Tribal Disenrollment: Osage Nation vs Reta Linter Rescheduled

From Osage News:

The Reta Lintner case is slated to be decided by jury trial, which will be the first in the history of the 2006 Osage reformed government. The pre trial portion is rescheduled to Feb. 6

A petition for Lintner’s disenrollment from the Nation was first filed in April 2016. Lintner’s family claims they are descendants of original allottee Paschal Canville through an illegitimate daughter, Lola Brown. According to the ON membership law, a person must be a lineal descendant of an original allottee from the 1906 Allotment Act in order to be eligible for Osage citizenship.

In December 2017, ON Trial Court Associate Judge Lee Stout ordered the Attorney General’s office to collect samples from 11 of Canville’s known descendants, noting the membership office’s use of DNA testing in paternity cases. Although a handful provided non-invasive samples via mouth swabs, none were male. The testing facility contracted by the tribe, Bio-Gene DNA Testing, previously stated it could not complete the testing without a male participant.

If Lintner is found not to be a legitimate tribal citizen, she and her relatives could be ordered to repay any Osage Nation financial benefits received while enrolled with the tribe. 

According to Osage law, jury trials are permitted in both civil and criminal cases.

The law also states: “juries, except for cases prosecuted under special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction, shall consist of six Osage Nation members who reside within Osage County, Oklahoma. The court may, in its discretion, appoint one alternate juror. A verdict may be reached in either a civil or criminal case by the affirmative vote of four of the six jurors.”