Wednesday, May 21, 2025
58 F
Pawhuska
HomeGovernmentOsage Congress confirms individuals for board service

Osage Congress confirms individuals for board service

Each board and commission member will serve a three-year term once confirmed.

During the 2022 Hun-Kah Session, the Seventh Osage Nation Congress voted to confirm several appointees to their respective boards.

Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear appointed all but one individual and those board confirmations are as listed.

Mark Bowman is confirmed to serve on the five-person Grayhorse Village Committee. He was a previous appointee in 2019 also. His confirmation passed 11-0 with Congressman Joe Tillman abstaining from the vote.

Wayne Mitchell is also confirmed to serve his first term on the Grayhorse Village Committee. 

For the Grayhorse village, Osage election law states: “The Chief shall appoint the Grayhorse five-person Village Committee with the advice and consent of the Osage Nation Congress.” The law also states the Hominy and Pawhuska village committees “shall undertake biennial elections for Five Person Village Committees” with village residents voting in those respective elections. 

Fred Byers is confirmed to serve a second term as a Wahzhazhe Elections Board alternate member. The Nation’s election code calls for a three-member board with two alternate members who serve in the event a sitting board member must recuse his/herself due to a conflict in carrying out election duties. Byers received a 12-0 confirmation vote.

Teresa Trumbly Lamsam and Tara McLain Manthey are both confirmed to serve another term on the Osage News Editorial Board. Lamsam is a board appointee by Standing Bear and Tara McLain Manthey is an appointee from the Congress made by 12-0 affirmative vote beforehand. Both received 12-0 confirmation votes.

Lamsam and Manthey are both board members who served prior terms, which date back to the first Editorial Board formed when the Nation’s Independent Press Act was developed and passed by the First ON Congress. The Editorial Board is comprised of three individuals with two board appointments each made by the Legislative and Executive branches and those two members are subject to Congressional confirmation. The two confirmed board members appoint the third board member, who is also subject to a confirmation vote.

Frances Williams is now serving another term on the Nation’s Veterans Memorial Commission. She also received a 12-0 vote for her confirmation vote.

Each board and commission member will serve a three-year term once confirmed.

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.

    View all posts

Get the Osage News by email!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

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.

RELATED ARTICLES

In Case You Missed it...

Upcoming Events