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Descendants of Osage allottee in Lintner case refuse to submit to DNA tests

The descendants of original Osage allottee Paschal F. Canville have refused to submit to a non-invasive DNA test ordered in the case Osage Nation vs. Reta Marie Lintner.

ON First Assistant Attorney General Clint Patterson said in ON Trial Court on July 12 that he reached out to several of Canville’s descendants, who are all registered Osage tribal members, and one of the descendants told him “they’re not giving their DNA to anybody.” In April, Patterson said in court that he spoke to one of the descendants by phone and they had agreed to the DNA testing.

Lintner is one of 60 individuals whose tribal enrollment is being challenged. Lintner and members of her family claim they are the descendants of an alleged illegitimate daughter of Canville, Lola C. Brown, and they should be on the Osage Nation Membership roll.

Legal counsel for Lintner, Brad Hilton of the Hilton Law Office in Skiatook, said that she is agreeable to settling the case by mediation if the DNA testing cannot be conducted. Patterson said the Nation would be agreeable to a settlement.

If Lintner is found not to be a legitimate tribal member, she and her relatives could be compelled to pay back all Osage Nation monetary benefits received while they were members on the tribal roll. Those benefits could include ON Higher Education Scholarship money, ON Health Benefit Card money, JOM money, Financial Services crisis assistance money and other such monetary programs the Nation offers. Lintner was enrolled in 2013.

ON Trial Court Associate Judge Lee Stout said he wanted to exhaust all avenues before mediation and ordered Patterson to send a Writ to order the descendants of Canville to submit their DNA samples to Bio-Gene DNA Testing, LLC, the facility chosen by the Nation to conduct the tests. Patterson said the DNA samples are conducted by mouth swab and are not blood samples.  

“We’re venturing into uncharted oceans in this case,” Stout said. “Let’s exhaust all avenues … I really hope we can bring a resolution to this case. We’ll settle a 100-year-old mystery if we do. Let’s do it if we can.”

Membership

Osage tribal memberships came into question after a former Membership Department employee was caught falsifying records to enroll her adopted children and her sister’s adopted children in 2015. After her departure, an investigation ensued into the membership records during her tenure. After the investigation was completed, those individuals who could not be verified were served with petitions for removal. Seven individuals have voluntarily relinquished their memberships and the memberships of their children.

To qualify for Osage tribal membership a person must prove they are of lineal descent from an original allottee from the 1906 Osage Allotment Act. Birth certificates, death certificates, and paternity tests are normally used to prove one is of lineal descent.

The next court date is scheduled for Oct. 4 in the ON Trial Court, at 1:30 p.m.


By

Shannon Shaw Duty


Original Publish Date: 2017-07-13 00:00:00

Author

  • Shannon Shaw Duty

    Title: Editor

    Email: sshaw@osagenation-nsn.gov

    Twitter: @dutyshaw

    Topic Expertise: Columnist, Culture, Community

    Languages spoken: English, Osage (intermediate), Spanish (beginner)

    Shannon Shaw Duty, Osage from the Grayhorse District, is the editor of the award-winning Osage News, the official independent media of the Osage Nation. She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a master’s degree in Legal Studies with an emphasis in Indigenous Peoples Law. She currently sits on the LION Publishers board of directors, the Freedom of Information Committee for the Society of Professional Journalists, and she is also a member of the Pawhuska Public Schools Board of Education. She served on the Board of Directors for the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) from 2013-2016 and served as a board member and Chairwoman for the Pawhuska Johnson O’Malley Parent Committee from 2017-2020. She is a Chips Quinn Scholar, a former instructor for the Freedom Forum’s Native American Journalism Career Conference and the Freedom Forum’s American Indian Journalism Institute. She is a former reporter for The Santa Fe New Mexican. She is a 2012 recipient of the Native American 40 Under 40 from the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. In 2014 she helped lead the Osage News to receive the Elias Boudinot Free Press Award. The Osage News has won Best Newspaper from the SPJ-Oklahoma Chapter in their division the past five years, 2018-2022. Her award-winning work has been published in Indian Country Today, The Washington Post, the Center for Public Integrity, NPR, the Associated Press, Tulsa World and others. She currently resides in Pawhuska, Okla., with her husband and together they share six children, two dogs and two cats.

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Shannon Shaw Duty
Shannon Shaw Dutyhttps://osagenews.org

Title: Editor

Email: sshaw@osagenation-nsn.gov

Twitter: @dutyshaw

Topic Expertise: Columnist, Culture, Community

Languages spoken: English, Osage (intermediate), Spanish (beginner)

Shannon Shaw Duty, Osage from the Grayhorse District, is the editor of the award-winning Osage News, the official independent media of the Osage Nation. She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a master’s degree in Legal Studies with an emphasis in Indigenous Peoples Law. She currently sits on the LION Publishers board of directors, the Freedom of Information Committee for the Society of Professional Journalists, and she is also a member of the Pawhuska Public Schools Board of Education. She served on the Board of Directors for the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) from 2013-2016 and served as a board member and Chairwoman for the Pawhuska Johnson O’Malley Parent Committee from 2017-2020. She is a Chips Quinn Scholar, a former instructor for the Freedom Forum’s Native American Journalism Career Conference and the Freedom Forum’s American Indian Journalism Institute. She is a former reporter for The Santa Fe New Mexican. She is a 2012 recipient of the Native American 40 Under 40 from the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. In 2014 she helped lead the Osage News to receive the Elias Boudinot Free Press Award. The Osage News has won Best Newspaper from the SPJ-Oklahoma Chapter in their division the past five years, 2018-2022. Her award-winning work has been published in Indian Country Today, The Washington Post, the Center for Public Integrity, NPR, the Associated Press, Tulsa World and others. She currently resides in Pawhuska, Okla., with her husband and together they share six children, two dogs and two cats.
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