Saturday, April 14, 2012

The Osage Promised $380 Million


The tall and brave Osage people in Oklahoma, got close to four hundred million dollars from the US Government. The Obama administration has shown fairness in dealing with the Indian people of this country.

"The Osage tribe of Oklahoma, for example — because of its extensive oil and gas reserves — will get $380 million. The tribe has about 16,000 members."


On the contrary; the many Indian nations living in the south of Mexico in Guerrero, have only got contempt and punishment from the Aguirre and Calderon administrations. Cochoapa el Grande  is the poorest county in the whole of the Americas.

"Cochoapa el Grande is one of the 81 municipalities of Guerrero, in south-western Mexico. The municipal seat lies at Cochoapa el Grande. As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 15,572.[1] It is one of the newer municipalies of Guerrero, formed on June 13, 2003"

Shame on Mexico!
From the Wikipedia article:

"In 1879, an Osage delegation went to Washington, DC and gained agreement for payment of all their annuities in cash; they were the first Native American nation to gain this. They gradually began to build up their tribe again, but suffered encroachment by white outlaws, vagabonds, and thieves.[17]"


Those thieves were white not black, though. Obama is half black and half white. There is hope.


More from Wikipedia:

"By the start of the twentieth century, the federal government and progressives were continuing to press for Native American assimilation, believing this was the best policy for them. Congress passed the Curtis Act and Dawes Act, legislation requiring the dismantling of other reservations, and allotted lands in 160-acre portions to individual households, declaring the remainder as "surplus" and selling it to non-natives. As the Osage owned their land, they were in a stronger position. The Osage were unyielding in refusing to give up their lands and held up statehood for Oklahoma before signing an Allotment Act. They were forced to accept allotment, but retained the "surplus" land and apportioned it to individual members. Each of the 2,228 registered Osage members in 1906 (and one non-Osage) received 657 acres, nearly four times the amount of land of most Native Americans in the allotment process. In addition, the tribe retained the mineral rights communally to what was below the surface. As development of resources occurred, members of the tribe received royalties according to their headrights, paid as a percentage of the land they held. In 1906, the Osage Allotment Act was passed by U.S. Congress, as part of its effort to extinguish Native American tribal rights and prepare the territories for statehood as Oklahoma. In addition to breaking up communal land, the Act replaced tribal government with the Osage National Council, to which members were to be elected, to deal with the tribe's political, business, and social affairs.[16]
Although the Osage were encouraged to become settled farmers, their new land was the poorest in the Indian Territory for agricultural purposes. They existed by subsistence farming, later enhanced by stock raising. They discovered they were fortunate to have lands covered with the rich bluestem grass, which proved to be the best grazing in the entire country. They leased lands to ranchers for grazing and earned income from the resulting fees. Their royalty income from grazing rights led the Indian Commissioner to call them "the richest people in the country."[5]
The Osage had learned about negotiating with the US government. Through the efforts of Principal Chief James Bigheart, in 1907 they negotiated to retain communal mineral rights to the reservation lands. These were later found to have great amounts of crude oil, from which tribal members benefited from royalty revenues from oil development and production. The government leased lands on their behalf for oil development; the companies/government sent the Osage members royalties that dramatically increased their wealth by the 1920s. They are the only tribe today to retain a federally recognized reservation within the state of Oklahoma.[1]""

Other Indian Nations also benefited:
"Chief James Allan, chairman of the Coeur d’Alene tribe, said that despite longstanding tensions between tribes and the federal government, the settlement represented the fairness with which the Obama administration had treated American Indians."



“They have kept their promise to Native Americans to ensure we are heard in Washington,” Mr. Allan said. “He has not made treaties with us, but he gave us his word. And his word has been golden.”

President Obama signed legislation in December 2010 authorizing payment for a similar, though far larger, settlement for Indians. That money, totaling $3.4 billion, has not been distributed because of several pending lawsuits.

No comments:

Twitter Updates

Search This Blog

Total Pageviews