A Fight Against the Politics of Oppression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For centuries, the Osage Nation has fought for its sovereignty, its land, and its economic independence. However, with the recent decision by the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to close the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) office in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, the Osage Nation is once again facing a massive threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The closure could severely impact their control over oil and gas rights, economic administrative structures, and social programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Osage see this as a new version of the historic \u201cTrail of Tears\u201d\u2014this time not through physical displacement but through political and economic sabotage. But resistance is growing, and the Osage are fighting back with legal action, political alliances, and public protests against this latest act of dispossession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From Forced Relocation to Oil Empire \u2013 A History of Betrayal and Violence<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Osage Nation belongs to the Dhegiha Siouan language family and is closely related to the Quapaw, Omaha, Ponca, and Kansa tribes. Originally living in the Ohio Valley, they were forced westward by U.S. expansion, first to Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and finally Oklahoma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 19th century, they became victims of the U.S. government\u2019s Indian Removal Policy, which, under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, forcibly deported thousands of Native peoples westward. While many tribes were driven into poverty, the Osage were unique in that they purchased their new land in Oklahoma directly from the U.S. government\u2014a key factor in their later financial prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Oil Boom and the \u201cReign of Terror\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the early 20th century, it was discovered that Osage land contained vast oil reserves. This made the Osage the wealthiest people per capita in the U.S.\u2014but it also attracted greedy white settlers who used fraud, marriage scams, and murder to steal Osage wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Between 1921 and 1925, at least 60 Osage were murdered or disappeared in what became known as the \u201cReign of Terror\u201d. White businessmen married Osage women only for them to die under mysterious circumstances, allowing them to inherit their land. Doctors falsified death certificates, and corrupt officials covered up the crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FBI, led by J. Edgar Hoover, eventually investigated the murders, but many perpetrators were never brought to justice. This dark chapter was documented in David Grann\u2019s book \u201cKillers of the Flower Moon\u201d, which Martin Scorsese adapted into a film in 2023.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A System of Dispossession: How the U.S. Government Controlled\u2014and Stole\u2014Osage Wealth<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though the Osage technically owned their land, the U.S. government enacted the General Allotment Act of 1887 (Dawes Act)\u2014a calculated strategy to dismantle Native land ownership. Under this law: Native lands were divided into parcels, only given to male heads of households. The U.S. government held land titles in trust for 25 years, supposedly to \u201cprotect\u201d the Osage but in reality to maintain control over their resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many Osage had no experience with farming and were forced to sell their land.
Once an Osage was deemed \u201ccompetent\u201d to manage their land, they were forced to pay taxes\u2014often leading to further dispossession.
By the 1930s, over 90 million acres of Native land had been taken and sold to white settlers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An even more exploitative system was the Osage \u201cTrust Fund\u201d, where the U.S. managed the revenue from oil, gas, and other resources on behalf of the Osage. Instead of paying the rightful owners, the government systematically mismanaged, withheld, and even destroyed financial records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Fight for Justice<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1996, Elouise Cobell, a Blackfeet woman, filed a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. government, demanding an accounting of trust fund mismanagement. After 16 years of litigation, the case was settled in 2011 for $3.4 billion\u2014but each affected person received only $1,000, a fraction of what was stolen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Osage Nation also fought back. In 2011, they secured a $380 million settlement for the mismanagement of their trust funds\u2014but this barely compensates for two centuries of systemic theft and fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DOGE\u2019s Closures: A Renewed Attack on Indigenous Sovereignty<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, the Osage Nation faces a new existential threat: the Trump administration\u2019s DOGE has ordered the closure of 25 BIA offices, including the crucial Osage Agency in Pawhuska, which oversees oil and gas rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why Does This Matter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Osage would lose control over their natural resources.
Educational, health, and social programs would be at risk.
They could be forced into private or state-level management\u2014which has historically led to fraud and mismanagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Osage Fight Back: Who Stands With Them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Osage Nation has taken immediate legal action to block the closures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is representing them in court, arguing that these measures violate binding treaties between the U.S. and the Osage Nation.
Human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have published reports condemning DOGE\u2019s policies as \u201cmodern dispossession\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Investigative journalists from the U.S., Germany, and Canada have begun uncovering the political motives behind these actions.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples is investigating whether these measures violate international agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Protests and Political Resistance<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On March 18, 2025, hundreds of Osage gathered for a traditional War Dance outside the closed BIA office in Pawhuska. Osage Nation President Buu Nygren declared:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"They take away our institutions to rob us of our future \u2013 but we will fight!\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several Democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, have demanded a Congressional hearing. Even some Republican politicians from Oklahoma have expressed concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will the Osage Be Betrayed Again?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The history of the Osage Nation is one of systematic dispossession\u2014but also of resistance. From the General Allotment Act to today\u2019s DOGE policies, they have faced repeated efforts to strip them of their land, wealth, and sovereignty. Now, they are fighting back with legal, political, and social strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next few months will determine whether they can stop this new wave of oppression\u2014or if the U.S. will once again write a dark chapter in its long history of Indigenous exploitation. But one thing is certain: The Osage have survived because they have never submitted\u2014and they will not submit now.<\/p>\n
Ein Kampf gegen die Politik der Unterdr\u00fcckung. Seit Jahrhunderten k\u00e4mpft die Osage Nation um ihre Souver\u00e4nit\u00e4t, ihr Land und ihre wirtschaftliche Unabh\u00e4ngigkeit. Doch mit der j\u00fcngsten Entscheidung der Trump-Regierung und des Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), das Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, zu schlie\u00dfen, sieht sich die Osage Nation erneut mit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[45,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-documentation","category-state-news"],"yoast_head":"\n