Scott BigHorse, Candidate for Assistant Principal Chief

By Shannon Shaw

Osage News

Scott BigHorse is ready to bridge the gap between the Executive Branch and Congress if elected assistant principal chief.

His experience as a state legislator, in which he served a two-year term from roughly 2007 to 2009, will bring invaluable experience and contacts to the new administration, whether it’s John Red Eagle or Tim Tall Chief, he said.

The runoff election is July 19.

Correctional facilities

Besides being a state legislator for two years, BigHorse has carved out a place for himself in Oklahoma correctional facilities. For 13 years he worked at the D. Conner Correctional Center (DCCC) located outside of Hominy and for nine years he contracted with the state by opening the only Co-Facilitated Juvenile Detention Center in the state.

He’s been named Correctional Officer of the Year twice, once for DCCC and the second for Division I Institutions which covers approximately 12 institutions, he said. In 2003 he was promoted the Director of the Juvenile Detention Center to Assistant Director for the Youth Services of Osage County which has five programs within it.

He’s active in the community in which he sits on the Pawhuska City Planning and Zoning Board; he’s the current Chairman of the Friends of the Osage Language, Inc.; he’s a member of the board of directors for the Edwin Fair mental health and he’s a Peace Officer, certified by the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training.

Osage community

BigHorse has always been active in the Osage In-Lon-Schka dances and other Osage traditions, he said.

“I have participated in our In-Lon-Schka dances since I was a baby and have grown up in that way of life to the point that it has affected the way I conduct myself when dealing with any situation,” BigHorse said. “[Just as in the In-Lon-Schka] we all have a job to do and we must focus on that job rather than trying to micromanage or worry about everyone else’s job.

“For instance, I want to be your assistant principal chief, I don’t want to be your principal chief during this administration nor do I want to be your director of operations, chief of staff or member of congress,” he said.

He also pointed out that when it comes to the In-Lon-Schka the Osage people put their personal or family differences aside because those differences have no place in the In-Lon-Schka.

“Our government should not be run around personality differences but for the best interest of our Osage people and our Osage government which is much bigger than the sum of individuals serving our government,” he said. “We must begin to put those personality differences aside when we are working for our people in the capacity of an elected official or Osage Nation employee.”

Legislative experience

As a former state legislator he said he is the only candidate that has real experience working within a three-branch government system.

“As a state legislator I joined the National Conference of State Legislators and then joined their Native American Caucus where we developed policy to be sent to Washington, D.C., for bill consideration,” he said. “While a member of the Native American Caucus I chaired the Environment and Natural Resources Committee and Co-Chaired the Transportation Committee.”

From that experience he said it will be his job as assistant chief to explain the intent of legislation to the executive branch through discussions with members of congress and to explain any problems the executive may have with items of legislation.

“I will not participate in the personality conflicts that have plagued our current congress but will work with the executive branch and the principal chief to do what is best for our people and our government,” he said. “This means that I will not take any side but that of our people when congress is divided.

“I will not take a side voting ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on a tie simply because of who may have sponsored the legislation on the table.

“I believe my experience in the Oklahoma State Legislature will help me to do an exemplary job as assistant principal chief when discussing and debating legislative items,” he said.

Policy

His policy ideas focus on making the Osage government more effective and more transparent, he said.

“As a tribal member I would like to see in some form every stream of revenue that comes into the nation (with exception to the minerals estate) and some form of where every stream of revenue leaves the nation and why,” he said. “I work in a business that is audited from four to six times a year on both financial condition and program records, needless to say I believe in being up front and above board with any and all audits.”

He said during his time as a state legislator he formed many valuable contacts within the state to help the principal chief in his decision-making processes.

He is the great grandson of Andrew and Laura BigHorse on his father’s side and the great grandson of Tobe and Mary Trumbly Pearson on his mother’s side. His Osage name is Ki-He-Kah Tah and he is from the Wa-Ka-Ko-Li’n district in Pawhuska. He has been dancing and singing for 40-plus years and he also attends the Native American Church and the Catholic Church.

Assistant Principal Chief candidate Amanda Proctor poses for the Osage News during the Pawhuska In-Lon-Schka. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

By Benny Polacca
Osage News

Before Amanda Proctor started her law career with a focus on Native American issues, she worked as a program director for two tribes where she found herself taking on duties which lawyers tackle on a day-to-day basis.

“I started as a housing director and I felt as a housing director, I was doing a lot of legal work which included drafting policies, negotiating intergovernmental affairs and litigation” such as eviction matters which ended up in court, Proctor said. Those experiences would fuel her efforts to help several Native tribes and causes by representing them in court after graduating from law school.

Now she is running for Osage Nation Assistant Principal Chief to bring her knowledge to the Executive Branch.

Proctor, 35, won the second highest number of votes in the Nation’s June 7 election out of six candidates for the assistant principal chief’s office. Now she faces a July 19 runoff election against Scott BigHorse while incumbent John Red Eagle makes a run for the Principal Chief’s office against Tim Tall Chief.

If elected, Proctor will be the first Osage woman to hold the assistant principal chief’s office. Proctor said she’s heard concerns about a woman holding the second highest elected position in the Executive Branch, but she believes the Nation is ready for another change in progress.

“We’ve never had a female chief or assistant chief. Some people have told me they didn’t feel the tribe was ready for a female leader,” Proctor told the Osage News during an interview after dancing at this year’s Pawhuska In-Lon-Schka dances. “There’s been a lot of evolution: originally these dances were not open to the participation of women. It might be time for leadership to open up as well.”

What’s next for the assistant principal chief?

As assistant principal chief, whoever is elected will have the task of performing duties which may be delegated by the Principal Chief and will serve as an ex-officio member of the Osage Nation Congress, according to the Nation’s Constitution. When meeting with Congress in committee of the whole, the assistant principal chief shall also have the right to join in debate and cast tie-breaking votes when the 12-member Congress is equally divided.

The assistant principal chief-elect also joins the tribal government which is at a crucial crossroads with the Second Osage Nation Congress taking oath of office this month with four new members and several litigations issues in the air, such as lawsuits filed in the Nation’s court system involving the executive and legislative branches and whether the tribe will make a move in response to the recent federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to not rehear the Nation’s case against the Oklahoma State Tax Commission.

On running for office, Proctor, says she’s “wanted to for quite sometime and really thought this through as the (candidacy filing) deadline approached because it involves sacrifices for me. Anytime you put yourself out there, there are risks and consequences.”

Proctor, who is co-founder of Tulsa-based Shield Law Group PLC which focuses on representing Native American tribes and organizations, said she “certainly will have to disengage from a number of my relationships” since the assistant chief position is full-time.

To date, Proctor has represented nine area tribes which, includes serving as general counsel for the Housing Authority of the Seminole Nation (Okla.) as well as the Absentee Shawnee Housing Authority. She is licensed to practice law in the tribal courts for the Iowa, Ponca, Muscogee (Creek) and Cherokee Nations.

Last year, Super Lawyers magazine selected Proctor as one of their Rising Star attorneys who are age 40 and under. According to the magazine’s Web site: “[The Super Lawyers selection process] is a comprehensive, good-faith and detailed attempt to produce a list of lawyers that have attained high peer recognition, meet ethical standards, and have demonstrated some degree of achievement in their field.”

“If elected, I think I will be practicing a lot more law than I am now,” Proctor said. “We are at a critical juncture in the history of this tribe and I think I am in the position to make decisions for the Nation – especially without the comfort of an attorney general (for the Nation).”

Proctor is referring to the Nation’s lack of an attorney general, a position she believes could be instrumental in providing legal advice or resolving conflicts on issues that may arise within the tribal government. “It will keep me sharp in my skills,” Proctor said of holding office, if she is elected. The Nation’s latest effort to establish an attorney general’s office failed earlier this year when the First ON Congress voted down a bill, sponsored by Congresswoman Shannon Edwards which would have created the AG position, during the Hun-Kah Session.

One issue affecting the Osage Nation that Proctor believes she can help with as assistant principal chief is closing the issues raised by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development last year after the agency issued a monitoring report to the Nation asking it to account for more than $666,000 in grant funding which had been awarded to the tribe but was unaccounted for.

A HUD spokeswoman told the Osage News in May the agency was still working with the Nation to close the findings in the monitoring report. A follow-up inquiry made last month has yet to be answered.

“Thanks to my background in housing authority, I really know the ins and outs of federal compliance and HUD audits,” she said.

