to nearly all the problems we currently have, that is that the BIA enforce the CFRs already on the books. Simple. And where they don't the OMC hauls them before a for failure of duty. But NO, the Nation is working as the active distract to the OMC so the BIA can get away with what it wants, to be rid of us. Make no mistake the BIA and the Nation are in on this together.
“The Commission does not engage in discussion and has not engaged in any discussion regarding Commission jurisdiction extending to Osage County,” according to Matt Skinner, a Corporation Commission spokesman. “We are not involved in this debate in any shape, manner or form … It is all happening outside this agency.”"
Is Mike Black going to announce that the BIA is stepping aside in favor of a Compact run by the Osage Mineral Council? This is THE question I want answered before that meeting takes place.
Why is the Chief inviting the enemy into our camp? The Chief didn't join us in our litigation and he shouldn't be interfering now. What is it that Mr. Black will be discussing with us if he won't be able to speak about the matters involved in litigation? The Chief should not be meeting with our adversary while litigation is ongoing. The Chief has not invited the Osage County Oil and Gas producers to attend. Why do we have to learn about these matters from the Tulsa World as I did? No communication with the Shareholders or producers as usual.
To the poster at 10:56 AM: You're right. The business activities of the ON have lost countless millions, and the recently claimed "profits" reported in the 2014 Annual Report from Osage LLC are based on committing fraud in the government. Should the government become aware and seek restitution, the damages are dollar for dollar paid - not just profits - plus $5,500 to $11,000 per invoice. Under current regulations, the actual damages are trebled.
The reported profits of $12,000 for the Tinker AFB Breathing Air Project and $70,000 for the Camp Bowie Wash Rack Project are simply the markups over the actual work which was entirely performed by subcontractors. Under applicable Federal statutes OPDG was required to perform at least 50 percent of the direct labor with its own employees.
The old management isn't responsible for these projects. The current management is either incompetent due to ignorance of Federal laws applicable to the 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business program or fully aware and intentionally disregarding the law.
The Commerce and Economic Development Committee can verify the facts of these claims by reviewing the proposals submitted to the government, the awarded contracts, and applicable Federal statutes under 13 CFR Part 124 and 15 USC 645.
In any case, it instills even less confidence in the ability of the Osage Nation to take a heavier role in ME activities.
Ok, after reading poster comments, not just incompetence why isn't our Congress doing the Due Diligence and stop the Bleed? This is just beyond the scope of real Transparency deliberately misrepresented the facts by omission of key information? Is this what you are saying? And this being the truth, From the committee and economic department to Congress is liable to, the CFO of the Nation.Knowingly and intentional that nobody would recognize. A shceme to defraud? Do we need to investigate fiancial fruad reporting?
For many a year @ the old OSA discussion site, I was a dedicated reader and poster.Osage politics still continues today,be it still under traditional values or under a more civilised value system. No matter which group of the Osage we each have a kinship with, we exists today equally or more than any state or nation,as the People of the Osage.As an Osage,I try to greet every new day,towards a better Osage day.
Thief of Osage Possessions is not a new issue or new events.Only the matter in which the guilty is punished has changed. As a Citizen of the Osage,as a Member of the Osage Nation,and as a Osage Shareholder, Enel is guilty of taking Osage possessions for their own use and have profited from this action and every site among the Osage is a crime scene and should be treated as such. But then again this is only my personal interpretation of law,be they Osage Law,state law or federal law. If any Osage gave this Enel permission to build these things within the OME,they themselves should also be guilty and pay a higher punishment of banishment,for ignorance of the law is no excuss.
Chief is trying to target two members of the MC who don't want to compact the Mineral Estate making them look like the culprits when he's the one who wants to take over the OME and run it like the Utes do with the BIA only handling certain limited items but no longer involved in permitting and regulations (CFRs) and the Osage Nation running the oil and gas business itself. Again, the OK Corp. Commmission is being mentioned as one to regulate the Minerals Estate overall as opposed to the BIA. OK involvement will likely mean taxation of the quarterly headright payment so this should not be allowed to go forward as it's not in the best interest of the shareholders and they will likely charge us to run it as well. It really appears that this new CFR thing is turning into a nightmare with the Feds turning the whole thing upside down to get rid of the Osages altogether. If only two U.S. Senators from OK are handling this, where are the rest of them and the U.S. House of Representatives as the other Congressional body that should be weighing in on what happens to the OME Trust as well?
Something's fishy here. Ray McClain is claiming a secret meeting of these high level U.S. Congressional staffers with one or more Mineral Council people and of course he named only Boone. I don't believe for a second that these staffers from the two U.S. Senate Offices would meet with just one or two of the Minerals Council members alone. There has to be more to the story than this silly speculation and I can smell the spin on this one to sky high heaven. I don't buy it. More like they had a scheduled meeting with the Chief and stopped by the Minerals Council office for a short time beforehand. If the Chief and Ray don't stop coming up with ways to bash and disinformationalize the Minerals Council members soon, we are going to have to call them on it. Not everything that goes on up on the Hill is a conspiracy but with the Chief and Ray, you would never know it.
To Anonymous @12:36 AM The following was posted in Facebook’s “Osage for Fiscal Responsibility” yesterday. You must be in a serious state of denial. Open the Facebook posting to read the entire statement by the Chief. If you are still in doubt, attend or listen to the meeting on Monday, Aug. 31. Stephen Campbell 19 hrs · Edited I'm bumping this to the top because it's of vital importance to all of us. This huge. Boone & Erwin are trying to undermine the entire ME. Regarding the emergency meeting of the OMC called for Monday; Geoffrey StandingBear; " I will be attending to share my experience this past Monday with the staff of US Senators Inhofe and Lankford. Nothing in my discussion woul... See the entire post at https://www.facebook.com/groups/234024393278360/
OK. I'm going to provide the truth of what when on with a confirmation from two separate and unrelated parties. It's getting to the point where libel is starting to take place with actual defamation going on from various individuals, including some of those in the Osage Nation government where both Cynthia and Stephanie are concerned and on this blog this is not going to take place and it's got to stop. Here's the truth: The Chief did in fact have a meeting scheduled with the staffers of the OK Senators late in the afternoon. The Minerals Office received a call from one of those staffers to find out if they could stop by and discuss a few items for clarification before the meeting with the Chief. There were told that it would be fine but it was not a secret meeting or a meeting of any kind whatsoever. The Staffers dropped by while Cynthia, Stephanie, Talee and Everett were there for the exchange of information. From what I have heard, Everett left early for some reason which left Talee, Stephanie, and Cynthia to finish answering questions and providing information to the Staffers before the formal meeting with the Chief. END OF STORY. Stephanie and Cynthia are not attempting to undermine the entire Mineral Estate IN WHOLE OR IN PART. This could not be a more false statement. They are for it and for the Shareholders and against their rights being diminished under the 1906 Allotment Act as amended. They are for continuing with the BIA and the current Federal OME Trust under the old regulatory environment before the new CFRs were announced and they are not for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission running things in Osage County as are many of the individual oil and gas producers in Osage County. They are not for destroying the Osage Mineral Estate Trust that will have to take place before the Osage Nation can take over the day to day running of the Mineral Estate which will almost certainly deprive all headright owners of the income that will no longer be deposited into the current Federal Trust account. If the Osage Nation runs things in the future, no current shareholder can expect that the current Trust account will continue to have deposits for quarterly distribution placed in it or that the current headright owners will even be shareholders who receive income from the OME from that point onward. Stephanie and Cynthia are OPPOSED to this taking place and are fighting every single day to prevent it from happening on the behalf of the Headright owners. These are two Mineral Council members who have your back as Shareholders and THIS IS THE TRUTH.
Anyone can stop by the Minerals Council office for any reason whatsoever to obtain information and/or a clarification and it does NOT constitute a meeting taking place secret or otherwise. This includes the staffers of any of the Federal Oklahoma delegation. To refuse to take questions and provide clarifications to these staffers when they dropped by would have been inappropriate, rude and highly insulting to them if such a thing had taken place. Undoubtedly Stephen would be crying foul to high heaven if they had refused to allow the staffers to drop by if that is what had taken place.
To me, it pretty much looks like the Chief was trying to shakedown the whole situation to sideline the BIA in favor of taking over and running the OME by the Osage Nation and it's gotten way out of hand with the OCC now in play which couldn't be more detrimental to the interests of the headright annuitants. OK Delegation can probably see the OME as a new and productive source of revenue for the State in future and are probably being lobbied as we speak to go there right away. This is bad news and with headright owners who are so stupid or completely naive as to not know who their real friends are in the Mineral Council, it could get very bad if we don't know who to trust. Chief is playing hardball for sure and has been for a long time. I don't know if Stephen is being run by the Chief or some other like minded individual but it sure looks that way. It must be a source of real delight to those who want to redraw the roster of Osage Minerals shareholders and have the ones who stand to lose everything they've got, in play and doing much of the dirty work for them. Remember at a time like this, the old adage, "Chaos is our friend," is happening right now as to the truth and who's really telling it. Don't be fooled or at some point it will be too late and those who are making a play for a "New Osage Day, " will have hit your wallet and purse so hard and there will no way to redress the situation. The thing to keep in mind is the Chief did nothing to help stave off those new CFRs other than act as an obstructionist. Judge people not by what they say or write but by what you SEE them do or not do.
Osageblogger I have received the same confirmation of the chain of events from outside sources. What you have posted concurs exactly with what I was told.
How disingenuous can the Chief get. I have had my issues with Chief Geoff for some time now, mainly about this Nations manic spending, but his actions and political posturing are getting, to put it lightly, out of hand. He is going beyond the absurd. Geoffry was the only one talking about the OCC. Geoffry is the one who has met with Senators and staffers. Geoffry is the one inviting them here. Geoffry is the one inviting Mike Black of the BIA to speak. Geoffry was the one threatening to file a brief against the OMC stating that they didn't have the right to represent the shareholders in court about the CFRs, with the objective of derailing the case. Geoffry is the one who's actions have hampered the safety of the Mineral Estate. Yet, ...yet he and his facebook minions are trying to pin this on Ms. Boone and Ms. Erwin. That would be laughable on it's face if uniformed people weren't falling for it. Anyone who has ever talked to these two ladies will know within five seconds what staunch '06ers they are. Dear God, how low can the Chief sink. Look at his actions over the last year people he is the threat to the Mineral Estate. A threat as great or greater than CFRs and Donelson combined. As I see it, has put us in as precarious a place as we have ever been. Do you get it yet? Do you understand now why the OMC tries to keep him at arms length. He is bad new. He is not for the Mineral Estate. He is not for the shareholders. He is not about help us. He is out to get us.
You shouldn't buy into his bullsh*t anymore than you would that of common criminal.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Chief and his minions are launching a destructive disinformation campaign against those members of the Minerals Council who do not agree with the direction he wants to go in with the Minerals Estate which is against the headright owners and the duly elected body that represents them and is trying to protect them. Where Galen, Andrew, Sonny, Talee, Kathryn and Everett are as to the Chief and his agenda is anyone's guess but my money is on that they are involved with the Chief and his ME plans for the future in one way or another. This might not include today's set of headright owners who reside outside of Osage County when the dust finally settles. Beware and don't be foolish enough to disregard this warning. If the OCC has jurisdiction so do the Oklahoma Courts. The State of Oklahoma has a rule against perpetuities written into its Constitution and a body of further law associated with it. If the rule against perpetuities prevails in an Oklahoma court with a judgement relative to the illegality of the mineral rights taken into perpetuity, there goes the mineral rights and the ownership of them by the Osage Nation altogether. No mineral rights, no minerals income period. No OCC or any Oklahoma jurisdiction is the only safe why through this thicket.
In regard to Mike Black and the Chief holding a meeting to bring the Shareholders up-to-date on what’s going on with the OME, I have a few questions and comments as follows:
I am an Osage Shareholder and an Osage County oil and gas producer who has not been advised by the OMC or the Chief of this scheduled meeting. Not one letter in this regard have I received. The only way I even know about this meeting was through a posting on this blog site by the Osageblogger dated August 25, 2015. If there is to be a meeting of such importance, why haven’t we Shareholders been notified and advised of the meeting? I have not been invited. In the event I receive an invitation, I would expect it to include an outline of the subject matter to be discussed. Will there be a question and answer session following the presentation? I don’t know a damn thing about the meeting.
