By
Shannon Shaw Duty
The United States Senate confirmed Osage tribal member Vincent Logan as the new Special Trustee for American Indians, June 26.
“As an investment professional, a mentor for Native American attorneys, and a member of the Osage Nation, Vince has been deeply rooted in Indian Country for many decades,” said Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell in a prepared release. “His asset management expertise, legal experience and extensive network of professional relationships in Indian Country will well serve the Office of Special Trustee and the Department of the Interior as we work to build a stronger and more responsive trust asset management system for the Nation’s First Americans. I am pleased the Senate voted to confirm him to this leadership post at Interior.”
Logan was sworn in by Secretary Jewell and commenced work on July 7.
Logan will be responsible for more than $3.7 billion in tribal trust funds and Individual Indian Money accounts. He will be responsible for managing leases for developing natural resources, such as coal, oil, natural gas, timber and grazing, that generate income for those accounts, according to the DOI website. He is also responsible for the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations.
The office for the Special Trustee has been vacant since January of 2009. President Barack Obama first nominated Logan in September of 2012. The rift between Republicans and Democrats has been widely reported as the most-likely culprit for the delays in the confirmations of Obama’s appointments.
The American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 created the Office of Special Trustee to improve the accountability and management of Indian funds held in trust by the federal government.
Logan is a direct descendant of Wah-Tian-Kah, the Osage who led the tribe to move to its present location where oil was discovered and the Osage minerals estate became the most important asset to the tribe. He was born in Pawnee Indian Hospital, raised in Norman, but has spent the majority of his life as a New Yorker. He comes from a family of public service, which he said makes him both proud and humble.
Based in New York, Logan is owner of The Nations Group, LLC, an investment consulting firm focused on Native America with experience in private banking as a corporate attorney. He’s worked in the private banking and Investment Group at Merrill Lynch from 2006 to 2009, and was a corporate finance attorney for Schulte, Roth & Zabel from 2001 to 2006. Prior to that, Logan worked in the Antitrust Division at the U.S. Department of Justice from 1996 to 1998. He was a founding member of the Native American Bar Association of Washington, D.C. He was appointed to the Oklahoma State University Foundation Board of Governors in 2010. Logan received his bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University and juris doctorate from the University Of Oklahoma. While at Merrill Lynch, Logan was a financial adviser for the Osage Nation before he started The Nations Group, LLC.
Logan is from the Morrell family of the Hominy District.
For help with account information, to update your account address, or for other account support, call the Trust Beneficiary Call Center, toll free, 1-888-678-6836.
Original Publish Date: 2014-07-10 00:00:00
