Osage Nation Principal Chief questions 'organized chaos' behind Bureau of Indian Affairs office closures

The U.S. Government Department of Government Efficiency website lists canceled leases for several Bureau of Indian Affairs offices, including those in Pawnee and Pawhuska. The plan for tribal services, or the staff working at the BIA offices, has not been announced.

Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear said that after learning the lease was canceled for the BIA office on the Osage Capitol campus, he spent the weekend trying, unsuccessfully, to get answers.

"Federal officials I've talked to just today are saying they don't know," said Standing Bear. "This is not just chaos, it's organized chaos, and I would like to know what the plan says, but I don't know anyone who has it."

In Pawnee, the BIA office represents US interests with the Pawnee, Otoe-Missouri, Ponca, and Tonkawa Nations. The unique mineral estate of the Osages, held in trust and covering all of Oklahoma's largest county, requires a BIA office to handle government affairs, according to the Chief.

Standing Bear said the U.S. Government has already begun canceling infrastructure projects that were promised by the Biden administration, including a $5 million solar power grant.

On Monday, the Osage Congress introduced a resolution of concern about the BIA cuts, including the recent dismissal of the Superintendent of the Osage Agency, who represents the authority of the US Government on Osage land.

The resolution states, in part, "The United States Government is failing to honor the relationship with Osage Nation as a sovereign nation," and "The Osage Nation expects the United States to uphold its trust responsibilities," and "clearly communicate on issues that change the relationship," and says "Osage Nation disavows the decisions to remove the Superintendent and close the BIA Osage Agency without consultation."