American Indians & Tulsa, Oklahoma

American Indians&Tulsa, Oklahoma Prepared for Leadership Tulsa By Hugh Foley, Ph.D. Rogers State University

Early Eras • 12,000 to 24,000 years ago, the paleo-Indians camped, hunted, and lived in the Tulsa area along the rivers. • 12,000 to 1 A.D. Many examples of Clovis and Folsom cultures have been found in northeastern Oklahoma, to include the Tulsa area. • Mississippian Period (800 – 1400) • Spiro Mounds

Pre-19th Century • Osage – followed the buffalo into this area in “ancient times” according to tribal elders. • Caddo and Wichita, both descendants of the Spiro people, had villages and farms in the area. • Quapaw, related to the Osage, known to area. • Comanche, Kiowa, Plains-Apache ride in on hunting, flint collection, and war expeditions. • Pawnee villages further up the Arkansas

Removal (1828 – 1836) • Many tribes suffered tragedies at the hands of the U.S. Government under the leadership of President Andrew Jackson. • Trail of Tears • Trail Where They Cried • The Long Walk • The Trail of Death

Muscogee and Cherokee Arrive • Osages are not happy about the Cherokee being “given” Osage Territory by the U.S. Government. • Osage Cherokee battles require the establishment of Ft. Gibson in 1824, then the furthest point west established by the U.S. Government.

Civilized/Uncivilized • Southeastern Tribes are called civilized because of their embracement of European cultural, economic, social, and religious concepts. • However, the incorporation of these concepts do not prevent the tribes from being removed. • Who, then is uncivilized? Western tribes.

Hard Facts • If government census records are correct, roughly 10,000 Muscogee people died on the removal. • The U.S. Army forced 24,000 Muscogee to Indian Territory in 1836 and 1837. • In 1857, the Bureau of Indian Affairs counted 14,888 Creeks in Oklahoma.

Council Oak • Lucvpokv Tribal Town members arrive in 1836 on the Arkansas River. • Establish a meeting place at present-day 18th and Cheyenne Avenue, and deposited their ashes in communal fire pit.

Borders Established • 1833 – A boundary line needed to be established to separate the Osage Nation, Cherokee Nation, and Muscogee (Creek) Nation. • Currently, that line is approximately Edison Street, extended east from Tulsa to current Highway 69 at Choteau, then south to Fort Gibson

National Boundaries • The land north of the current Elwood Street is where the dividing line sits. • http://maps.google.com/maps?q=W+Edison+St,+Tulsa,+OK,+USA&ie=UTF8&ll=36.158113,-96.00184&spn=0.007484,0.014591&z=16&om=1 • Cherokee Nation to the Northeast and Osage Nation to the Northwest.

Golden Age? 1836 - 1865 • Cherokee and Creeks re-build • Council houses • Court houses • Schools • Missions • Economic Development • Newspapers

Civil War • Creeks and Cherokee leave their homes, farms, and towns • Return to find them destroyed • Since some factions of both tribes fight with the South, the U.S. government considers those treaty violations and reduces their land bases. • Enter the carpetbaggers, railroad men, speculators

Railroads • 1882 – Land owned in common by Creeks • Like many other cities in early Indian Territory, Tulsa was a rail head, where equipment and supplies could be stationed for further railroad construction to merge the Frisco and M, K, and T (Katy) Railroads that would link Missouri and Kansas with Texas.

First Tulsa Townsite • Creeks were more liberal about white settlement than Cherokees, sold license to railroads and other business people. • One had to marry a Cherokee to do business in the Cherokee Nation. • In 1882, the town site is established on land only inhabited by one Creek, Noah Partridge, who lived in a log cabin with his family.

Tulsa’s name • Corruption of Tullahassee, old Creek Tribal Town. • Tvlwv – “Dullwa” – Town • Vhvse – “uh – huh – see” – Old • Old Town • Tulsey Town

Stomp Dances and Ball Games • Ceremonial activities of the Muscogee continued until at least 1890, and still continue today. • Check out ball pole at Tulsa Creek Indian Community Center going south of town on Highway 75. • Stomp Dance

19th Century: Part II • After the Civil War, the government turns its guns to the west and the Plains Tribes. • Ultimately, the enrollment and allotment process begins in 1890. • Once enrollment has taken place, and land is allotted to individual tribal members, the rest is opened for settlement. • Many tribal members, lose land to unscrupulous swindlers.

Prominent Creeks of Tulsa • Perryman Family were a huge, extended mixed-blood family with large land holdings throughout the area that would become Tulsa. • Hodge Brothers – Landholders, politicians. • Thomas Gilcrease (1890 – 1962) – Oilman, art collector, established Gilcrease Museum.

20th Century • After allotment and statehood, tribal governments are abolished, tribal ceremonies are outlawed, and children are forced into boarding schools where they are prevented from speaking their tribal language. • 1934 – Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act allows for incorporation of tribes.

20th Century Continued • As an urban area, Tulsa draws many Native people to its employment opportunities in petroleum, aviation, and construction. • As a result, some of the first intertribal powwows as we now know them occurred in Tulsa, starting with the Tulsa Powwow Club in the 1950s.

Unique Population • Many Nixon-era programs (and action by AIM), such as Indian Self-Determination Act, and other legislation regarding housing, education, and economic development, help tribes and Native American individuals begin a steady comeback. • As of 2000, more than 55,000 American Indian people live in the Tulsa metro area.

Today • Gaming – Cherokee, Osage, and Creeks • Untapped Tourism Opportunities • Economic opportunities and tax relief for businesses within tribal boundaries who employ tribal members. • Cultural diversity and cultural opportunities that provide broad world view for citizens.

Just Look Around • Tulsa Indian Art Festival • Tulsa Powwow • Intertribal Indian Club of Tulsa • Indian Health Care Resource Center • Gilcrease Museum • 207 foot, 11 story, statue “The American” could bring in millions of $ to Tulsa

Leadership Moment • American Indian mascots should not exist because they • Stereotype all native people as one monolithic culture • Make light of important cultural lifeways • Encourage anti-Indian imagery

Great Resource for Tulsa History • Tulsa’s Magic Roots by Nina Lane Dunn. Oklahoma Book Publishing Company, 1979.

American Indians & Tulsa, Oklahoma