It’s been over a year since the release of Martin Scorsese’s film “Killers of the Flower Moon” based on David Grann’s bestselling book. The film made non-Osages aware of the brutal system that put a target on Osage citizens because of their wealth. Parts of this have been dismantled but one thing remains: the laws that keep more than 25% of Osage headrights in non-Osage hands.
In an Oct. 20 post on Instagram, the Osage Nation said it supported the Osage Minerals Council’s effort to help amend the law to make sure those headrights are returned.
“The law, originally written to allow for the transfer of headrights, does not provide for their return,” wrote Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear in the post. “It’s a one-way street, and we must demand this law be modified to allow for their rightful return.”
That could take some time.
According to Standing Bear, new legislation being drafted and worked on by both the Osage Nation’s lawyers and the Osage Minerals Council’s legal team would need to change the 1984 amendment to the 1906 Act. A headright is considered a piece of property – making it difficult to take without compensation.
After 1978, it became illegal to sell or transfer headrights to non-Osages with the exception of a life estate.
Talk of legislation to return headrights was introduced in 2021 and was worked on by Wilson Pipestem’s law firm Pipestem law, based in Tulsa. Currently, legislation is being worked on by Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas’ office, who represents the state’s 3rd district. Standing Bear said Lucas has always been supportive of the Osage Nation.
Standing Bear also told Osage News about another way non-Osages could return headrights that doesn’t involve changing the law.
“My solution for now is just tell people … If you want to [donate] your headright money … just donate it to the Osage Foundation or to the Osage Nation,” Standing Bear said.
Minerals Council Chairman Myron Red Eagle said the process could take some time and that the Minerals Council’s legal team is now working with the ON executive office’s lawyers on a new draft of legislation – which is what Congressman Lucas’ office wants.
Red Eagle and Chief Standing Bear were recently in California and fielded questions about headright legislation. The most recent draft was a one-page copy that contained little detail beyond the intent of allowing the transfer of headrights from a non-Osage entity.
Red Eagle said it’s going to take a lot of discussion about how to move forward and that there were a lot of factors to be considered: tracking down descendants of headright owners and none are still alive, what would happen to those headrights? Could they be sold to other Osages or go into an account held by the Osage Minerals Council?
Standing Bear said the Bureau of Indian Affairs often times has the final say.
“It’s not under our control,” Standing Bear said.
“It’s under the Bureau of Indian Affairs. So, we can give our opinion on the research to the BIA, but they don’t have to follow it.”
The goal is to find a method to get headright shares back in a way that will work for all parties involved. Red Eagle said he hopes to get something before the Osage Nation Congress in the coming months.
