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Council votes to request records from federal government

A motion to request all records from the American Indian Records Repository was on the floor during the Oct. 1 Osage Minerals Council meeting. The motion was made by Councilman Talee Redcorn and seconded by Councilwoman Susan Foreman.

The historical records, kept by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, were moved to AIRR in Lenexa, Kansas. AIRR is a result of a partnership between the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Archives and Records Administration to preserve Indian Affairs records.

“When we get records from the BIA, we discover tremendous value,” Redcorn said. “I think this is a very excellent start to continue to find those key pieces of value that still remain in the reservation.”

Chairman Everett Waller added, “These are going to be highly important, and I will just go ahead and tell you they have thumbprints on them, representatives, Osages. So, I would like to have them. I’m going to be supporting this.”

Although the motion passed with full council support, 7-0, there are still questions surrounding records themselves.

One question asked is what do the records consist of? While the other is about the documents’ format, whether the council will receive the original historical documents, physical copies, or digital copies?

Waller said in the meeting that it was made clear to him that they would not get the original records, however, there is not a confirmed answer as to if the copies will be physical or digital.

“We are unsure of the records that are held there and if they will be hard copies or digital. We are still working on that,” said Lacee Reynolds, executive administrative assistant to the council.

One Council member worried a digitized format wouldn’t be convenient. Councilman Paul Revard suggested the council request the records be in an “industry standard” or a “suitable, user-friendly” format.

Revard added, “It’s just a thought to consider in our draft of the letter to the federal government. We might go as far as to say what kind of format we prefer to receive the data.”

However, Redcorn argued that requesting a specific format could slow the entire process.

Waller addressed the council, “We will get the request. We’re not going to be demanding anything, that comes at a later time, and that won’t be us doing the letter. What I would like to say is that there is every bit of information not only the realty value but they have the traditional land values and the ownership of the reservation in the 1800s so we’ll just take what they’ll give us.”


By

Kennedy Sepulvado


Original Publish Date: 2021-11-18 00:00:00

Author

  • Kennedy Sepulvado

    My name is Kennedy Sepulvado and I cover the Osage Minerals Council for Osage News. I grew up in Union City, Ok where I fell in love with Journalism. I earned my bachelor degree from the University of Oklahoma and am working towards my masters degree from the University of Central Oklahoma. My goal is to one day be a journalism professor. Since I freelance with Osage News, I have another job as a multimedia journalist for OETA’s Oklahoma News Report. I recently got to combine my work and featured the OMC’s well plugging efforts for a story with OETA. When I’m not working, I spend time painting or attending sporting events with my family. I have my 𐒻𐓧𐓪͘͘͘𐓟𐓻𐓣͘͘ (cat), Cheshire. And we just added a 𐓇𐓪͘𐓤𐓟 (dog), 𐒼𐓙𐓡𐓣𐓤𐓘 (Chief).

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Kennedy Sepulvado
Kennedy Sepulvadohttps://osagenews.org
My name is Kennedy Sepulvado and I cover the Osage Minerals Council for Osage News. I grew up in Union City, Ok where I fell in love with Journalism. I earned my bachelor degree from the University of Oklahoma and am working towards my masters degree from the University of Central Oklahoma. My goal is to one day be a journalism professor. Since I freelance with Osage News, I have another job as a multimedia journalist for OETA’s Oklahoma News Report. I recently got to combine my work and featured the OMC’s well plugging efforts for a story with OETA. When I’m not working, I spend time painting or attending sporting events with my family. I have my 𐒻𐓧𐓪͘͘͘𐓟𐓻𐓣͘͘ (cat), Cheshire. And we just added a 𐓇𐓪͘𐓤𐓟 (dog), 𐒼𐓙𐓡𐓣𐓤𐓘 (Chief).
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