Proctor also believes “we’ve got to put in some long hours” immediately if she’s elected because the Nation must decide on whether to respond to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to not the rehear the Tax Commission case (also known as the “reservation/ rez status case”).

“We need to figure out where we are and where we need to go,” she said because the Osage Nation’s reservation status is at issue which could affect three of the seven Osage Million Dollar Elm Casinos which are not on protected trust lands.

‘Humble’ start to helping Native Americans

Born in Dallas, Proctor (Osage/ Cherokee) grew up in Wichita, Kans., and graduated from high school in nearby Goddard in 1993 before heading east to attend Ivy League-famed Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. “My background is humble with no expectation of (rural residents) going to Ivy League school,” Proctor said adding her parents (mother Karen Proctor is Osage) grew up in rural Kansas.

Amanda Proctor’s uncle and newly-elected Osage Minerals Councilman Galen Crum is one of her most ardent supporters who has championed and defended her on the Osage Shareholders Association blog which has been a lightning rod of discussion, criticisms and praise for all the candidates, newsmakers and rumors aired through the Internet since the election seasons started heating up last year. In a June 29 posting to the blog, Crum wrote:

“When Amanda was barely in high school she announced that she was going to Harvard to study some major that would allow her to serve Native People. I smiled and encouraged her, (I’m her uncle) but I was certain her parents could never afford Harvard, even if she could qualify. But Amanda fooled me. She worked hard, got the grades, did the public service and extra curricular activities etc. that would land the necessary scholarships to pull it off. Harvard was very hard, not just the incredibly demanding curriculum, but also being a thousand miles from home, with little extra money. Scholarships pay for tuition, room, books etc., but not for plane trips home. I suspect a big, empty college campus is about the loneliest place on earth over Christmas and Thanksgiving breaks. But she stayed with her dream and got it done.”

Proctor completed her Harvard studies and graduated with an AB (bachelor’s) degree in anthropology in 1999. Proctor, who has participated in Native American cultural dances since childhood, founded the Harvard University Powwow in 1995 while attending the school.

After Harvard, Proctor started her work in Indian Country by working as housing directors for the Otoe-Missouria Tribe in Oklahoma and the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians in Dowagiac, Mich., before returning to school to pursue her law degree.

Proctor attended the University of Tulsa from 2003 to 2005 when she earned her Juris Doctorate as well as the Native American Law Certificate. The following year, she was admitted to the Oklahoma Bar Association and joined the staff of Sneed Lang Herrold PC, a Tulsa-based law firm where she focused on Native American law and has signed onto cases involving various tribal matters and causes including the Fletcher v. United States case which involves shareholders of the Osage Minerals Estate.

Today Proctor keeps home in Skiatook where she’s lived for the past five years. She is raising three sons as a single mother: Grayson, 8; Amory, 3; and Rhett, 11 months.

As attorney, Proctor is also general counsel for the Ponca Tribe and has provided legal work for the Otoe-Missouria on some projects. She left Sneed Lang Herrold last year to start Shield Law Group PLC with fellow TU law school graduate Katrina Jacuk who is a member of the Kenaitze tribe in Alaska and is of Aleut descent.

In the eight-year-old Fletcher case, in which Proctor is one of the attorneys of record, Osage plaintiffs William Sam Fletcher and Charles Pratt are seeking the return of headright shares which are being paid to non-Osage shareholders and entities with hundreds of defendants who have been served in the case.

Assistant Principal Chief candidate Amanda Proctor poses for the Osage News during the Pawhuska In-Lon-Schka. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Principal Chief candidate Tim Tall Chief during an interview with the Osage News. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

By Benny Polacca

Osage News

When Tim Tall Chief started his seven-plus-year post with the Oklahoma State Department of Health as deputy commissioner of health and administration in 2002, the agency needed new team leaders after a multi-jurisdiction investigation uncovered mismanagement of the agency under previous leadership prompting the changes.

“I was the guy in charge of the turnaround,” Tall Chief said of the deputy commissioner position he held until Jan. 1 when he retired and has since focused on the campaign trail in his run for Principal Chief of the Osage Nation. He won the second highest number of votes in the June 7 election and faces a July 19 runoff election against John Red Eagle who is currently assistant principal chief.

“I believe everything I’ve done in my role has prepared me for this point.” Tall Chief was also the health department’s human resources director about 25 years before returning as a deputy commissioner.

Tall Chief was hired as deputy commissioner of health and administration in February 2002 by the agency’s then-Commissioner of Health Leslie Beitsch. His post’s responsibilities included overseeing the agency’s budget and funding, accounting services, human resources, information technology, and building management to name a few. The state health department has an annual budget of $370 million and employs 2,300 people.

Tall Chief’s hiring came less than a year after an Oklahoma Multi-County Grand Jury report was released detailing allegations of wrongdoings within the health department which serves Oklahoma’s 77 counties and involved investigators from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations and the FBI. Several developments involving the agency surfaced in 2000 during the grand jury’s 21-month investigation while Tall Chief was state director of Indian education for the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

According to its July 2001 report, the Grand Jury states its “examination of OSDH employment practices has revealed serious deficiencies, and at times blatant disregard for State statutes, regulations and polices and procedures,” which include allegations of department officials hiring unqualified employees, circumventing policies on nepotism, paying employees for non-working hours and misusing state property for personal use. The investigations prompted 302 subpoenas for witnesses and evidence and the grand jury “returned 12 indictments as a result of this investigation composed of 15 defendants and 159 separate counts,” the report stated.

“Some people went to prison, some people died while waiting for trial and some people got terminated,” Tall Chief said. “It took me two years to turn (the department) around and it’s because of the dedicated people committed to it – not just me,” he said adding the department developed a system to trace how its monies are spent during his stay.

While holding leadership positions in Oklahoma’s health and education departments, Tall Chief has also worked as an adjunct faculty member in the University of Oklahoma’s College of Liberal Studies where he has taught a conflict resolution course since 2000 among other past teaching posts which include teaching a health-related course focusing on Native Americans.

“All of those things prepare you for a moment in history: that’s where we are today,” Tall Chief said. He made the decision to run for principal chief a year-and-a-half ago after having a sit-down discussion with his family.

If elected, Tim Tall Chief, 62, will be the second Tall Chief elected as the Nation’s principal chief since the 1906 Act was signed. His father, George Tall Chief, was elected principal chief in 1982 and was re-elected in 1986. Whoever is elected in the July 19 runoff election will be the second Principal Chief to serve the Nation since its government was reformed and new constitution was signed in 2006.

“I am not trying to retrace my father’s footsteps,” Tall Chief said of his decision to run for office. “It’s really about doing what I think is the right thing for the Nation: It’s the motivation.”

Tall Chief is married to Vicki Tall Chief, who is an OU professor in the College of Public Health. They live in Jones, but Tall Chief said he plans on relocating within Osage County if elected. He stays in the Grayhorse District, where he is a committeeman, when visiting the region for tribal and family functions.

He has two adult children: Russ, who is a former Grayhorse District Drumkeeper and is now Director of Arts and Exhibitions for the American Indian Cultural Center & Museum; and Amy, Director of Entertainment for the Osage Million Dollar Elm Casinos venture.

Tall Chief was born in Oklahoma City to George Tall Chief and the late Marion Harmon who both met while students at Central State University in Edmond (now called the University of Central Oklahoma) and is the same institution where Tim Tall Chief would earn his bachelor and master’s degrees.

Harmon had polio and was confined to a wheelchair but still attended classes with Tall Chief’s help everyday since he went to grade school nearby.

“Mom had classes on the fourth floor,” Tall Chief recalls. Everyday he would get called out of class to come help move Harmon’s wheelchair up the university building’s stairs. “She said that’s one of the reasons you got big and strong so early.”

Tall Chief moved into the teaching arena like his parents did and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1971 and a Master’s of Education degree in counseling psychology in 1978.

Tall Chief has taught health courses at OU’s Health Sciences Center with one course focusing on Native Americans and another on public health communication. His other leadership posts include other OUHSC positions including: interim director of the student services office; executive director of the Native American Center of Excellence Consortium; and associate director of the Native American Graduate Program for the College of Public Health.

Tall Chief has also sat on many boards, including the Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission after he was appointed by former Gov. Frank Keating and served as its chairman for eight years. He currently serves as vice chairman on the Osage Nation Health and Wellness Advisory Board, which informs the tribal government of health-related advice. If Tall Chief is elected, he said he plans to resign his position on this board to focus on the Executive Branch operations.

