Osage Nation seeks new oil field

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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MAY 24, 2001

By a number of accounts, Secretary of Interior Gale Norton's visit to Osage Nation country in northeastern Oklahoma on Wednesday was a success.

Tribal members and a group of Indian dignitaries including Chairman Charles Tillman and Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anaotubby warmly welcomed Norton at a breakfast the tribe held in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Oklahoma Secretary of Transportation Neal McCaleb, President Bush's pick to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs, was also there to meet and greet his potential boss.

But the warm atmosphere was punctuated by tribal members insistent upon finding the answer to the one question on top of their minds. What are Norton's views on taking land into trust for tribes, they repeatedly asked throughout the breakfast.

Norton had no answers.

As Norton visited the tribe's oil reserve later that morning, tribal members told Indianz.Com they were proud the Secretary chose to visit them. But they were also disappointed by Norton's evasiveness.

Since she took office in February -- and even earlier during her confirmation hearings in January -- tribal leaders have pushed Norton to become familiar with the issue. They pressed her to approve regulations which, for the first time, imposed timelines on the Interior on making land decisions.

Yet nearly four months later and after promising leaders like Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation Chairman Tex Hall she'd work on the matter, Norton still has little to say. Spokesperson Stephanie Hanna, however, said Norton can't be expected to know the intimate details on every single matter which crosses her path at the Interior.

Hanna also pointed out that the regulations, which Norton delayed last month, are still in the public comment period. Once the comments are all in, Norton may let them go forward with no changes or might repeal them, said Hanna.

In the meantime, land-into-trust is an urgent issue for the Osage Nation for any number of reasons. The tribe has purchased more than 100 acres of land along the Kansas border and gaming commission chairman Joe Trumbly said the tribe is exploring the possibility of hosting a casino-resort there.

And as production from the tribe's oil and gas reserves have dropped from a high of 120,000 barrels a day to about 13,000 currently, so have revenues. Created for the tribe's original 2,229 allottees more than one hundred years ago, the oil fields have brought in over $1 billion since then.

But oil isn't renewable and once its gone, its gone. The Department of Energy is paying up to $740,000 to investigate new drilling technologies which could extend the life of the tribe's fields.

Seizing on the issue, Norton did have some answers to this question, even if it wasn't necessarily asked by tribal members.

"One of the concerns is that we ought to have production from the traditional areas where oil and gas has already taken place for a number of years, and there we have to have the ability to have economics allowing that production," said Norton. "As the petroleum dwindles away as its extracted, it becomes more difficult to have a viable economic operation."

"That's one of the reasons why we need to have new sources," she added, pushing for increased development on public and Indian lands throughout the country.

So, as the thinking goes, a casino might just be the tribe's new oil filed. Class III, or Vegas-style, gaming is prohibited in Oklahoma, pushing a number of tribes there to seek gaming in Kansas and beyond.

But the tribe's plan all depends on a number of factors, including Norton's approval. If the tribe can get her to sign off on a land-into-trust application, negotiating a compact with Kansas Governor Bill Graves would be the next step in opening a casino.

Yesterday, though, Norton wasn't interested in discussing the issue. And Graves has opposed other tribes bringing more casinos to Kansas as have the state's four federally recognized tribes.

Relevant Links:
Osage Nation - http://www.osagetribe.com