I suggest that the OMC hire a professional film crew to document this event for the purpose of using said information as evidence in the three lawsuits. BTW, I know of two more lawsuits against the BIA that are in the preparation stage. This is a very serious matter. It is my understanding from rumors that Mike Black will not be discussing the ongoing issues being the subject matter of the three lawsuits; what else is there for him to “bring us up-to-date on”? Is he coming to apologize for the BIA’s destruction to our OME and the Osage communities as a whole? Have the local Mayors, County Commissioners and Osage County oilfield service companies been invited to the meeting?
Is Tom Fredericks aware of this meeting and, if so, will he be attending? I think that the BIA is attempting to change the hearts and minds of the Shareholders during the proceedings of the three lawsuits. I also think that our Chief may be putting himself in a very serious position with regard to interfering with our three lawsuits, one involving the OMC and the other two filed by the OPA. The Chief may be exposing himself to legal liabilities by this interference. If the OMC members attend this meeting, they too may be considered as interfering with the lawsuits. Maybe we should get an injunction to stop this activity.
If there is to be such a meeting as the Osageblogger advised us of, I think we Shareholders, Osage oil and gas producers and communities should be formally invited by the Chief.
Maybe Obama is sending Mike Black with rations and to hold a job fair. If any of you received a notice of the meeting and/or invitation, does it mention a soup line? Are you going to be receiving care packages and survival kits?
To August 30, 2015 at 9:17 AM What happened to keep your friends close, and your enemies closer? If the lawsuits aren't going to be discussed, why would the participation of anyone in the MC cause a legal problem? It's the direct business responsibility of the MC to interact with the BIA and no lawsuit should prevent that or act as an obstruction. Perhaps you weren't notified and send an invitation but they had a lawsuit against the BIA in the HPP case and continued to interact with the BIA all throughout that period prior to the settlement of the lawsuit. Are you kidding or are you so ignorant that you don't understand how things work? Second of all. nobody in the Osage gets special invitations. None of us have died and been made Grace Kelly; the presumption is, neither have you. If you can find this web site then you can find the Osage Nation's as well where official notifications go out all the time to the constituents and the shareholders about official meetings and activities. Maybe you're too lazy to do go there on a daily basis but don't act like you haven't been notified when all of us have officially been notified by Osage Nation as to Osage Minerals Council meetings and agendas associated with those meetings. If you are a businessman, you don't need to be spoon fed so don't act like you do. I mean, are you for real or what? Let me get you started. Go here everyday and see what's officially going on with the Osage Nation government
Thank you August 30 at 12:24 PM for affirming the accurate version of the events that took place last Monday at the MC office. I appreciate your support. Things like this are getting out of control and it's shocking who is participating in these outrageous stories flying around the internet of late.
Since 2006 we have been spending. How is that Osage Dream working? The Government was sworn to protect yrea right. The Political Posturing and hiding behind the word sovereign is a bold face lie to our intelligence and insulting.
To the poster at 11:58 AM today, as a Shareholder and as an oil and gas producer, I shouldn't have to depend on logging into the Osage Nation's website to conduct my business and to be invited to attend a very serious meeting with Obama's hit man. I do not always have access to the web and should not be expected to obtain my correspondence from this website.
I have at times visited the Osage Nation's sorry website searching the calendar of events and have found that it is usually blank.
Whoever designed this web site should return their fees for doing so. My high school granddaughter could have done a better job as a school project.
Do you really expect the Shareholders, the Osage County oil and gas producers, the Mayors of the local communities, the local oil and gas service companies that are devastated by this Federal government attack on all of us to rely on this website for our survival?
I expect communication from our Chief and from the OMC. Not just by clicking a link to some substandard website.
Typical Ray McClain. Slamming the OPA for the perceived ills of the MC. As previously stated, the OPA is not seeking to get the OCC to take over the responsibility of the BIA. If Ray had the guts to ask an OPA member, and not keep listening to Crum's nonsense, he might get the truth. Ray, do you have it out for the OPA? They happen to have done the Osage Mineral Estate an enormous favor with the filing of the injunction. If you can't accept that fact, then shut up about it.
I am a member of the Osage Producers Association and I would like all to know that not one of my fellow members that I have spoken with are in favor of the OCC taking over the responsibilities of the BIA. Shane Matson, our President, addressed the MC several weeks ago specifically to deny this rumor and to assure the MC that the OPA is not pursuing OCC involvement. The OPA just want to see the issues resolved concerning the EA's, ABB and NEPA and to get back to developing our leases. I think that the Shareholders should seriously consider initiating actions to replace Councilman Crum and Councilman Yates; in my opinion, they are working against the best interest of the Shareholders.
What now now like your disciplining your step child Osageblogger there is such thing as freedom of speech. Just silly. Nothing is said that has not already been said here or otherwise. Let people be entitled to their opinion. I could see if what was said in poor taste or in language that is distasteful. People have a right to express. I too would like to hear from Mr. McClain opinion as to why he is still supporting Crums propaganda? Especially when A Judge has ruled the new CFR's are a conflict of interest, in part, and why is he carrying on contrary to opinion?
I agree with Poster @ 8:51Am. But I want to replace the entire Council with a working body for the Shareholder's. It's most unfortunate. It takes one rotten apple to spoil the barrel.
Has anyone received their September Headright in their bank account? OST tells me it was processed to be sent to my bank yesterday but my bank has not received it... Has anyone received theirs? Will it be Monday before it posts? I have always received them on Friday which is what has me concerned. Hope everyone is having a great Saturday!
if you can't be there, you can listen; The Osage Minerals Council will hold a Special Meeting on Monday, Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. The meeting will be broadcast live on the Nation's website. See the agenda for details.
When I went to the agenda it states Opening prayer, Roll call, then Executive Session.Will this Executive Session be broadcasted to the Shareholders or will the listeners 'Be On Hold' until the vote for Adjournment ? https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/news-events/news/updated-minerals-council-special-meeting-agenda-monday-august-31
Where is the Osage Congress in all this mess the Chief has caused? They seem to be remaining conveniently silent. If they care about the shareholders it's past time for them to speak up against this Chief. It's time for them to start reining in some of his actions. They were voted for by shareholders as well. They have as much obligation to look out for our interest as they do for the non-shareholders. But no, they aren't going to say a damn thing one way or the other.
Think about it, if the Osage Congress doesn't have the back of the shareholders now, why in the hell would you think they would when Geoffry takes over or compacts the Mineral Estate? That Nation doesn't care about us. They only see dollar signs in us.
That's what I'd like to know too. All most of them have ever been is a worthless bunch of $65,000-ers who spend our money as recklessly, shockingly and irresponsibly as they can. Why do we even have this ridiculous excuse of a government that is destroying everything we Shareholders used to have because they are so stupid? Grays and Standing Bears and Red Corns and Bighorses and Red Eagles the entire lot. They have no idea what they're even doing and just look at what they've done to destroy what all of the rest us have had in the past.
Talking about a TERA. Senators staffers want to have OCC run things until a TERA can be put on its feet and we run the Mineral Estate with Gross Production Taxes thereafter? WOAH!
This sounds like its going to end the OME Trust for the current Headright owners by the members of the U.S. Senate? This looks like a compact forced on the Osages with the State of Oklahoma via the Osage Corporations Commission by these two members of the U.S. Federal Oklahoma Delegation? This sounds horrible!
ON is considered a stakeholder in Washington D.C. Meeting in Bartlesville with the staffers and the Chief. Previous meeting at Woolaroc where the OCC was put forward as an option by Colorado former governor Lamm? He needs to go back to Denver University and mind his own business. WTH? Chief: Talking about amendments on TERA and Environmental Impact Statements. Compact with OCC and he doesn't know if it's coming from the Minerals Council or the Minerals Council. Relationship between the BIA and the Osages has permanently changed? How? Says Pandora's Box has been opened and the Senators are looking at replacing the BIA because it's not working out here. Now talking about BIA Director Mike Black and Vanessa Ray-Hodge and what the plan is. Black will be at the Business Development Center in September. Talked about technical aspects of TERA before the staffers left. Surface owners have been talking with the Feds at the highest level. Gentner Drummond was mentioned. Land owners have a problem with us owing the Mineral Rights. No kidding... Not all but part of the functions of what goes on out in the field will be replaced somehow not involving the BIA. We have to open the door to work with these Senators? Where have we heard that before over the last 100 years? TERA means NEPA won't apply. How to craft our handling of running our own ME is the solution? That is OFF THE TABLE UNTIL WE CAN PROPERLY HANDLE OURSELVES SUCCESSFULLY IN BUSINESS WHICH WE CAN'T AND WON'T BE ABLE TO FOR YEARS INTO THE FUTURE. HEY ALL YOU PEOPLE IN THIS MEETING, WHAT IS BEST FOR THE SHAREHOLDERS????????
Sounds like the Chief has been spinning out trying to get full control of the Mineral Estate in Washington, D.C. and has stirred up a hornet's nest with more unintended consequences that this new government has continued to roll out to our total destruction if we don't do something to stop them. This is HUGE and we need to look to our own interests as Headright owners individually.
Chief is back on the water issue relative to the BIA and the State of Oklahoma wanting to control and regulate the water in Osage Countt. Movement from the Feds to the State will have important consequences on water used in oil production with ANY state control and the water now being controlled by the BIA. We don't want to lose the BIA as the controlling regulatory agency. This is dreadful and far worse than I thought was even possible.
Granted I'm jaded about this Chief and this Nation, but this sounds like the Chief is taking advantage of the Donelson Case, making noise in Washington and having the Oklahoma delegation, who is more than happy and willing, to hold a gun to our head ultimately to force us under the auspice of the Nation. The conversation from the executive sounded like we either do what the Chief wants or we parish.
This G. D. ONO Chief has been working the Washington D.C. backchannels and now is going to work with the MC and the U.S. Congress to break the OME Trust out from under the BIA and do away with all the shares of the Headright owners under the Shareholderr's currrent situation is exactly what this sounds like. If you value your headright income, you better head to Pawhuska as soon as humanly possible to find out what is going on.
The whole point is, what's best for the shareholders? As of this meeting it sounds like there are no more shareholders or at least the gro up of them such as we know it today.
Just heard over the phone that in order to receive an annuity (quarterly payment check) under the new scheme cooked up by the U.S. Congress, if a new group of shareholders is redrawn, you will have to live in Osage County and blood quantum is being seriously considered as an additional qualification to receive income from the Osage Mineral estate in future.
Why is Ray McClain reporting that this was a good meeting? That's insane. Who is it good for? The fullbloods who will lose everything we've ever had in about five years flat or less? Plus he reports that Joe Chesh was at the meeting when he was sick today and didn't even attend. He is no longer a reliable source of information about what is happening to the OME at this rate. I knew he was not really for the shareholders all along but for the agenda of Sonny Abbott and Osage Nation and this sure proves it with his take on things today.
It seems Ray sights 2 meetings in his Need to Know, " The first of these meetings was with OMC Councilwomen Cynthia Boone and Stephanie Erwin, with Councilman Talee Redcorn in attendance for at least part of the meeting." I thought that this 'Meeting' was just a 'Drop By' and NOT a meeting as stated by Osageblogger on August 29th at 11:35 & 11:54 AM ? Who has got it right?
Per the today's council meeting it was a "drive by." The Chief had scheduled the meeting with the congressional staffers and they dropped in on the OMC before meeting with him. The Chief concurred with this today while fanning the flames of intrigue last week.
You are at the cusp of losing your OME to, at best, a bumbling, spend happy Nation mired in nepotism to the top levels. Who cares about McClain or his incorrect summations.
Funny how the Chief says it's either the OPA or some part of the Minerals Council that is asking these senators to sign us over to the OCC yet he is the one who has apparently been meeting with them and having dinner with them. Where did all the outrage go? When it was rumored that Ms. Boone and Ms. Erwin met with the Senators' staffers everyone was untangling their lynching ropes. When the truth comes to light that the Chief set the meeting, ...all is apparently well and good?
Hell no it's not well and good. The Chief has been manipulating this situation all along and it appears that it's against the shareholders and the OME Trust and trying to make it look like it's members of the Minerals Council all along and of those in particular, Stephanie and Cynthia who have been doing everything possible to stop his meddling and what it's come to now. We may lose this Trust to the State of Oklahoma and the headright income right along with it. Who do you think we should be untangling our lynching ropes for now? And those a** kissers over on fb don't even have a clue.
