The Osage Nation Police Department in Pawhuska. Osage News file photo

By Benny Polacca
Osage News

The Osage Nation Police Department is implementing a sex offender registry and plans to launch a Web site this fall which will provide public information on offenders living, working or visiting the Nation’s lands held in federal trust.

Launching the registry will help the Nation strengthen its monitoring and tracking of area sex offenders (who are Osage and non-Osage) as required by the Adam Walsh Child and Protection Safety Act which became law in 2006. In September 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice awarded the Nation an Adam Walsh Implementation grant to start the project.

“We want to enhance the safety of our Osage people and children,” said ONPD Officer Brian Herbert who is project manager for implementing the registry. The police department is receiving training on using the resources and computer technology needed to maintain the registry, he said adding the department plans to launch the sex offender registry Web site in October or November.

If tribes do not comply with the Adam Walsh Act, they could lose their sovereignty rights and “we want to refrain from that,” Herbert said.

Herbert said ONPD will be focused on tracking offenders who live, work and are visiting the Nation’s trust lands. These trust lands include the three Indian villages, the Nation’s government campus and Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino locations.

When the Web site listing offenders (who have been charged, convicted in court and required to register with law enforcement agencies) is online, it will list the person’s name, age, photo, recent addresses and criminal history (excluding any victim identities), Herbert said. The police department will collect additional information which may not be viewed by the public, but will help the department and other jurisdictions such as employer information, driver license numbers, computer usage data, fingerprints and DNA samples, he said.

The offenders who are listed on the Nation’s registry will each receive a tier rating from one to three based on the crime(s) he or she has been convicted of, Herbert said. A tier of “1” will be for offenders who have committed minor offenses and “3” is reserved for major offenses, many of which require offenders to register their whereabouts with law enforcement agencies for the rest of their lives.

According to the National Congress of American Indians Web site, there is a section within the Adam Walsh Act requiring tribal governments “to affirmatively elect to comply with the mandates of the Act,” which is named for the son of America’s Most Wanted TV show host John Walsh. Adam Walsh was abducted from a shopping mall and murdered in 1981 which inspired his father’s career of apprehending fugitives and advocating for laws protecting children from sexual predators.

In July 2007, the First Osage Nation Congress passed a resolution (ONCR 07-12 sponsored by former Congressman Doug Revard and co-sponsor former Congresswoman Debra Atterberry) which states the Nation intends to comply with the Adam Walsh Act, prompting efforts to launch the offender registry.

Herbert said ONPD will be issuing more information on the Nation’s sex offender registry as it gets closer to launching the Web site.

The Osage Nation Police Department is at 1333 Grandview in Pawhuska and can be reached at (918) 287-5510 or toll-free at (800) 286-1867.

Congresswoman Faren Anderson takes her new seat as Speaker of the Congress. Photo by Shannon Shaw/Osage News

By Benny Polacca
Osage News

The First Osage Nation Congress gathered for its final regular session April 15, which ended with a laundry list of actions and leadership changes after its members voted on the motions which include selecting a new Speaker, Second Speaker and honoring the six Congress members whose terms expire after the June election.

Congresswoman Shannon Edwards introduced ONCR 10-17 in which she acknowledged the six Congressional members whose terms are nearing an end.

“It’s a resolution commending Congressmen [Mark] Freeman, [Raymond] Red Corn, [Doug] Revard and [William “Kugee”] Supernaw, and Congresswomen [Faren] Anderson and [Debra] Atterberry for their leadership in and service to the Osage Nation Congress for the betterment of the Nation,” she said before making a motion to fast track the resolution onto second reading, which didn’t have everyone’s vote after the resolution was successfully fast tracked for a final floor vote.

Revard and Anderson abstained from voting while the 10 other Congress members passed ONCR 10-17. Red Corn and Supernaw are seeking re-election in June while the other four members with expiring terms are not.

Edwards presented each of the six Congress members with the citations honoring their four years of service and a handshake. “Pictures later,” she said.

Later, Congresswoman Jerri Jean Branstetter motioned for the Congress to select its new Speaker and Second Speaker positions after the 12 members rescinded their secret ballot confirmation votes from April 7 and April 9 for five boards and voted on each board member appointee publicly. These public votes resulted in dismissals of George Pease and Elizabeth Lohah Homer from the Gaming Enterprise Board.

Congress, which has previously conducted its annual election for the Speaker by secret ballot as written in the Congressional rules, suspended the rules and voted openly on the Speaker and Second Speaker positions.

“Mr. Speaker, I nominate Congresswoman Faren Revard Anderson to the position of Speaker,” Congresswoman Jerri Jean Branstetter told Archie Mason who has been Speaker since the First Congress took oath in 2006. He recently told his Congressional colleagues he would not accept another nomination as Speaker when the Hun-Kah Session ended.

Congresswoman Debra Atterberry then nominated Eddy Red Eagle for the post, who declined the nomination. She followed up by nominating Raymond Red Corn who also declined.

“I would like to hear the nominated speaker’s speech as to why she feels she’s qualified to be in this position,” Atterberry said of Anderson’s nomination.

“Thank you for the invitation,” Anderson replied without elaborating. Red Corn called for a roll call vote on the speaker position after the call for nominations ceased.

Anderson became Speaker after a 7-3 vote ruled in her favor. Atterberry, Mark Freeman and Red Corn voted against Anderson’s nomination. Edwards left the session before the vote was taken and Anderson abstained from voting for herself.

“It’s been a good run,” Mason said as he introduced Speaker Anderson and stepped away from the Speaker’s elevated post. Anderson and Mason switched seats while the Congress members and attendees applauded.

“The floor’s open for nominations for Second Speaker,” Anderson said. “I’d like to nominate Jerri Jean Branstetter as Second Speaker,” Simms said.

Branstetter, who also abstained from voting for herself, received 10 unanimous votes.

Just before the Hun-Kah Session concluded, Congressman Shackelford was elected to the Congressional Affairs Committee after Second Speaker Branstetter became that committee’s chairwoman.

