The Osage Tribal Museum takes pride in delivering the most current and quality information for our people, and for everyone interested in our history.  When a child is able to take its first step, that is the only first "first step" that child will take, and many parents want to preserve that memory forever on film, tape, or proudly preserve it in their mind.  Our museum took that "first step" back in 1938, by being the first tribally-owned museum in the United States, and we are very proud of that!  We are fortunate to have a 14-minute documentary from that opening of the museum, including the parade.

Our goal is always to inform, teach and, especially, learn from our yesterdays, by documentation and of oral histories by those who were there to tell it, and have the children pass it on to the next generations both today and tomorrow!

 

The documents that you may click on on this page shows:

  • History of the Osage Drum Keepers - This is a fun assignment for everyone to fill in the blanks, so that we will have a complete list of all drumkeepers for all three districts.  If you have names to fill in, please call the museum, or email us at lbrock@osagetribe.org.  If you happen to have a complete list of everyone from a particular year (or years) and their positions, we'd love to start a collection of those...even if they're handwritten!  
  • A great story of Ryan RedCorn appears in the BARTLESVILLE MAGAZINE, Winter, 2009 edition (Vol. 3, No. 3). Article and Cover courtesy Langdon Publishing.  All rights reserved.
  • The Osage Tribal Council elected leaders from July, 1906, until June 30, 2006.  Also included is a cross-reference sheet, displaying the leaders, their titles (Principal Chief, Asst. Principal Chief, and Councilman), when they served, what numbered Tribal Council they served on and those leaders who were appointed that were not elected, due to resignations or untimely passings of the elected official.
  • A list of our Osage Veterans from World War I, World War II and the Korean War.  We will have Osage veterans listed from other wars when they become available, but we salute them ALL!
  • A history of our Headright Payments since 1880 (updated November 14, 2011). The information on these payments is not new, as it has been public record for years.  In 2006, it was made available, for the first time, in spreadsheet form.  The amounts are not adjusted for inflation; these are the exact amounts shown as they were paid out, per headright.  For those unfamiliar with how this works, here's an example.  Using the headright payment from September, 2007 ($6,495), if the shareholder holds a quarter headright (0.25), multiply the headright payment of $6,495 times (X) 0.25.  Therefore, the shareholder received $1,623.75.  We will update the spreadsheet every three months (February, May, August, November), as soon as the new headright share price is verified.

OSAGE HEADRIGHT ANNUAL PAYMENT RANK

(1880 to Present Without Inflation)

2011 Ranks #2 in all-time actual annual headright payments
(Updated November 14, 2011)

OSAGE HEADRIGHT ANNUAL PAYMENT YEARS

(1880 to Present With Inflation Using 2011 $)

2011 Ranks #32 (Top 24%) out of 132 years 

using inflation factor

(Updated November 14, 2011)

 

  Summary of Shareholder Report (Updated Nov. 21, 2011)

  • Finally, we'd like to direct your attention, regarding the story, entitled "The Story of the Spider" and a beautiful poem, entitled "Living in the Holy Land".  The poem was written by famed author and poet Carter Revard (who graciously gave us permission to post it here), and read at the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial in St. Louis, in September, 2006.  Both stories are very inspirational and thought-provoking, and we are very pleased to share these with the entire world.

 

There will be more fascinating documents on this page, so stay with us on this Osage Tribal Museum website.