Back payments disputed

Published: November 26, 2006

PAWHUSKA -- The federal government and the Osage Nation in Pawhuska differ by at least $2 million on the amount the tribe is owed in back payments because of the government's mismanagement of tribal oil and gas assets.

In filings last week with the U.S. Court of Claims in Washington, the tribe said it should receive at least $3.2 million, an amount that would include interest and late fees from mineral leases that date to the mid-1970s.

The government said the amount should be between $191,698 and $1.2 million, depending on how damages and interest are calculated.