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New cars abound after settlement payout

It’s pretty apparent on the streets of Pawhuska that a lot of people have bought new cars. When parking at the gas station, grocery store, retail stores, there are new car tags.

According to the Osage Nation Tax Commission, from the period of Nov. 30 to Jan. 5, 224 new cars were registered, including a Bentley. Yes, a Bentley, the luxury car hand manufactured in Crewe, England with a price tag starting at $200,000.

“I can think of 12 people who purchased Denali’s [GMC Sports Utility Vehicle] right off hand,” said Mary Mashunkashey, Tax Commission director. “It’s been incredible.”

On Nov. 14, 2011 the United States deposited $345 million in the Osage Tribal Trust Account and money was disbursed to all shareholders of the Osage Minerals Estate midnight Nov. 28. All shareholders, whether they were Osage, non-Osage, or entities, received a part of the payout that paid $155,136 per full share, or full headright.

The settlement was the result of months of negotiations with the U.S. following a U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruling that said the Osage was owed approximately $330 million for claims arising from 1972 to 2000.

The settlement agreement, executed Oct. 14, paid the tribe $380 million to compensate for its claims of historical losses to its trust funds and interest income as a result of the government’s mismanagement of trust assets. 

Language in the settlement will implement measures to strengthen management of the tribe’s trust assets and improve communications between the DOI and the Osage, including procedures for delivery of periodic statements of accounts, annual audit information, and information relating to the management of the mineral estate to the tribe.  

The settlement agreement also provides dispute resolution provisions to reduce the likelihood of future litigation.


By

Shannon Shaw Duty


Original Publish Date: 2012-02-28 00:00:00

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 is the editor of the Osage News. She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor's degree in Journalism and a master's degree in Legal Studies, Indigenous Peoples Law from the OU College of Law. 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 (NCAIED). In 2014 she helped lead the Osage News to receive the Elias Boudinot Free Press Award, NAJA’s highest honor. An Osage tribal member, she and her family are from the Grayhorse District. She currently resides in Pawhuska, Okla., with her husband and six children.
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