I for one am getting to the point I can't believe anything I read anymore. "[Corporation Commission jurisdiction] would mean the end of the trust relationship,” Standing Bear said. “And that would be resisted by the Osage Nation and every tribe in the country. We believe it would lead to great conflict, and we’ve had enough conflict.” ref; http://barnsdalltimes.com/http:/barnsdalltimes.com/news/chief-keep-occ-paws-off-trust . Words matter, WTH is it from Pawhuska?
I keep hearing the " Resolution " term used in Minerals Council meetings. I looked up RESOLUTION and I found it to mean; "The practice of submitting and voting on resolutions is a typical part of business in Congress, state legislatures, and other public assemblies. When resolutions are mere expressions of opinion, they differ fundamentally from laws. In essence, laws are intended to permanently direct and control matters applying to persons or issues in general; moreover, they are enforceable. By contrast, resolutions expressing the views of lawmakers are limited to a specific issue or event. They are neither intended to be permanent nor to be enforceable. Nor do they carry the weight of court opinions. " ref; http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/resolution So to me this term says, We do not have any authority, it is just a warm and fuzzy action. Can someone show us where a Minerals Council resolution is considered law or carries some quantitative weight? I am not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling from these meetings lately!
The Osage Nation Congress works with legally non-binding legislative resolutions. The Minerals Council conducts business for the Osage Mineral Estate and works with legally binding resolutions not legislative resolutions of any kind. Two different systems in play under the umbrella of the Osage Nation government created by the Osage Nation Constitution itself in Article XV.
I remember recently the Osage Minerals Council passed a ' Resolution ' about Superintendent Robin Phillips. If these resolutions are legally binding resolutions, what has happened to Ms. Phillips? Will she now be attending meetings? Is she on probation or is Mike Black coming out to fire her? What legal weight (effect) has this had. I have read the Article XV definition posted but can anyone point out real life examples?
The resolution stated the OMC's lack of confidence in Ms. Phillips ability to properly execute her duties. She is however an employee of the BIA and ultimately their personal issue to deal with.
So this resolution ' OMC's lack of confidence ' accomplished nothing? I am just trying to find out when OMC threaten to vote on a Resdolution ' in the next couple of weeks, what authority will they have, what can we expect the outcome or as stated " legally binding " action will happen on anything?
Earlier comments from today's Minerals Council Meeting are located at http://osageblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/osage-shareholder-matters-august-2015.html
ReplyDeleteThey gave verbal recorded notice of what they meant by that language and why so there will be no confusion as to why that language is in there and what it really means. They did this last Friday and today and it's in there to place a rule against the perpetuities on every parcel the leases cover whether or not they ever vest and proper legal notice of intent of this language in both resolutions has been given and still these dopes voted for them without even so much as the advice of their own attorney and after being strongly warned and cautioned against doing so. If I haven't seen it all, I have today. This is about on the same order as the perceived unassailability of the Maginot Line in France by the French before Hitler's forces rolled right across it. Simply unbelievable!!!!!!! I think they just pulled a "Jim Gray." Anything to spite someone trying to help them from doing the most foolhardy things they could ever possibly choose to do.
DeleteIt is imperative that the Chairman or other Council person explain the reasoning and the urgency for voting YES on this Top Lease Resolution. If they can with any intelligence I would be surprised. I agree that their own legal counsel should have advised them first. This is a complicated issue and I simply have no confidence that a single Council member, except for Talee perhaps, is capable of making such a far reaching decision. We really need more intelligent people on this Council.
Deleteomg! gross negligence
Deleteright!
Sorry I had to ask, but for whatever I couldn't hear all the votes. I will have to listen again tonite. I want to try to understand why they all said yes.
DeleteIf all six that voted for these resolutions wanted to give the Chief an excuse to get rid of them for malfeasance while in office, they sure handed him the best excuse they ever possibly could have today.
DeleteI don't think Erwin or Boone are particularly smart. Their biggest weaknesses are lack of business acumen and skills & knowledge in the Oil & Gas Business. They clearly have had to learn OJT. WE are the damn fools for electing them all (except Talee).
DeleteYou have the right to your opinion, Boone's been along time at this just as Talee. She's crazy ways sometimes, but she's for the shareholders. I'd like to see Talee run for chief.
DeleteA lot of things to digest from this meeting.
Meeting is over.
DeleteAlso, game over for those seven or more lease parcels of land in Osage County which now likely will have their mineral rights that are reserved to the Osage Nation in perpetuity, expire at the end of 21 years which may likely then revert back to the heirs and assigns of those original allottees who originally owned those parcels of land as a result of these careless, negligent, illegal and inexplicable decisions on the part of six of the Minerals Council members that voted today for these resolutions without so much as the benefit of the opinion of their attorney in writing or that of the BIA solicitor, Alan Woodcock, in Tulsa.
DeleteTo Anonymous August 19, 2015 at 2:13 PM: You're point is well taken. Just guess who was the only one of those who voted today that voted ,"No."
DeleteAnonymous 2:20PM. Just because someone is "For The Shareholders" does not qualify them to manage a multi-billion dollar business. I get so tired of this reasoning. We need technically (meaning engineering, finance and geology among other disciplines) skilled and knowledgeable oil & gas professionals to do the managing of the ME. Things ran much better when the OMC had professionals on the council and particularly when OMC1 hired a petroleum engineer to be the liaison between the BIA and OMC. When he passed away OMC1 and OMC2 for some unfathomable reason did not replace him. Instead of the $65.000 full-time salary (it would be much more now) the OMC2 and now OMC3 ended up paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees to clean up messes they are partly responsible for making without technical expertise. Last month the tab on attorney's fees alone had run up to $495,000 or something close to that. We could have hired engineers, auditors, geologists etc for that kind of money.
DeleteSo right poster, 3:42pm. The money and good investment on skilled professionals long over due.
DeleteTalee Redcorn was the only No vote on these two Performance resolutions.
DeleteCan we see online these two performance resolutions?
DeleteWhy was this resolution so important? How was it explained to the council members? I suppose Mrs. Boone cat gots your tongue.
DeleteListen to yesterday's OMC meeting:
Deletehttps://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/news-events/news/3rd-osage-minerals-council-meeting-agenda-wednesday-august-19
The Agenda is located here:
https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/who-we-are/minerals-council/meeting-information
A new lawsuit was filed by the Feds against Mustang Run wind farm. Bigheart Times is reporting this in a front page article in today's paper. Joe C. on the MC was making a case for the wind farms in the meeting and it got pretty heated so you should listen to the exchange. In any event, I don't see how the shareholders will ever benefit directly from it because even if payments were made they can't be paid to the Office of the Special Trustee for disbursement. The MC may benefit with any payment proceeds going into the S510 account like the land income from the land in Kansas that was willed to the Shareholders but I don't really know.
DeleteListen. I'm still mad as h** about the Chief blowing into that meetting and hitting us up for some indirect cost thing to benefit the kids and the elders. That damn constitution was sold with the promise that the new Osage Nation would be taking care of all of the members of the Osage Nation and that the MInerals Agency and the new minerals council under it would take care of the Headright owners alone. Now this S*B comes into the meeting lecturing the attendees and those listening online trying to justify another broken promise once again encroaching on our perimeter and into our territory. Never mind anything else for the time being. When is the Osage Nation government going to start behaving in an HONORABLE WAY toward the HEADRIGHT OWNERS and the MINERALS COUNCIL? You Osage Nation s***bags can keep away from us and tell your Chief and his incompetent so called government to STAY OUT of MINERALS BUSINESS!
DeleteYou know what I second that. Poster 11:24am
DeleteYes. The Chief ought to get busy getting out that per-cap for all the members if the Osage Nation was put in place. Nine years later and that yearly money snowball throw at one another who work for the damn thing and where are we on this honorable promise that was made as well?
DeleteNow you are talking. This was not based on premise. The truth of the matter is all of you are right. This Nation gave the premise that a per-cap was to go out. As soon as the Government was organized. Organized Government lost our money with the Osage LLC. So, I say we have a organized Government if it can lose that kind of money like that or not punish the five man board and not with just a slap on the hand like our prior Chief. Thats the truth. Thats true cronyism. And intent was there as well. Because thats why we became a Nation. That was tbe premise. So now you have a Chief who is asking for a hand. You know what happens who suffer is the Charity because everyone feels they do not trust our and that is the root. When you get caught between the cross hairs of right and wrong thats when your constituency knows your leadership is failing. You sometimes forget where you came from and or how you got there. Then the lie reveals itself. The History of not telling the truth has transcends and unfortunately resonates loud and clearly and behaves like Hillary Clinton but worse because they hide under Sovereignty used like a wet sponge. Look, everyone who had an elder and listened, knew that they did not like the Government so, it took only one phone call to become what they feared. Thats the truth. I say from all fronts this has to stop now! Oh by the way have we collected on all that money our last Chief gave away? Like from the IT guy? Just an Osage for fiscal responsibility, accountability.
DeleteDo not ask how that posted twice was having issues with my tablet, I would like the first post erased. Sorry for the double post. Do not know what happened with my first edit. Wierd.
DeleteCan someone post a link to the most recent OPA lawsuit?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Deletehttps://attachment.fbsbx.com/file_download.php?id=492079257624290&eid=ASu3LR-vGMaJMq5AacfXWhyjACrZcHjglCjDDXt7BLzvytC-b6VaWyhldUDYj266w2w&ext=1440088108&hash=ASu6Lomo8pazflJw
DeleteOsage oil producers file second lawsuit against BIA
Deletehttp://www.tulsaworld.com/business/energy/osage-oil-producers-file-second-lawsuit-against-bia/article_6c353ea8-9bdf-554e-8463-960a8651d9e5.html
It seems the only way to get the lead out for the local Osage Agency to get moving and stop dragging their feet is to file a lawsuit. Playing games was always inappropriate but overlaying regulations and overreach on this basis when others are still in effect with new ones that never should have come into being or should have applied in the first place until the Donalson lawsuit is concluded has lead to real financial damages all over Osage County and it's now time for the phantom Osage Superintendant to get back on the ball and start approving drilling permits so the damage can reach containment. Now the press are labeling this debacle a "saga." An outrage if you ask me that this word is even being applied to the situation.
Deletehttp://journalrecord.com/2015/08/19/osage-county-drilling-saga-continues-with-new-lawsuit-law/
You might try contacting Mr. Michael Overall @ 918-581-8383 and have him give you a call His a reporter for TW. Or e-mail him @ michael.overall@tulsaworld.com. He's keeping up with this mess in Osage county, and I have seen some of the docs on his reporting. Hope it helps.
DeleteI don't have a problem with the label. I have a problem that it has come to this point in the first place when it didn't need to.
DeleteAG's opinion:
ReplyDeletehttp://static.osagenews.org.s3.amazonaws.com/cms_page_media/43/2015-8-19_AG_Open%20Meeting%20.pdf
Take this to the federal courts.
DeleteOur illustrious Osage Nation is nothing more than another EPA/ BIA burdensome bureaucratic nightmare. Not only does the OMC have to fight wind energy, the BIA, the EPA, the DOI, land barons, idle rich attorneys, they also have to fight a hostile Nation, along with its lap dog of paper, bent on justifying its bureaucratic salaries. The Chief's question, the AG's opinion, and most of all the papers reporting is shameful. It's apparent on it's face that it's nothing more than a fishing expedition on the part of the Nation and the Chief to find another reason to haul the Minerals into court. Chief Geoff says "he hasn't looked at it [if the OMC is violating his laws]." Then why the hell is he wasting the AG's time on researching something he doesn't even know is going on or disagrees with? Doesn't the AG have something better to do such as litigate the theft millions of dollars.
DeleteThe Nation can barely get individuals to court, if that, over the common knowledge theft of $806,000 dollars from the Pawhuska casino/ village. But Jesus strap in!, the OMC gets a ham and blanket it's already headed to the Osage Supreme Court. And now, now the Nation has it's rag of paper out fishing to find someone to file another suit against the Minerals ...please. The Chief and the Nation's priorities are apparent and they are completely out of touch. I would say that this opinion and article is nothing but a clumsy move by bunch of "slimy politicians" but they aren't even good at the politics part of that phrase.
As a Shareholder I agree but there may be improprieties exist whether there is or not the Shareholders need to know. It cannot be the same any more. I want the S-10 account audited and turned over to the Shareholder's it does not belong to the M.C. Leadership has failed in a grand way and this is why we need to get an Audit. Its no longer business the old way. Our Council needs to start playing ball. I will ask for each member to be removed and replaced.I know a few who are ready and willing to step up to the Plate in your communities. I may not live close but my ties are strong back home. And I'm listening loud and clearly.