Anderson said she did not seek the position of Speaker but accepted the position because she “was the only nomination.” Anderson has been nominated at the end of every congressional session and until now has always lost to Archie Mason. Mason told the Osage News he would not be seeking the Speaker position.

Anderson will now sit on the Osage Nation Trust Team for two months in which she said she will be “participating and informing the congressional members of the trust case progress.”

ON Congressman Doug Revard pulls out of June election. Photo by Shannon Shaw/Osage News

By Shannon Shaw
Osage News

Osage Nation Congressman Doug Revard, who was seeking re-election in June, has bowed out of the race due to family reasons.

“I am going to withdraw from the election,” Revard said in a phone interview Friday. “It’s for family reasons.”

Revard hasn’t officially filed the paperwork with the Osage Nation Election Board Office yet but he plans to do that Monday.

Election board unable to certify Louis Gray’s candidacy for Congress

Louis Gray was the only candidate unable to be certified by the election board.

“At this time we were unable to certify him as a candidate,” Amber Harris said Thursday, who is the assistant election supervisor. She did not elaborate on the reason why he could not be certified.

Gray said in a phone interview Friday that he is consulting with his family, friends and supporters on whether or not to appeal the decision.

The violation in question with the election board is a 1992 Bogus Check violation by Gray. He was charged with the violation after a publication he was running went out of business and he paid the last bill but the bank had already closed the publication’s account, he said. They court made Gray plead guilty but eventually dismissed the charge.

The incident does not appear on Gray’s record and the election board would never have known about it except for Gray told them himself about the charge.

“I didn’t want to play legal parlor games, I was just trying to be honest,” Gray said.

Gray feels he has grounds to appeal the ruling because he filed his application on April 1 and the election board’s rules and regulations weren’t made into law until April 7.

“They enacted the law after I filed so it’s ex post facto law,” Gray said. “You can’t enact a punitive judgment on someone and have it apply.”

Gray passed a background check in 2006 when he ran in the 2006 election for the four-year congressional term. He has also passed background checks by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service, the White House and has also covered as a journalist the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, he said.

“I think the rules are rather rigid,” Gray said. “My first impression is that according to the election [board] no one is allowed to rebuild their life and I think that sends a negative message.”

“There are plenty of people who have made one minor fraction in their life, and it forever forbids you from serving your people?” Gray said.

Gray said he will decide Monday whether or not he plans to appeal the board’s ruling.

In the 2006 election if a candidate were to have been charged with a felony but it were dismissed, that candidate was allowed to run, not so with the election June 7.

“A lot of my friends and supporters are saying go for it,” Gray said. “Sometimes we have to think with our head and not our heart and I will proceed accordingly with what’s best for my family and the Osage people.”

Louis Gray will decide on Monday whether or not he is going to appeal the recent decision by the Osage Nation Election Board. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

(L to R): Ron Mansfield, Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino shift manager; Darrell Sager; Elizabeth Homer, Osage Nation Gaming Enterprise Board chairwoman; James Redcorn, director of security for MDEC; Chris Cooper; Frank Oberly, Osage Nation Gaming Enterprise Board member; George Pease Osage Nation Gaming Enterprise Board member; and Neil Cornelius, MDEC CEO. Sager, a security officer, and Cooper, an EMT, were recognized for responding to a Dec. 31 life-saving call at the Tulsa casino during the board’s Jan 8 meeting. Courtesy Photo/Chris Barton

By Benny Polacca
Osage News

A surprise move by the Osage Nation Congress, which declined to confirm all three members of the Gaming Enterprise Board on April 7, is leaving the future of the Osage Million Dollar Elm Casinos in question because the board makes decisions concerning multi-million dollar finances, operations and future plans for the seven-casino venture.

By majority vote, the Congress decided to conduct the confirmation votes for the Gaming Enterprise Board by secret ballot, which led to the dismissal of board members George Pease and Frank Oberly. The Congress also failed to confirm board Chairwoman Elizabeth Lohah Homer, who previously represented the gaming board as its attorney and served three years on the National Indian Gaming Commission.

Homer said she was “disappointed and alarmed” by the Congress’s decision. “If there is to be a distribution of gaming revenue to the Osage Nation, that has to be authorized and the check has to be signed by the board… so even something as basic as giving the Nation its gaming revenue is now a question… There’s just lots and lots of implications here that are very troubling,” she told the Osage News in a phone interview after the vote.

The Gaming Enterprise Board holds other duties including: approving certain contracts and major expenditures; the chairperson signs casino payroll checks; and the board also enforces the casino employee bonus policy and approves casino expansion plans.

“It raises a number of very serious problems for the gaming enterprise and of course the gaming enterprise is the bread and butter for the Nation and anything that might put it at risk or in jeopardy is a tremendous concern to me,” Homer said.

It’s unknown whether Homer, Pease and Oberly’s terms ended April 7 or if their terms expire when Congress adjourns its 2010 Hun-Kah Session next week.

Principal Chief Jim Gray called the secret ballot decisions “unfortunate” and “reckless because the impact of not having board members affects decisions” to be made and he criticized the Congress‘s secret ballot votes. “The practice of voting secretly is totally against accountability and transparency,” he said in a phone interview after the votes.

Gray said “at this point, I’m consulting with attorneys for short and medium-term solutions” before deciding what his office will do in regards to the board rejections.

Congress votes by secret ballot despite objections raised by some members

After few words, including some Congress members’ objections to a secret ballot vote on the confirmations, during the April 7 Congressional session, the 11 members present issued their votes in writing. Congressman Mark Simms motioned for the Congress to vote on the three Gaming Enterprise Board confirmations and one for the Osage Limited Liability Company Board one-by-one by secret ballot.

“Why secret ballot?” Congresswoman Debra Atterberry asked after Simms made the motion. “We’ve always done it that way,” Simms replied. Atterberry asks “why?” again before saying “I’d rather not.” No one responded to Atterberry.