New principal chief, new duties

The next principal chief elected July 19 must briskly learn the ins and outs of the Osage Nation’s government operations; finish working on the 2011 Fiscal Year budget; and start working with the Assistant Principal Chief who will also be elected July 19 as well as the Second Osage Nation Congress which takes the oath of office this month.

“I’m going to sit down with each program director and learn about what they do. And workers who are folks down in the trenches also have input,” Tall Chief said of his plans if elected.

Tall Chief says a typical day as Principal Chief would involve arriving at the office “before 8 a.m. and expects to stay after 5 p.m. I intend to be there and seeing folks on a regular basis.”

When it comes to the Nation’s employees, Tall Chief said “I will never ask anyone to work harder than I do,” but he expects “a standard of excellence for myself and employees. Our citizens deserve the best and we need to raise the bar.”

On traveling, Tall Chief acknowledges travel has been a prior issue in the Executive Branch of some government critics, but says he “does not believe in unnecessary travel.” But if he must travel while principal chief, Tall Chief said “if you got the right folks sitting in the right (work) spots, I think necessary travel should not be a problem,” which includes the assistant principal chief.

“The assistant principal chief needs to know everything that I know, if I am away there should not be a bump in the road,” Tall Chief said. “The assistant principal chief needs to have the knowledge and assistance to make decisions.”

With regards to keeping in touch with the Nation’s legislative and judicial branches and the Minerals Council, Tall Chief said he plans to keep “a collegial and productive relationship between all branches of the Nation. If issues begin to surface, I will get up and meet with the other officials – without breaking the (Nation’s) open meeting law.”

On tribal government spending practices, Tall Chief believes all tribal members “need to know how our government spends every dollar,” according to his campaign Web site. If elected, Tall Chief says he plans to ensure accountability by making audits, reviews and reports available to tribal members after the Nation’s revenue generated through its business enterprises has been evaluated.

Tall Chief has the support of Congressman-elect Geoffrey Standing Bear and Congressman Archie Mason who have both sent Tall Chief letters which have been posted to Tall Chief’s campaign Web site.

“Your promise of transparency and accountability in our Osage government is taken seriously and I know you have the experience to implement your pledge,” Standing Bear wrote to Tall Chief. “We are both looking for creative and innovative ways to enhance our new government to better serve the health, education, and housing needs of our Osage people. With other Osages and Members in the Osage Congress we will have to work diligently to achieve our goals.”

Mason, who has worked with Tall Chief on previous projects, wrote: “You have the ethical standards and knowledge necessary to develop large budgetary components and expertise to meet projected and agreed upon timelines. This commitment is extremely crucial to our services rendered, employee perceptions, and all operations of our nation… Implementation and respect of our Osage law, your past experiences with state and federal entities, and knowledge of conflict resolution is vital.”

Principal Chief candidate Tim Tall Chief poses for the Osage News during the Pawhuska In-Lon-Schka dances. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Principal Chief candidate Tim Tall Chief. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Principal Chief candidate Tim Chief walks in with the Grayhorse District during the Pawhuska In-Lon-Schka. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Assistant Principal Chief candidate Amanda Proctor answers a question during the Osage News Political Debates on June 23. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

By Shannon Shaw
Osage News

Scott BigHorse and Amanda Proctor faced off at the Osage News Political Debates for the Office of the Assistant Principal Chief. Both candidates will be judged by the Osage people on Election Day July 19 for the runoff candidates in the principal chief and assistant chief races.

The candidates were asked eight questions and were given three minutes to answer with one minute for rebuttal. The questions were formed by a seven person question committee made up of Osage News staff and four Osage tribal members; Jason Bussey, Bruce Cass, Marie Rumsey and Jennifer Tiger.

The debate was held on June 23 at the WahZhaZhi Cultural Center in Pawhuska with more than 100 people in attendance. The event was filmed and broadcast live on osagetribe.com and the link to the video is also at the end of this story.

Who would you like to work with as your Principal Chief and why?

“Both have good qualities, both have expertise in the health field,” BigHorse said of principal chief candidates John Red Eagle and Tim Tall Chief. “As assistant chief I could bring in other avenues of expertise. I have experience in law enforcement, in children – abused or neglected.

“They’re both very, very qualified. I’ve been under the arbor with both gentlemen and the Native American Church with [John] Red Eagle,” BigHorse said.

Proctor had a very different answer. Since she is an attorney she pointed out that if the question were in a deposition or a legal proceeding she would have had the question striken from the record because the way a person votes is personal and not even a judge could force a person to disclose their vote. But she thought both men would serve admirably.

“I think for me to answer this question would be a tremendous disservice . . . we as Osages know that this kind of a rift, if created, could last a lifetime. But beyond it being a disservice to me personally it’s also a disservice to the nation and to you,” she said to the audience. “Because the chief and assistant chief have to work together, we have to function as a team and we have to function as a team right out of the gate.”

Administrative competence in tribal government can be a power asset. It must exist in order to deliver quality services and programs to its citizens, attract and retain good people. How will you help the Executive Branch develop the competence to effectively administer its programs and services?

“A good executive director or tribal operations officer . . . I think that person is the cornerstone of an effective tribal government and we have to have the best and the brightest that Indian Country can offer in that capacity,” Proctor said. Proctor is a former housing director for tribal programs and a former program clerk, where she said she got her “sea legs.”

“I’ve done everything as a housing director from writing grant applications, drafting environmental review records, drafting Indian housing plans,” she said. “I’ve rolled up my sleeves and done all of those things and I’m prepared to do all of those things [again] and get this ship sailing smoothly.”

BigHorse said that the cornerstone of the Executive Branch begins with the chief and assistant chief and that to attain administrative competence they need to lead by example. He also touched on that he would like to ensure that the employees receive quality training.

“I think that’s something we need to put in place so that our directors can enhance their abilities and have the additional tools that it takes to run their departments,” BigHorse said. “I would like to see some form of Bill of Rights for our employees, because of the ‘gag order’ . . . the Executive Branch should have an open-door policy.”

Proctor disagreed with BigHorse and said that it will not be her job as assistant chief to micromanage the employees.

“The chief and assistant chief need to be accessible to the employees and citizens but I disagree . . . the chief and assistant chief have some big fires to put out and some real important tasks that need to be handled on a government to government basis and some of these other entities we have issues with such as the state, the [National Indian Gaming Association] and the Secretary of the Interior,” Proctor said. “It’s going to be my job to take that ball down the court; it’s not going to be my responsibility to worry about whether an employee filled the gas tank in the GSA vehicle.”

BigHorse said that maybe Proctor misunderstood him and that in his experience as a state representative good leadership started at the top.

“I think maybe my comments were taken out of context. I’m not talking about micromanaging, I’m talking about setting up a leadership program so that our directors and our employees have proper training in order to deliver services for our people and that does begin with the Executive Branch and it filters down,” BigHorse said. “Every organization I’ve been in starts at the top and it works its way down.”

How will you inspire executive branch employees to higher levels of performance if a merit system is not passed by Congress?

“There are many, many facets of that and one of those is team building and facilitating meetings, learning how to facilitate a meeting and some of that training is something our people need to lift their spirits,” BigHorse said. “If we’re not going to have a merit based system then we need to enhance our employees to the fullest of their ability and that’s what they’ll receive through training. We have Osage people who are in this field, we wouldn’t have to go outside and hire a firm to bring in.”

Proctor said that without a merit system the Nation would first need to make sure all the employee’s salaries were compliant with federal budget parameters; currently the Nation is on a 2003 government pay scale.

“There have been a number of surveys conducted regarding employee satisfaction and most of those surveys have reported that money is not the number one consideration to feeling job satisfaction where other issues such as feeling empowered and feeling appreciated for your work that matter more for the employees,” Proctor said. “When we talk about this merit system we talk about as though it’s discretionary and to some extent it’s not. Because there’s a little document put out by the Office of Management and Budgets, Circular A-87, and it applies to all federally funded tribal programs and that document states that salaries for those federally assisted programs must be necessary and reasonable and how we determine they are necessary and reasonable, the only way to do it really is to compare.

“And you compare not only internally, tribal program to tribal program within one tribe, but you compare those programs to other programs and you compare those tribal programs to other government agencies to make sure that we are paying those people within our federal budget parameters. So we really need to have a way to salary grid and we need to implement that now before we are called on that in a federal program audit as has happened to several of the tribes that I work with,” Proctor said.

If a citizen personally called you to complain about a program or service they didn’t receive, how would you handle the situation?

