Geoffrey M. Standing Bear (Osage) is an attorney and politician who has served as Principal Chief of the

Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) () is a Midwestern Native American nation of the Great Plains. The tribe began in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 1620 A.D along with other groups of its language family, then migrated west in the 17th cen ...

since 2014.

Early life and education

Chief Standing Bear was born into the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. He attended

Bishop Kelley High School Bishop Kelley High School is an American Lasallian Catholic high school with 905 students, grades 9 to 12, located at 41st and Hudson Avenue, in the center of the Tulsa metropolitan area (in the Midtown area), on a campus spanning just over 47 ...

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

and the

University of Tulsa College of Law The University of Tulsa College of Law is the law school of the private University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For 2023, ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked the University of Tulsa College of Law at No. 111 among all law schools in the United S ...

. He is the great-grandson of Fred Lookout.

Political career

Over the years Standing Bear became active in tribal politics as the people took more actions to assert their sovereignty. He was elected as Principal Chief of the Osage Nation and took office on July 2, 2014, after the previous chief, John Red Eagle, was impeached. Standing Bear succeeded Scott Bighorse, who had served as acting chief. Chief Standing Bear took office after the Osage received a landmark settlement from the federal government to settle claims of mismanagement of revenues due tribal members from leased mineral rights. Under his administration, the Osage Nation worked to increase their communal landholdings, acquiring more than 50,000 acres of mostly former reservation land. This total includes the tribe's purchase from

Ted Turner Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...

of the 43,000-acre Bluestem Ranch, located in historically Osage territory. The tribe has also developed a $160 million casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma, new educational and language preservation initiatives, and two community centers. The tribe has challenged the Oklahoma Attorney General's office with regard to tribal sovereignty and water/mineral rights. Chief Standing Bear worked extensively with

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

and his production team to create opportunities for Osage and to promote their culture in the filming and production of '' Killers of the Flower Moon'' (2023). Not only were numerous Osage hired as actors and extras, but others were employed as technical staff behind the cameras, and were involved in research and creation of historically accurate costumes and sets.Press conference at Cannes Film Festival, 2023

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Standing Bear, Geoffrey Living people Principal Chiefs of the Osage Nation University of Tulsa College of Law alumni Oklahoma lawyers Lawyers from Tulsa, Oklahoma Year of birth missing (living people)