Voting “yes” to hold the secret ballot confirmations were Congresspersons Eddy Red Eagle, Doug Revard, Anthony Shackelford, Simms, William “Kugee” Supernaw, Faren Revard Anderson and Jerri Jean Branstetter.

Congressmen Mark Freeman, Raymond Red Corn and Speaker Archie Mason voted “no” with Atterberry to voting in secret. Congresswoman Shannon Edwards was absent for the April 7 session.

Supernaw echoed Simms’s comment on the secret ballots, saying most board confirmation ballots have been conducted that way since he’s been in office. “I think it’s better because it’s a better way to do that – you want to protect people’s feelings,” he said during an April 8 phone interview.

Before each secret ballot vote, Atterberry, Freeman and Red Corn praised the Gaming Enterprise Board members for their work, saying they will vote for all three.

“(Pease) has been a very good member of that committee, worked hard and is very capable,” Freeman said. “I’ll be supporting Mr. Oberly too and support the Congress to do so,” Atterberry said. “I don’t know how many Native American tribes have the opportunity to have a member of the National Indian Gaming Commission on their board,” Red Corn said of Homer who was appointed by Gray in November 2009.

Congress decided against Homer’s confirmation with a 5-6 secret ballot vote; Pease, 4-7; and Oberly, 5-6. LLC Board member Paul Bruce was confirmed with a 9-2 vote.

Homer is a Washington, D.C.-based attorney and founding partner in Homer Law Chartered which focuses on cases concerning Native American issues. She served as vice chairwoman from 1999 to 2002 on the NIGC, which regulates gaming activities on Indian lands to protect gaming tribes from organized crime or corrupting influences, according to its Web site.

Homer also served as the Director of the Office of American Indian Trust at the U.S. Department of the Interior where she worked closely with tribal governments and federal policy makers to advance issues and policies of concern to the country’s Indigenous peoples, according to Homer Law’s Web site. As director, she supervised the implementation of a number of administration policy priorities in the areas of tribal, natural and cultural resources, consultation, and negotiated rulemaking, including President Bill Clinton’s Executive Orders regarding Sacred Sites and Tribal Consultation.

Speaker Mason said it’s up to Gray to decide on interim board members for the Gaming Enterprise Board. Any interim board members selected will be up for confirmation when the Tzi-Zho Session starts in September, he said in an April 7 interview.

“The majority expressed themselves in their vote that was received,” Mason said of the votes. “I voted my conscience, I voted my will,” said Mason who would not say whether he voted to confirm Homer, Pease and Oberly. Congressman Supernaw also did not reveal how he voted in the secret ballot. Messages were left seeking comment from the other Congress members who did not make statements about the Gaming Enterprise Board members during the April 7 session.

Just before the session adjourned, Red Corn asked his Congressional colleagues “am I correct in assuming we confirmed none of the Gaming Enterprise Board?” He asked if the other members had any idea of the impact of having no board would have on the Nation, but was cut off by a motion to adjourn.

Supernaw said “I’m in agreement with what happened” and referred to prior problems concerning the casinos and board decisions, some of which he said he can’t disclose due to proprietary issues. He referred to prior issues which include an ongoing Osage County District Court case involving former Chief Financial Officer Bill Leonhart who is suing Gray, Pease, Oberly and former board chairman Tom Slamans for breach of contract after he was fired in August 2009 before his contract expired.

“Here is the problem: if you look back over the history of our gaming operations, all the problems you hear about… they were decisions made by the gaming board,” Supernaw said. “My hope is we get a board in there that is mature enough and strong enough that they don’t really interfere too much with the operations of the business.”

Amid prior problems, the Gaming Enterprise Board worked to upgrade its accounting operations, Homer said. “We made the necessary investment in technology and we now have a state-of-the-art casino accounting system,” she said adding the casino enterprise was given an outstanding report after an independent audit was conducted of its 2009 operations.

The casino entity’s fiscal year 2009 financial statements were examined by a New Mexico-based independent firm and it issued an “unqualified opinion,” which “means is that we have a good, reliable beginning balance for FY 2009,” Homer told the Osage News in December.

“We’ve made really good decisions together, we’ve made (casino) operations profitable in a declining economy,” Homer said of serving on the board. “There’s a lot of satisfaction in using my experience… I’ll continue to work in private practice and I’ll always be an Osage no matter what and I will always be a supporter of the Osage Nation.”

Gray questions whether votes are revenge

Chief Gray made no attempt to mask his opinion in what he thought was behind the majority’s vote to decline confirmation of Homer.

He mentioned “2008” when four members of Congress allegedly entered restricted areas of the Hominy casino, which prompted an investigation by the Gaming Commission as requested by then-Gaming Enterprise Board Chairman Tom Slamans. “They’ve never really forgiven them for that,” Gray said.

The Hominy incident that Gray is referring to is when congresspersons William “Kugee” Supernaw, Doug Revard, Anthony Shackelford and Jerri Jean Branstetter requested to see documents in a restricted area of the Osage Hominy casino on July 23, 2008 when they had no authority to do so, according to an article by The Bigheart Times.

According to the Gaming Commission report, the four members of Congress asked Hominy casino staff to open boxes and see auditing records for the Bartlesville casino in a restricted area meant only for licensed staff. The staff was then questioned as to the practices of the auditing process.

The four members of Congress were called to a hearing that was presided over by Homer and Chissoe. This is why Gray thinks those four members of Congress voted secret ballot to decline her nomination.

Regarding the Hominy casino visit, Supernaw wrote in his Jan. 31 newsletter: “…members of Congress exercised their oversight responsibility and investigated the reports of accounting irregularities… only to be investigated ourselves, blasted in the Osage News and for a time even questioned by others members of Congress.”

Chissoe resigns as ON Gaming Commissioner

Richard Chissoe, who has served as the ON’s gaming commissioner for the past four years said he will not be seeking, nor will he accept, confirmation to serve a second term. He plans to leave his post April 15.

