Post by blackcrowheart on Sept 27, 2006 17:01:03 GMT -5
Osage: Claim Upheld: Federal ruling favors tribe
By CURTIS KILLMAN AND JIM MYERS World Staff Writers
9/23/2006
View in Print (PDF) Format
The lawsuit claiming the government mismanaged oil and gas assets could have far-reaching implications.
PAWHUSKA -- A federal court has upheld an Osage tribal claim that the U.S. government mismanaged its oil and gas assets for years -- a ruling with potentially enormous financial implications.
"On behalf of our mothers and our fathers and our grandparents, justice has come our way," said Osage Nation Congress Speaker Archie Mason.
While tribal officials declined to discuss specific damage amounts, the tribe originally sought more than $2.5 billion in two lawsuits filed in 1999 and 2000 in the U.S. Court of Claims in Washington, D.C.
Ruling in Washington, Judge Emily C. Hewitt found that the government failed to collect enough on tribal royalties, mishandled those royalties after they were collected and failed to earn enough on invested collections.
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice declined to respond to questions on whether the government would appeal the decision.
Osage Nation Principal Chief Jim Gray said the ruling will help settle past crimes involving the mishandling of the tribe's mineral leases.
"This decision
is a significant victory for the Osage Nation, the Osage people and especially the owners of Osage headrights," Gray said at a Friday press conference on the front steps of the tribal headquarters in Pawhuska.
The big winners would be about 4,000 Osage shareholders, who would split most of whatever judgment results.
Osage Minerals Council Chairwoman Jewell Purcell called the decision a "significant victory" for the tribe.
"This case will return money to the Osage shareholders, which we should have received as part of the trust responsibility of the federal government a long time ago," Purcell said.
Hewitt instructed the Osage Nation and U.S. Department of Justice by Nov. 2 to calculate the amount of damages which the tribe is entitled.
Any damages the parties cannot agree to will be settled at a future trial.
"I would be irresponsible for us to speculate on what the value of this is until they have that separate trial that determines the size and scope of the damages," Gray said.
The tribe's lawsuit is unrelated to a pending class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 500,000 American Indians and their heirs by tribal members against the U.S. government. The lawsuit seeks an accounting of all money that has passed through individual tribal accounts.
"There seems to be some attention paid to this issue on Capital Hill," Gray said. "I know that the administration would like to get this issue off their radar screen."
Congress is considering legislation to settle all claims involved in the class-action case for millions of dollars, Gray said.
"Within the title of that bill is a provision that specifically mentions the Osage Nation as being unique and apart from all of those tribal claims," Gray said. "Whether or not Congress is interested in doing that is a different matter for a different day."
Mason said part of the credit also belongs to prior tribal leaders who launched the case against the federal government.
Gray said the case should be settled before discussing possible reforms regarding how trust fund monies are managed.
In Washington, U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., who represents Osage County in Congress, said he was pleased that the tribe had prevailed.
"This case is another example of the mismanagement of Native American royalty issues by the federal government, and of the decades of incompetence at the Bureau of Indian Affairs."
Lucas said the victory was not only the tribe's but one for all mineral owners.
"Every mineral owner deserves to be adequately compensated for the oil and gas production from their property, and any infringement of that right by the federal government is a threat to the personal property rights of all Americans," he said.
Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., compared the money due the Osage to promises made by the federal government to others.
"Whether we're talking about Social Security for seniors, benefits for veterans or agreements entered into with tribes, those promises must be honored," said Boren, who is a member of the House Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over tribal issues.
"The decision in the Osage case ensures that the tribal members will get what they were promised."
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a Chickasaw Indian, called the decision significant, not only for the Osage tribe but for every tribe in the country.
"The United States government has a responsibility to the tribes that has been outlined for generations in the form of treaties and judicial decisions," Cole said.
"This verdict is a reminder that the federal government has not always held up its end of the deal."
