By
Benny Polacca
The concept of “sovereignty” took center stage this week as several Osage dignitaries shared their thoughts on what sovereignty means to them as part of the 2015 Osage Sovereignty Celebration.
Since 2006, the reformed Osage government has observed Sovereignty Day each year in recognizing the ratification of the Osage Constitution. On March 11, 2006, Osage voters went to the election poll and the majority voted in favor of the constitution, which elected Osage government officials swear an oath to protect when they are sworn into office on inauguration day.
Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear and other Osage dignitaries shared speeches on the concept of sovereignty on March 11 of this year in the Congressional Chambers as part of the Sovereignty Celebration kickoff.
Standing Bear previous served as Assistant Principal Chief in the 1990s under the former Osage government. He noted the differences in tribal government inaugurations when he took oath as assistant principal chief in 1990 and as Principal Chief last year with the Bureau of Indian Affairs absent from involvement in the latter oath.
In 1990, Standing Bear recalled the BIA superintendent at the time administered an oath “that the federal employees take and the federal officials take… No where in that oath is ‘Osage people,’ no where in there is anything about us,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll join me in appreciating all the work and perseverance it took for all the people back then – all your relatives – to get to this far… But now, when I was elected your chief, I swear an oath to you and to all of us.”
Standing Bear said sovereignty means to him: “We take care of each other, we take care of our lands, we take care of our culture and our language – for me, that’s sovereignty… It’s a big honor and I will do my best to continue to persevere for our children and our future generations like all of you.”
Assistant Principal Chief Raymond Red Corn said Osage sovereignty dates back generations and recalled Osage life 200 years ago when Osages traded with the British and French and said: “for the most part, we took care of ourselves, and in that process, we helped ourselves… and we fed ourselves.”
Red Corn said sovereignty takes different forms today and one form he’d like to see is Osages “once again feed ourselves, that is a fundamental right, that is a fundamental obligation and nothing secures our futures more than that ability. We are on the threshold of a comprehensive effort to do exactly that.”
Red Corn said plans are being made to break ground this spring to grow food in the Nation-owned gardens near Bird Creek in Pawhuska. “We’re going to do it in a way that makes our children healthier, makes our elders healthier, makes us all healthier,” he said.
From the legislative branch, Congressional Speaker Maria Whitehorn described sovereignty as “an idea put into action” and said two types include inherent sovereignty and evidence of that is “the fact that we are here today” amid other modern influences including the U.S. government. “But I know in my heart that if that government would cease and not exist anymore, the Osage people will still be a sovereign people,” she said.
The other type Whitehorn mentioned is “political sovereignty” noting the Osage is a federally recognized tribe with a treaty signed with the U.S. government. “As your elected official, I have a say, I have to read, I have to have the knowledge and then I have to understand what I read and then I have to make decisions as your elected official and use the wisdom I gained from all my knowledge to make decisions that benefit our Osage people,” Whitehorn said.
ON Supreme Court Chief Justice Meredith Drent, who leads the Judicial Branch, described sovereignty as “the Nation’s expression of its people’s values – they’re reflected in our actions, in our politics, priorities and in our views.” She said sovereignty also shows in “the way we govern our resources, how we manage our assets, how we raise our children, care for our elders and our sick, how we honor those who came before us and remember those who have passed.”
Drent said “sovereignty is a moving target, we must move with it as the rest of the world changes” and: “sovereignty is our way to show the world we are here, we have a voice, we have strength, we learn, we grow and we change, we have a place in this community, in this county and this country, in this state and the world at-large.”
At the invitation of ON officials, Vince Logan, who is the Special Trustee for American Indians under the Department of Interior, appeared as a guest speaker for the event. Logan (an Osage from the Hominy District) received confirmation for his post by the U.S. Senate last year. As Special Trustee, Logan is responsible for managing American Indian trust funds, which totaled $4.6 billion as of 2014.
Logan said he was visiting and speaking in his individual capacity at the event. He said he encourages Osage officials to encourage younger people to seek advanced college degrees and higher education opportunities to build up the Nation’s “internal capacities and internal capabilities” in exercising sovereignty.
Also new this year, Osage officials invited a guest youth speaker to the event. Erin Casoose, who is the current Hominy JOM Princess and a Hominy High School senior is this year’s selected speaker. Dressed in traditional Osage dance clothes, Casoose said she feels honored to represent the Hominy JOM program and is waiting to hear back from colleges she applied to before deciding on where she’ll go after graduating in May. Casoose added she feels fortunate to be raised in the Osage Nation where she’s learned about the culture, dances and said she knows exactly where she comes from.
To her, Casoose said sovereignty means “culture, community and family.”
Other officials, including ON Trial Court Chief Judge Marvin Stepson and members of the Fourth ON Congress also expressed their thoughts on sovereignty. Those Congress members who also spoke were Dr. Ron Shaw, William “Kugee” Supernaw, RJ Walker and James Norris. Congresswoman Shannon Edwards was absent that day, but a portion of her recorded speech was played during the March 11 event. Edwards delivered her sovereignty speech at the March 7 United Osages of Southern California meeting in Carlsbad.
The Sovereignty Celebration concludes with the annual powwow dance at the Osage County Fairgrounds on Saturday March 14. The event starts with gourd dancing in the afternoon and grand entry at 7 p.m. with contest dancing to follow.
Original Publish Date: 2015-03-14 00:00:00