“As I stated earlier I’ve been a housing clerk and I’ve been a housing director for two tribes and one of those two tribes I am presently a lawyer for in their housing services area and as a housing director I’ve dealt with a lot of complaints,” Proctor said. “One of the things that has served me well is to have a grievance policy and I’ve always had a grievance policy and I had real thorough procedures for how a person attained redress from their unsatisfied service delivery.”

The policy would begin with an informal process and ends with a grievance hearing if the matters not resolved formally and there is always a follow-up to make sure it was resolved.

“We don’t have a grievance policy here at the Osage Nation and I know that because I’ve been aggrieved myself a time or two. I had an issue with the Housing program personally and an issue with the child care program personally and both times I was told that there was no grievance policy,” she said. Proctor said that she wrote a letter by hand and sent it through the proper channels and the outcome was chaotic because there was no formal process. “So, certainly [a grievance process] is something I would implement and I would implement right away.”

BigHorse said he would speak directly to the directors of the programs that received the complaints and ask them to resolve the issue themselves.

“When I was a state legislator I received many calls like this and in my capacity as a state legislator the way that we handled it in both the house and senate side was to call that director in that was over that program and give him the information,” BigHorse said. “There are two sides to every street, just because someone has made a complaint doesn’t mean it’s a viable and legitimate complaint but you still want to hear that person out.

“So you call that director in and you talk to that director and you explain the situation as it has been explained to you and then you allow that director to go down the chain to the person that the person is grieving on and then you let them work that out, you follow up with that director, you call that director back in or you set a time for that director to come back in with a resolve,” he said.

Proctor disagreed.

“I would not defer accountability if it were a grievance that was brought to my attention as [assistant] principal chief. Referring that matter to the program director handle it or not in his or her discretion would not be satisfactory to me,” Proctor said. “I would want to personally follow up with that person and make sure the problem was resolved and if it wasn’t resolved let’s follow through.

“Sometimes we have to be creative and look outside of what the Osage Nation can offer, I’ve had housing clients come to me and they couldn’t be served through HUD [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] programs but maybe they can be served through the USDA or some other agency . . . and we explore all of those options to do everything that we can to help that person,” Proctor said.

BigHorse maintained that his chain of command method would be the best way to handle complaints.

“A part of the process, the end process is following up with that constituent,” BigHorse said. “So, that is part of the process, when you talk to that director and that director takes it on down the line in whatever capacity and they work their way through that process and they bring it back to you and you respond to that constituent that gave you that call.”

Do you believe in per cap payments, and please explain why or why not?

“I believe in our future that we do have the ability for per cap but however at this time right now . . . we have many issues that may be costly issues that we’re going to have to deal with,” BigHorse said. “So before we look at any per cap we need to take care of our in-house business and make sure that it is all taken care of and if we have a surplus of monies and we have a rainy day fund and we’ve got backup monies, then yes, I am for per cap.”

Proctor said it would be up to the Osage Nation Congress to make the call on whether or not the Nation would have a per cap payment because it would call for an amendment to the tribe’s revenue allocation plan. The amendment would be subject to the chief’s veto power but she said at this time it isn’t a good idea.

“I think we have a lot of budgetary issues . . . we’ve got to save jobs, we’ve got to save as much as we can for those three casinos that are not on trust restricted land that are in jeopardy and it’s not time to think of new pressures that we can put upon our revenues,” Proctor said. “It’s time to tighten our belt straps and really thinking about what’s important to this Nation.

She said once the casino debacle is taken care of, the Nation’s elders, children, all the housing issues addressed and the Nation’s income is up than she would be open to a per capita payment.

BigHorse disagreed with Proctor in that he said not all good ideas are born from the Congress and that good ideas do come from the Executive Branch.

“I disagree that all ideas must be born in Congress, the Executive Branch is there and they are going to be some of our brightest of the bright in order to sit in those seats and there are a lot of policies that come out of the Executive Branch that are passed down to congress,” BigHorse said.

Proctor said that the legislative branch controls the purse strings of the Nation’s government and it would be up to Congress to allocate the money for the per capita after they make an amendment to the tribe’s revenue allocation plan.

“I don’t disagree that the Executive Branch can generate good ideas and can bring those ideas to the attention of Congress, I’ve certainly got a lot of ideas myself, but an amendment to the tribe’s revenue allocation plan would fall within Congress’s purview,” Proctor said. “I’m certainly open to the possibility of per capita payments but that would depend on the revenue stream or liquidity and that is something that [only those Congress members] sitting in those chairs now knows.”

How do you plan to become an active figure in policy making as our new Assistant Chief?

“In my experience in the state legislature I plan on hitting the ground running, I do not have to go to any sort of school to learn how to develop policy, I’ve developed policy on the state level and I’ve also developed policy for Indian Country on the national level,” BigHorse said.

While in the state legislature he joined the National Conference of State Legislators, he was on the Native American Caucus that was made up of approximately 90 state legislators that addressed the needs of Indian Country throughout the United States.

“We would look at those problems and try to come up with a solution, and we would develop a policy, and then the attorneys from NCSL would take our policy request to Capitol Hill for consideration to be offered before Congress in a bill form,” he said.

Proctor said she already has policies in mind and as an attorney for a number of Indian tribes in Oklahoma she’s seen some of the best and worst practices. She said she crafts policy and makes policy recommendations on “pretty much a daily basis” and only wants to implement the best policy practices she’s seen.

“One of the policies that I think is absolutely critical and time sensitive is a land acquisition program because only persons of half Osage blood or more can hold land under restriction, those people, unfortunately, are becoming fewer and fewer and they’re not leaving what we call Qualified Indian Heirs,” she said. “Those are persons who would be qualified to hold land under restriction usually because of their degree of blood. So we’ve got to go out and find those lands, we’ve got to buy those lands, and we’ve got to lease those lands now before those lands pass out of restricted status.

“No one’s making any more land and certainly not making any more restricted land so that would be a number one policy goal that I would put into place as assistant chief,” she said.

Another policy she would to develop a detention facility that would serve prisoners from Indian tribal justice systems, those would be misdemeanor offenders, usually with alcohol driven offenses because tribal court jurisdiction is limited by federal law to one-year incarceration or a $1,000 fine, she said. There is not one facility of that kind in Indian Country or Oklahoma, not one that takes adult offenders.

“I think this could be not only be a great service to Indian people but it could be a source of economic development,” Proctor said. She also said she would expand housing to all areas of the reservation, not just Pawhuska.

BigHorse responded with a question to Proctor. He wanted to know where she planned to put a detention facility.

“This is the field I come out of, corrections, prisons, it’s a good idea. It is a money maker. Right now the state of Oklahoma has approximately 6,000 adult prisoners in private prisons in the state of Oklahoma and they’re paying $50 a day,” BigHorse said. “The state of Oklahoma houses the same inmate, a little bit tougher inmates, because the private prisons get to pick the cream of the crop.

“The state of Oklahoma houses inmates at $28 a day, my question is where are we going to place this, whose backyard is this going to be and are they going to be willing for us to put it in their backyard?” he said.

Proctor named off the small towns of Ralston, Fairfax, Hominy, Barnsdall, Shidler and Burbank as a few examples of places on the reservation where a detention facility could be built.

“My mother and uncle who are sitting here grew up in a little town called Elgin, Kans., about 20 miles north of here and it doesn’t really exist anymore and what I’d like to do is build this prison in a place where people need jobs and people need hope and people need opportunity because this kind of facility would provide jobs not only as correctional officers . . . but also in the therapeutic area because we would need to provide these people with services,” Proctor said. “Again, they’re misdemeanor inmates, alcohol driven offenses, they’re not felons, they’re not hard core, they’re Indian people who need help and I would like to put these facilities in places where our people need help in the form of jobs.”

If elected, what will your level of responsibility be in relation to the Minerals Council?

“Mine would be as a backup and cooperative role. I know that these past four years that crucial issues have come up and the Minerals Council was needing some of their own travel money and that money was not approved for their travel and in my opinion they’re the ones that should be managing that money . . . we are there to cooperate with the Minerals Council because they are a separate entity,” BigHorse said.

Proctor said she didn’t know of any direct responsibility she would have if any with the Minerals Council but she would like to have a working knowledge of the council’s activities.

“I’m the attorney of record in the case of Fletcher vs. United States . . . and I believe very strongly in the principles behind that case and I believe that non-Indians should not be sharing in those mineral royalties,” she said. “I will hope to monitor that case and will hope to convince the Minerals Council that they too should monitor that case in some way. At least one share was returned by a defendant in that case, a church, and there are more settlements in the pipeline and someone needs to create a fund to pull those shares as they come back in.”

