We Belong Here | Osage Nation Department of Natural Resources

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Osage Nation Department of Natural Resources attended the 35th Intertribal Agriculture Council Conference (IAC), We Belong Here, on December 6-8, 2022.  The IAC took place in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Virgin Hotels. 

The annual conference theme, We Belong Here, exemplifies the spirit of IAC governance in facing universal imbalances and walls for Native American voices received by U.S. Agriculture.  With a focus on tribal leaders, ranchers, farmers, producers, Ag lenders, vendors, youth Ag advocates, and college students, the three-day event presented solutions to communally speaking to the historical and current encounters bordering Indian country today.  (https://www.indianag.org/post/2022-annual-conference-agenda)

The employee trip was funded through the Osage Nation, the Regional Tribal Conservation Advisory Council, the Center for Indigenous Health, Research, and Policy, and the IAC. ON employees from the ON Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that attended the conference, including ON Cabinet Secretary Jann Hayman, were as follows:

  • Dawn Wormington, ON Harvest Land Farm Supervisor
  • Harleigh Moore, ON Food Sovereignty Coordinator
  • Ross Cline, ON Butcher House Plant Manager
  • Ronald Gilley, ON Assistant Butcher House Plant Manager 

The IAC was established to pursue and promote Native resources for the benefit of American Indians and Alaska Natives.  “This conference allowed me to work and learn alongside Tribal members from across the United States.  It gave me the opportunity to give opportunities to other tribes, guiding them on how to increase their food sovereignty efforts,” said Moore. 

She continued, “The ON has been approved to use the seal of American Indian Foods through the Intertribal Agricultural Council.  This seal is similar to a made-in-Oklahoma seal, but just utilized by tribal producers.  Our information is shared on their website with a willingness to help market us!” (https://www.indianag.org/americanindianfoods)

The ON DNR has partnered with the IAC to host an IAC Tribal Meat Processing Tours and Training Experience in March of 2023.  The training will take place in Hominy, Oklahoma at the ON Butcher House. 

For more information about the ON DNR, visit: https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/services/department-natural-resources

For more information about the ON Butcher House, visit: https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/services/department-natural-resources/butcher-house

For more information about the ON Harvest Land, visit: https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/services/department-natural-resources/harvest-land