OSAGE COUNTY, Okla. — The United States conducted its first census in 1790, followed by a new one every decade since.
While it doesn’t happen again until 2030, a new, different kind of census just finished in Oklahoma.
The Osage Nation made history when it completed its first-ever census in July, becoming the very first tribal nation in Oklahoma to do so.
The Osage Nation’s principal chief and its administration secretary, who led the effort, told 2 News this census is not only a big win for their sovereignty but also allows them to better serve their citizens.
“It’s a beginning, and a good one,” Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear said. “We are reaching out to our people to get more information on what are their needs.”
“We can actually tailor our services and our programs based off what we’ve learned from the census,” said Susan Bayro, the Osage Nation's secretary of administration.
They conducted the census in June and July 2023, reaching Osage citizens across the U.S. and the world. They said about 3,900 responded out of 25,000 registered members. The plan is to conduct a new census every five years.
While they already knew how many people were citizens, they didn’t know much about those citizens.
To learn as much as possible, they asked a wide array of questions: age, sex, employment, education, health access, and whether they spoke the Osage language—among many others. As a result, the census report's 61 pages are chock full of data.
When asked if she had any assumptions before the census and if she was surprised after seeing the results, Bayro said, “we went in thinking that we were going to be a more needs-based type of people because we need more services to offer those outside of Oklahoma, globally.”
“And based off the responses from the census, that’s not the case at all,” she added.
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Rather, Bayro told 2 News the data shows their services and programs are working for the people. She was especially excited about high levels of reported education and income.
The 2020 U.S. census was the first one to ever ask for tribal affiliation, which Bayro said was “pretty exciting.”
There was a glaring issue, however. The U.S. census can’t verify membership and, thus, anybody could’ve said they were an Osage, meaning data is skewed.
Conducting their own census gives the Osage Nation more control since they know who is and isn’t a member.
“A big thing for that is our sovereign data,” Bayro explained.
“We can collect our data. We can manage our data. We can use the data how we see fit without having any other governing entity provide that service for us," she added. "We’re more than capable of doing it in-house.”
Bayro told us they’re the first tribal nation to participate in a pilot project with the U.S. Census Bureau. They’ll share data with each other, with the Osage controlling which information to give at its own discretion.
Standing Bear wanted to remind people that the Osage Nation is a sovereign government that provides services to its citizens, just like any other government.
“There has been a misconception for 100 years that we are minority group or an ethnic group when we are governments that are recognized by treaty with United States of America, and we have some rights left,” he emphasized. “We try to exercise those for our people.”
Other tribal nations across the U.S. have now contacted Bayro, asking for help conducting their censuses.
“‘How did you guys do this? What was the process involved? What were the hurdles you encountered?’ That type of thing,” she said.
“What I’ve done is just give them everything that we’ve had, everything that we completed. They don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” she continued. “If they need any help, they just call me, and I walk ‘em through it.”
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