Osage Nation
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Welcome to the Indian Nations Archives Division of the Oklahoma Archives!

Most of the Osage live in Osage County, which was organized from their former reservation when Oklahoma was admitted to the Union as a state in 1907. The Osage that remained in Oklahoma live in one of three communities or "villages," each of which was originally settled by the members of one of three traditional groups within the tribal organization: "Dweller-in-the-Hilltop" at Gray Horse, "Dwellers-in the Upland-Forest" at Hominy, and "Dwellers-in-the-Thorny-Thicket" at Pawhuska.

Union Mission, the first mission in Oklahoma, was organized and established in 1820 among the Osage by the United Foreign Missionary Society (Presbyterian Dutch Reformed). The first school in Oklahoma was opened in 1821 at Union Mission (about 5 miles northeast of Maizie in Wagoner County), with four French-Osage children as the first pupils.  Harmony Mission (near Papinsville, Bates County, Missouri) was established at this same time among the Osage of Missouri by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. These early Protestant missions were closed by 1834, and henceforth missionary efforts among the Osage were carried on almost exclusively by the Roman Catholic church.

Among the outstanding Osage citizens of the state was the late Chief Fred Lookout, a graduate of Carlisle Indian School, and revered by his tribe. Another distinguished member of the tribe is John Joseph Mathews, a graduate of Oxford University in England and author of Wah' Kon-Tah, and other notable books. Maria Tallchief, prima ballerina, and Clarence L. Tinker, killed in action in WWII. Tinker Air Force Base was named in his honor.

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Types of files needed for the Archives include: Federal Census (free, slave, mortality, agriculture, veterans...schedules), State Census, Vital Records (marriage, birth, death, funeral…), Court Records (city, county, federal, civil, circuit, probate…), Church Records (members lists, baptisms, marriages...), Bible Records, Newspapers (obits, marriage & birth announcements, local events...), Prison Records, Military Records (rosters, muster rolls, service records, pension applications...), Land Records (deeds, allotment deeds, homestead deeds, land transfers, federal land grants, surveyor's records…), Tax Records (land, property, state, federal, local...) Local Histories, Local Directories (phone books, old county and city directories...), Occupational Records (mining inspector's reports, accident reports, railroad reports, company newsletters...) Educational Records (school histories, newsletters, school census, yearbooks…), Cemeteries, Ship lists, Wills, Biographies, Family Histories, Family Photos, Miscellaneous, etc.