“I am very proud of the work we have done at the ONGC, the credibility we have earned and the successes we have achieved to the benefit of the Osage people,” Chissoe wrote in his resignation letter, dated March 22. “I will remain ever grateful for being given the opportunity to return home, honor my family legacy and serve the Osage Nation.”

Homer said Gray will also need to reappoint someone to Chissoe’s position, which will also be subject to confirmation by Congress like the Gaming Enterprise Board.

By Benny Polacca
Osage News

EDMOND, Okla. – Twenty-five Osages running for office in the June 7 election addressed a standing-room-only crowd here at the VFW Hall during a March 16 political rally hosted by the Revard family.

The candidates for the Nation’s executive and legislative branches and the Minerals Council asked the crowd for their votes during the candidates’ individual speeches which touched on several topics including their political platforms, their family relations, concerns about the current government body, prior work experience, and humor.

The Osage News attended the rally which had more than 60 people which included candidates, their family members and fellow tribal members in attendance. Here is a sampling of what some of the candidates shared with the public.

Revard family member Jim Ryan, who helped arrange the rally, asked the candidates to draw numbers written on paper from a hat to determine the order of speakers.

Congressman William “Kugee” Supernaw, who is seeking a second term, drew No. 1 and advised the crowd they should “do the best job they can” and “call back home” to study the candidates. He said candidates should have three things: “integrity, intelligence and energy.”

“During this campaign, all you’re going to know about us is what we tell you,” he said. “I would suggest that you take the time to find out more about people, about their performance in the past, and study as much as you can.”

Charles Pratt, who is a plaintiff in the Fletcher v. United States case concerning non-Osage shareholders, is running for the Osage Minerals Council. Pratt and four other plaintiffs in the case are seeking an accounting and restoration of trust shares from non-Osages.

“We’ve been up and down, back and forth, but on Minerals (Council), we’re going to have to have someone that is prepared to deal with the return of those shares we are able to get back through the Fletcher case,” Pratt said. “Contact me if you want to know more about Fletcher,” he said of the lawsuit.

Curtis Bear, who is running for the Minerals Council, said he has been attending council meetings for several years and the knowledge he gained will help him serve, if elected. “The Minerals Estate and the shareholders must be protected in this time of economic uncertainty.”

“The Osage Nation is currently facing major lawsuits and some unnecessary lawsuits. I believe that you must vote for leaders that have a foresight not only in the future, but now in our travesty of time,” Bear said. “Our Minerals Estate has brought us into the future and it will take us forth into more prosperous years ahead.”

Jeff Irons, who is Federal grants program manager in the Nation’s Strategic Planning and Grants Management Office, is running for assistant principal chief.

“As your assistant principal chief, I will try to work with whoever’s in office to take legislation to the Congress, encourage them to support the recommendations of the legislation of the chief,” Irons said. “That being said, if Congress has legislation they want passed and want the chief’s support, I will feel obligated in part to go to him and encourage support there.”

Also running for assistant principal chief is former Oklahoma State Representative Scott BigHorse. “I think I’m the only candidate… that has any experience in a three-branch government that has been in operation for over 100 years, so I do have some expertise in developing policy,” he said, adding he’s worked with both state and national legislators.

“As assistant chief, I think one of the biggest things I’d like to see is the transparency issue. To me, transparency is showing every bit of revenue that is made by the tribe, excluding the minerals,” BigHorse said. “I would like to see a flow chart with the reasons why all that money came into the tribe… I’d also like to see a flow chart of all the monies that leave the tribe and where it goes and why.”

John Red Eagle, who is a critic of Principal Chief Jim Gray’s administration, is running for principal chief and shared his concerns about the current government. “I am presently serving as your assistant principal chief and as the stepchild of the Executive Branch - that was a joke, people,” he told the crowd which laughed.

“With the money that comes in, I think we have to have a real accounting… I want to know how much this (Osage Limited Liability Company) makes, what types of investments are they making? You need to know that because it’s your money,” Red Eagle said. “There needs to be a quarterly report of all the revenue that comes in, whether it’s through the casino, investments.”

Retired nurse Cecelia Tallchief is running for the assistant principal chief’s office, which she describes as an “important” one as a “mediator. You have to be able to look at what’s best for the Osage people, not what’s best for Congress, not what’s best for the Executive Branch, what’s best for all.”

Tallchief said her experience which includes serving on the Osage Home Health Board, and working as an Indian Health Service nurse makes her the best candidate for the job. “When (the Home Health Board) took the program over, it had been running in the red. We - with our expertise - have been able to turn that around and for the past two years have not asked for any money from Congress.”

James Schooling, who is running for the Minerals Council, said he has “worked in the oil and gas business for 40 years in various areas. I think you have to work with other branches of the government,” he said adding he’s learned to work with other people in prior employment.

“I see a lot of in-fighting and that’s got to stop. I think you got to get out there and do everything you can to make it work,” Schooling said. “When I’m elected, I want you to contact me anytime you’ve got a problem … I’m for honesty, integrity and transparency.”

Congressional candidate Jake Heflin, a Long Beach, Calif. paramedic/ firefighter, said it’s important to revisit the Nation’s 25-year strategic plan which sought input from Osages living outside Oklahoma to “enable that to occur.” As part of improving the Nation, Heflin said he believes health and senior services should improve.

“The reality is we do have the resources now to do that,” Heflin said. “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have assisted-living facilities on our reservation for our elders… we’ve always been taught that we need to take care of our youth and we need to take care of our elders. Well we need to start doing that right now.”

Galen Crum, who is president of the Osage Shareholders Association, recently retired from working with the fire service and is now seeking a Minerals Council seat. “I think fire service is a great place to be… you get instant gratification from it,” he said, describing a firefighter’s role as turning “chaos into order and you get to meet people or help people that are having the worst day of possibly their life.”