The plaintiffs in Fletcher vs. United States, William Fletcher and Charles Pratt, are asking that all section four royalty payments to shareholders only be paid to Osage shareholders and that all non-Osage shareholders and non-Osage entities be required to give back their shares.

BigHorse said that he didn’t think the majority of Osage shareholders knew about the Fletcher case or what the case stood for. He also said that the attorneys in the case are asking for too much money.

“The only problems that I have with this case is right now the attorneys are asking for $2 million and I would like to hear where that $2 million is going to come from because personally as a shareholder I don’t think all shareholders are aware that this lawsuit is out there and I don’t think they’ve been asked if they want to be a part of that law suit,” BigHorse said. “That’s something that needs to be taken back to the Minerals Council and the Minerals Council should, I believe, do a possible survey if they have over 50 percent of the people that want to pursue that litigation then that’s fine and the money would come out of our shareholder’s money, but that’s the only place where I see that money could come from.”

Proctor disagreed.

“I’m not sure which lawsuit Mr. BigHorse is referring to, I know there are several lawsuits pending, the lawsuit I am the attorney of record on, the Fletcher vs. United States case, I am unaware of any demand for attorneys fees – in fact the attorneys have carried the freight on that case for the last eight years and the attorneys, with their own money, spent up to $50,000 to accomplish this service [when] almost 1,700 non-Indian individuals and entities are collecting those distributions,” she said. “I don’t disagree that the shareholders don’t know what’s going on and that’s because no one on the tribal side is monitoring that case.

“We have heard from the defendants in that case and they’ve tried to give their shares back and we’ve communicated with the various chiefs of this Nation about giving those shares back and they’ve either received no reply or told it was impossible. It’s not impossible and it needs to happen,” she said.

How will you handle disputes with the Congress?

“The key to avoiding disputes is communication,” Proctor said. “The assistant chief is in a very strategic position to build those relationships between the Congress and Executive Branch so I would feel it was incumbent upon myself . . . to explain the disadvantages and the advantages of those laws, to convey the beliefs or the objections or reservations of the principal chief, if that be the case, so those amendments can be made during the legislative process instead of on the back end.”

She said her tribal clients prefer her to be at their council meetings because she brings her mediation practices with her and their meetings always go smoother.

BigHorse said his idea is to bring the chief and the Speaker of the Congress together.

“My idea is to bring the chief and Speaker of the [Congress] together and set up a mediation process so when there are disputes [those] two sides can come together with an unbiased person and sit down and talk through their issues,” BigHorse said. “[They can] come to a common ground without having to file lawsuits and pay attorneys outlandish wages to settle something that is probably simple enough that you can sit down at a table and come to an agreement to.”

Proctor did not disagree with BigHorse and agreed that the lawsuits between the Executive Branch and the legislative branch needs to stop.

“I believe it’s a tremendous waste of resources to fight inter-branch and that’s certainly something that hurts those branches and hurts the Nation,” she said. “I think we’ve got to find that middle ground however we can find it and I think the key to that harmony is communication.”

BigHorse maintained that his mediation policy will work.

“The mediation policy is the key, it is the answer and I also hope that the lawsuits are cut down to nothing but as you all know and we have attorneys who are sitting in this room right now, any one of you out here can file a lawsuit on me tomorrow for wearing this shirt I’m wearing tonight, and that’s just a fact of life folks,” BigHorse said. “To me the mediation process, putting it in place in conjunction with the Executive Branch and the Speaker of Congress and its members is of the utmost importance.”

Click below to view the video of the Osage News Debate for the runoff candidates:

http://www.osagetribe.com/electioncandidates/welcome_sub_page.aspx?subpage_id=9

Click below to hear the story by Susan Shannon from Indian Times on KGOU-KROU:

http://www.kgou.org/content/mp3/2010_06_26-27_i_times_mixdown.mp3

Osage News Political Debates moderator Jim Hill and Susan Singh announce the debate rules during the Osage News Political Debates on June 23. Both are volunteers from the League of Woman Voters of Greater Tulsa. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Assistant Principal Chief candidates Scott BigHorse and Amanda Proctor listen to the debate rules given by moderator Jim Hill during the Osage News Political Debates on June 23. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

About 100 people attended the Osage News Political Debates on June 23 featuring the four candidates for Principal Chief and Assistant Principal Chief. Those candidates will face a runoff election on July 19. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Assistant Principal Chief candidate Amanda Proctor answers the first of eight questions given during the Osage News Political Debates on June 23. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Assistant Principal Chief candidate Scott BigHorse answers the first of eight questions given to him and fellow candidate Amanda Proctor during the Osage News Political Debates on June 23. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Assistant Principal Chief candidate Scott BigHorse answers a question during the Osage News Political Debates on June 23 in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Audience members listen to the Assistant Principal Chief candidates answer questions during the Osage News Political Debates on June 23 in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Osage Nation Assistant Principal Chief candidates Scott BigHorse and Amanda Proctor shake hands after participating in the Osage News Political Debates on June 23 in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Osage Nation Principal Chief candidate Tim Tall Chief (right) answers a question during the Osage News Political Debates on June 23. Fellow candidate John Red Eagle listens. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

By Benny Polacca
Osage News

Osage Nation Principal Chief candidates John Red Eagle and Tim Tall Chief returned to the lecterns to answer questions during the Osage News Political Debates held June 23 in Pawhuska.

Both men received the highest number of votes in the June 7 election and will compete in the Nation’s runoff election July 19. The Osage News hosted this second candidate debate for the Principal Chief and Assistant Principal Chief runoff election candidates and asked Red Eagle and Tall Chief eight questions.

Each candidate was allowed three minutes to answer each question and allowed one minute for rebuttal, or follow-ups after both candidates answered the question.

“Since you will have to hit the ground running when you take the oath of office in August, who have you considered for your administration?”

Both candidates did not name those who could be considered for appointed positions in their cabinets. Instead, Red Eagle and Tall Chief described how they would set up their administrations in the Executive Branch, if elected.

“Right now, I would use my assistant chief as the second highest official in charge, whoever that might be, and I plan to have a senior adviser who will advise the chief and possibly the assistant chief,” Red Eagle said. “I will have a legislative analyst who will do a lot of reading and write legislation that the administration wants to do and possibly work with the legislature in their efforts to produce legislation and law.”

Red Eagle said his administration will also have a budget analyst “who will look at the budgets since we do over 100 budgets for the Nation.” He will also have a communications officer and a “government affairs person who will do most of my legwork with other governments, local governments, county governments, state government.”

Tall Chief said he believes “it’s essential that we have the finest, the most highly qualified individuals in all of the roles we have in our administration.” He said his administration would include the positions Red Eagle listed and also “legal counsel and Office of Governmental Affairs. All those things have to be a very important part of what we do. I also believe we need a chief financial officer” who will be helping manage the budgets.

“I really believe that as you look at credentials of people who are going to be in these positions, there are many, many Osage people around the country that are highly qualified… to come and do these different roles that we talked about,” Tall Chief said. “Many of them would love to come back and be a part of this Nation and I think to provide that opportunity to our highly qualified folks out there would be a great move for our Nation to do.”

If elected, Tall Chief said he also plans to establish advisory groups for tribal youth and elders “to help me to help our assistant chief and to help our administration address the needs of our young and our old.”

After Tall Chief finished answering the question, Red Eagle used his follow-up minute to say he will appoint a treasurer for the Nation as allowed by the Constitution, but did not say who that person would be. “Right now that treasurer is the second highest paid individual in the Nation and we have to look seriously at that, consider their duties, what they have to do.”

Red Eagle also said “in the past, Congress has felt that producing boards has had a negative effect at times, we really have to lobby for the boards” because government officials need to consider costs and resources to support boards.

Tall Chief responded in his follow-up minute, stating: “One of the things that’s essential for us to create, ladies and gentlemen, is a team.” He then referred to the assistant principal chief’s position as “as an essential role and part” of the Executive Branch operations.

“What are your plans for the reservation status case?”