Delete"ask each member to be removed and replaced"?? Great another distraction for the OMC when all their focus should be on CFRs, Donelson, the BIA, and dung beetles or whatever they are. Reporting is fine, but if we aren't laser focused on the threats to the Mineral Estate there may be nothing left to audit. Priorities folks ...I know we come from a Nation that has its priorities completely out of wack but we can't lose focus right now or we may well lose everything. These pettifogger issues can be dealt with later.
DeleteAh change needs to come..everyone knows of our circumstances and you would think wrong if the people who would rplace them were not skilled..and no one said at this time. When cooler rivers rise then the stream will flow.
DeleteTo August 20, 2015 at 9:37 PM. The AG cites a lot of Osage Nation law but is far from accurate related to the 1906 Act. He asserts that the Osage Minerals Council was "created" by the Osage Nation, which is contradicted in the same sentence by the phrase "continuing its previous duties". The very next sentence states that it is an "independent agency" and yet the overall opinion renders the OMC a subordinate and dependent unit of the Osage Nation.
DeleteThe 1906 Act allotted the Minerals Estate to the Osage Tribe. This act failed to address the matter of the inheritance of headrights, giving tribal membership status to the owner of the headright. The public law which authorized the Osage to create the Osage Nation and determine its own membership expressly prohibited any act which diminishes the rights of the shareholders in the Minerals Estate.
The AG needs to review the applicable Federal laws, as these trump the Osage Nation Constitution and its subordinate laws. If the new Osage Nation government is in violation of the public law which authorized it, then it is not a lawful government and can be disestablished. The last major lawsuit to be decided in Federal courts rendered the decision that the reservation was not just diminished, but disestablished (making tribal lands held in trust by the BIA little more than a Federal park).
I'd be surprised to see such an opinion from a competent attorney. However, the question of competence is likely mitigated by the conflict of interest when taking into consideration that the AG represents the Osage Nation and not the shareholders.
Indirect costs is the term used for combined payroll services, IT, HR services and other support services. The Minerals Council should hire their own staff or contract it out.
ReplyDeleteIn actuality, these expenses would only be classified as indirect costs when applied to the direct costs incurred by the Osage Nation for the portion of the budget allocated for the Osage Minerals Council. If the OMC otherwise provides for its own direct costs, the traditional overhead allocations become a direct cost and should be accounted for as such. This would have the net effect of lowering the Osage Nation indirect cost rates.
DeleteYes. Contract it out for much less than $60,000 to $80,000 per year. Hell of a nerve to ask that kind of money of the Shareholders and MC. The cost of things like this didn't go up 10 times since 2005. Highway robbery. Inflate your own budgets to keep the money away from 80% of the rest of the membership but don't expect the MC to be stupid enough to pay through the nose just because you want to bash them and give them hell because they won't do your bidding outside of constitutional perimeters. And this lawsuit against them for a blanket the MC gave to itself and a ham that doesn't even have to be reported until next year? How much of the $806,000 has the Osage Nation recovered from Joe Don? How much of the $19 million from Carol Leese on the Osage, LLC? Please, stay in your own backyard that looks a lot like a junk yard of Osage Nation funding misappropriation and malfeasance and stay out of Mineral Business. Is that polite enough for ya?
DeleteIf the Minerals Council wants to use Indirect costs services they should pay the same rate as the child and elderly programs.
ReplyDeleteJust curios, did you type this from your new (last year) $10,000 fully loaded Apple computer? I'm sure as Chief of the great Osage Nation you do a lot of graphics heavy rendering to justify such a machine. Why don't you go back to picking out curtains for your newly decorated office. Office decoration is important you know. If must convey the self righteous importance and proper authority of your high office.
DeleteAre you serious about his computer? Miss use of gross funds by far. Looking like we got ourselves an oppotunist as a leader and a hypercrite and this is why line items matter. Chief you are not looking like a Chief sir.
DeleteOK. Tempers are running high here but if we nuke the Chief with our comments in response to his, every time he comes to post here, he won't come back. In order to have a proper dialog here that will keep the Osage Blog a viable communication tool, we must have all points of view represented. If we can't always be nice, we should at least be civil to him and if possible, respectful going forward. Thank you.
DeleteOsageblogger, I respect that but these are not unrelated issues and it is my opinion that when someone speaks of fiscal restraint and accountability they need to be called on the carpet for their own spending/ management of public money. I for one do not begrudge anyone their point of view but I don't feel I should sit quietly if I believe the view is questionable, particularly when that person is a public official. I have said my piece and shall hold my tongue in that regard, it's your blog.
DeleteHaving said that though, it is vitally important that the Chief, the Nation and whatever powers that be know there are those out here extremely unhappy with their actions and constant attacks. We do not move forward on adulation and love alone. As with any relationship there is hard work and there are hard question to answer for and I don't believe anything is gained or growth happens by politely overlooking them.
I guess you are right my temper is running high but in my defense, I feel that we (the shareholders) have been under attack and my instinct is to attack in kind. My apologies is that offends.
The Chief needs to answer. He cannot escape the inevitable he is in that position. I am asking him to step up his Game to a different commitment of truth. Yes our tempers are there and I am not going to sugar coat the truth. It is true what poster @ 11:57 has pointed out and we should always seek out the truth. We are Shareholder's United. The truth is why you opened this blog.
DeleteWe have some important issues. I know this. This is your site as much as ours and if you want communication with those who can actually make the changes we need to have happen, it's not in our best interest to run them off. That's the bottom line and we can vent but then when we have the Chief take the time to come in and comment, we should at least be civil to him in a direct exchange. It's in our best interest and if he feels that he needs to engage with us here, we should at least be respectful of that. OK? Please. Let's do this. Again, thank you.
Deletendnlawyer is my user name. Chief Standing Bear. P.S, Don't criticize the Osage Nation then ask the Nation to support you for free. As a headright owner I want the annual million dollars taken from our checks to support our minerals Council to be used for just that. What the heck are they spending it on? They want free services from the Osage a Nation and make our programs pay for it?? Use part of the one million dollars please.
ReplyDeleteChief Thank you for posting here. When you are in the position you are in if you are not criticized means you would not be doing the job that you are doing. Of all people you should know. That being said Chief your intent has looked otherwise as a threat and confrontational at times. Shame on you for not paying more attention closely to your constituents, you have been absent. Everytime, leaders fail with a big F for a lack of communication. Long over due should the M.C follow the rule of ethics , by-laws and be held accountable by the Shareholder's. We need term limits as well. We should not be where we are at and the Ball has dropped big time and no longer can we go forward without change in a big way. I am a wrecking ball to be reckoned with I am one of those people if you've ever seen Bar rescue that's my experience or skill coming into organizations and getting to the root of the problem to restructure and organized to be profitable. We were and are a disaster waiting to happen. All the markers point in that direction. Where we are at if we had the skilled people in the right positions we would not be having this Conversation. You would not be studying the Ute way of Business. You built that wall of untrust. Not the M.C, not the Constituency and for the most the thread from Jim Gray looms heavily over are heads as J.R.s policies were a Great Failure. This needs to change. You must not turn a blind eye to the truth. You only succeed if your people succeed. When you hire friends and when you put family members in positions of authority you lose credibility right off the get go. That was your first mistake. The llck of oversite when it came to the refurbishing the Casinos, the Arbor, the Pagoda looking ugly building you should have gotten the opinion from the Constituency on that one. Does the Arbor have heated toilet seats ror the price the Arbor should. To the Five man Board, what are the Charges Chief and what will the fine be sir? Ban them. You know and we all know they took the money and stole feom their own People. It was never business another day when ww became a Narion. So the excuse is we did not know is like Hillray on the hill that card will not suffice. You were fully warned by so many on Carol Leese on many occasions yet to the tune of 20 million is gone. Airports and parks are doonboggles is anyone doing the diligence at the Nation? And I do hold you responsible as well as the Council for the mess we are in. You know and I know that Per-cap needs to happen. Your excuses will not suffice any longer listen to your heart for your people not Big Government. I am ashame how Fairfax is lokking non of our communities should look in disrepair. Clean up our surroundings as promised. Thats a start as well. Raising the minimum wage and or not looking at the minimum household income in your area and I have done the proxy and cost of living in your area given the economy and where it is at was in no way warranted. So what are you doing. A leader is supposed to welcome success and when in need be there for support and communicate something we are not seeing..You can be that leader that we can all appreciate you do not do that by inserting yourself in a mural. You act as if you have all the answers when in fact you don't. Your interpersonal skills are lacking so elementary to communication. So , you expect respect it is earned not by the Position you sit. You are one of us, I suggest you start acting like one of us you just might realize and see the forest for the trees. At this point my opinion one phone call all it takes to re-write our Constitution. I will say this, you are recognized by what you do, that's 90%.10% is living. This is not my opinion alone sir. And our elders and our Sovereignty is in the people not tne Government, The Nation. You can do better and aspire to be a Great Chief and makes us proud to want to build a Bust in your Honor. Oh by the way M.C I support the Chief when it comes to ethics the open records act and so forth.
DeleteOK. Thank you for posting here, Chief. As I understand it, the Nation gives the other departments, offices, and so forth the money from the ON Treasury to operate most of them unless they involve a Federal funding of some kind. Many if not most are given the money from Tribal funds to begin with in their budgets appropriated by the ON Congress. I was under the impression that the MC also submits a budget yearly for appropriation to the ON Congress as well. Has this changed or is it still the same? Please advise. If so, is this yearly budget not available for Shareholder review by the ON Congress or by the Minerals Council?
Delete"What heck are they spending it on?" What the heck are they spending it on... how about the fight to save our Mineral Estate. All this Nation affair has muddied the water and the OMC is in how many courts, on how many fronts? For God's sake, don't take us for such simpletons. You made a good living off tribes, excuse me, "Nations," you know exactly what legal fees are and what it costs to fight in Federal Court and you seem committed, for your part, on spending the OMC into the ground. But, I guess that's apropos, that's the one and only thing this Nation is good at, spending money.
DeleteI do agree with you we (shareholders & OMC) can take care of our I.T. and H.R. as long as it gives you one less thing to b*tch about or exert your Nationhood over or spend money fussing about. It's just my two cents but how about you go deal with theft, fraud, waste, NEPOTISM (*clears throat*) and try to make us a little money instead of looking for something to mortgage. Get out of the way and let the OMC and shareholders fight for their survival. If this is what "unity" and "being friends" with the Nation is like we sure as hell don't need it.
The same Policy goes to Nation are to submit for public view the budget by the M.C as well as it should be the Policy of the M.C. Not just that the Chief has lost his ability to be effective because he has lost his value, purpose, vision. This is because he is not self-aware of his weaknesses and strenghts. This is why he resorts to child play. He's book smart but not people smart. This is why the force and I would say the Moral Majority Shareholder's and M.C iare moving away and the harder he presses he may cause more harm than good. His approach is all wrong. Had he came to this site and explain and not just make a blanket statement left the door open for speculation. This has to stop. The Chief knows what he is doing and so do I. The real power is in the 1906 ACT. And it is we that can turn over this Government. We are the threat not him. (See the oranges and the lemons). Everyone is singing but is anyone listening. Lastly we are entitled in more than one way to the TRIBAL FUNDS CHIEF THIS NATION WOULD NOT EXIST IF THE 30TH AND 31ST DID NOT ALLOW FOR THIS NATION TO EXIST IN THE FIRST. OF WHICH THE SHAREHOLDER'S HAVE NOT BEEN COMPENSATED FOR.THE M.E WAS USED AS COLLATERAL. IN THE REAL WORLD THIS WOULD NOT HAPPEN.
Delete11:14, you say the Chief is "book smart." Well, personally I have to seriously question that. With regard to the Wind Industry, remember this is the man that bullied the congress into passing a law that allowed him to go out and arrest non-Osages on non-Osage land. Something even non-attorneys know is completely illegal and wouldn't hold up in any court in the land. That doesn't show to many book smarts in my book. I guess at least he stopped short of following through on all his bluster in that regard. Oh and lest we forget that this is the same man who's myopic refrain at the OSA years past use to be "You can't sue the government" and "paying all these lawyer's is a waste." Well here we are $380,000,000 later. Just food for thought.
