My name is Shane Rencountre and I am an Osage. I would like to serve as your congress person for the next four years.
I have moved a lot around the United States while growing up, but it provided me with many experiences from different areas of this great country. As an adult I have also had the blessing and opportunity to work and travel in other parts of the world. But throughout my life I have always returned to the Osage Nation. I chose to go to high school in Pawhuska, even though my immediate family was still moving about. My best accomplishments were in sports but I regard the academics more important fro the longer term. I have since worked in law enforcement, pipe-lining, road/building construction, HVAC, and now I am a project manager/inspector for the Osage Nation. Without a doubt in my mind there is truly something special about our home. Many Osages before me have ventured away to explore but then returned to our lands.
This is where we have built our foundation, the very building blocks for the future. Our elders set this foundation and it has fallen upon us as descendants, and as citizens and stewards of our tribe, to continue this work and clarify the vision of our future.
My mission as your congress person will be to improve upon our tribal capabilities and responsibilities. Although I have many, my main ideas are the following:
· Define what the Osage Nation economic and social responsibilities are.
· Reform and improve services provided by the Osage Nation to its people.
· Plan and structure economic development.
· Determine productivity of natural resources for longer term sustainability.
· Provide funding for public schooling and higher education.
· Expand Osage culture, history, and language teaching to tribal members in public schools.
Our policies and regulations need to be fair to all Osages. Fiscal responsibility of the Osage Nation Congress includes regulatory oversight – we need to monitor that appropriations are used what they are intended for. Throughout my multi-faceted experience here and abroad I have learnt that everything can be a resource. Our efficiency can be improved. For example, the Osage Nation has yet to implement its recycling program.
Monetary funds are not the only resource available to us. We as a people are the greatest resource of all. We are the caretakers of our environment, our elders, our children, and their future. We need to teach our children how to be the best stewards of our nation by being the best possible role models.
By
Press Release
Original Publish Date: 2012-04-25 00:00:00
