after the white men arrived, the osage lost just over 95% of their homeland. osage nation principal chief jeffy standing bear has made it his mission to reclaim their territory. land is critical. and maintaining yourself as a people, as a nation. in june of 2016, ted turner put his 43,000 acre ranch on the market, land the osage lost after the government broke up their reservation in 1906. the tribe offered $74 million. money they had raised through casinos they started building in 2002. before he accepted, turner, an environmentalist, made one request. i want this land preserves for
generations to come. chief standing bear had the right answer. he said, it won t be just generations. it will be forever. what s it like for you to be standing on land that you all have gotten back? it s spiritual and political. it s a place for the bison, a place for us to live our lives somewhat as our ancestors did. what s the future of the osage? self determination. the stuff that happened in the past, we need to remember it, never forget it, but learn from it and go forward. while we were victims of that time, we don t live like victims today. what makes us osage sha we always move forward. that is what i think henry, my great grandfather would say, keep going forward. george scoot, edmond right
lincolns and cadillacs were their favorites. look at the women golfing too. yeah, absolutely. in their dresses. with this newfound wealth, meg and sean standing bear s grandfather, eugene, purchased a 16 millimeter film camera. that s eugene right there. that s your grandfather? that s him. behind the camera, eugene s wife mary documented a life that took on a hollywood glamour. look at those planes. my grandfather loved airplanes. did he own his plane? yes. these things aren t things you d expect to see on a reservation in the early 1900s. they drove the finest cars, dressed in beautiful fur. look at those outfits. yeah, and they had indoor plumbing and italian tile. rosewood trim on everything. were there a lot of servants?
after the white men arrived, the osage lost just over 95% of their homeland. osage nation principal chief jeffy standing bear has made it his mission to reclaim their territory. land is critical. and maintaining yourself as a people, as a nation. in june of 2016, ted turner put his 43,000 acre ranch on the market, land the osage lost after the government broke up their reservation in 1906. the tribe offered $74 million. money they had raised through casinos they started building in 2002. before he accepted, turner, an environmentalist, made one request. i want this land preserves for generations to come. chief standing bear had the right answer. he said, it won t be just generations. it will be forever.