DeleteHe is book smart. My son is book smart still does not have a clue. There are people like that. On the issue of the wind farms spells corruption. And for the lack of knowledge regarding the non-Osage on Non-Osage land arrest wow. People who are book smart think they are entitled . Just my experience.
DeleteActually, I wish Chief StandingBear had followed through and thrown those mineral rights squatters off that land the minute the first arm of one of those wind machines arrived. How many oil wells can you dig on top of one of those things? How many of them are now set up on the land? How many more are anticipated to be built and we have received NO COMPENSATION from these squatters from the loss of the mineral rights associated with the square footage of each one of them on those huge pedestals including the square footage around them that can't be drilled on either. It's an illegal taking, people, make no mistake about it. If Chief would have acted then, it probably wouldn't have been so bad now. Out there praying in the field is good but kicking some *** would have been a lot better, you ask me!
DeleteI here you buddy @2:06pm
DeleteAdd if that had happened and one person stubbed his toe or scratched his wrist in the process of a "wrongful arrest" they may own our casinos now. We can't do things just because they "feel good."
DeleteSilly. You can't sue the Osage Nation so what difference would it have made? No one can take our Casinos away due to litigation. We are a sovereign and the constitution of the Osages says no monetary damages if a lawsuit is filed in Osage Courts anyway.
DeletePoster @3:39PM YOU ARE RIGHT.
DeleteA federal court wouldn't give one whit of care about what the Osage Constitution says. If you believe I'm wrong go lobby your Chief. They have to service those things, they are still trespassing, tell him to go out there and arrest them. Let's see what happens.
DeleteWhile they are servicing the units on the wind farms, they aren't trespassing. They have a lease with the land owner which grants them contractual authority to access the property. The only authority the Osage Nation has for arrest is under Federal law when its police are operating on land held in trust by the BIA or under state law in all other areas of Osage County. The Osage Nation Constitution clearly states that its laws apply "on the reservation" and the Federal courts have held that the Osage reservation was not just diminished but was disestablished by act of the U.S. Congress.
DeleteShould the Osage Nation arrest anyone for trespassing the arrest would constitute a criminal act of kidnapping and a civil act of tortious interference of a contract. If anyone feels foolish enough to test those waters then go ahead and dive in head first.
Sue the landowners who bought and took possession of the property knowing the Mineral Rights have been reserved to the Osage Nation that are held in trust Federally, you dope. Who's talking tortious interference here to whom, hmmmm? Go kidnap and torture someone else with your crazy legal assumptions and threats you boob.
DeleteYou think this is a Spanische Windtorte or something like it? These are real mineral rights and there will be a taking of 8,000 acres of land with the mineral rights associated with them on Mustang Run that we likely won't be paid for as Shareholders and who knows how many acres of mineral rights have been legally taken away with that first wind farm that they went lickety-split to put up that we haven't been paid for either. Don't talk to me about what the Chief didn't do that he should have done to stop this abomination upon our land in Osage County. I totally agree with the earlier poster, you B O O B!
Delete...illegally taken away...
DeleteNO! I think it's an Italische Windtorte, if you must know. Not that it's any of your business anyway.
DeleteThe current owner of the land has the surface rights while the ME is limited to the subsurface rights. There is no theory by which access to minerals can block development of structures on the surface without fairly compensating the landowner. The simple reality is that the Osage once owned all of Osage County but when the reservation was disestablished and placed into private ownership there soon began a sell off of the land, which continued until the Osage own only a tiny fraction today.
DeleteIn 1920 the Osage were recognized as "the richest nation, clan or social group of any race on earth, including the whites, man for man." No one forced the elders to squander their great wealth or sell off their land, and there's no undoing what has been done.
Sadly, the situation is what it is. Some laws work in favor of the Osage while others work against.
The wind farms are most certainly an eye sore, and the noise will prove to be a real nuisance to the land owners who live near them. They likely didn't think of the down side when negotiating the leases to permit erection and operation, but they too have made their own bed and must now sleep in it.
All said, the wind farms do not occupy as much acreage as claimed, nor will they have a major impact on the ME. Once removal of the temporary areas used for construction is complete, the typical wind turbine requires about 0.3 hectares (3/4 of an acre) per MW on a permanent basis. As an example, Mustang Run has 9,500 acres under lease for a wind farm of 136 MW which requires only 190 acres for the turbines, power lines, maintenance buildings and access roads on a permanent basis. This land is referred to as "out of service."
I don't see where 190 acres out of more than 1.4 million acres in Osage County being restricted will have a significant effect on access to mining (which includes drilling for oil).
Well I do. 190 acres of mineral rights including the land around them that can't be drilled on by law, haven't been paid for by anyone for the permanent loss of income due to the Headright owners from either the landowners or the wind farm company. 160 acres is a lot of land to some people including me. You can't take that mineral rights income away on 190 acres plus on a permanent basis without just compensation. A little here, a little there and soon the minerals estate is certainly diminished and it is diminished today. There should be a lease on this land to compensate the headright owners from the loss of the income from these mineral rights gone forever.
DeleteThe 190 acres includes the total land required for operation and maintenance. There are far more thousands of acres covered over by roads, houses, barns, and other structures which prevent access directly beneath them and for which no similar complaints have ever been voiced or pursued. Chasing after this type of lawsuit would be very costly and the likelihood of prevailing is low.
DeleteBut then, the Osage Nation Government has a history of spending massive amounts of money on frivolous lawsuits. The case of Osage Nation v Irby et al comes to mind, which resulted in a decision that the reservation had not just been diminished but disestablished. A possible outcome of any suit against leasing of surface rights by the landowner could be more difficult and more expensive access to surface land in general, lowering the net income of exploiting the minerals.
The value of the land diminishes over time anyway, as the subsurface minerals are diminished. The most valuable mineral in Osage County is oil, and there is only so much that you can extract beneath any given tract. Once the oil beneath a tract is gone, the residual value is for rock, limestone, and rare earths (which are rare enough to make mining for them impractical).
Maybe you could sell tickets to the trial. Some people would get a good laugh at seeing a demand for the landowner to make lease payments for using the property which he already has rights to.
If the deed restrictions had included provision that no structures could be erected, then it would have been next to worthless and very difficult to sell. How will the owners of the surface rights be compensated if they are denied fair use?
I misplaced my OST telephone number for balance and transfer matters. Can anyone help me out?
ReplyDelete888-678-6836. Sorry was posting that long read to the Chief.
DeleteHEADS UP! http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/08/21/stocks-eye-reprieve-despite-mortal-blow-from-chinese-data/
ReplyDeletehttp://money.cnn.com/2015/08/21/investing/stocks-market-lookahead-august-21/index.html
http://money.cnn.com/2015/08/21/news/economy/china-economy-slowdown/index.html?iid=EL
DeleteYeah, watching, the economy is not as robust as this Administration purported. Americans are waking up to a nightmare of 30 years of some big Tales. Over taxed and over worked complicated by a burocracy with the looming rate hike. Here comes the Great Resession.
DeleteLet's hope not.
DeleteI hope not to. •~(
DeleteContinuing to not look good.
DeleteYes. Its not good at all.
DeleteJust read the update in The Osage News regarding the Wind Farms..as I understand it the U.S has ordered along with the BIA, Robin Phillips has sent a letter to to stop the further development of the Wind Farms. It is understood the reasoning on facts alone the Judge has yet to issue his Opinion or Oder why? What I still fail to understand is how the BIA allowed for this to happen in the first not protecting the interest of the M.E or the the Shareholders interest and how and why the Osage Board of Commissioners could approve these squatters on our Reservation? These Commissioners should be replaced period. And should be held liable as well. I would hate to see these Wind Farms at this stage where they are at in the game use as a tactic in Court they had already built there towers to stay on our M.E. So I want to know who got paid under the Table to allow for this to happen. Everyone knows there is a permitting process and everyone knows including the Osage Commissioner's know there is The requirements by and of the. CFR's, and why the Nation if I have right did not fight this aggressively fdom the Start? The Drummonds were not authorized period.
ReplyDeleteI guess the Drummonds will have to compensate the Shareholder's of the Estate when all said and done. The U.S is stepping in its about time.
Deletehttp://osagenews.org/en/article/2015/08/25/united-states-asks-judge-halt-construction-second-wind-farm/
DeleteWind farm meeting in Greyhorse:
Deletehttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1615078728775611&set=a.1615078762108941.1073741828.100008204974654&type=1&theater
The problem with stopping construction and operation of the wind farms is that the Osage Tribe only holds a reservation to the subsurface mineral rights, and the cited section of the CFR only applies to mining (a term which includes drilling for oil). Even the use of rock and limestone at each site where a unit is erected is unlikely to meet the statutory definition of mining.
DeleteThe argument that the wind farms prevent extraction of oil from the ME is hollow, as roads, homes, and commercial buildings have been erected all over Osage County with no similar claims having been made. The amount of surface area covered by these other types of structures are exceeds the rather negligible amount of land which the wind farms will prevent access to.
The reality is that the current claims against the wind farms were fabricated when no other course of action could be determined which might prevent these unsightly and highly undesirable structures from being erected. ENEL and other developers need only search the archives of this blog for references to the original complaints and letters to the BIA. However, they will get everything they need to defend their position from the BIA during discovery.
Right poster @ 12:46AM. I thought the same thing. But what about the permits issue? And the Discovery will be compelling.
DeleteThe land is not littered with buildings on open land everywhere you look at intervals so many feet away from one another. If there are regulations and permits required and these are ingnored then something has to be done or anyone can do anything they want. What's to stop anyone from doing anything they want as long as the land owner permits it. Each and every land owner should have been made a part of these two lawsuits filed by the BIA as well and believe me, if that had been the case, the outcome would have been far different.
DeleteThe only regulations which are cited as a cause for the complaint are related to mining, and the wind farms are not required to comply with permitting requirements when no mining (as defined within the regulations) is being performed. Even if mining were performed, the only recourse is to negotiate a fair market value for the few tons of crushed stone being used and that wouldn't cover the cost of the lawsuits which have been filed.
DeleteIt is more likely for the wind farms to be impacted by laws for protection of endangered species than nuisance suits.
"It is estimated that more than 40,000 cubic yards will be excavated and more than 8,000 acres of land will be used for the wind turbine occupation..." You're not building a sandbox here, buster, with this kind of earth movement.
DeleteI agree. You move minerals at this rate and volume, you're definitely mining for something whether you take it off the property or not and what is being mined is being used for commercial purposes at our expense all the way around. There you have it in a nutshell.
DeleteWhy haven't we gone after the owners of the Property who sold out to Enel, Tradewind? Who owned Osage Wind? Why did the U.S Government drop the request to to stop building in 2014? Which spurred futher construction, Enel using the Excuse they already erected 80 some turbines already. Why haven't we gone in there and bull dose those ugly eye sore of monstrosity?
DeleteWhere is the mighty Osage?
ReplyDeleteWe lived with nature.
We lived off the land.
We lived with each other.
We loved one another.
Where are the Little Old Men?
Where has our wisdom gone?
What have we become?
Where are we going?
Where are the Children of the Middle Waters?
M.G.S - Osage. Barnsdall, OK.
http://arkarcheology.uark.edu/indiansofarkansas/index.html?pageName=The%20Osage%20Indians
One problem with the story most do not live around Pawhuska, its more like 10% of 10,000.
DeleteChildren of the Middle Waters are everywhere.Many of us long to see and be part of the Mighty Osage but the path is long and at times seems forbidden.Many of us await for the Traditional Leadership which is needed for those of us who have awakened from a long sleep and those of us who have reawakened and no place in the world of the Osage.
DeleteWow great point. Thank you kind sir.
DeleteMARK THE DATE:
ReplyDeleteMike Black from the BIA to hold a meeting in person and online on September 9, 2015 at 11:00 a.m., CSDT to bring the Headright owners up to date on what is going on with the OME:
See http://osagenews.org/en/article/2015/08/25/bia-director-discuss-issues-involving-mineral-estate-sept-9/
To what end? Given that we are currently in litigation with these people is it wise to invite them here and talk to them? I hope we have consulted our attorneys about this.
DeleteGiven he will not be taking or fielding questions about the Lawsuits, what more can he say about our economic plight? As if we are not already aware of our circumstances? Isn't it a conflict of interest at this point and juncture? What is he going to talk about the E.A? About the American Beatle bug? The BIA did its own E.A right is equivalent to Iran performing their own Nuclear hazzard test? Can he not talk about why the permitting process in Oct. Of last year nearly came to a halt when Prices were near a 100 dollars a barrel? And shouldn't we all take a Stand and not show up? He isn't our friend at this point.