Former Cherokee Principal Chief Ross Swimmer, who was appointed as special trustee for American Indians in 2003, could not be reached for comment.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Curtis Killman 581-8471
curtis.killman@tulsaworld.com
By CURTIS KILLMAN AND JIM MYERS World Staff Writers
9/23/2006
View in Print (PDF) Format
The lawsuit claiming the government mismanaged oil and gas assets could have far-reaching implications.
PAWHUSKA -- A federal court has upheld an Osage tribal claim that the U.S. government mismanaged its oil and gas assets for years -- a ruling with potentially enormous financial implications.
"On behalf of our mothers and our fathers and our grandparents, justice has come our way," said Osage Nation Congress Speaker Archie Mason.
While tribal officials declined to discuss specific damage amounts, the tribe originally sought more than $2.5 billion in two lawsuits filed in 1999 and 2000 in the U.S. Court of Claims in Washington, D.C.
Ruling in Washington, Judge Emily C. Hewitt found that the government failed to collect enough on tribal royalties, mishandled those royalties after they were collected and failed to earn enough on invested collections.
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice declined to respond to questions on whether the government would appeal the decision.
Osage Nation Principal Chief Jim Gray said the ruling will help settle past crimes involving the mishandling of the tribe's mineral leases.
"This decision
is a significant victory for the Osage Nation, the Osage people and especially the owners of Osage headrights," Gray said at a Friday press conference on the front steps of the tribal headquarters in Pawhuska.
The big winners would be about 4,000 Osage shareholders, who would split most of whatever judgment results.
Osage Minerals Council Chairwoman Jewell Purcell called the decision a "significant victory" for the tribe.
"This case will return money to the Osage shareholders, which we should have received as part of the trust responsibility of the federal government a long time ago," Purcell said.
Hewitt instructed the Osage Nation and U.S. Department of Justice by Nov. 2 to calculate the amount of damages which the tribe is entitled.
Any damages the parties cannot agree to will be settled at a future trial.
"I would be irresponsible for us to speculate on what the value of this is until they have that separate trial that determines the size and scope of the damages," Gray said.
The tribe's lawsuit is unrelated to a pending class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 500,000 American Indians and their heirs by tribal members against the U.S. government. The lawsuit seeks an accounting of all money that has passed through individual tribal accounts.
"There seems to be some attention paid to this issue on Capital Hill," Gray said. "I know that the administration would like to get this issue off their radar screen."
Congress is considering legislation to settle all claims involved in the class-action case for millions of dollars, Gray said.
"Within the title of that bill is a provision that specifically mentions the Osage Nation as being unique and apart from all of those tribal claims," Gray said. "Whether or not Congress is interested in doing that is a different matter for a different day."
Mason said part of the credit also belongs to prior tribal leaders who launched the case against the federal government.
Gray said the case should be settled before discussing possible reforms regarding how trust fund monies are managed.
In Washington, U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., who represents Osage County in Congress, said he was pleased that the tribe had prevailed.
"This case is another example of the mismanagement of Native American royalty issues by the federal government, and of the decades of incompetence at the Bureau of Indian Affairs."
Lucas said the victory was not only the tribe's but one for all mineral owners.
"Every mineral owner deserves to be adequately compensated for the oil and gas production from their property, and any infringement of that right by the federal government is a threat to the personal property rights of all Americans," he said.
Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., compared the money due the Osage to promises made by the federal government to others.
"Whether we're talking about Social Security for seniors, benefits for veterans or agreements entered into with tribes, those promises must be honored," said Boren, who is a member of the House Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over tribal issues.
"The decision in the Osage case ensures that the tribal members will get what they were promised."
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a Chickasaw Indian, called the decision significant, not only for the Osage tribe but for every tribe in the country.
"The United States government has a responsibility to the tribes that has been outlined for generations in the form of treaties and judicial decisions," Cole said.
"This verdict is a reminder that the federal government has not always held up its end of the deal."
Former Cherokee Principal Chief Ross Swimmer, who was appointed as special trustee for American Indians in 2003, could not be reached for comment.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Curtis Killman 581-8471
curtis.killman@tulsaworld.com