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Fourth Osage Minerals Council takes their oaths of office

Photo Caption: The Fourth Osage Minerals Council takes their oaths of office on July 2, at the Minerals Council Chambers in Pawhuska. BENNY POLACCA/Osage News

The Fourth Osage Minerals Council has been sworn in and is now under new leadership.

After a cedar ceremony led by former Principal Chief John Red Eagle, Osage Nation Trial Court Judge Marvin Stepson administered the oath of office July 2 before a standing room only crowd in the council’s chambers.

In the ensuing special session, Marsha Harlan was unanimously elected the council’s new chairwoman and Andrew Yates was unanimously elected vice chairman.

“I don’t think I’ve ever sat on this side of the room,” said Third Minerals Council chairman Everett Waller with a grin after Harlan was tabbed as his successor.

With new leadership in place, the council voted to add committees – and tweak some existing ones – in an attempt to better manage the minerals estate.

Among the new committees formed are Natural Gas, Business and Economic Development, and Oil and Gas Legislation.

“We need oil and gas laws on our tribe’s books,” Councilwoman Margo Gray said. “They are 12 years overdue.”

Additionally, what was the Media Committee is now the Technology Committee. Along with updating the council’s information technology infrastructure, the committee has also been tasked with publishing the council’s newsletter on a more frequent basis.

“There are a lot of voters out there who said they were not informed about what’s been going on here, especially in the last couple of years,” Councilman Myron Red Eagle said. “I talked to some people in California and Texas who said they’d like to see more editions of the newsletter. We used to send it out every quarter.”

Both Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear and Congressional Speaker Angela Pratt were on hand to offer their congratulations to the new council and express their respective branches’ interest in collaboration and cooperation.

“My office is open,” Chief Standing Bear said. “We will stay out of your business, but we are here to help you.” 


By

Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton


Original Publish Date: 2018-07-03 00:00:00

Author

  • Benny Polacca

    Title: Senior Reporter

    Email: bpolacca@osagenation-nsn.gov

    Instagram: @bpolacca

    Topic Expertise: Government, Tribal Government, Community

    Languages spoken: English, basic knowledge of Spanish and French

    Benny Polacca (Hopi/ Havasupai/ Pima/ Tohono O’odham) started working at the Osage News in 2009 as a reporter in Pawhuska, Okla., where he’s covered various stories and events that impact the Osage Nation and Osage people. Those newspaper contributions cover a broad spectrum of topics and issues from tribal government matters to features. As a result, Polacca has gained an immeasurable amount of experience in covering Native American affairs, government issues and features so the Osage readership can be better informed about the tribal current affairs the newspaper covers.

    Polacca is part of the Osage News team that was awarded the Native American Journalists Association's Elias Boudinet Free Press Award in 2014 and has won numerous NAJA media awards, as well as awards from the Oklahoma Press Association and SPJ Oklahoma Pro Chapter, for storytelling coverage and photography.

    Polacca earned his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and also participated in the former American Indian Journalism Institute at the University of South Dakota where he was introduced to the basics of journalism and worked with seasoned journalists there and later at The Forum daily newspaper covering the Fargo, N.D. area where he worked as the weeknight reporter.

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Benny Polacca
Benny Polaccahttps://osagenews.org

Title: Senior Reporter

Email: bpolacca@osagenation-nsn.gov

Instagram: @bpolacca

Topic Expertise: Government, Tribal Government, Community

Languages spoken: English, basic knowledge of Spanish and French

Benny Polacca (Hopi/ Havasupai/ Pima/ Tohono O’odham) started working at the Osage News in 2009 as a reporter in Pawhuska, Okla., where he’s covered various stories and events that impact the Osage Nation and Osage people. Those newspaper contributions cover a broad spectrum of topics and issues from tribal government matters to features. As a result, Polacca has gained an immeasurable amount of experience in covering Native American affairs, government issues and features so the Osage readership can be better informed about the tribal current affairs the newspaper covers.

Polacca is part of the Osage News team that was awarded the Native American Journalists Association's Elias Boudinet Free Press Award in 2014 and has won numerous NAJA media awards, as well as awards from the Oklahoma Press Association and SPJ Oklahoma Pro Chapter, for storytelling coverage and photography.

Polacca earned his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and also participated in the former American Indian Journalism Institute at the University of South Dakota where he was introduced to the basics of journalism and worked with seasoned journalists there and later at The Forum daily newspaper covering the Fargo, N.D. area where he worked as the weeknight reporter.

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