DeleteOh I support poster at 2:23 pm. He is persona non grata.
DeleteDidn't read the Osage News link before I posted. Thank God it wasn't the OMC that invited him here. None the less I think it's a foolhardy move. It seems like it's action for the sake of false movement, with no greater bearing than for host to say, "see I did something."
DeleteDue to the litigation the OMC should stay as far away from this event as possible, that goes for the shareholders as well. However, I'm sure Crum and Yates will be there.
This brings up a point, if Crum and Yates (the pro-CFR team) take action that jeopardizes the OMC/OPA CFR case how are we to deal with that. At what point, if any, are they to be held to account?
I smell a ' Photo Op '. Maybe Mike & Robin will spend 30 minutes on how hard they are working for us Shareholders...
DeleteMore than likely they're going to run through the details of the hand over of the OME to the Osage Nation somehow. If it's a compact, then maybe it's being handled by the Minerals Council. Galen? Andrew? Wassup?
Delete"Crucifixion?" I have a hammer and some nails. However, I would rather be proactive and stop them before they compromise our position than crucify them after they lose us everything.
DeleteOr even we show up with our blakets walk in and turn our backs to them as they have us. Now this is a Statement that the silence could be heard through Indian Country. To send a Message loud and clearly the Oasge has something to say, Osage for Fiscal Responsibility in the Name of Sovereignty the Osage stand United! Long live the 1906 Act and the Osage Tribe.
DeleteThe members of the OMC owe a fiduciary duty of care and loyalty to the shareholders in the ME. Just as with any corporate entity, they can be held personally liable should they fail to exercise this duty. They can be criminally prosecuted under state or federal law, and assessed civil damages on top of criminal punishment.
DeleteI agree with 6:26 there needs to be some form of protest. Idle silence from the shareholders is what the Nation and the BIA are counting on. It's worth noting that the Nation is no longer hiding the fact that they are in bed with the BIA.
DeleteYou couldn't be more wrong about the fiduciary responsibility of the MC. The Osage Nation Constitution created a Minerals Agency and a new Minerals Council under it. The loyalty and fiduciary obligation of the agents of any agency are to the government itself not the people. In this model, the MC is a creation of the new Osage Nation government and legally owes a fiduciary obligation to the Agency itself. The Minerals Agency is umbrellaed under the Executive Branch of the Osage Nation and therefore owes what it owes to the Osage Nation, not the shareholders. That's why they created an agency for the MC in the first place, just in case the loyalties got mixed up somewhere along the line after the ratification of the Osage Nation Constitution. The BIA owes a fiduciary obligation to the Shareholders under the OME Trust but it is now the only one that does since the new Osage Nation government was formed and the Osage Tribal Council was replaced by it.
DeleteThis Osage Nation Constitutional construct that created the Minerals Agency in Article XV is in violation of Federal law; PUBLIC LAW 108–431—DEC. 3, 2004 118 STAT. 2609, because it deprives the Headright owners of the representation from the members of the Minerals Council which they once had as a right under the Osage Tribal Council government: "...provided that the rightS of any person to Osage mineral estate shares are not diminished thereby."
DeleteTo the poster at 3:40 PM: Exactly. You saved me the effort of citing the references in response to the poster at 11:10 AM.
DeleteThe OPA is pressing for the Okla Corp Commission to take over management of the Osage Mineral Estate. This could very well mean that our HR checks will come from the state instead of the BIA or the OST. This will mean that we will no longer be exempt from state and federal income taxes. The state is already doing a very poor job of oil production management in the other 76 counties. They are terribly under funded and under staffed. Where will the money come from to pay them to manage Osage county?
ReplyDeleteThe only person that has been saying that is the Chief. The OPA has on numerous occasions, and in open meeting on record, stated that they are not seeking state involvement. The OPA as an organization knows that horse is dead.
DeleteDitto to the blogger above. The OPA is NOT pressing the OCC to take over management of the Osage Mineral Estate. The OPA is focused solely on pushing back against the BIA and trying to find a way for the small producers to survive in a regulatory quagmire exacerbated by low oil prices. Period.
DeleteStop the fear mongering poster @ 5:33Am.
DeleteWhen it shows up in the local paper, it's not exactly fear mongering unless you are accusing the Standing Bear administration of it.
Deletehttp://barnsdalltimes.com/http:/barnsdalltimes.com/news/chief-keep-occ-paws-off-trust
Hopefully we have that argument settled but the Shareholders need to think about what's next and what may be down the road with this new meeting coming up with Mike Black of the BIA.
Ute model or not, the Osages have no business running their own mineral estate out of a newly created Executive Branch department or the under the Minerals Agency on the basis of past experience and how they have handled themselves abysmally and lost millions upon millions of dollars. I certainly wouldn't work with the Osages in a managerial business capacity on this basis, would you?
The BIA has been judged by two different reports as being virtually incompetent under their management using the old CFRs, never mind the the new ones.
The OCC is now being proposed to be the Oklahoma State government Commission to handle the regulation of the wind farms in Osage County which is just another step closer to running the OM
E. Keep in mind that you have those on the MC who are actually in favor of working out a deal with the wind farm people and it's more than just Joe Cheshawalla.
Nobody that I know of is actually asking the Headright owners what they want to see happen in the future but we know the new CFRs are out of the question at any point out ahead where our mature mineral estate is concerned and so also the bug regs and the new NEPA regs too.
Talk about the need for the old adage in OC, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Any fix we look at is not doable unless we go back to the old regulatory environment and the BIA cleans up their act and begins to enforce the old CFRs in a proper manner. Whether that's possible, we'll find out at the meeting with Mike Black. The whole damn thing should be on the basis of what's best for the Shareholders but I never ever hear anyone talking about that. Do you?
The local paper you refer to is run and or owned by vice-Chief Redcorn's wife. I wouldn't portray that paper as being entirely impartial. The OPA as an organization is not perusing our hand over to the OCC, despite the Chief's boisterous claims to the contrary. I think, the Chief, Crum, Yates and the like-minded aim is to get enough fear among the shareholders about the OCC that they hope we would run to the Nation to take us over.
DeleteThere is a real simple fix to nearly all the problems we currently have, that is that the BIA enforce the CFRs already on the books. Simple. And where they don't the OMC hauls them before a for failure of duty. But NO, the Nation is working as the active distract to the OMC so the BIA can get away with what it wants, to be rid of us. Make no mistake the BIA and the Nation are in on this together.
“The Commission does not engage in discussion and has not engaged in any discussion regarding Commission jurisdiction extending to Osage County,” according to Matt Skinner, a Corporation Commission spokesman. “We are not involved in this debate in any shape, manner or form … It is all happening outside this agency.”"
Deletehttp://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/amid-lawsuits-bia-director-to-visit-osage-nation-in-september/article_f27809ae-6b22-59c2-9ca7-c068593dac9f.html
DeleteInvited by the Chief. BIA + Osage Nation is right but is it right for the Osage Headright owners? Who is ever going to start putting us first?
DeleteIs Mike Black going to announce that the BIA is stepping aside in favor of a Compact run by the Osage Mineral Council? This is THE question I want answered before that meeting takes place.
DeleteWhy is the Chief inviting the enemy into our camp? The Chief didn't join us in our litigation and he shouldn't be interfering now. What is it that Mr. Black will be discussing with us if he won't be able to speak about the matters involved in litigation? The Chief should not be meeting with our adversary while litigation is ongoing. The Chief has not invited the Osage County Oil and Gas producers to attend. Why do we have to learn about these matters from the Tulsa World as I did? No communication with the Shareholders or producers as usual.
DeleteTo the poster at 10:56 AM: You're right. The business activities of the ON have lost countless millions, and the recently claimed "profits" reported in the 2014 Annual Report from Osage LLC are based on committing fraud in the government. Should the government become aware and seek restitution, the damages are dollar for dollar paid - not just profits - plus $5,500 to $11,000 per invoice. Under current regulations, the actual damages are trebled.
DeleteThe reported profits of $12,000 for the Tinker AFB Breathing Air Project and $70,000 for the Camp Bowie Wash Rack Project are simply the markups over the actual work which was entirely performed by subcontractors. Under applicable Federal statutes OPDG was required to perform at least 50 percent of the direct labor with its own employees.
The old management isn't responsible for these projects. The current management is either incompetent due to ignorance of Federal laws applicable to the 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business program or fully aware and intentionally disregarding the law.
The Commerce and Economic Development Committee can verify the facts of these claims by reviewing the proposals submitted to the government, the awarded contracts, and applicable Federal statutes under 13 CFR Part 124 and 15 USC 645.
In any case, it instills even less confidence in the ability of the Osage Nation to take a heavier role in ME activities.
https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/who-we-are/osage-llc-board
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/13/part-124/subpart-A
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/645
Sorry I meant from the Nation poster @ 10:56Am. Good point!
DeleteTo 1:07 PM, It would be a disaster of epic proportion.
DeleteOk, after reading poster comments, not just incompetence why isn't our Congress doing the Due Diligence and stop the Bleed? This is just beyond the scope of real Transparency deliberately misrepresented the facts by omission of key information? Is this what you are saying? And this being the truth, From the committee and economic department to Congress is liable to, the CFO of the Nation.Knowingly and intentional that nobody would recognize. A shceme to defraud? Do we need to investigate fiancial fruad reporting?
DeleteThe above comment was for poster @1:07pm
DeleteFor many a year @ the old OSA discussion site, I was a dedicated reader and poster.Osage politics still continues today,be it still under traditional values or under a more civilised value system. No matter which group of the Osage we each have a kinship with, we exists today equally or more than any state or nation,as the People of the Osage.As an Osage,I try to greet every new day,towards a better Osage day.
ReplyDeleteThief of Osage Possessions is not a new issue or new events.Only the matter in which the guilty is punished has changed. As a Citizen of the Osage,as a Member of the Osage Nation,and as a Osage Shareholder, Enel is guilty of taking Osage possessions for their own use and have profited from this action and every site among the Osage is a crime scene and should be treated as such. But then again this is only my personal interpretation of law,be they Osage Law,state law or federal law. If any Osage gave this Enel permission to build these things within the OME,they themselves should also be guilty and pay a higher punishment of banishment,for ignorance of the law is no excuss.
ReplyDeleteThis does not look good. See https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/news-events/news/updated-minerals-council-special-meeting-agenda-monday-august-31
ReplyDeleteChief is trying to target two members of the MC who don't want to compact the Mineral Estate making them look like the culprits when he's the one who wants to take over the OME and run it like the Utes do with the BIA only handling certain limited items but no longer involved in permitting and regulations (CFRs) and the Osage Nation running the oil and gas business itself. Again, the OK Corp. Commmission is being mentioned as one to regulate the Minerals Estate overall as opposed to the BIA. OK involvement will likely mean taxation of the quarterly headright payment so this should not be allowed to go forward as it's not in the best interest of the shareholders and they will likely charge us to run it as well. It really appears that this new CFR thing is turning into a nightmare with the Feds turning the whole thing upside down to get rid of the Osages altogether. If only two U.S. Senators from OK are handling this, where are the rest of them and the U.S. House of Representatives as the other Congressional body that should be weighing in on what happens to the OME Trust as well?
Deletehttps://www.facebook.com/OsageNews/photos/a.153834188010750.33094.134873493240153/961871260540368/?type=1
Deletehttp://www.osages-you-need-to-know.com/upload/2015-08-27%20Trouble%20at%20the%20MC.pdf
DeleteSee Susan Forman's comment here --->>>
Deletehttps://www.facebook.com/groups/234024393278360/?hc_location=ufi
Something's fishy here. Ray McClain is claiming a secret meeting of these high level U.S. Congressional staffers with one or more Mineral Council people and of course he named only Boone. I don't believe for a second that these staffers from the two U.S. Senate Offices would meet with just one or two of the Minerals Council members alone. There has to be more to the story than this silly speculation and I can smell the spin on this one to sky high heaven. I don't buy it. More like they had a scheduled meeting with the
DeleteChief and stopped by the Minerals Council office for a short time beforehand. If the Chief and Ray don't stop coming up with ways to bash and disinformationalize the Minerals Council members soon, we are going to have to call them on it. Not everything that goes on up on the Hill is a conspiracy but with the Chief and Ray, you would never know it.
