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ON Cabinet Secretaries deliver updates at UOSC Fall Gathering

Constituents heard updates on the Nation from the Secretaries of Language, Culture, Education, Administration and Social Services, which encompasses 20 departments within the Executive Branch

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Three Osage Nation cabinet secretaries presented updates here on behalf of the respective entities they oversee during the Oct. 26 United Osages of Southern California fall gathering.

Vann Bighorse, Secretary of Language, Culture and Education; Susan Bayro, Secretary of Administration; and Teresa Bledsoe, Secretary of Social Services spoke to the Saturday crowd at the city’s senior center where UOSC organization Chairman Greg Clavier and his family hosted the event. In 2022, Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear’s administration established six Executive Branch cabinet secretaries to oversee the various departments and programs for the Nation.

Clavier said about 90 individuals in total attended the fall event, which included ON Congress members who visited with constituents, aside from the secretaries. Those legislators included Congressional Speaker Pam Shaw, Second Speaker Otto Hamilton, Alice Goodfox, Maria Whitehorn, Jodie Revard, John Maker, Eli Potts and Joe Tillman. Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, Osage Minerals Council Chairman Myron Red Eagle and Councilman Paul Revard were also in attendance.

Attendees at the Oct. 26 United Osages of Southern California fall gathering listen to guest speakers at the event held in Carlsbad. BENNY POLACCA/ Osage News 

Secretary of Language, Culture, Education

“We’re all here for you all, we’re trying our best to give you everything that we have back home,” Bighorse said. “We try to bring you as close as we can to bring back home to you, I know all of our departments – we try our best every day.”

Bighorse, a former director for the Wahzhazhe Cultural Center and later the Language Department, oversees both entities, as well as the ON Museum, Visitor’s Center and Education departments and programs, including the Wahzahzhe Early Learning Academy and Daposka Ahnkodapi.

In the Language Department, Bighorse said Osage language teachers offer classes in the public schools for Pawhuska, Hominy, Woodland (Fairfax), Skiatook and Bartlesville high schools. He noted 140 students are currently enrolled in language classes.

The public school language classes count toward world class credits needed as part of graduation requirements, Bighorse said and announced plans to offer Osage language classes in the Tulsa Public Schools district. “We just had a meeting recently with (TPS) and we are going to start offering classes (in that district). Jacquelyn Delong is one of our teachers and fortunately she wanted more teaching, so she’s going to be taking on the task of starting small with one of our schools in Tulsa, so we’re very excited about that,” he said.

Bighorse said plans are in the works to create two more books highlighting the Osage language and culture. “They’re going to be very, very good Osage books and they will have that augmented reality part to it where you can download (a smartphone app) and you’re able to put it on the book and it will speak in Osage to you that way it helps you with your language at home. If you don’t know the language and your child is learning the language, that reinforces language at the house.”

In 2022, the Language Department published “Coyote and the Bear,” which is a children’s book developed with American Rescue Plan Act funding, which Bighorse also mentioned was used to fund the media production project that created the Osage culture/ education videos available on the www.osageculture.com website. “This project was a collaboration with the Cultural Center and the Language Department and they created 32 educational videos and they’re for you, they’re at your fingertips,” he said.

Osage Nation Congressional Speaker Pam Shaw delivers a report on the 2024 Tzi-Sho Session during the Oct. 26 United Osages of Southern California gathering in Carlsbad. BENNY POLACCA/ Osage News 

Bighorse said the former Pawhuska Main Street building known as the Nation’s Heritage Center is now demolished and plans are in the works for rehousing the language and cultural center entities. During this past winter, a cold snap caused the building pipes to freeze and burst causing significant water damage that led to the decision to raze the building.

“We plan on building a temporary home for the language and cultural departments until we work on the new Heritage Center,” Bighorse said. After the former building’s damage, the ON Congress appropriated $2 million toward a multi-purpose building that will serve as a temporary location for the two entities. Plans are also in the works to expand the ON Museum, including a building to house the Heritage Center, along with the Historic Preservation Office on the Osage government campus.

In the Education Department, Bighorse said the Nation is now offering a National ACT test day for students with the first test offered on Sept. 14 at the department’s building in Hominy. “Most of the students in Osage County have to travel to Tulsa, Stillwater or wherever to take their ACT test, but the Education Department is now able to administer the ACT test for our Osage children … That’s a milestone that is very good for our students.”

The Education Department offers an online tutoring program and 61 students have used it in 11 states, Bighorse said. At the Nation’s Daposka Ahnkodapi, Bighorse said about 65 students are currently enrolled.