Last month, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals denied to rehear the Nation’s case against the Oklahoma state Tax Commission, which left the Executive Branch 90 days to make a decision on whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The nine-year-old case was first filed in 2001 in federal court in Tulsa. The case then went to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals where it ruled in December 2007 that the Nation could proceed against individual members of the Oklahoma Tax Commission. U.S. District Judge James Payne ruled in February of 2009 that Osage Nation employees are not exempt from paying state income taxes and that Osage County is not the Osage Reservation’s boundaries. The Nation asked him to reconsider his “lousy decision,” as Principal Chief Jim Gray put it at the time, but Payne let the ruling stand. The Nation appealed to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals again where there agreed with Payne’s ruling. The Nation asked the 10th Circuit to reconsider their decision in January of this year.

Tall Chief said “at this point, we don’t have any options… we have to keep that case alive… at this point, the only way to do that is to forward it onto the (U.S.) Supreme Court. We need to develop a brief and send it to the Supreme Court. The reason for that is simple: as long as it is alive, the state of Oklahoma has said ‘we will not come in and close your casinos because you all are in the process of trying to make them appropriate.’”

“We’re going to have about 20 days after the inauguration of chief and assistant chief to get that (brief) to the Supreme Court… we’re going to have to act fast.” Tall Chief said it could take eight months for the Supreme Court to decide whether to hear the case, so the Nation should use that time to contact state and Bureau of Indian Affairs officials to get the three casino properties, which are at issue, into trust.

Red Eagle also believes appealing the case is essential to “buy some time,” but noted “It’s my understanding that the percentage of the Supreme Court hearing a case like this is 1 percent.” He believes the Nation needs to communicate with government officials, especially those on the federal level who handle trust land applications as well as the National Indian Gaming Commission to keep the Nation’s casinos operating and to avoid hurting the gaming revenues.

“We are in a situation where we need to make some definite moves, whoever the next chief is going to be, they’re going to have some quick decisions to make,” Red Eagle said.

“With up to nearly 50 percent of our gaming revenue at risk, what is your plan to secure the growth of our tribal resources?”

If the case involving the Nation and the Oklahoma Tax Commission is ultimately lost, the Nation stands to lose gaming revenues generated from the Tulsa, Ponca City and Skiatook casinos if they are forced to close, which prompts the question on what the candidates will do to secure the growth of tribal resources.

Red Eagle referred to the Osage Limited Liability Company which was set up in 2009 to generate non-gaming income for the Nation. “They were given $7.5 million last spring” through an appropriation bill passed by Congress and have made passive investments, he said. “We have to look at that to see if they have the ability to produce some revenue for this Nation.”

If elected, Red Eagle said he will “start an internal audit department to see and assess where we are… see how our money’s being spent, see what’s wasted, what is going out that shouldn’t be going out, what is spent that shouldn’t be spent. We need people that will show us what’s wrong, where it needs to be fixed and that’s what an assessment does.”

Tall Chief said “the answer is diversification, No. 1” in referring to business opportunities which are independent from gaming. He acknowledged the LLC as Red Eagle did in his answer, but noted the Nation will not see instant revenues from the LLC efforts, so the Nation should also “pursue grants very hard.”

“Again, we tend to depend on the money that’s available at hand and we don’t sometimes pursue the grants that are out there that could replace some of the money that we’re using from casinos,” Tall Chief said. In his answer, he also said the Nation should immediately address the trust land issue affecting the three casinos at stake.

“For example, the Ponca (City) casino, that one is on wheels, it’s a double-wide on wheels,” Tall Chief said of the casino’s building structure. “There’s trust land around, there’s trust land we can perhaps purchase, that we could lease. We could pull up that casino and move it to those trust lands and it would not be in jeopardy anymore. Tall Chief said if the worse-case scenario occurs and the Tulsa casino must close, he would like to consider starting a tribal college in that casino’s building which could be an additional source of Nation revenue.

In his one-minute follow-up, Red Eagle said he’s “all for college,” but noted colleges cost money to build and casino revenue has dropped in the past two years from “$50 million-plus to $34 million… If that revenue continues to drop then we’re going to have to do some serious cutbacks, then we have to look at making money in this economy today [and it’s] a little bit harder than it was 25 years ago, so we have to look at this very seriously.”

Tall Chief said in his one-minute follow-up he believes the Nation should buy a bank because “we are generating millions of dollars and those monies are going into someone else’s bank. Believe me, when it hits their bank it doesn’t just sit there, it’s moving, it’s making them money… it needs to be in our bank, it needs to be making the Osage people money.”

“Since you will be handling the program’s budgets for the Nation when you are sworn into office, are you going to advocate to hold the Nation’s spending at 2010 levels?”

Tall Chief said the Nation should prepare two budget plans in case revenue has decreased. The first budget should have all the proposed increases in spending for government operations and cost-of-living salary increases for employees and the second budget should reflect the previous year’s budget if there is no increases in the Nation’s revenue, he said.

Red Eagle said he checked the casino revenue figure in May and believes the Nation is “below budget” for hitting the projected revenue figure of $25 million, so he supports holding government spending at 2010 levels. “From now on, I think we should look at where are we wasting our money? Where we’re spending too much, and then take that money” to build a “rainy day fund” and seek banking advice on investing it.

“If elected, will you be lifting the ‘gag order’? If so, will there be any type of communication protocol with your administration?”

This question refers to the communication protocol implemented last year by Chief Jim Gray which requires Executive Branch employees to get permission to release requested information about the branch’s operations to the Osage Nation Congress. Several tribal members have since started referring to the policy as a “gag order.”

“Yes, I will be lifting the gag order because I believe that the Nation’s revenue is the people’s revenue and an elected official has every right to see the financials,” Red Eagle said, adding he plans to develop a protocol which would be suitable for Osage citizens and tribal employees “because they are a vital part in our Nation, they need to know what’s going on.”

Tall Chief said “the gag order never should have been put in place, it’s one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard - to tell the employees they can’t talk to legislators, to Congressional people” about their government program’s operations and finances. “The finest, most knowledgeable people in our program areas are the people who are doing it.”

“As far as a protocol, again, I think that any congressperson and any citizen has the right to speak to any employee within this Nation as long as it’s not impeding their work responsibilities,” Tall Chief said.

“What would be the advantages and disadvantages of taking over the management of the Pawhuska Clinic? Does the Nation have the administrative capacity to effectively manage the Pawhuska (Indian Health Service) Clinic? Why or why not?

Tall Chief, who is currently the vice chairman of the Nation’s Health and Wellness Advisory Board, said he and other board members recommended the Nation take over the operations of the IHS-run clinic two years ago. A feasibility study on whether the tribe should take over the clinic was recently conducted and its results say the takeover effort “would be very appropriate,” he said.

“The finances are there, the people are there, the expertise is there and we can manage that,” Tall Chief said of the clinic feasibility study. He said the clinic should focus on its third-party billing practices to generate revenue and referred to an example from his Oklahoma State Department of Health post.

“When I was at State Health, we raised our Medicaid (our third-party billing money) from $2 million - in three years, it was to $18 million… We can bill Medicaid for the (clinic) services we are providing if our customers we are serving are eligible - we need to make sure that everybody applies.” Tall Chief believes increased clinic revenue should be used to increase clinic services and the number of staff including doctors and nurses who handle patient care.

Red Eagle said the clinic could serve more Osages by expanding the patient service area if the Nation takes over its operations because only patients living in Osage and Pawnee counties are eligible to receive care at the clinic. Compacting the clinic “would give us the revenue and right now, I believe that revenue is around $5 million to operate that clinic yearly. We would take that and we could manage that revenue in how we wanted to” run the clinic, he said.

“What is the scope of responsibilities of the chief of staff now that there is a tribal operations director?”

Red Eagle said the “current chief of staff advises the principal chief and that is primarily her job. She advises him on tribal matters, on those tribal matters dealing with other tribes… She advises him on legal counsel even though our present chief of staff is not an attorney… I believe that she writes legislation, she reads legislation, she advised the chief on whether to veto a bill or not to veto a bill, whether that bill is good or whether it’s not good, so primarily her job has been those duties over the past year since the new director of operations came on board.”

Red Eagle is referring to current Chief of Staff Hepsi Barnett who also “participates in the finances of the government” and he said he believes “she is given primarily more authority over the assistant chief at the present time.”

Tall Chief said the tribal operations director is a relatively new position, but “I’m not sure it needs to be there.” He said he is not proposing to add more positions, but he “would like to combine some roles into an existing position and add some additional responsibilities to the folks.”

“As far as the chief of staff,” said Tall Chief, “I believe the current chief of staff’s role has gone beyond its appropriate level and I really believe the role of the chief of staff is to be the assistant in every possible way to the chief. I don’t think decisions, at the magnitude that John (Red Eagle) described should be in the hands of the chief of staff. I think the chief of staff is there to manage folks, to oversee some of the operations, but to not make those kind of decisions – those decisions belong to the assistant chief and to the chief.”