To Anonymous @12:36 AM
DeleteThe following was posted in Facebook’s “Osage for Fiscal Responsibility” yesterday. You must be in a serious state of denial. Open the Facebook posting to read the entire statement by the Chief. If you are still in doubt, attend or listen to the meeting on Monday, Aug. 31.
Stephen Campbell
19 hrs · Edited
I'm bumping this to the top because it's of vital importance to all of us. This huge. Boone & Erwin are trying to undermine the entire ME.
Regarding the emergency meeting of the OMC called for Monday;
Geoffrey StandingBear; " I will be attending to share my experience this past Monday with the staff of US Senators Inhofe and Lankford. Nothing in my discussion woul...
See the entire post at https://www.facebook.com/groups/234024393278360/
OK. I'm going to provide the truth of what when on with a confirmation from two separate and unrelated parties. It's getting to the point where libel is starting to take place with actual defamation going on from various individuals, including some of those in the Osage Nation government where both Cynthia and Stephanie are concerned and on this blog this is not going to take place and it's got to stop.
DeleteHere's the truth: The Chief did in fact have a meeting scheduled with the staffers of the OK Senators late in the afternoon. The Minerals Office received a call from one of those staffers to find out if they could stop by and discuss a few items for clarification before the meeting with the Chief. There were told that it would be fine but it was not a secret meeting or a meeting of any kind whatsoever. The Staffers dropped by while Cynthia, Stephanie, Talee and Everett were there for the exchange of information. From what I have heard, Everett left early for some reason which left Talee, Stephanie, and Cynthia to finish answering questions and providing information to the Staffers before the formal meeting with the Chief. END OF STORY.
Stephanie and Cynthia are not attempting to undermine the entire Mineral Estate IN WHOLE OR IN PART. This could not be a more false statement. They are for it and for the Shareholders and against their rights being diminished under the 1906 Allotment Act as amended. They are for continuing with the BIA and the current Federal OME Trust under the old regulatory environment before the new CFRs were announced and they are not for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission running things in Osage County as are many of the individual oil and gas producers in Osage County. They are not for destroying the Osage Mineral Estate Trust that will have to take place before the Osage Nation can take over the day to day running of the Mineral Estate which will almost certainly deprive all headright owners of the income that will no longer be deposited into the current Federal Trust account. If the Osage Nation runs things in the future, no current shareholder can expect that the current Trust account will continue to have deposits for quarterly distribution placed in it or that the current headright owners will even be shareholders who receive income from the OME from that point onward. Stephanie and Cynthia are OPPOSED to this taking place and are fighting every single day to prevent it from happening on the behalf of the Headright owners. These are two Mineral Council members who have your back as Shareholders and THIS IS THE TRUTH.
Anyone can stop by the Minerals Council office for any reason whatsoever to obtain information and/or a clarification and it does NOT constitute a meeting taking place secret or otherwise. This includes the staffers of any of the Federal Oklahoma delegation. To refuse to take questions and provide clarifications to these staffers when they dropped by would have been inappropriate, rude and highly insulting to them if such a thing had taken place. Undoubtedly Stephen would be crying foul to high heaven if they had refused to allow the staffers to drop by if that is what had taken place.
DeleteAm I wrong, but don't the shareholder's have to vote before any compacting occurs?
DeleteTo me, it pretty much looks like the Chief was trying to shakedown the whole situation to sideline the BIA in favor of taking over and running the OME by the Osage Nation and it's gotten way out of hand with the OCC now in play which couldn't be more detrimental to the interests of the headright annuitants. OK Delegation can probably see the OME as a new and productive source of revenue for the State in future and are probably being lobbied as we speak to go there right away. This is bad news and with headright owners who are so stupid or completely naive as to not know who their real friends are in the Mineral Council, it could get very bad if we don't know who to trust. Chief is playing hardball for sure and has been for a long time. I don't know if Stephen is being run by the Chief or some other like minded individual but it sure looks that way. It must be a source of real delight to those who want to redraw the roster of Osage Minerals shareholders and have the ones who stand to lose everything they've got, in play and doing much of the dirty work for them. Remember at a time like this, the old adage, "Chaos is our friend," is happening right now as to the truth and who's really telling it. Don't be fooled or at some point it will be too late and those who are making a play for a "New Osage Day, " will have hit your wallet and purse so hard and there will no way to redress the situation. The thing to keep in mind is the Chief did nothing to help stave off those new CFRs other than act as an obstructionist. Judge people not by what they say or write but by what you SEE them do or not do.
DeleteOsageblogger I have received the same confirmation of the chain of events from outside sources. What you have posted concurs exactly with what I was told.
DeleteHow disingenuous can the Chief get. I have had my issues with Chief Geoff for some time now, mainly about this Nations manic spending, but his actions and political posturing are getting, to put it lightly, out of hand. He is going beyond the absurd. Geoffry was the only one talking about the OCC. Geoffry is the one who has met with Senators and staffers. Geoffry is the one inviting them here. Geoffry is the one inviting Mike Black of the BIA to speak. Geoffry was the one threatening to file a brief against the OMC stating that they didn't have the right to represent the shareholders in court about the CFRs, with the objective of derailing the case. Geoffry is the one who's actions have hampered the safety of the Mineral Estate. Yet, ...yet he and his facebook minions are trying to pin this on Ms. Boone and Ms. Erwin. That would be laughable on it's face if uniformed people weren't falling for it. Anyone who has ever talked to these two ladies will know within five seconds what staunch '06ers they are. Dear God, how low can the Chief sink. Look at his actions over the last year people he is the threat to the Mineral Estate. A threat as great or greater than CFRs and Donelson combined. As I see it, has put us in as precarious a place as we have ever been. Do you get it yet? Do you understand now why the OMC tries to keep him at arms length. He is bad new. He is not for the Mineral Estate. He is not for the shareholders. He is not about help us. He is out to get us.
You shouldn't buy into his bullsh*t anymore than you would that of common criminal.
My friend, you are sooooo totally deranged. Please get help.
DeleteThere is no doubt in my mind that the Chief and his minions are launching a destructive disinformation campaign against those members of the Minerals Council who do not agree with the direction he wants to go in with the Minerals Estate which is against the headright owners and the duly elected body that represents them and is trying to protect them. Where Galen, Andrew, Sonny, Talee, Kathryn and Everett are as to the Chief and his agenda is anyone's guess but my money is on that they are involved with the Chief and his ME plans for the future in one way or another. This might not include today's set of headright owners who reside outside of Osage County when the dust finally settles. Beware and don't be foolish enough to disregard this warning. If the OCC has jurisdiction so do the Oklahoma Courts. The State of Oklahoma has a rule against perpetuities written into its Constitution and a body of further law associated with it. If the rule against perpetuities prevails in an Oklahoma court with a judgement relative to the illegality of the mineral rights taken into perpetuity, there goes the mineral rights and the ownership of them by the Osage Nation altogether. No mineral rights, no minerals income period. No OCC or any Oklahoma jurisdiction is the only safe why through this thicket.
DeleteIn regard to Mike Black and the Chief holding a meeting to bring the Shareholders up-to-date on what’s going on with the OME, I have a few questions and comments as follows:
DeleteI am an Osage Shareholder and an Osage County oil and gas producer who has not been advised by the OMC or the Chief of this scheduled meeting. Not one letter in this regard have I received. The only way I even know about this meeting was through a posting on this blog site by the Osageblogger dated August 25, 2015. If there is to be a meeting of such importance, why haven’t we Shareholders been notified and advised of the meeting? I have not been invited. In the event I receive an invitation, I would expect it to include an outline of the subject matter to be discussed. Will there be a question and answer session following the presentation? I don’t know a damn thing about the meeting.
I suggest that the OMC hire a professional film crew to document this event for the purpose of using said information as evidence in the three lawsuits. BTW, I know of two more lawsuits against the BIA that are in the preparation stage. This is a very serious matter.
It is my understanding from rumors that Mike Black will not be discussing the ongoing issues being the subject matter of the three lawsuits; what else is there for him to “bring us up-to-date on”? Is he coming to apologize for the BIA’s destruction to our OME and the Osage communities as a whole? Have the local Mayors, County Commissioners and Osage County oilfield service companies been invited to the meeting?
Is Tom Fredericks aware of this meeting and, if so, will he be attending? I think that the BIA is attempting to change the hearts and minds of the Shareholders during the proceedings of the three lawsuits. I also think that our Chief may be putting himself in a very serious position with regard to interfering with our three lawsuits, one involving the OMC and the other two filed by the OPA. The Chief may be exposing himself to legal liabilities by this interference. If the OMC members attend this meeting, they too may be considered as interfering with the lawsuits. Maybe we should get an injunction to stop this activity.
If there is to be such a meeting as the Osageblogger advised us of, I think we Shareholders, Osage oil and gas producers and communities should be formally invited by the Chief.
Maybe Obama is sending Mike Black with rations and to hold a job fair. If any of you received a notice of the meeting and/or invitation, does it mention a soup line? Are you going to be receiving care packages and survival kits?
DeleteTo August 30, 2015 at 9:17 AM
DeleteWhat happened to keep your friends close, and your enemies closer? If the lawsuits aren't going to be discussed, why would the participation of anyone in the MC cause a legal problem? It's the direct business responsibility of the MC to interact with the BIA and no lawsuit should prevent that or act as an obstruction. Perhaps you weren't notified and send an invitation but they had a lawsuit against the BIA in the HPP case and continued to interact with the BIA all throughout that period prior to the settlement of the lawsuit. Are you kidding or are you so ignorant that you don't understand how things work?
Second of all. nobody in the Osage gets special invitations. None of us have died and been made Grace Kelly; the presumption is, neither have you. If you can find this web site then you can find the Osage Nation's as well where official notifications go out all the time to the constituents and the shareholders about official meetings and activities. Maybe you're too lazy to do go there on a daily basis but don't act like you haven't been notified when all of us have officially been notified by Osage Nation as to Osage Minerals Council meetings and agendas associated with those meetings. If you are a businessman, you don't need to be spoon fed so don't act like you do. I mean, are you for real or what?
Let me get you started. Go here everyday and see what's officially going on with the Osage Nation government
https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/
To 3:37 yessterday. I agree with your comment but for one word -- ...anymore than you would that of common thief.
DeleteThank you August 30 at 12:24 PM for affirming the accurate version of the events that took place last Monday at the MC office. I appreciate your support. Things like this are getting out of control and it's shocking who is participating in these outrageous stories flying around the internet of late.
DeleteSince 2006 we have been spending. How is that Osage Dream working? The Government was sworn to protect yrea right. The Political Posturing and hiding behind the word sovereign is a bold face lie to our intelligence and insulting.
DeleteTo the poster at 11:58 AM today, as a Shareholder and as an oil and gas producer, I shouldn't have to depend on logging into the Osage Nation's website to conduct my business and to be invited to attend a very serious meeting with Obama's hit man. I do not always have access to the web and should not be expected to obtain my correspondence from this website.
DeleteI have at times visited the Osage Nation's sorry website searching the calendar of events and have found that it is usually blank.
Whoever designed this web site should return their fees for doing so. My high school granddaughter could have done a better job as a school project.
Do you really expect the Shareholders, the Osage County oil and gas producers, the Mayors of the local communities, the local oil and gas service companies that are devastated by this Federal government attack on all of us to rely on this website for our survival?
I expect communication from our Chief and from the OMC. Not just by clicking a link to some substandard website.
Or for that matter in the Osage News. And you are absolutely right about the Nations web is so sub-par.
DeleteTypical Ray McClain. Slamming the OPA for the perceived ills of the MC. As previously stated, the OPA is not seeking to get the OCC to take over the responsibility of the BIA. If Ray had the guts to ask an OPA member, and not keep listening to Crum's nonsense, he might get the truth. Ray, do you have it out for the OPA? They happen to have done the Osage Mineral Estate an enormous favor with the filing of the injunction. If you can't accept that fact, then shut up about it.
DeleteNow, now.
DeleteI am a member of the Osage Producers Association and I would like all to know that not one of my fellow members that I have spoken with are in favor of the OCC taking over the responsibilities of the BIA. Shane Matson, our President, addressed the MC several weeks ago specifically to deny this rumor and to assure the MC that the OPA is not pursuing OCC involvement. The OPA just want to see the issues resolved concerning the EA's, ABB and NEPA and to get back to developing our leases. I think that the Shareholders should seriously consider initiating actions to replace Councilman Crum and Councilman Yates; in my opinion, they are working against the best interest of the Shareholders.
