TULSA, Okla. — The Congress of the Osage Nation authorized a $50 thousand budget to investigate Principal Chief Joe Tillman and his office. The allegations they are requesting a special counsel look into are related to the state of emergency the chief declared in early August.
Chief Tillman declared a state of emergency on Aug. 4, citing an $11 million annual funding gap. As a result, he ordered the closure of the Daposka Ahnkondapi school, with the visitors center and Harvest Land to follow.
His office projected the closures of the language school, visitors center and Harvest Land will provide $5 million in relief for the 2027 fiscal year budget.
Chief Tillman called the emergency off ten days later. He also requested the congress increase the executive budget outlay from $60 million to $82 million.
Congress is asking for special counsel to investigate three separate allegations.
- Principal Chief Joe Tillman issued the executive order declaring a state of emergency that did not exist and without any basis in law to issue the order causing significant embarrassment and harm to the Osage Nation constituting malfeasance.
- Principal Chief Joe Tillman utilized a false financial state of emergency to close Daposka Ahnkodapi, the Visitor Center and Harvest Land constituting malfeasance.
- Executive appointed staff, acting on behalf of Principal Chief Joe Tillman, pressured the Office of the Attorney General, an independent office, to file and or dismiss criminal charges against Treasurer Clark Baston based on possession of and cultivating peyote, a legal substance under Osage and federal law. He interfered with the prosecutorial independence of the Office of the Attorney General constituting malfeasance.
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“Declaring the state of emergency didn’t make any sense to me so rescinding it 10 days later made even less sense to me because our financial position had not changed," said Congresswoman Whitney Red Corn.
Red Corn, who also serves as the Second Speaker for congress, said the impacts of the last month stretch far and wide across the nation — from the children who no longer have a school to go to, to the people who lost their jobs.
When asked if she leans one way or the other on what she believes is going on behind the scenes, she said no.
“I need the facts because we’ve heard stories as they’ve been told to us to this point which is what caused these allegations to be brought forth," said Red Corn. "But I need somebody to prove it to me, because those are big allegations to be brought forth against somebody so I want to make sure that they’re founded, that they’re well informed and they’re based in truth.”
Special counsel has not yet been chosen, Red Corn said, but she expects this process will take time to ensure they get all the facts right.
2 News did reach out to Tillman's office for comment, but did not get a response.
“Sometimes holding one another accountable in hard situations is how we do that best," said Congresswoman Whitney Red Corn. "It’s how you care for one another well is having that level of accountability and this looks like that.”
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