“Who would you like to work with as your Assistant Principal Chief and why?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Tall Chief said with a smile after the moderator read the question out loud. “Let me say this ladies and gentlemen, both of the folks that are in the running for assistant principal chief have some wonderful credentials.

“Now you understand I’m probably not going to answer this, but understand I’ve known Scott BigHorse, we’ve been in that arena for many, many years,” Tall Chief said. “I’ve danced to Scott’s songs for many, many years… he has some experience in state government. Amanda Proctor is Harvard-educated, she has a law degree, she’s an attorney, she’s done a lot of work with many, many tribes,” he said.

“I’ve spent some time with both of them, I’ve talked to them, we’ve talked about what-ifs, we’ve talked about how to move forward, how do we continue to work together,” Tall Chief said. “And I believe in my heart that I could work with either one of them and help this Nation move forward and be successful. That’s no answer, but it’s my answer,” he said with the audience reacting with laughs.

“The two individuals who made the runoff after the general election are two very qualified individuals as Tim said,” Red Eagle said. “Amanda is an attorney who would bring a lot of good things to the Nation. Scott would bring his legislative experience and I believe that because of the relationship that I’ve had with them – Scott (in the Indian culture) is actually my nephew, so I could have a little say-so over him, Amanda is probably my niece because she’s made a relationship with my father,” he said jokingly before ending with “I trust the Osage people to make the right decision.”

About 100 people came to the June 23 runoff candidates’ debate at the Wah-Zha-Zhi Cultural Center. The Osage News formed a question committee to brainstorm and develop the questions posed to the candidates who participated in the Political Debates. The debate was emceed by Susan Shannon, host of KGOU’s Indian Times and was moderated by Jim Hill, a volunteer from the League of Women Voters of Greater Tulsa.

Audience members listen to the Principal Chief candidates speak during the Osage News Political Debates on June 23 in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Principal Chief candidate Tim Tall Chief answers a question at the Osage News Political Debates on June 23 in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Principal Chief candidate John Red Eagle answers a question at the Osage News Political Debates on June 23 in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Moderator Jim Hill (green shirt) wishes the Osage Nation Principal Chief candidates John Red Eagle and Tim Tall Chief the best of luck after the candidates answer eight questions at the Osage News Political Debates on June 23 in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Osage Nation Principal Chief candidate John Red Eagle returns to his seat after answering questions at the Osage News Political Debates on June 23 in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Congressional candidate Alice Goodfox (center) waits for the June 7 election results to be announced while standing by her husband Joe Goodfox. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

By Benny Polacca
Osage News

Election officials certified the 2010 election results Wednesday, meaning there will be a runoff election July 19 for the Osage Nation Executive Branch’s top two offices. Results in the 2010 Minerals Council were also certified with shareholders voting to retain Cynthia Boone and electing seven new council members.

The Nation’s Election Board certified the election results at 3:35 p.m. Wednesday after 21 provisional ballots were counted and the board met with TrueBallot, the company hired to run the election. If any candidate wishes to challenge the June 7 election results, he or she has until 3:35 p.m. Saturday (June 12) to formally request a ballot recount. A $500 fee is required for a recount, according to the election rules.

Current Assistant Principal Chief John Red Eagle was the top vote-getter with 1,101 votes followed by Tim Tall Chief who got 744 votes and both will face a runoff election July 19. Incumbent Principal Chief Jim Gray won 633 votes; Roy St. John, 79 votes; and Carl “Chico Sellers, 55 votes.

In the Assistant Principal Chief race, Scott BigHorse won 628 votes and will compete in the runoff election with Amanda Proctor who won 485 votes. Everett Waller came in third with 468 votes followed by Cecelia Tallchief, 417; Anthony Shackelford, 386; and Jeff Irons, 198. The results were not announced until 1 a.m. on June 8.

Geoffrey Standing Bear won the most votes in the Osage Nation Congress race with 1,494 votes followed by incumbents Raymond Red Corn (1,299) and William “Kugee” Supernaw (1,258) who both won second terms. Alice Goodfox (926); Daniel Boone (892); and John Free Jr. (822) were also elected and will serve their first four-year terms as Congress members.

A total of 2,628 people voted in the June 7 election, according to the election board, which is about 27 percent of the Nation’s 9,849 members who are at least 18 years old and eligible to vote.

The 21 provisional ballots counted by the Election Board did little to change the voting results, but Election Supervisor Lisa Otipoby said those votes could have impacted the second highest vote-getter in the Assistant Principal Chief race. In initial voting results, Amanda Proctor received 480 votes and Everett Waller trailed by 14 with 466 votes.

“It opened up the margin by 17 votes instead of 14,” Otipoby said of the provisional ballot count which gave Proctor five more votes and Waller two additional votes.

Of the 2,628 people who voted on June 7, 1,349 in-person ballots were cast and 1,279 absentee ballots were mailed in.

A minimum of 14 provisional ballots were needed in order for the provisional ballots to be counted, so the 21 provisional ballot votes were added to the initial voting results before they were certified. Two provisional ballots were disqualified because they were not postmarked by June 7 as required, said Otipoby, who also noted there were no spoiled ballots that were disqualified in the election.

Election Board member Shannon Lockett said she was pleased with the June 7 voter turnout because the national voter turnout is lower and averaged between 15 to 20 percent.

Absentee ballot request deadline is June 29 for runoff election

The July 19 runoff election will be similar to this month’s in which the voting poll will be at the Tribal Administration Building on the Government Campus and will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The deadline for absentee ballot requests is June 29 for those who did not request an absentee ballot in the June 7 election. If people requested and voted via absentee ballot in this week’s election, they will automatically get an absentee ballot for the July 19 election, Otipoby said.

Those who voted in-person June 7, but will not be able to return to Pawhuska for the July 19 runoff election will need to request an absentee ballot by June 29, Otipoby said.

“If you’re an Osage Nation member who did not vote June 7, you can vote in the runoff election,” Otipoby said. “I just hope there is as much hoopla as the other day.”

Minerals Council election results also certified June 9

Incumbent Minerals Councilwoman Cynthia Boone was elected to a second term with 312.8 shareholder votes with seven other candidates who will serve their first terms on the OMC.

Winning their initial four-year OMC terms were: Dudley Whitehorn (300.3 votes); Melvin Core (295); Curtis Bear (251.3); Andrew Yates (227); Galen Crum (215); Joseph “Sonny” Abbott (207); and Myron Red Eagle (199).

The results for the OMC election were not announced until 5:30 a.m. on June 8.

A crowd of people stand in front of the Tribal Administration Building to see taped results on the window at the June 7 election. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

People rush to the window to see the final results of the June 7 election in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Congressman William Supernaw speaks with an Osage voter after the results were announced on June 7. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Principal Chief Jim Gray shakes hands with an Osage voter after the results are announced during the June 7 election. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

An election-themed cake sits at the campaign camp of election candidates Danette Daniels, Talee Redcorn, Gregory Woodell, Robert Martin, Jewell Purcell and Kathryn Red Corn on June 7 in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

By Ruby Murray
Osage News

On Election Day congressional candidate Daniel Boone fulfilled his campaign promise “to put a meat pie in your mouth, strawberry pop in your hand, and a smile on your face.”

Other candidates for Osage government had varied strategies for feeding voters on Election Day. Some considered voter preference for traditional Osage food, others considered the need for diabetic dessert choices and some went with a more contemporary flare.

The weather played havoc with congressional candidate Anthony Webb’s plans. Wind blew away supplies at Webb’s Grayhorse camp requiring a last minute shopping trip for Webb and his wife. Anticipating high temperatures, congressional candidate Randolph Crawford brought thirty bags of ice and lots of water as well as a barbecue lunch.

Candidates provide choices for lunch and dinner

Voters had choices of barbecue, fruit, vegetables, frybread at lunch and more choices for dinner. Minerals Council candidate Joseph “Sonny” Abbott Jr. served a cake topped with the Osage Nation seal and cookies with a Team Osage logo.

Assistant Chief candidate Amanda Proctor was serving steam fry, corn soup and frybread from the White Eagle community for the evening meal. A group of candidates including congressional candidate Danette Daniels and minerals council candidates Talee Redcorn, Jewell Purcell, Gregory Woodell, Robert Martin and Kathryn Red Corn planned a dinner including ham and a specially decorated “ballot cake.”

