Court rejects Osage Nation over status of reservation
Monday, March 8, 2010
Filed Under:
Law
Congress disestablished the Osage Reservation in Oklahoma over 100 years ago, the
10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday.
The reservation was created for the
Osage Nation in 1872. But in 1906, Congress passed the Osage Allotment Act, which distributed most of the reservation to individual tribal members.
"The legislative history and the negotiation process make clear that all the
parties at the table understood that the Osage reservation would be disestablished
by the Osage Allotment Act, and uncontested facts in the record provide further
evidence of a contemporaneous understanding that the reservation had been
dissolved," the court said in a unanimous opinion.
The tribe claims all of Osage County as its reservation and sought to prevent the
Oklahoma Tax Commission from collecting state income taxes on tribal members who live within the county.
The 10th Circuit said it didn't have to decide the tax issue because it determined the reservation was disestablished.
The tribe could ask the 10th Circuit to rehear the case or appeal to the
U.S. Supreme Court.
Get the Story:
Appeal by tribe rejected
(The Tulsa World 3/6)
10th Circuit Decision:
Osage Nation v. Oklahoma (March 8, 2010)
Related Stories:
Editorial: Osage Nation Chief Gray a 'radical' tribal leader
(1/14)
10th Circuit hears arguments
over status of Osage land (1/11)
Osage
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Osage Nation to appeal reservation status case
(3/17)
Osage Nation seeks new ruling in
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Osage chief
blasts ruling on reservation status (1/27)
Osage Nation loses state taxation lawsuit
(1/26)
Supreme Court won't hear Osage
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