DeleteWhat now now like your disciplining your step child Osageblogger there is such thing as freedom of speech. Just silly. Nothing is said that has not already been said here or otherwise. Let people be entitled to their opinion. I could see if what was said in poor taste or in language that is distasteful. People have a right to express. I too would like to hear from Mr. McClain opinion as to why he is still supporting Crums propaganda? Especially when A Judge has ruled the new CFR's are a conflict of interest, in part, and why is he carrying on contrary to opinion?
DeleteI agree with Poster @ 8:51Am. But I want to replace the entire Council with a working body for the Shareholder's. It's most unfortunate. It takes one rotten apple to spoil the barrel.
DeleteHas anyone received their September Headright in their bank account? OST tells me it was processed to be sent to my bank yesterday but my bank has not received it... Has anyone received theirs? Will it be Monday before it posts? I have always received them on Friday which is what has me concerned. Hope everyone is having a great Saturday!
ReplyDeleteif you can't be there, you can listen;
ReplyDeleteThe Osage Minerals Council will hold a Special Meeting on Monday, Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. The meeting will be broadcast live on the Nation's website. See the agenda for details.
When I went to the agenda it states Opening prayer, Roll call, then Executive Session.Will this Executive Session be broadcasted to the Shareholders or will the listeners 'Be On Hold' until the vote for Adjournment ?
Deletehttps://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/news-events/news/updated-minerals-council-special-meeting-agenda-monday-august-31
Clearly, there's nothing of substance to broadcast so the meeting won't actually be broadcast online.
DeleteWhere is the Osage Congress in all this mess the Chief has caused? They seem to be remaining conveniently silent. If they care about the shareholders it's past time for them to speak up against this Chief. It's time for them to start reining in some of his actions. They were voted for by shareholders as well. They have as much obligation to look out for our interest as they do for the non-shareholders. But no, they aren't going to say a damn thing one way or the other.
ReplyDeleteThink about it, if the Osage Congress doesn't have the back of the shareholders now, why in the hell would you think they would when Geoffry takes over or compacts the Mineral Estate? That Nation doesn't care about us. They only see dollar signs in us.
That's what I'd like to know too. All most of them have ever been is a worthless bunch of $65,000-ers who spend our money as recklessly, shockingly and irresponsibly as they can. Why do we even have this ridiculous excuse of a government that is destroying everything we Shareholders used to have because they are so stupid? Grays and Standing Bears and Red Corns and Bighorses and Red Eagles the entire lot. They have no idea what they're even doing and just look at what they've done to destroy what all of the rest us have had in the past.
DeleteI totally agree except to substitute one word and that's -- this worthless excuse of a government.
DeleteWe all know what happens when you cannot trust your own Chief right. We lobby for his removal.
ReplyDeleteBring it on!
DeleteLet's remove the few obstructionists within the Mineral Council while were at it.
Has anyone been paid their September check via Direct Deposit?
ReplyDeleteYou better prepare for reduced payments in the next couple of years to come. It's going to get ugly once the Burbank flush production declines.
DeleteNo money yet in my bank.
ReplyDeleteSpecial MC Meeting is about to begin at https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/multimedia/live-media
ReplyDeleteNow on live.
DeleteTalking about a TERA. Senators staffers want to have OCC run things until a TERA can be put on its feet and we run the Mineral Estate with Gross Production Taxes thereafter? WOAH!
DeleteIs this instigated by the Chief?
DeleteThis sounds like its going to end the OME Trust for the current Headright owners by the members of the U.S. Senate? This looks like a compact forced on the Osages with the State of Oklahoma via the Osage Corporations Commission by these two members of the U.S. Federal Oklahoma Delegation? This sounds horrible!
DeleteWhat is the plan? Take over the ME ourselves?
DeleteWhat happens in January, 2017?
DeleteJanuary 2017 deadline?
DeleteChange in U.S. Presidents.
DeleteChief is speaking now as to his meeting with the same staffers last Monday.
DeleteI am very pleased to hear the Chief and the MC trying to work together for a change. Both seem very sincere so far.
DeleteSounds a lot like the Chief has been banging on everybody's door and possibly waking up people we don't want woken up.
DeleteI'm an Osage County producer and I do not want to see the Osage Trust broken up. That's crazy. We producers just want to drill and produce wells.
DeleteON is considered a stakeholder in Washington D.C.
DeleteMeeting in Bartlesville with the staffers and the Chief.
Previous meeting at Woolaroc where the OCC was put forward as an option by Colorado former governor Lamm? He needs to go back to Denver University and mind his own business. WTH?
Chief: Talking about amendments on TERA and Environmental Impact Statements. Compact with OCC and he doesn't know if it's coming from the Minerals Council or the Minerals Council. Relationship between the BIA and the Osages has permanently changed? How? Says Pandora's Box has been opened and the Senators are looking at replacing the BIA because it's not working out here.
Now talking about BIA Director Mike Black and Vanessa Ray-Hodge and what the plan is. Black will be at the Business Development Center in September. Talked about technical aspects of TERA before the staffers left.
Surface owners have been talking with the Feds at the highest level. Gentner Drummond was mentioned. Land owners have a problem with us owing the Mineral Rights. No kidding...
Not all but part of the functions of what goes on out in the field will be replaced somehow not involving the BIA. We have to open the door to work with these Senators? Where have we heard that before over the last 100 years?
TERA means NEPA won't apply. How to craft our handling of running our own ME is the solution? That is OFF THE TABLE UNTIL WE CAN PROPERLY HANDLE OURSELVES SUCCESSFULLY IN BUSINESS WHICH WE CAN'T AND WON'T BE ABLE TO FOR YEARS INTO THE FUTURE.
HEY ALL YOU PEOPLE IN THIS MEETING, WHAT IS BEST FOR THE SHAREHOLDERS????????
Sounds like the Chief has been spinning out trying to get full control of the Mineral Estate in Washington, D.C. and has stirred up a hornet's nest with more unintended consequences that this new government has continued to roll out to our total destruction if we don't do something to stop them. This is HUGE and we need to look to our own interests as Headright owners individually.
DeleteChief is back on the water issue relative to the BIA and the State of Oklahoma wanting to control and regulate the water in Osage Countt. Movement from the Feds to the State will have important consequences on water used in oil production with ANY state control and the water now being controlled by the BIA. We don't want to lose the BIA as the controlling regulatory agency. This is dreadful and far worse than I thought was even possible.
DeleteTime to bring this Government down to its knees. I call immediate action taken by the Shareholder's to remove our Chief and halt to our Government.
DeleteGranted I'm jaded about this Chief and this Nation, but this sounds like the Chief is taking advantage of the Donelson Case, making noise in Washington and having the Oklahoma delegation, who is more than happy and willing, to hold a gun to our head ultimately to force us under the auspice of the Nation. The conversation from the executive sounded like we either do what the Chief wants or we parish.
DeleteThis G. D. ONO Chief has been working the Washington D.C. backchannels and now is going to work with the MC and the U.S. Congress to break the OME Trust out from under the BIA and do away with all the shares of the Headright owners under the Shareholderr's currrent situation is exactly what this sounds like. If you value your headright income, you better head to Pawhuska as soon as humanly possible to find out what is going on.
DeleteI reread my previous comment and I meant to say on the Chief's comments "...it's either the Minerals Council or the Osage Producers Association."
DeleteThe whole point is, what's best for the shareholders? As of this meeting it sounds like there are no more shareholders or at least the gro up of them such as we know it today.
DeleteWill this meeting be rebrroadcast onlline at https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/who-we-are/minerals-council/meeting-information
Deleteto 11:47 the meeting can be found here: http://mixlr.com/osage-nation/showreel/
DeleteThank you!
DeleteJust heard over the phone that in order to receive an annuity (quarterly payment check) under the new scheme cooked up by the U.S. Congress, if a new group of shareholders is redrawn, you will have to live in Osage County and blood quantum is being seriously considered as an additional qualification to receive income from the Osage Mineral estate in future.
DeleteWhy is Ray McClain reporting that this was a good meeting? That's insane. Who is it good for? The fullbloods who will lose everything we've ever had in about five years flat or less? Plus he reports that Joe Chesh was at the meeting when he was sick today and didn't even attend. He is no longer a reliable source of information about what is happening to the OME at this rate. I knew he was not really for the shareholders all along but for the agenda of Sonny Abbott and Osage Nation and this sure proves it with his take on things today.
DeleteIt seems Ray sights 2 meetings in his Need to Know, " The first of these meetings was with OMC Councilwomen Cynthia Boone and Stephanie Erwin, with Councilman Talee Redcorn in attendance for at least part of the meeting." I thought that this 'Meeting' was just a 'Drop By' and NOT a meeting as stated by Osageblogger on August 29th at 11:35 & 11:54 AM ? Who has got it right?
DeletePer the today's council meeting it was a "drive by." The Chief had scheduled the meeting with the congressional staffers and they dropped in on the OMC before meeting with him. The Chief concurred with this today while fanning the flames of intrigue last week.
DeleteYou are at the cusp of losing your OME to, at best, a bumbling, spend happy Nation mired in nepotism to the top levels. Who cares about McClain or his incorrect summations.
Funny how the Chief says it's either the OPA or some part of the Minerals Council that is asking these senators to sign us over to the OCC yet he is the one who has apparently been meeting with them and having dinner with them. Where did all the outrage go? When it was rumored that Ms. Boone and Ms. Erwin met with the Senators' staffers everyone was untangling their lynching ropes. When the truth comes to light that the Chief set the meeting, ...all is apparently well and good?
DeleteHell no it's not well and good. The Chief has been manipulating this situation all along and it appears that it's against the shareholders and the OME Trust and trying to make it look like it's members of the Minerals Council all along and of those in particular, Stephanie and Cynthia who have been doing everything possible to stop his meddling and what it's come to now. We may lose this Trust to the State of Oklahoma and the headright income right along with it. Who do you think we should be untangling our lynching ropes for now? And those a** kissers over on fb don't even have a clue.
DeleteI for one am getting to the point I can't believe anything I read anymore. "[Corporation Commission jurisdiction] would mean the end of the trust relationship,” Standing Bear said. “And that would be resisted by the Osage Nation and every tribe in the country. We believe it would lead to great conflict, and we’ve had enough conflict.” ref; http://barnsdalltimes.com/http:/barnsdalltimes.com/news/chief-keep-occ-paws-off-trust . Words matter, WTH is it from Pawhuska?
DeleteI keep hearing the " Resolution " term used in Minerals Council meetings. I looked up RESOLUTION and I found it to mean; "The practice of submitting and voting on resolutions is a typical part of business in Congress, state legislatures, and other public assemblies. When resolutions are mere expressions of opinion, they differ fundamentally from laws. In essence, laws are intended to permanently direct and control matters applying to persons or issues in general; moreover, they are enforceable. By contrast, resolutions expressing the views of lawmakers are limited to a specific issue or event. They are neither intended to be permanent nor to be enforceable. Nor do they carry the weight of court opinions. " ref; http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/resolution
ReplyDeleteSo to me this term says, We do not have any authority, it is just a warm and fuzzy action. Can someone show us where a Minerals Council resolution is considered law or carries some quantitative weight? I am not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling from these meetings lately!
The Osage Nation Congress works with legally non-binding legislative resolutions. The Minerals Council conducts business for the Osage Mineral Estate and works with legally binding resolutions not legislative resolutions of any kind. Two different systems in play under the umbrella of the Osage Nation government created by the Osage Nation Constitution itself in Article XV.
DeleteI remember recently the Osage Minerals Council passed a ' Resolution ' about Superintendent Robin Phillips. If these resolutions are legally binding resolutions, what has happened to Ms. Phillips? Will she now be attending meetings? Is she on probation or is Mike Black coming out to fire her? What legal weight (effect) has this had. I have read the Article XV definition posted but can anyone point out real life examples?
DeleteThe resolution stated the OMC's lack of confidence in Ms. Phillips ability to properly execute her duties. She is however an employee of the BIA and ultimately their personal issue to deal with.
DeleteSo this resolution ' OMC's lack of confidence ' accomplished nothing? I am just trying to find out when OMC threaten to vote on a Resdolution ' in the next couple of weeks, what authority will they have, what can we expect the outcome or as stated " legally binding " action will happen on anything?
DeleteThis thread is now closed. Go to: http://osageblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/osage-shareholder-matters-september-2015.html
ReplyDelete