Congressional candidate Johnny Williams planned to serve Indian hotdogs in the afternoon, which is a hotdog inside of a piece of frybread topped with a choice of veggies and sauce.

Vance Wyrick, a congressional candidate from Florida, set up with boxes of donuts.

Jake Heflin, a congressional candidate from California, enlisted Ben Conley of Barnsdall to prepare lunch. While the slow cooker – big enough for fifty turkeys, according to Conley – slow cooked 50 pounds of brisket and pork for voters.

Dudley Whitehorn enlisted Hominy committee cook Suzi Hamilton to cook fry bread at his camp on Election Day. Robby Corcoran barbecued pulled pork and chopped brisket for his uncle Raymond Red Corn, running for re-election to the ON Congress.

Jeff Irons said that since so many candidates were feeding people lunch, he brought vegetable relish trays. Chico Sellers provided desserts, including sugar free pie and fruit. Sellers said he was concerned about cooks having to prepare frybread in the expected high temperatures. John Free Jr.’s wife Cindy served grape lemonade and fresh fruit salad and decorated her table with calla lilies.

Candidates and voters reminisce

As they visited, candidates and voters reminisced about past elections. Mineral council candidate Cynthia Boone remembered when people spread blankets all over the grounds. “We played Indian dice until the wee hours. You had to count the ballots by hand,” she said.
Leonard Maker remembered when there was a traditional Osage feast. Robin Maker said he remembered when there was one tent on Election Day and buffalo meat pies.

This year candidate’s tents spread to the north side of the Osage Tribal Museum. Abbot remembered attending the elections in 1961, when he was first old enough to vote. “It was crowded into the evening and we had Indian dancing,” he said.

As candidates accepted well wishes from supporters, some voters struggled to make last minute decisions. While it’s unsure whether a good meal can sway a voter, it’s sure that voters can eat to their heart’s content.

Barbecue shredded pork sits at a candidate campaign campsite during the June 7 election in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Sweet delicious M & M cookies, brownies and chocolate walnut cookies sit at a candidate campaign campsite during the June 7 election in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Shredded beef and smoked polish sausage is offered to voters and spectators at the campaign campsite of Principal Chief Jim Gray on June 7 in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Fresh watermelon and grapes are offered to voters and spectators at the campaign campsite of Amanda Proctor and Galen Crum on June 7 in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Golden brown frybread is served with food at the candidates' campsites during the June 7 election in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

A fresh salad awaits hungry voters and spectators at the candidates' campsites during the June 7 election in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Corn soup, an Osage favorite, sat at the food tables of many candidates' campsites during the June 7 election in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Barbecue brisket is one of many foods offered to voters and spectators during the June 7 election in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Meat gravy sits at the campaign campsite of Amanda Proctor and Galen Crum during the June 7 election in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

A vegetable tray sits on a table at Jeff Irons campsite on June 7. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Charles Red Corn and Osage Minerals Council Candidate Kathryn Red Corn walk into the candidate campsites during the June 7 election in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

By Benny Polacca
Osage News

A morning thunderstorm passing through the Osage Nation did little to deter early voters and candidates from coming to Pawhuska to cast their ballots and set up the campaign camps to visit with fellow voters.

Thunder echoed overhead while rain fell at 7:30 a.m. – a half-hour before the voting poll opened at the Tribal Administration Building – making for slippery and muddy driving conditions across Osage County. The rain started to let up shortly after 9 a.m. with cloudy skies predicted through the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

“I didn’t let it stop me,” said Sandy Johnson who braved the rain while driving from his Kansas home. “It was raining hard coming from Coffeyville.”

Matthew Wyrick voted around 9 a.m. and said the wait line “wasn’t too bad” to vote, which had about 10 people in it at the time.

“It didn’t take long,” Wyrick said of the voting process which took 10-15 minutes for him, which he described as a steady flow.

Wyrick, whose father is Osage Nation Congressional candidate Vance Wyrick, helped set up his father’s campaign camp alongside the other candidates amid the muddy ground which caused their vehicle to get stuck while unloading the canopy and supplies.

“If that’s the only thing that happens today, I’ll be happy with that,” Matthew Wyrick said with a laugh.

“This weather threw everything off,” Vance Wyrick said while at his campsite. He said his Yukon got stuck in the mud while backing it up to his campsite, but was able to move it when the rain stopped.

Campsite volunteers also worked to help an ice truck stuck in the mud at the campsites nearby while Congressional candidate Jake Heflin fixed campaign signs to hang from the canopy at his campsite.

“It’s a great day to visit with all the Osages… It’s a blessing,” Heflin said of the weather. “When it rains, it’s a new beginning.”

The weather service is predicting mostly cloudy skies with a 40 percent chance of showers this afternoon and a high near 85. The rainfall amount could total between a quarter and a half-inch. Tonight it will be partly cloudy with a low of 70.

Voters head into the Tribal Adminstration Building to vote in the June 7 election. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Part of a canopy is mangled at the candidates campsites following an early morning thunderstorm on June 7 in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Muddy tire tracks mark the path of vehicles unloading supplies at the election candidates camps on June 7 in Pawhuska. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

A campsite canopy tarp lies on the ground covered with rain water at the candidates campsites in Pawhuska during the June 7 election. A morning thunderstorm moved through the area that morning. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Raymond Red Corn. Courtesy Photo/Raymond Red Corn

By Raymond Red Corn, Osage Nation Congressman

The missing ingredient

There is no shortage of theories on the subject of what the Osage Nation really needs. Some say a Merit Based employment system. Some say a new Chief, or a new Congress. We have monetary resources, and large numbers of candidates running for office. What is needed most has been missing for most of our term.

What we need is trust. Moreover, we need some sense of fair play to sustain that trust. Without it, we are destined to tread water for the foreseeable future.

Here’s an example. The Congress (defined collectively) mistrusts the Executive’s judgment, and therefore refuses to fund “division leaders” to oversee groups of program directors. Some programs under-perform, sometimes through no fault of their own, but due at least in part to an absence of leadership and direction. Congress is asked for more resources and personnel, and Congress responds by pointing to the program problems as evidence that no more funds should be allocated until performance improves. The cycle repeats. While the Congress and the Executive debate, Osage citizens served by an underperforming program are negatively affected.

Who, then, is responsible for this lack of trust? That question will be answered by voters on June 7th. The more important question is “how do we, as a government, restore trust between branches, and between this government and the citizens we serve?”

First, we need to stop initiating debate by pointing out why we think the other side is wrong. The differences are obvious enough. A better start is finding out what we agree upon. This means from time to time we “catch someone doing something right”, and acknowledge up front where common ground exists. If our public comments are balanced, as opposed to perpetually adversarial, a sense of fairness settles into place. If each side trusts they will be treated fairly in the public arena, each side will be more likely to engage in civil, productive discourse.

The other necessary ingredient in building trust is transparency. If Congress cannot know the extent of a problem, how can we form an effective legislative solution? If there isn’t a frank and honest appraisal of what’s wrong, how can it be made right? In my opinion, the point at which one party admits to problems is critical; how does the other party react? Do they amplify and broadcast the negative for political gain, or give credit for an admission of shortcomings and a willingness to correct them? This scenario, which is repeated over and over during our terms, is where trust is either built up or shattered. This is also where the acts of individuals can undo the work of many, undermining the potential for constructive engagement.

The ability to resolve differences is an acquired skill, a skill that improves with practice. But the willingness to start resolving differences is always preceded by an investment of trust. Going forward, will Osage leadership develop and display enough trust to earn the label “new and improved?”

We are about to find out.

Louis Gray, Candidate for Osage Nation Congress

On May 12, come and meet your local candidate for Osage Nation Congress Louis Gray at the 3700 Mall, 3707 Frank Phillips in Bartlesville, Oklahoma from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

There he will have discussions of Osage current events and will take questions from everyone.

During the event there will be a silent auction, 50/50, and raffles.

On May 13, there will be a Silent Auction at the Horizon Engineering, 1414-A East 71st Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

From 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. you will have the opportunity to bid on original paintings, prints, silver artisan jewelry, and award winning Osage ribbon work. Finger foods and refreshments will be provided.

This event will be hosted by George Tiger and sponsored by friends and family of Louis Gray.

On May 14, please come and join Gina Gray has she host tea and coffee at 383 Wakon Iron in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

There you will be able to meet Louis Gray from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Come support Louis Gray for Osage Nation Congress.