For higher education scholarships, a total of 1,021 were awarded in the most recent 2024 fiscal year, Bighorse said, adding there are opportunities for area high school students to enroll in Tulsa Community College classes offered at the Education Department building.

The ON Museum in Pawhuska reported a total of 622 visitors during September, Bighorse said, noting the 2,229 photo allottee exhibit is still ongoing and photo submissions are welcome. “They are still working on the 2,229 original allottee pictures and if your folks don’t have a picture in this collection of pictures, please send the museum a picture of your original allottee ancestor, they would love to have it put into our collection,” he said.

Osage Nation Congressional Second Speaker Otto Hamilton greets constituents during the United Osages of Southern California fall gathering held Oct. 26 in Carlsbad. BENNY POLACCA/ Osage News 

Secretary of Administration

Bayro started her secretarial post with the Nation earlier this year around the time she also started serving as the City of Pawhuska Mayor. She has served on the Pawhuska City Council for two years and her fellow councilors elected her to serve in the mayoral post, which she started in June.

ON entities within Bayro’s purview include human resources, communications, information technology (IT), membership and self-governance and strategic planning.

Bayro previously worked as an analyst in the Nation’s Strategic Planning Department and was instrumental in developing and administering the Nation’s first census for Osage constituents last year in accordance with the 2022 Osage law establishing the Osage constituent-focused census with the mandate for a census to be conducted every five years.

“By doing the census, we’re showing our sovereignty, we’re showing that we’re gathering our own information, collecting our own data from our own Osage people, we don’t need another federal entity to do it for us,” Bayro said. “We collect it and we manage it and we’re telling our story the way we think it needs to be told by us.”

“Other tribal nations have also contacted me, they’re wanting to do the same exact thing that we’re doing and we are being the leaders for that,” Bayro said, noting she’s received those calls from Alaska, New York and California. “What we’ve done is we created a packet for them so that they don’t have to reinvent the wheel, I give them everything we’ve already done, the census forms, the social media outreach that we did … and they take off with it and customize it based off their tribal entity.”

A local Mexican food eatery caters lunch and cooks fresh tortillas for street tacos served during the Oct. 26 United Osages of Southern California fall gathering in Carlsbad. BENNY POLACCA/ Osage News 

“The data that we are collecting for our tribal nation with our own Osage members is just crucial and critical for when we make decisions and go to Congress and say ‘this is the needs of the people,’ it’s based off data that we collected, we have a story that we can tell based off these numbers to say ‘this is where we’re wanting to go, here’s where our people are, this is what they need within that area,’” Bayro said.

From the initial census report released in July, Bayro said “we are a very educated people, a lot of the majority was bachelor’s degree, owning their own home, over $1,000 a month mortgage, having their own vehicle, and so for us, that data was very crucial because it told a story that we didn’t really know.”

As an analyst, Bayro previously attended a 2019 UOSC event focused on strategic planning outreach and said that experience resulted in developing an ON government resource directory.

“How many people have asked yourself ‘What does the Osage Nation offer? What services do they offer? What programs do they have?’ It was here (in Carlsbad) that this came about,” Bayro said. “Within this, it tells you about all the departments, all the programs and the services they provide and it also talks about the branches of government, what they do, when (Congress) meets and (the process) to pass something into law.”

Digital copies of the initial Osage census report and the ON Resource Directory can be downloaded from the Nation’s Strategic Planning Office page at: https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/government/executive-branch/strategic-planning

Next year, Bayro said another strategic plan update with outreach efforts are planned to visit with the Osage communities, including the out-of-state regional organizations. She said the updates will include “speaking to you guys letting you know what accomplishments have been done from the time we finished (the directory) to what the departments have been doing, what the accomplishments were and updating the accomplishments that haven’t been fulfilled yet but they’re still in the process of being done.”

Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear addresses attendees during the United Osages of Southern California fall gathering on Oct. 26 in Carlsbad. BENNY POLACCA/ Osage News 

Secretary of Social Services

In her first trip to visit with UOSC constituents, Bledsoe introduced herself as being from the Grayhorse District and has lived in the region most of her life. “I taught school locally in Fairfax for 22 years, I was a science and math teacher, a coach and I was the Indian education coordinator for Woodland Public Schools … In July of 2018, I submitted an application for a director job and I began working for the Nation in their Child Care & Development program and I was there for five years then I took this position as the Cabinet Secretary in which I’m over all social service programs,” she said.

Bledsoe discussed some of the direct services available to constituents under her purview, which include Child Care & Development, Child Support Services, Financial Assistance, Constituent Services, Food Distribution, Social Services, Veteran programs and WIC.

