About the Historic Preservation Office

The mission of the Osage Nation Historic Preservation Office (ONHPO) is to preserve the culture and history of the Osage Nation and to share that knowledge with the Osage people. The ONHPO accomplishes its mission by working with federal, state, and local agencies on undertakings that require tribal consultation. The ONHPO also identifies, protects and preserves archaeological and historic Osage sites within the boundaries of the Osage Nation Reservation and on lands throughout Osage ancestral territories and homelands (referred to as ancestral lands*). The overarching goal of the ONHPO is to address the cultural preservation needs of the Osage people as voiced in the 25-year Strategic Plan and update.

*Ancestral lands currently include Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, small portions of northwestern and northeastern Texas, northwestern Louisiana, southeastern Colorado, eastern Iowa, and southern Wisconsin. Our earliest known ancestral lands include portions of the Ohio River Valley states: Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.