“That’s kind of what I want to do for the Minerals Council,” Crum, a 2006 Congressional candidate, said of extending his public service experience. “I think the Minerals Council need to work with the tribe.”

Congressional candidate Margo Gray-Proctor, current principal chief Jim Gray’s older sister, is president of Horizon Engineering in Tulsa and said she’s worked with on over 150 tribal projects nationwide. “I’ve also been able to share in the resources and have the opportunity to improve Indian Country and that’s what made me come here today.”

Gray-Proctor also worked for the former Osage National Council in writing legislation and said she brings an expertise in economic development in serving on Congress. “We want to create economic development for our own people,” she said of creating more job opportunities for tribal members.

Minerals Council candidate James Revard said his oil and gas industry experience makes him the best candidate to serve. He is executive director of the Commission on Marginally Producing Oil and Gas Wells for the state of Oklahoma.

“My job at the state agency is to protect oil and gas, to keep oil production running as long as we can… I strongly believe we can do the same thing for the Osage (tribe),” he said. “The key is more drilling, optimize the wells we have and to work together.”

Osage Nation Principal Chief Jim Gray is seeking his third consecutive term and said “elections are primarily about the future – they’re about ‘where do you want to be four years from now?’ – And I think that’s one of the reasons I’ve decided to run again.”

“In some cases, we’ve been defined by our differences, but in many ways we‘ve been defined by our successes,” Gray said of the relationship between the executive and legislative branches. “In 2002, we had about $300,000 in tax revenue in the bank, we had about 200 employees. Today we employ about 1,700 people, we have $50-$60 million in the bank - depending on which number you want to go by: the end of 2009 or where we are today,” he said.

Attorney Geoffrey Standing Bear, who is seeking a Congressional seat, said “we really have to work together because the last four years have brought out some of the worst in us.” He said the need to work together will come into play if the Nation’s casinos are affected by the recent 10th Circuit Court decision.

Standing Bear previously served as assistant principal chief in the early 1990s and has practiced law for entities including the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association. “We’ve got to find ways to diversify (revenue), but we have to do it in an intelligent way,” he said citing another gaming tribe’s spending and saving plan.

Retired state district judge Doug Revard is seeking a second Congressional term. He served on the Nation’s government reform commission in 2003 after retiring from the courtroom before deciding a Congressional run.

“What an experience it has been,” Revard said. “What did I learn from that? Well, No. 1, I learned you better have alligator skin… I think I have been a conservative voice, I believe we are spending your money every time that we do something and we should look at it in that light.”

Congressman Raymond Red Corn, who is seeking a second term, listed legislation he has sponsored including the open records act, the whistleblower act, the “Speak What’s on Your Mind” act and the bill creating the Osage LLC. Referring to the recent U.S. 10th Circuit Court decision ruling against the Nation, Red Corn said there is “now more emphasis than ever on the diversification” of the Nation’s non-gaming business efforts.

A second Revard rally was scheduled for March 20 in Pawhuska, but it was postponed due to snowy weather which struck Northeast Oklahoma that weekend. Ryan told the Osage News the Pawhuska rally will be rescheduled with a tentative date set for May 1.

Attending the March 16 Revard Rally: William “Kugee” Supernaw; Charles Pratt; Cecelia Tallchief; Curtis Bear; Jeff Irons; Scott BigHorse; John Red Eagle; James (Jim) Schooling; Jenny Miller; Galen Crum; Myron Red Eagle; Margo Gray-Proctor; James Revard; Jim Gray; Raymond Red Corn; Danette Daniels; Geoffrey Standing Bear; Roy St. John; Randolph Crawford; Doug Revard; Jake Heflin; Louis Gray; Tim Tall Chief; Carl “Chico” Sellers and Andrew Yates.

For more information on the candidates, see their submitted articles online at www.osagenews.org.

The Osage Nation Congress at work in the congressional chambers. Osage News File Photo/Chalene Toehay

By Shannon Shaw
Osage News

After three-and-a-half months of back and forth between the Osage Nation Congress and the Principal Chief of the Osage Nation, the 2010 fiscal year budgets were passed and signed into law on Friday at $23.9 million.

“I’m just relieved that the budgets got passed,” said Chief Jim Gray at an all employees meeting at the Wah Zha Zhi Cultural Center Tuesday. “I also want to apologize to all of you. To be caught up in a political tug-of-war between the Executive and Congress was totally unfair to you. I never intended to involve you in this.”

With the passing of the budgets all federal programs will now receive their federal money, all tribal programs will be able to provide services without the one-twelfth restriction (the incentive used by Congress to get the Executive Branch to lower their budgets), and the employees will receive their Christmas Bonus Friday. But, the process is far from over.

Many programs, in Congress’ effort to lower the final number on the budgets to $23.9 million, took severe reductions to their programs – most notably the Osage Language program. The language program, who teaches the Osage language to more than 500 Osages across the state and in local schools, had more than $120,000 cut from their budget.

Language program receives the most reductions

The language program employs 13 people who offer language classes at five different sites in the state: Pawhuska, Hominy, Fairfax, Skiatook and Edmond.

In the program’s line items for supplies, postage and shipping; outside printing and artwork; dues and subscriptions; transportation; lodging, per diem and conferences, conventions and special events, they were given $1.

In the bills passed Friday, in which Congressman Doug Revard sponsored an amendment to halt all new hires and roll back salaries to 2009 levels with a step increase, programs were given the power to make unlimited shifts of money from other parts of their budgets to cover any expenses they may incur. In the past, programs were only allowed 10 percent line item shifts.

The language program was left with roughly $116,000 in their budget to shift, they also have two positions unfilled they could shift from as well, but the majority of the money left is used for their rent.

Majority in Congress say reductions in funding was an attempt to be fair

Congresswoman Faren Anderson in Friday’s session said that in Congress’ attempt to be fair to all the programs and employees, by leaving $1 in line items in budgets, is giving the directors and their employees the power to make their own choices about what money is to be shifted and what money is not to be shifted. Many budgets received cuts up to $100,000 in the bills.

