This dissertation examines the mapping of Osage nation building within the context of their 2004–2006 citizenship and government reform process. It is driven by three primary concerns: first, to study how the colonial situation created certain limitations on and possibilities for Osage citizenship and governmental formation; second, to follow the ways in which desires surrounding Osage identity and governance were created and changed through the reform process; and third, to record how the writers of the 2006 Osage Constitution navigated the conflicts arising from these histories and desires in order to create the new governing structure. My analysis integrates colonial policies, local histories, authorized and unauthorized stories about the reform process, biological “facts,”” emotions and personal experiences. By recognizing the dynamic tensions from these different sources, my research promotes a detailed picture of how understandings of past, present and future are currently being debated among the Osage. One of the primary goals of this dissertation is to explore how American Indian populations today are negotiating colonialism and how these lessons might help us understand politics more generally.