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Voters elect eight to serve on the Third Osage Minerals Council

The unofficial results are in and the Third Osage Minerals Council has been decided, barring any protests.

Andrew Yates, Cynthia Boone, Talee Redcorn, Joseph Cheshewalla, Galen Crum, Kathryn RedCorn, Everett Waller and Stephanie Erwin are the new council members. The eight individuals will be responsible for the stewardship of the Osage Minerals Estate and the regulation of oil and gas operations from the estate.

Boone, who is the only Osage, and woman, to have been elected to serve three consecutive terms on the OMC, said she will keep doing what she’s been doing from day one: protecting the shareholder’s interests. When asked what she would like to tell her supporters she said: “A great big ‘June in Boone’ thanks to you. If it weren’t for my supporters I wouldn’t be here. I’m just so proud of the fact I can serve them one more term.”

When asked what assets she brings to the minerals council she said: “The fact that I’m a voice for my constituents. I’m not one to sit on my hands, I get right in there and I fight for their rights and I will continue to do so as long as they elect me to be their representative – and I’m just so happy to be in that chair right now.” 

Yates, Boone and Crum were the only incumbents re-elected. Curtis Bear, Myron Red Eagle and Melvin Core finished 11th, 13th and 14th, respectively.

RedCorn and Redcorn were elected back on the council, both served on the First Osage Minerals Council of the reformed government but did not serve on the Second Osage Minerals Council after unsuccessful campaigns in 2010.

“I’m just glad. I feel like we have a challenge ahead of us and I’m ready for the job, ready to move forward with real interesting stuff and hopefully we’ll move forward in the future with what we have as Osages, which is the mineral estate,” Talee Redcorn said. “It’s the biggest asset in Indian County.”

When asked who he would like to thank for his win, he said: “I would like to thank the Osage headright holders and in particular Sophia Lookout, she’s going through some health problems and I asked her to be the first one to sign my petition and she did. I just want to thank her for that.”

Also elected was Everett Waller, who served on the 30th Osage Tribal Council and ran for assistant principal chief in 2010, but was unsuccessful. But having been elected to the third OMC, when asked what will he bring to the council he said one word: Integrity.

“The main thing we need as Osages: togetherness. Whether it’s like a child, we’re going to have to be taught a lesson to each other on how to get along. Our votes aren’t just votes, they’re to take care of our children. Every time I vote I’m going to look at my grandchild’s picture and make sure it’s the right [vote],” he said.

When asked if there was anyone he would like to thank, he said: “The Lord Jesus Christ, Wah-Kon-Tah; my mother, she never met this man, and my father, I want to give them all the glory … and I would like to thank my wife,” Waller said.

The newcomers to the council will be Stephanie Erwin and Joe Cheshewalla. Erwin has been a regular fixture at minerals council meetings for the past several years and Cheshewalla is a retired oil worker for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

“I’ve got a whole laundry list of stuff that needs to be done, things that need to be taken care of that’s been overlooked [by the OMC] and they just kind of blown it off like it didn’t make any difference,” Erwin said. “But my main focus is to protect the trust, make sure the shareholders interest is taken care of, because often times after people get elected they seem to lose sight of who got them elected and it’s not about the Nation, it’s about the shareholders and their trust.”

 

Fourth Osage Minerals Council          Absentee Vote     On Site Vote     Total Vote

Results

1.     Andrew Yates                       110.28                     152.65                 262.93 

2.     Cynthia Boone                      126.39                     109.88                236.27

3.     Talee Redcorn                        88.37                     143.42                 231.79

4.     Joseph Cheshewalla           87.23                      143.41                 230.64

5.     Galen Crum                              107.71                   111.68                  219.39

6.     Kathryn RedCorn                 90.57                     119.12                  209.69

7.     Everett Waller                         53.78                     152.61                 206.39

8.     Stephanie Erwin                   103.40                   99.87                   203.27

9.     Linda Heskett                             108.36                   89.71                    198.07

10.Robert Yarbrough                        91.49                       99.41                    190.90

11.Curtis Bear                                      67.10                      111.45                   178.55

12.Ray McClain                                  79.74                       98.69                   178.43

13.Myron Red Eagle                          79.72                       97.57                   177.29

14.Melvin Core                                    55.14                       91.69                    146.83

15.Kenneth Bighorse, Jr.                 65.84                      79.05                    144.89

16.Cheryl Potts                                    78.76                      64.06                    142.82

17.William St. John                          41.70                       73.85                    115.55


By

Shannon Shaw Duty


Original Publish Date: 2014-06-04 00:00:00

Author

  • Shannon Shaw Duty

    Title: Editor

    Email: sshaw@osagenation-nsn.gov

    Twitter: @dutyshaw

    Topic Expertise: Columnist, Culture, Community

    Languages spoken: English, Osage (intermediate), Spanish (beginner)

    Shannon Shaw Duty, Osage from the Grayhorse District, is the editor of the award-winning Osage News, the official independent media of the Osage Nation. She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a master’s degree in Legal Studies with an emphasis in Indigenous Peoples Law. She currently sits on the LION Publishers board of directors, the Freedom of Information Committee for the Society of Professional Journalists, and she is also a member of the Pawhuska Public Schools Board of Education. She served on the Board of Directors for the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) from 2013-2016 and served as a board member and Chairwoman for the Pawhuska Johnson O’Malley Parent Committee from 2017-2020. She is a Chips Quinn Scholar, a former instructor for the Freedom Forum’s Native American Journalism Career Conference and the Freedom Forum’s American Indian Journalism Institute. She is a former reporter for The Santa Fe New Mexican. She is a 2012 recipient of the Native American 40 Under 40 from the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. In 2014 she helped lead the Osage News to receive the Elias Boudinot Free Press Award. The Osage News has won Best Newspaper from the SPJ-Oklahoma Chapter in their division the past five years, 2018-2022. Her award-winning work has been published in Indian Country Today, The Washington Post, the Center for Public Integrity, NPR, the Associated Press, Tulsa World and others. She currently resides in Pawhuska, Okla., with her husband and together they share six children, two dogs and two cats.

Avatar photo
Shannon Shaw Dutyhttps://osagenews.org

Title: Editor

Email: sshaw@osagenation-nsn.gov

Twitter: @dutyshaw

Topic Expertise: Columnist, Culture, Community

Languages spoken: English, Osage (intermediate), Spanish (beginner)

Shannon Shaw Duty, Osage from the Grayhorse District, is the editor of the award-winning Osage News, the official independent media of the Osage Nation. She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a master’s degree in Legal Studies with an emphasis in Indigenous Peoples Law. She currently sits on the LION Publishers board of directors, the Freedom of Information Committee for the Society of Professional Journalists, and she is also a member of the Pawhuska Public Schools Board of Education. She served on the Board of Directors for the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) from 2013-2016 and served as a board member and Chairwoman for the Pawhuska Johnson O’Malley Parent Committee from 2017-2020. She is a Chips Quinn Scholar, a former instructor for the Freedom Forum’s Native American Journalism Career Conference and the Freedom Forum’s American Indian Journalism Institute. She is a former reporter for The Santa Fe New Mexican. She is a 2012 recipient of the Native American 40 Under 40 from the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. In 2014 she helped lead the Osage News to receive the Elias Boudinot Free Press Award. The Osage News has won Best Newspaper from the SPJ-Oklahoma Chapter in their division the past five years, 2018-2022. Her award-winning work has been published in Indian Country Today, The Washington Post, the Center for Public Integrity, NPR, the Associated Press, Tulsa World and others. She currently resides in Pawhuska, Okla., with her husband and together they share six children, two dogs and two cats.
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