Three Osage Nation citizens are competing to succeed retiring Assistant Principal Chief RJ Walker, including one of tribe’s four living enrolled members with a whole-number blood quantum. Osage Nation Mineral Council member Myron Red Eagle, Hominy Osage Casino general manager John Shaw and former Osage Nation human resources director Scott Johnson eached filed to succeed Walker, who is running for a seat in the Osage Congress.
Mineral Council
The Osage Nation has an affirmed “underground reservation” protected by the federal government that grants the nation mineral rights for the entirety of the Osage Reservation.
The Osage Nation Mineral Council manages the mineral estate. Elections for the council are complex, however, with voting tied to ownership of “Osage headrights,” or a right to a share of the mineral estate’s profits. The owner of an Osage headright is sometimes referred to as an “Osage shareholder.”
Both Johnson and Shaw are running their first campaigns for office. While Red Eagle has served multiple terms on the Osage Nation Mineral Council, the voter rolls for mineral council elections are different from voter rolls for chief and congressional elections. In his 2016 campaign for an open Osage Congress seat, Red Eagle failed to break 10 percent.
Early voting is scheduled from 12 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Osage Nation Chambers Building in Pawhuska. Election Day voting is set for 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 23.  The top two vote earners in the primary election will advance to the June 1 general election even if one surpasses 50 percent support.
The following candidate cheat sheet is derived from candidates’ websites and social media pages, Osage News coverage, a public debate held Dec. 6, and other publicly available information. Candidates are presented in alphabetical order by last name, and video of the debate is embedded below.
Scott Johnson
Age: 76
Residence:Â Skiatook
Background:Â Scott Johnson grew up near Skiatook on his family’s allotment, which was also a “dairy and crop farm.” He has spent his career working as a teacher and in human resources, serving as the HR director for the Osage Nation from 2014 to 2018. He currently serves as the treasurer of the board for Osage LLC and as vice president of the Kihekah Steh Powwow Committee.
Platform:Â Johnson’s priorities include economic growth, workforce investment and education, according to his candidate statement. He has also advocated for decreasing the nation’s reliance on casino revenue and increasing investment into other “self-sustaining businesses.”
“I really believe that we need to expand more on utilizing the programs that we have,” Johnson said during the Dec. 6 debate. “Exactly what I mean by that is the butcher house and the harvest land. I really think that those programs are great programs, but I think we need to utilize them more and maybe not call them programs. Really use them as a resource for all our people.”
He also argued that the nation needs to do more to address abandoned oil wells across the Osage Reservation.
“And I do worry about all the different abandoned wells and different things that are happening across our nation,” Johnson said.
Links:Â Candidate Statement | Osage News tag | Campaign Facebook | Campaign website | Kinship Model questionnaireÂ
Myron Red Eagle
Age:Â 76
Residence:Â Pawhuska
Background:Â Myron Red Eagle grew up attending Barnsdall Public Schools before finishing high school in Pawhuska in 1969 and then graduating from Oklahoma Wesleyan University. He has served three terms on the Osage Nation Mineral Council, a special branch of the nation’s government tasked with managing the nation’s mineral estate, from 2010 to 2014 and from 2018 to present. He also serves on the Pawhuska Indian Village Committee. In 2016, he unsuccessfully ran for the fifth Osage Nation Congress.
Red Eagle is also one of four living “full blood” Osage citizens, according to Osage News. He has received one $125 fine from the Wahzhazhe Election Board.
Platform:Â Red Eagle’s platform focuses on quality-of-life issues within the Osage Nation, including access to affordable housing and grocery stores. He advocates for building more housing to help at-large Osage citizens move back to the reservation.
“My platform, if you haven’t seen it already, it concerns mainly what they have talked about before: housing. Especially for our members who live out of state and members that live within the state outside of Osage County and have a basis for them to come home,” Red Eagle said during the Dec. 6 debate. “There are surrounding towns that don’t have food supply stores, and that needs to be addressed by our leadership.”
Asked at the debate about water rights issues, Red Eagle said the Osage Nation’s mineral estate already gave the tribe some control over salt-water disposal wells within Osage County, and he argued the estate should include freshwater under the nation’s reservation.
“The mineral estate — anything below the surface belongs to the Osage Nation for the beneficiaries of Osage Nation shareholders,” Red Eagle said.
Links:Â Candidate Statement | Osage News tag | Campaign Facebook
John Shaw
Age:Â 60
Residence:Â Fairfax
Background:Â John Shaw grew up in Wichita, Kansas, where he graduated from Wichita East High School in 1984. He attended Wichita State University and graduated from Langston University in 1993 after attending its Tulsa campus. He has worked for Osage Nation casinos since 2006 and currently serves as general manager for the Hominy Osage Casino, according to Osage News.
Shaw has been active in the Grayhorse community and is the husband of Osage Nation Congresswoman Pam Shaw, who was elected speaker in 2024. He has also served on the Woodland Public Schools board since 2013.
Shaw has received two $125 fines from the Wahzhazhe Election Board.
Platform:Â Shaw’s platform focuses on preserving Osage culture and increasing government transparency.
“I want you to think about these five things: land, language, culture, communication and the ability to bring people together. Those are, to me, five of the most important things,” Shaw said during the Dec. 6 debate. “Those are the things I would ask you to focus on today”
Shaw also argued the tribe should work to secure the nation’s water rights within the Osage Nation.
“One of the things I’ve been — for no better term — campaigning on is trying to make certain we are training and developing our youth and our young people to be the best that they can possibly be,” Shaw said.
Links: Candidate Statement | Osage News tag | Campaign Facebook | Kinship Model questionnaire
(Correction: This article was updated at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, to remove an erroneous reference to the 2026 Osage Nation Congress candidate field. NonDoc regrets the error.)
Watch the Dec. 6 assistant principal chief debate
