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National Science Foundation Award #0550602

Doctoral Dissertation Research: Rebuilding a Nation. An Analysis of the Citizenship and Governmental Reformation of the Osage Nation

Investigator(s):

Peter Schmidt (PI)

Sponsor:

University of Florida, FL 32611 3523923516

Start Date/Expiration Date

2006-03-01 to 2007-02-28 (amended 2006-02-24)

Awarded Amount to Date:

$12,000

Abstract: Abstract: Doctoral Dissertation Research: Rebuilding a Nation. An Analysis of the Citizenship and Governmental Reformation of the Osage Nation. SES:0550602 This project investigates the process of governmental reform currently underway on the Osage Reservation. In December of 2004 Congressional legislation (HR 2912) lifted 98 years of federal control, allowing the Osage people to once again determine their own citizenship and form of government. Based on my preliminary research on the Osage Reservation it is apparent that the Osage Tribal Council is using the opportunity opened by HR 2912 to reconstruct the Osage Nation, which was abolished in 1900 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). As the appointed members of the Osage Reform Commission solicit opinions about the future of Osage citizenship and government, unique insight can be gathered about nationhood and citizenship within indigenous communities today. In particular, this project attempts to further out understanding of how various sets of people within the Osage Nation articulate Osage nationhood based on differences in age, headright status, and residential location and how the reform commission negotiates these differences in their creation of a governing document. The central hypotheses to be tested are: 1. Those people of Osage descent who reside outside the Osage Reservation will define the Osage Nation in open terms. By open I mean that they will want to include all lineal descendants of the 1906 allotment act and not limit citizenship to such factors as blood quantum or reservation residence. 2.Those people holding less than one headright will want a one-man-one-vote system of election. The old form of government relied on receiving a headright from a deceased relative prior to be able to vote. 3.Younger people will be more in favor of creating tri-partite government (containing executive, legislative, and judicial branches) than will older people. These hypotheses will be tested based upon data from a survey, which will correlate demographic factors such as age, headright status, and residential location with responses to questions about how those surveyed think citizenship ought to be determined and what form of government should be adopted. The survey data will be analyzed within the context of the study of the Osage Nations governmental reform process. The will study provide invaluable information about nationhood beyond its usual Euro-American confines. In addition to investigating the process of governmental reform currently underway on the Osage Reservation, this research will contribute to the doctoral training of a female Osage graduate student wishing to learn more about her own community, the larger issues discussed within this research, and the process of conducting anthropological field work. Additionally, this research will support the training of several Osage youths in the skills of interviewing, event recording, transcribing, and data analysis. The Osage tribe has been provided with an historical record of the factors leading up to this reform, the obstacles faced, and how these problems were dealt with. A record of these reforms provides insight into the challenges and possible strategies for strengthening future efforts. Furthermore, lessons from this research will serve as a model for other communities, particularly other American Indian nations, in their own efforts of governmental reform and nation building.

NSF Org:

SES - Division of Social and Economic Sciences

Award Number:

0550602

Award Instrument:

Standard Grant

Program Manager:

Isaac Unah
SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences
SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences

NSF Program(s):

LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

Field Application(s):

Human Subjects

Program Reference Code(s):

COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM, 9179

Program Element Code(s):

1372