The plight of the Osage Nation continues.  The following letter was written by one of the Plaintiffs in the "Fletcher Case", which was the case that established the Osage Nation Government by a referendum vote by all of the Osage People and the establishment of their constitutional government.  The letter was written in response to a news release by Chief Charles Tillman of the Osage Tribal Council on September 19, 1997.

MAKING AN ISSUE COMPREHENSIBLE

The result of the Fletcher vs. U.S. lawsuit was the reorganization of the Osage Nation under a Constitutional form of government.  This gave the voting franchise to all Osage who were original allottees (23 now living), unallotted Osage shareholders, and non-shareholder Osage.  It also gave membership total Osage by blood with no quantum requirement, the only requirement of membership is being either an original allottee or blood descendent of an allottee.  This part of the news release is all that I can find that is "comprehensible".

At the time the Fletcher vs. U.S. lawsuit was filed in 1990, there were three purported bills from the Osage Tribal Council to Congress for its consideration, none of which included membership and voting rights for all Osage.  This was as far as the Osage Tribal Council got as far as "Investigating" ways to include nonshareholders in the voting process prior to the Fletcher vs U.S. suit.

The Osage Tribal Council claims to have "sovereign" immunity, which in my opinion is a very questionable claim. The government which congress imposed upon the Osage by legislative first in the 1906 Osage Allotment Act, was to originally last for 25 years.  It has continued by amendment to the present.  It was and is in fact, a creature of the federal government.  The federal government could not give to this imposed governmental entity "inherent" sovereign immunity simply because it was beyond its power to "give sovereignty".  A nation either has inherent sovereign powers or it does not.  It's sovereignty, may however, be eroded or diminished which is always a danger for Native American governments.  Sovereignty lies in the people and the Osage People spoke their will in a referendum that was valid despite the "sovereign immunity", issue.

This "incomprehensible" concept and claim of "sovereign immunity" from its own people by the Osage Tribal Council must be addressed and settled once and for all.  And it will.

For a time that was truly wonderful, the Osage People had a fair and equitable government that was alive and functioning.  All could be involved and hold office in this government.  Among its accomplishments were a three-fold increase in funding for federal programs, to name but one.

The Osage Tribal Council's appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and its subsequent mandate reversing the Federal Courts handling of the case on grounds of "sovereign immunity", have had an effect upon the Osage People, that is one original plaintiff finds almost unable to comprehend.  We sought justice for our People and we did not find it.  By the extension of the voting franchise and membership to all Osage, a rare thing occurred, that being that the "inherent sovereignty" of the Osage People was greatly strengthened.  This was undeniably a great and wonderful thing for my Osage People.

Now with this reversal and things back the way they were, so to speak, the inherent sovereignty of the Osage People has been damaged by being diminished and eroded right before my eyes, by the actions of the Osage Tribal Council who are responsible for this dismal anachronistic state of government.  The voting franchise is now back to only the mineral estate shareholders, who will vote in elections to elect people to hold office in an entity that is by all accounts an unrepresentative creature of the Federal government.

Sad, sad, sad, since now we fit the description:  Osage Mineral Estate Tribe!

As far as scare tactics regarding the fate of the Osage after the passing of the last original allottee.  There is nothing to be scared of.  A man by the name of John Fritz, in the B.I.A., gave an interpretation of an Osage Court of appeals case in 1935, known as Ickes vs. Pattison.  His opinion, and that's just what it was, was that the ONLY federally recognized Osage were the original allottees.  And that opinion, known as "The Fritz Opinion" has caused some concern, but that was only an interpretation.  This, as far as I know, is not a judicial opinion.

In closing, I might add that the Osage Tribal Council still refuses to be accountable to the very shareholders it purports to represent. Same old government by stealth!

William S. Fletcher,
Democratic Osage Nation Advocate