“Where the reductions take place is just in the budget, the department heads and the program managers are now going to decide, ‘Do I really want that Christmas bonus? Do I really want that salary increase? Or is it more beneficial to go into a different line item such as supplies?’” Anderson said. “There’s choices to be made there, and I don’t think everyone understands, that even though you were given this line item to budget – this year it’s different, this year you have to make choices for the program together.”

Anderson said she had seen budgets in the proposed bills with quite a few $1 line items, due to the fact that the employees in those budgets had salary increases, however, Congressman Revard’s amendment had already taken all raises over the 3 percent step increase away. “Those budgets are probably the ones we’re going to see come back first.”

Any program that finds itself unable to function due to the $1 line items in their budgets are being asked to come back during the March Hun-Kah session to ask for more money.

“If I need to apologize as a congress member, that I want to be fair . . . I don’t understand why then,” Anderson said. “I don’t understand it, that’s the position I’ve been put in. But without knowing all the information and with it trickling in after three-and-a-half months that we’ve had . . . I think we’re doing what we can on a fair basis and I don’t think anyone in this room or in this Nation loves this budget.”

Anderson also pointed out that many salaries had been increased without Congress’ knowledge and in one case someone was to receive a $13,000 raise. However, the Executive Branch has said numerous times that the Congress does not have the sole responsibility to determine raises.

Anderson later pointed out the appointees in the Chief’s office, who had consistently received raises every year and in some instances made more than the Assistant Principal Chief, were going to be receiving raises again. This is not the first time Anderson has spoken out against salaries in the Chief’s office, or taken action. In September of 2008, Congresswoman Anderson moved to cut the salary of the Chief of Staff, Hepsi Barnett, by $18,676 in the 2009 fiscal year budget. The motion was passed and the Executive Branch staff received no raises from Congress in the 2009 budget. However, the Clerk of the Congress received a near $7,000 raise and the legislative counsel for Congress received a near $10,000 raise in the 2009 fiscal year.

Executive Branch staff salaries for the 2010 fiscal year budget are located in bill ONCA 10-23, the appropriation bill for the Office of the Chiefs. Programs such as the language department and other programs who took severe reductions are located in ONCA 10-25, the appropriation bill for all the programs under Government Operations. Both these bills passed with salaries at 2009 levels, plus a 3 percent step increase, plus hundreds of thousands cut from their budgets.

No personal agendas were involved in the making of this budget

According to Congresswoman Jerri Jean Branstetter, differences in personalities, or personal agendas, had no role in the formation of the amendments and cuts to the budgets.

“We only wanted to give money back to services for the tribe. But also, it’s not only for the tribe, there’s a lot of other people that benefit. Federal programs affects a lot of people, not just Osages,” Branstetter said. “But we’re trying to do the best that we can, but there are needs that are not met for Osages that are not here but we do meet the needs of other people, of other tribes, that are not Osage who live in Osage county. Those are the people that are benefitting.”

Besides federal and tribal programs, the Osage Gaming Commission was a hot topic for some members of Congress. Congressman Raymond Red Corn defended the gaming commission budgets, wondering how it was fair to cut the “police” of the tribe’s gaming industry.

“I think we’ve cut too deep,” Red Corn said. “We are standing up and telling the gaming commission it’s business, and we’re telling them, ‘No, you don’t need more people – you need more employee benefits, more supplies, telephone, more postage, more printing and artwork, more dues and subscriptions, more transportation, more travel, more conferences – just not people.”

Congresswoman Debra Atterberry concurred with Red Corn’s remarks. Congressman Mark Simms, chair of the Commerce and Economic Development committee, said that the employees of the Nation’s gaming commission were handled fairly and without influence from any personal agenda.

“This is the decision at this moment, we’re not sayin that we’re makin decision, or micromanaging, we’re just sayin we’ve got to call a halt to these enormous salaries and raises that everybody’s gettin,” Simms said. “Now, as far as the services over there, I’m just going to be perfectly honest, I mean, I’ve seen the gaming commission people leave their office and not come back for a couple of hours. I mean, you know, the thing about this is, is I think, in my opinion, that we have done the best we can do, without all this deal bout how we’re micromanaging and all this.”

Red Corn said that the Congress doesn’t necessarily work 40 hours a week either.

“How many hours did we put in when we were in session? How many hours were we away from the office? I suspect there has been a couple of weeks here lately where we’ve been here for a couple of hours,” Red Corn said angrily. “So where do we get off making statements like that? I certainly don’t know.”

Congress meets today at 10 a.m. in the Osage Nation Congressional Chambers.

To hear the recording of Friday’s session, visit www.osagetribe.com and in the top right corner click Audio/Video Archive.

Congressman Eddy Red Eagle speaks during Tuesdays Special Session of Congress. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

By Shannon Shaw
Osage News

Congress met Tuesday morning for the second day of the 25th Special Session in which the majority voted to suspend the rules and bring the budgets back from Engrossment to General Order Day Two.

By bringing the budgets back to general order day two, those members of Congress are then able to make amendments to the bills. The amendments expected to be made Friday are to individual salaries, taking them back to 2009 levels with a step increase and to halt all new positions unless federally funded.

The majority in Congress are Faren Anderson, Jerri Jean Branstetter, Doug Revard, Mark Simms, Eddy Red Eagle, Archie Mason, William “Kugee” Supernaw and Anthony Shackelford.

“Some people in the new budgets [Freeman’s bills ONCA 10-22, 10-23, 10-24 and 10-25] were going to receive $13,000, $11,000, $4,000, $5,000 [raises], but other people were only going to receive a three percent raise,” said Congresswoman Jerri Jean Branstetter during Tuesday’s session. “Congress [is] trying to make it fair so everyone only receives a three percent raise.”

