Renamed 'The Osage Nation Ranch,' the tribe now has concurrent jurisdiction over the 43,000-acre land–meaning the state has less control over how the land is used and reaffirming the tribe’s sovereign rights.
The acquisition started in 2016 after the tribe purchased the land from television star Ted Turner. After a tedious back and forth with the federal government, eight years later, it belongs to the Osage Nation once again.
According to Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, the journey to get here was an emotional one.
“It overwhelmed me, and so here we are now,” he said. “This is the guarantee that this property is going to stay with us.”
Currently, the ranch is home to a meat-processing plant, bison, cattle, land grazing and oil extraction. The tribe plans to expand these sectors and bring new projects to the land.
“This is your land, and your children's land, and your grandchildren's land,” Standing Bear said, in a message to Osage citizens earlier this year. “And there's no loans on it, and there's no mortgage on it, and that is not going to happen. We're not giving this land up again. We were pushed into that before, but we want to acquire more, and we want to do this again. But land is very expensive.”
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