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MAY 25, 2001

Secretary of Interior Gale Norton says her reign at the department is all about cooperation not conflict and used an aging oil field in Oklahoma to push her point.

Norton visited a tallgrass prairie in Pawhuska that is owned and managed by the Nature Conservancy, a private group. The United States holds the mineral rights below the 39,000-acre field in trust for the the Osage Nation.

The tribe's original 2,229 members received the rights to the mineral estate in the late 1800s. Along with two others, the field has brought in more than $1 billion since then.

The tribe is suing Norton's department for alleged financial management of their royalties, seeking $2.5 billion. A Bureau of Indian Affairs spokesperson yesterday said the the Interior is conducting depositions and trading documents at this stage in the lawsuit.

Get the Story:
Where Bison Meet Oil Rigs, Talk of Cooperation (The New York Times 5/25)
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Relevant Links:
The Osage Nation of Oklahoma - http://www.osagetribe.com
The Nature Conservancy - http://nature.org

Related Stories:
Norton: Indian Country won't get ripped off (5/24)
Osage Nation seeks new oil field (5/24)
In The Hoop: Oil, Bison, and Indians, Part II(5/24)
In The Hoop: Oil, Bison, and Indians, Part I(5/23)
Norton to meet with Osage leader (5/23)
Inside the energy policy (5/18)
Indian Country and the energy policy (5/18)