A three percent raise, or step increase which varies depending on the salary, can range from roughly 27 cents per hour to a $1.50 per hour. Kelly Corbin, acting budget analyst for Congress, has been instructed to go through every budget submitted for the Fall Tzi-Zho session in September of 2009 and take out any new positions as well. Positions such as two additional workers to meet demands at the Senior Housing complex and an additional staff member at the Education Department to help handle the Osage Nation Higher Education Scholarships.

Daycare employees will be hardest hit by Congress’ cuts

The Nation runs three daycares, one in Skiatook, one in Fairfax and one in Pawhuska. All providers at these daycares have been waiting for raises since September. All their raises were approved in congressional committees in September and up until this week, they thought they would be receiving them.

The Nation’s daycare providers are the lowest paid employees in the tribe. They make anywhere from $19,927 to $15,263 with the director at Pawhuska Kids Kampus making a little over $30,000 and the director at Fairfax Circle of Friends making just under $19,500.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau Web site, the national poverty threshold in 2008 for a single person was $10,991 and for homes with two people $14,051. In 2007 the median household income in Osage County was $42,245 and the per capita income in 1999 was $17,014, according to the site.

At the Pawhuska Kids Kampus there are four daycare providers that are single mothers in which one of those mothers has three children, according to an employee that didn’t want to be named for this article.

To hold a job at one of the Nation’s daycares the individual must achieve a Child Development Associate credential which requires 480 hours of training, in which they are not paid during the time they are in school. Once they are in CDA training they are eligible for $7.35 an hour and to keep their job they must always continue training; and that doesn’t include certifications in CPR and First Aid training. Upon graduating CDA training they are bumped up to $8.22 an hour.

If a daycare provider is to drive the children anywhere they must have a commercial license and if a provider is to handle any food they are required to have a food handler permit.

Currently there are approximately 55 Osage children in the Nation’s daycares, nearly half of the total.

In Congressman Mark Freeman’s bill, ONCA 10-25, the salaries of the providers at the three daycares were budgeted for $21,026 and the director for Pawhuska Kids Kampus was increased to a little over $31,000 and the director for Circle of Friends was increased to a little over $23,000. With the majority in Congress planning to propose an amendment or amendments to erase all raises, the providers will go back to their 2009 salary levels with approximately a 27 cent per hour raise.

The Osage News asked Corbin if he was instructed to take into account the cost of living when making the cuts and he said he was not.

“But the thing a lot of people aren’t understanding, is that the money isn’t being taken from their budgets, it’s just being moved down to services to the people,” Corbin said.

According to a spreadsheet sent by Corbin this afternoon, the total of savings in salaries to the Nation’s daycares by rolling them back to 2009 levels is $125,705.

Other departments listed on the spreadsheet as of this afternoon that will have $20,000 or more impacted on salaries or new position eliminations are Strategic Planning and Grants, Human Resources, fitness centers for Hominy and Fairfax, Education Department, Crisis Assistance and Archives. These departments will still receive the money but won’t be able to use it for salaries or new jobs. The spreadsheet is still a working document and it does not include all of the Nation’s budgets that will be affected

Federal grants in jeopardy

Osage Nation directors met yesterday at the Cultural Center to discuss the impact to their departments by the continuing delay in the passing of the 2010 fiscal year budgets. The most visibly upset were the directors of programs that are wholly federally funded.

“[Our program] is federally funded, all my workers are federally funded – and I’m sick of this,” said Crystal Holt, director of the Community Health Representatives program. “[Due to the one-twelfth restriction] we still haven’t been able to pay our bills…we couldn’t come up with $247 to send our workers to mandatory trainings, I mean, that’s just sorry.”

The directors were called to the mandatory meeting Tuesday afternoon to prepare a congressional testimony to be presented to Congress during Friday morning’s session. Some directors hoped to speak with Congress themselves in hopes they could get them to better understand the real jeopardy being caused by the delay in giving them their federal grant money. But that can only happen if a member of Congress motions to go into Committee as a Whole and invites the directors to speak.

Angry sentiments were directed at both the Congress and the Principal Chief, such as “Why does Congress say the federal money has been appropriated? Congress says it’s law, but where’s the money?!” and “Why does Congress think they can appropriate federal money?”

Currently the Nation has approximately $40 million dollars in the general treasury. The money to pay to keep the Nation’s programs afloat while the budgets are still being worked on comes from the general treasury. This information prompted a question from Injury Prevention director Patti Shook.

“We’re losing interest aren’t we, on all the money we’ve been taking from the general treasury to keep up the one-twelfth restriction right?” she said. “On the interest alone we’re losing, you could run TANF on the money we’ve lost . . . [Congress] is worried about saving money when they’re actually costing the Nation? Pass the budgets!”

Congress meets again Friday morning at 10 a.m.

To view the affected budgets as of Wednesday afternoon click here. This is still a working document and does not reflect all budgets that will be affected.

Schedule of Affected Budgets as of Jan. 6

Congresswoman Jerri Jean Branstetter speaks during Tuesdays Special Session of Congress. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

L to R: Congressman William Supernaw, Congressman Mark Simms and Congrressman Anthony Shackelford speak to each other during the Special Congressional Session on Tuesday. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Osage Nation Congress during today's eight minute session. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

Osage News

The Osage Nation Congress met today for eight minutes, with four members absent, and adjourned – taking no action on the 2010 budget.

Congressman Mark Freeman, who has sponsored a new bill bringing down the budget total to $23.9 million, had hoped that a 2010 budget would be passed before the New Year.

“I don’t like our budgeting as we’ve done it, I was a young man when we started this budget, I was 88, now I’m 89, so it’s been a time taking deal and we’ve gone no place,” said Freeman during Monday’s session, who recently turned 89-years-old. “I’m wanting to do what I can to get a budget.”

“Back in September and even in October, we told the people we were going to give a 3 percent raise, and now we’ve changed that and we have gone no place,” Freeman said.

Congressman Doug Revard, who was present at today’s session, made a motion Monday to adjourn until today so that they could get the correct figures for the savings the budget would receive by halting all raises and new hires. He also said that the boards and commissions needed budget figures before they could be passed as well. Those boards are the Election board, the Foundation board and the Editorial Board.

