PAWHUSKA – On Wednesday, Aug. 5, the Osage Nation declared a State of Emergency due to what was described as “projected revenue shortfalls” and budgetary constraints in a press release. Services affected by the state of emergency include Daposka Ahnkodapi, the Osage Nation Visitors Center, and the Osage Nation Harvest Land. The Tribe currently has 25,900 citizens enrolled.
Effective immediately, the state of emergency closed Daposka Ahnkodapi, the Osage Language school, on Wednesday, Aug. 5. The Osage Nation Visitors Center will continue operations until Saturday, Aug. 8. The Osage Nation Harvest Land, funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the American Rescue Plan Act, will continue operations until federal funding expires in December.
Newly elected Osage Nation Principal Chief Joe Tillman, who is just one month into his first term, said the decision to close the departments was not easy.
“These decisions were made with great care and deliberation, to minimize impact to our citizens and employees while maintaining our responsibility as stewards of the Osage Nation’s resources,” Principal Chief Tillman said in a press release. “Throughout this process, protecting direct services for our Osage people remained our highest priority.”
Daposka Ahnkodapi, which means “Our School” in the Osage language, serves Osage children ranging in age from six weeks old through eighth grade. The school offers an environment where students not only learn the Osage language at a preverbal age but also hear it spoken each day.
Osage Nation stated that the Daposaka Ahnkodapi operating budget exceeded $3 million, and deemed it “financially unsustainable.” According to a story published by Osage News, some parents were informed about the school’s closure from a physical letter from Principal Chief Tillman’s office on the same day the state of emergency was announced.
The Osage Nation stated that it determined the Osage Nation Visitor Center’s operations to no longer be financially sustainable because it generated “minimal revenue.” Its nearly $1 million operating budget will be moved to “support core governmental functions and services for Osage Nation citizens.” The center provided a first-stop experience for travelers to the Osage Nation Reservation and provided information on Osage culture, artists, services, and businesses.
Harvest Land is a working farm that provides locally-grown produce year-round to Osage citizens. It was developed after the Osage Nation experienced a breakdown in food systems in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The farm comprises a 40,000-square-foot greenhouse and a 44,000-square-foot building that houses an aquaponics system, a food-processing area, and a water lab.
Harvest Farm is vital to the Osage Nation Food Assistance Program, which provides eligible Osage Nation citizens with annual food assistance. This combats food insecurity and promotes healthy living.
Some members of the Osage Nation Congress disagree with the decision to declare a state of emergency. Members of the Osage Nation Congressional Appropriations Committee discussed the declaration at a meeting on Thursday, Aug. 6. According to reporting by Osage News, Congressman Eli Potts suggested the Osage Nation’s budget crisis is a fabrication.
“We’re stoking fear in our community by saying we’re in a budgetary crisis when we are not,” Potts said. “Our leaders shouldn’t be getting phone calls from our elders in our senior housing, worried about where they’re going to live, because they don’t know what a budgetary crisis is.”
Osage Nation employees affected by the closures will receive two weeks of severance pay and continued health insurance until the end of the year on Thursday, Dec. 26.
