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Osage Nation Chief Red Eagle Removed From Office

Former Osage Nation Principal Chief John Red Eagle
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Osage Nation

The Osage Nation has been removed its Principal Chief from office.

The Tulsa World reports the Osage Nation Congress voted this morning to remove John Red Eagle after a trial sustained five of the six counts he was being tried on.

The six counts included abuse of power, interfering with an Osage attorney general's investigation, refusing to uphold tribal law, withholding at least one contract properly requested under the Osage Nation's Open Records Act by two newspapers, and breaking federal and tribal law by using tribal funds to pay a contractor more than $70,000 to maintain his personal website.

After being found guilty, Red Eagle will not be eligible to hold any elected or appointed positions within the tribe.

After the decision, Assistant Chief Scott BigHorse took the oath to replace the ousted Red Eagle as the tribe’s leader.

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Brian Hardzinski is from Flower Mound, Texas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. He began his career at KGOU as a student intern, joining KGOU full time in 2009 as Operations and Public Service Announcement Director. He began regularly hosting Morning Edition in 2014, and became the station's first Digital News Editor in 2015-16. Brian’s work at KGOU has been honored by Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters, and local and regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Brian enjoys competing in triathlons, distance running, playing tennis, and entertaining his rambunctious Boston Terrier, Bucky.
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