The events of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century fundamentally altered Osage life and politics. Tribal members navigated the shift from semi-annual buffalo hunts to a leasing economy that encompassed cattlemen, farmers, and oil barons. They drafted two constitutions, endured the dissolution of their tribal government, and negotiated critical treaties and allotment legislation that ultimately benefitted tribal members. Tribal members relied on their long history of negotiation and diplomacy to navigate rapid changes and the many assimilation efforts the federal government attempted to force upon them. By developing strong relationships between tribal members and beneficial alliances with external parties, the Osage Nation crafted a relational web to protect their people, their natural resources, and their sovereignty.

This study seeks to span the gap between studies of the Osages during the colonial and early statehood eras and the ever-popular oil boom of the early twentieth century. This crucial era demonstrates how the Osages utilized negotiation, diplomacy, and adaptation to navigate extreme change, land cessions, poverty, and attacks on their sovereignty. The Osages relied on their relational web, which supported them as they adapted to the quickly changing world around them and became central to the Nation’s survival. Tribal leaders utilized negotiation and their allies to avoid becoming victims of land cession treaties and criminals who attempted to steal from the tribe. Ultimately, the Osages’ relational web enabled their people to thrive during a period when tribal sovereignty continued to be assaulted from every angle.