“Crisis Assistance is available to all members across the United States and it is available to you every day of the week on the Osage Nation service portal (online),” Bledsoe said. “As of Oct. 1, the Crisis Assistance and Burial Assistance programs are available via the service portal. I believe that you guys will find it to be useful, helpful and quicker than the traditional application.”

“I know that utilizing the portal is a transition, but I want everyone to know that we are looking at transitioning all programs for assistance into this portal, so they try to make it as user friendly as possible and I think that you will find it super useful because you will be able to access information whenever you want to log into the portal and you’ll see the progress of all of your applications that are available,” Bledsoe said.

“In FY [fiscal year] 24, the Crisis Assistance team approved 744 applications and delivered over $966,000 in crisis assistance to constituents meeting the requirements,” Bledsoe said. “In FY 2025, the Crisis Assistance program has been appropriated by Congress in the amount of $1.2 million … You are eligible to receive up to $2,000 in assistance within a fiscal year, it can be more than one occurrence up to the $2,000 limit.”

Osage Nation Cabinet Secretary Vann Bighorse (Language, Culture and Education) discusses entities he oversees during the Oct. 26 United Osages of Southern California fall gathering in Carlsbad. BENNY POLACCA/ Osage News 

“Some of the areas for crisis assistance is available to address or prevent homelessness or the threat of homelessness; unsafe or unsanitary living conditions; fire or natural disaster; major car repair, or a family emergency,” Bledsoe said. “The main point of contact through the service portal is email, so check your email because once you apply, you’ll be getting instantaneous emails and as you transition through your application or if you need to upload additional documents, that will notify you if it was successful or not.”

Bledsoe said the service portal features include a screen showing an application’s progress and email notifications on whether a submitted application needs additional information and a timeframe to submit it. At the end of the process, the constituent will receive notice whether the application is approved or denied.

In case of a denial, “that’s not saying you can’t call, so in fact, we encourage you to call in the event you have questions, if you have roadblocks in your application process, please reach out to us (918) 287-5555 and tell them what your needs are and we’ll be ready to serve you,” Bledsoe said. “Now, I want you not to be discouraged in the event you were not approved. If you did not submit documentation that was requested in a timely manner, that could be a reason for non-approval and all you would need to do is upload your documents into the portal that you were missing, so basically you’re going to try again (reapply).”

On Burial Assistance, Bledsoe noted the service “provides up to $8,000 with burial expenses in the priorities in the policy” and the point of contact is also Constituent Services.

Bledsoe is also encouraging constituents to fill out their health benefit enrollment forms for the upcoming 2025 calendar year as the deadline is Dec. 15 to enroll or re-enroll. The two-month enrollment period started on Oct. 15 for the Nation’s Limited Health Benefit Plan program.

More information on enrollment, eligible health-related expenses, and downloadable forms for the ON Limited Health Benefit Plan is available online at: https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/services/health-benefits-information  

Bledsoe mentioned the Nation’s Social Services Agency, which includes Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and child foster and adoption services. “If you need to reach out to (Social Services), the phone number is (918) 287-5335. Another need that we have in every state is the need for foster families,” she said.

For more information on the Nation’s Social Services, including a recently created online questionnaire form for those interested in being a foster family, the website is: https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/services/social-services-agency

Osage Nation Cabinet Secretary of Administration Susan Bayro shows constituents copies of the government resources directory during the Oct. 26 United Osages of Southern California fall gathering in Carlsbad. BENNY POLACCA/ Osage News 

In final update comments, Bledsoe said “we are building an 18,000-square foot Child Care Center in Pawhuska and we’re really close to opening that facility, we were able to secure $5 million in federal funds and $2.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds in which Congress appropriated those funds for us to really build a center that is state-of-the-art, that met the needs and beyond for our children. And a building that we could design and include an Osage creation story, as well as other cultural elements in the building.” The Nation ceremoniously broke ground and started construction on the new Child Care Center in May 2023.

“I have an excellent team at the Osage Nation and our sole purpose is to serve our constituents and that includes you and I want to make sure that we’re here for you,” Bledsoe said, adding she would like to bring some of her departmental staff out for a future UOSC event. “And that we are trying our very best on a daily basis to bring these services to you because we know you wouldn’t be applying if you didn’t need them.”

The UOSC gathering closed with the traditional opportunity drawings for gift items donated by attendees and guests, which usually include Osage-made artworks, books, printed T-shirts, gift cards, Pendleton brand items and a 50/50 drawing for attendees who buy chances at the event. “The Opportunity & 50/50 drawing raised a total of $627.00,” said Clavier, adding the money is used to help pay for event costs and supplies, in addition to applications for regional gathering funding for the events.

Osage member services available via the online portal can be accessed via: https://portal.osagenation-nsn.gov/

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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