Congress meets again at 10 a.m. Monday to begin the 25th Special Session.

Doors to the Osage Nation congressional chambers were dead bolted Tuesday while six members of Congress met to discuss budgetary cuts. Photo by Shannon Shaw/Osage News

[Editor's Note: This story was originally published on Oct. 27 and was modified on Nov. 18 for clarification on the issue.]

By Shannon Shaw
Osage News

Five members of the Osage Nation Congress met behind locked doors in the congressional chambers without posting notice of a special, regular or executive session where they were discussing budgetary cuts.

Congressmen Doug Revard, William “Kugee” Supernaw and Eddy Red Eagle were inside, as well as Congresswomen Faren Anderson and Jerri Jean Branstetter.

The Osage News was given an anonymous tip around 3 p.m. Monday that an illegal meeting was taking place in the congressional chambers. The Osage News went to the congressional chambers where the doors were dead bolted and then asked the congressional staff director, Linda Lazelle, if the Osage News was permitted to enter the chambers. Lazelle, whose office has a side door leading into the chambers, went inside the chambers and asked the members of Congress if the Osage News could enter. Much laughter ensued and when Lazelle came back she had a message for the Osage News from the members of Congress inside.

“You can tell [the Osage News] that there is a quorum, the red ink pens are out and we are working,” Lazelle said. When asked which member of Congress gave the message Lazelle said, “I can’t remember which member of Congress said that, but, they just want to be left alone so they can work . . . I don’t want to be dragged into the middle of this, I’m just doing my job and I know you’re just doing your job.”

When the Osage News staff left the congressional chambers, Congresswoman Shannon Edwards and Congressman Mark Freeman were leaving as well.

“This is wrong,” said Edwards, pointing at the dead bolted doors to the congressional chambers. Freeman, who was walking out behind her said jokingly, “Are you discussing the Open Meetings Act and what’s going on in there?” Edwards asked Freeman if he had a position he would like to take and he said, “I believe I just took it.”

The Open Meetings law states that a public body, an official entity in which a quorum is required to conduct public business and which performs a governmental function, shall conduct business in an open and public manner. A public body in the law pertains to committees, boards, commissions and task forces. The law also states that, “An offense under this Act is considered a violation of Osage Nation law and punishable by a fine not less than $100 or more than $500.”

According to the Rules of the Osage Nation Congress, which can be found on the congressional page of the Nation’s official Web site, “All meetings of Congress, Congressional Committees, subcommittees, or task forces at which official actions are to be taken or discussed, or hearings held, are declared to be public meetings.”

A list can be found of the official congressional select and standing committees on the congressional site. There are a total of eight committees, which have at least three members of Congress while some committees have up to six members. For a six member committee, to make an official quorum for a meeting, it takes four members of Congress. For a five member committee it takes three members of Congress and for a three member committee it takes two members of Congress to make an official quorum.

Out of the five members of Congress that were in the chambers Monday there was a quorum for four committees. Those committees are the Congressional Affairs committee, the Rules and Ethics committee in which Branstetter is chair, the Appropriations committee in which Anderson is chair and the Cultural committee in which Anderson is chair.

When the Osage News asked Congresswoman Edwards for further comment, she referred the Osage News to an e-mail she sent at 1:29 p.m. Monday to Osage Nation Principal Chief Jim Gray and Assistant Principal Chief John Red Eagle.

“Congressman Red Corn and I [Shannon Edwards] are currently in our office working and listening to a “meeting” (not in compliance with the Open Meetings Act) being attended in our open area by Congress persons Anderson, Branstetter, Revard, Red Eagle, Shackelford and Supernaw,” wrote Edwards in the e-mail. “These members are going through [ONCA 09-63, ONCA 09-65, ONCA 09-66] to determine what they want to propose as individual amendments tomorrow and how to vote as a block.”

“Is it ethical and appropriate for half the Congress members to hold meetings in private and write legislation to completely change and undermine the work the twelve member Congress has undertaken for well over one month through a public process?” wrote Edwards.

ONCA 09-63 is the Office of the Chiefs Appropriation Act, ONCA 09-65 is the Boards and Commissions Appropriation Act and ONCA 09-66 is the Government Operations Departments and Programs Appropriations Act. ONCA 09-66 contains a large number of budgets for the Nation’s programs that fall under the Executive Branch. All three bills are sponsored by Congresswoman Anderson.

“How disruptive to our government is a Congress whose members cannot even adhere to their own Congressional rules, procedural processes, and the Osage Ethics and Open Meetings Laws?” wrote Edwards. “How effective is a Congress that cannot stand by its own hiring and compensation justification and the appropriation laws it passed for the Legislative and Judicial Branches and some Boards and Commissions less than a month ago?”

Chief Gray did not respond to a phone call or e-mail by the time this story was published. Assistant Chief Red Eagle is recovering from eye surgery and had no comment.

To view the e-mail from Shannon Edwards click here:

Shannon Edwards e-mail

To view the list of standing and select committees click here:

Committee list as of Sept. 8, 2009

To view the Open Meetings law click here:

Open Meetings Law

To view Osage Nation Congressional Rules click here:

Rules of the Osage Nation Congress

Since the Five-Man boards of Hominy Indian Village and Grayhorse Indian Village didn’t use the money appropriated to them to build funeral chapels by the Osage Nation Congress in the 2009 fiscal year, the money reverted back to the Osage Nation treasury Sept. 30.

Congresswoman Faren Anderson and Congressman Doug Revard both re-introduced two new bills, ONCA 09-70 and ONCA 09-72, to provide the five-man board of Hominy $259,239 and the Grayhorse five-man board $259,027 to construct and furnish funeral chapels in their respective villages.

To find out the date and time of the next five-man board meetings for the Hominy and Grayhorse Indian Villages call the Osage Nation at (918) 287-5555.