Overview:
The Osage Nation has closed its Osage language immersion school as part of sweeping budget cuts under a declared financial state of emergency, prompting concern among parents, educators and language advocates who view the school as vital to preserving the Osage language and culture.
The Osage Nation has closed its Osage language immersion school, Daposka Ahnkodapi (“Our School”), citing financial constraints and facility safety concerns, a decision that has stunned parents, educators and language advocates just days before the start of the new school year.
The closure comes after Principal Chief Joe Tillman declared a financial state of emergency, saying the tribal government faces a significant budget shortfall that requires deep spending reductions. According to Tillman, the Nation’s approximately $60 million budget was met with nearly $90 million in funding requests, leaving tribal leaders to cut roughly $38 million in expenditures.
Opened in 2016, Daposka Ahnkodapi has served as a cornerstone of the Osage Nation’s language revitalization efforts, providing students with an education rooted in the Osage language and culture through eighth grade. The school’s abrupt closure Wednesday morning reportedly came as a surprise to many families and employees.
In a letter to parents obtained by local media, Tillman said the school’s annual operating costs exceeded $3 million, averaging approximately $32,000 per student. He also cited a recent security assessment that identified costly facility upgrades needed to meet safety standards.
“These combined expenses make the current model financially unsustainable for the Osage Nation,” Tillman wrote.
Tribal officials say the closings are due to federal grant funds that are expiring.
Children from infancy through pre-kindergarten will transition to the Wahzhazhe Early Learning Academy, while older students have been directed to enroll in local public schools, including Pawhuska Public Schools, which has extended enrollment to accommodate displaced students. Affected employees are expected to receive two weeks of severance pay.
The closure extends beyond the immersion school. The Osage Nation also announced plans to close its Visitors Center and Harvest Land, a tribal farm established to promote food sovereignty and provide food assistance. Tribal officials said both operations required substantial financial support while generating little revenue. The Visitors Center is scheduled to close this week, while Harvest Land will cease operations at the end of the year.
The decision has sparked criticism from some Osage citizens and elected leaders. Members of Congress questioned the legal basis for declaring a financial state of emergency, noting that the Osage Nation Constitution does not explicitly define such a declaration. A special session of the Osage Nation Congress has been called to review the budget and discuss the administration’s actions.
Former Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, under whose administration the immersion school was established, urged unity rather than division.
“I spent 12 years working with Osages and non-Osages to build the schools,” Standing Bear said. “I’m talking about the relationships, the teachers, the students, the parents, grandparents … those things really happened and they can happen again.”
The closure represents a significant setback for one of Indian Country’s language revitalization initiatives. Across the United States, Tribal Nations have invested heavily in immersion schools as a means of preserving Indigenous languages, many of which remain critically endangered after generations of federal assimilation policies.
For the Osage Nation, the debate now extends beyond balancing the budget. It raises broader questions about how Tribal governments prioritize cultural preservation while navigating financial pressures, and whether language revitalization programs can withstand periods of fiscal austerity.
