Paul Reed (Chickasaw) recalled how immaculately clean the students were required to keep the campus during his time there. During the 1950’s, Paul lived in “Home 6,” one of about a hundred buildings that ultimately comprised the campus, which included a dining hall, a hospital, shops for vocational training, employee cottages, large barns, a commissary and other buildings. Fire was the campus’s worst enemy claiming numerous buildings over the years. Nevertheless, from one stone building set up on the desolate prairie, Chilocco grew into one of the largest of the five original boarding schools in the country created in the late 1800’s, which also included Carlisle (Pennsylvania), Haskell (Kansas), Fort Simcoe (Washington), and Chemawa (Oregon).

Loneliness was what most students had in common at Chilocco. Brenda Doyeto Myers (Kiowa), who studied cosmetology at Chilocco in the 1960’s, said she cried for a week from loneliness after she arrived. But despite the loneliness many students experienced, the alumni we spoke with said that they also developed fond memories of the school and cherished the lasting friendships they made during those years. Katie Roberts (Cherokee) recalled spending free time with her boyfriend around the large water fountain on the campus where she said that it was common for students to be hurled into the frigid water—primarily involuntarily. Charles LeClair (Ponca/Potawatomi/Kaw) reminisced with us about his boxing days at Chilocco during the 1940’s. He had an impressive record of 21 and 4, although he pointed out that he was only beaten by three opponents from schools around the region (one opponent beat him twice).

Shineesta Bushyhead Adams (Cheyenne/Navajo), whose mother was a matron and whose father worked in agriculture at Chilocco, lived on the campus from 1959 until 1980. Movie nights were some of her favorite memories. Shineesta led us into the school’s large auditorium where it was easy for us to imagine the laughter and applause from some 300 hundred Indian students gathered together on a Friday or Saturday night to watch a movie. The collapsed ceiling covered the rows of seats and the shredded white screen hung in tatters, but the ornate beauty of the theatre Shineesta described to us when it was in its prime was still apparent in the detailed ornamentation on the proscenium stage and mezzanine.

In 1980, Congress determined Chilocco was too expensive to operate and ordered its doors closed. Superintendent C. C. Tillman wrote in the 1980 yearbook, “Chilocco is another in a long list of broken promises.” Today, 30 years after Chilocco’s closing, the outer portions of the campus have been deeded to each of the North Central Oklahoma tribes: Kaw, Ponca, Tonkawa, Otoe Missouria, and the Pawnee Nation. Each tribe has developmental plans for their respective property, which are in various stages of progress. The Chilocco campus is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Cherokee National Prison

On May 6, I had the pleasure of attending the Groundbreaking Ceremony of Cherokee Nation’s restoration of the Cherokee National Prison.  In light of the recent passing of the great Cherokee chief, Wilma Mankiller, I was particularly honored to participate in the Cherokee’s special event and pay my respects to her legacy in the Cherokee Nation’s influential cultural history.   The event was held at the original location of the prison, 124 Choctaw Street, which is at the corner of Choctaw and Water Streets, in Tahlequah.  Originally completed in 1875, the Cherokee National Prison was one of the first correctional facilities in Indian Territory and was the only penitentiary building in the entire Territory from 1875 to 1901.  The building is listed on the National Register of Historical Places.

The groundbreaking ceremony was led by Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, and attended by Ken Purdy, Mayor of Tahlequah, and Dr. Don Betz, President of Northeastern State University, along with several Cherokee Nation Tribal Council members and community partners.  The overall project includes restoration of the prison structure, outside interpretative areas such as blacksmith shop and gallows, as well as establishing a prison welcome center and museum.  The Cherokee National Prison Museum will allow visitors to experience the history of crime and punishment in the Cherokee Nation as well as reliving the infamous Cherokee outlaw stories.

Cherokee Nation officials recently put out a ‘call for artifacts’ to showcase in the Cherokee National Prison Museum that best represent its history and legacy.  All artifacts permanently donated or provided on loan to the Cherokee National Prison Museum will be cataloged and processed following museum standard guidelines.  Each piece will have the benefactor’s name posted near the respective display in recognition of the generous donation and commitment to the preservation efforts of Cherokee Nation history.  (Individuals, families and corporations that would like to permanently donate or provide on loan artifacts can contact Catherine Foreman Gray, archival and interpretive specialist at Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism, at (918) 384-5946 or email at catherine.gray@cnent.com.)

Cherokee Heritage Center

While in Tahlequah, I also visited the collection of the Cherokee Heritage Center. Tom Mooney, the archivist for the center, provided me with an insightful overview of the center’s holdings.  The collection has extensive archives of photos and manuscripts dating back to the 1700’s. The site for the Cherokee Heritage Center was once the location of the Cherokee Female Seminary, established by the Cherokee Nation in 1850 as one of the first institutions of higher learning for women west of the Mississippi River.  Today, the center offers a reconstructed Ancient Village, which opened in May 1967, followed by the opening of an 1,800-seat amphitheater in June 1969, and the Cherokee National Museum in 1974, which houses the award- winning Trail of Tears exhibition.  The building that houses the Cherokee National Museum was designed by Cherokee architect and Cherokee National Historical society board member Charles Chief Boyd.  The design symbolizes a traditional Cherokee dwelling, built low to the ground and illuminated at both ends by natural lighting.  The museum also houses the Cherokee National Archives, the Cherokee Family Research Center.

Cherokee Advocate

I was especially intrigued by copies available of the Cherokee Advocate, the newspaper published by the Cherokee Nation in both the Cherokee and English languages.  Along with the archival copies of the newspapers, the Cherokee Nation has a plethora of typeset from the newspapers, as well as original presses used to print the newspapers.  The Advocate was published by the Cherokee Nation from 1844 until 1906. The first series was published from 1844 until September 28, 1853, when the newspaper was suspended for lack of funds. During that period it was edited by William P. Ross (1844-1846), Daniel H. Ross (1846-1847), William P. Ross (1847-1848), Daniel H. Ross (1848), James Shepherd Vann (1848-1849, 1851-1852, 1853), David Carter (1849-1851), and William P. Boudinot (1852-1853).  These editors informed the people of their government's actions and policies--new laws, memorials and protests presented to Congress, proceedings of the national council, messages of the principal chief, lists of stray property, and administration papers for estates.  They also reported news from the Cherokee Nation, the rest of Indian Territory, and the United States.  The newspaper was revived in a second series on April 26, 1870, and ran until February 1875, when the printing office of the Advocate burned, destroying all of the type and equipment. During this period it was edited by William P. Boudinot (1870-1873) and John Lynch Adair (1873-1875).  The newspaper was revived in a third series on March 1, 1876, and continued publication until 1906.  It was edited from 1876 to 1879 by William P. Boudinot (1876-1877) and George W. Johnson (1877-1879).

State of Sequoyah

I was also intrigued by historical materials in the collection associated with the State of Sequoyah, an initiative launched by tribes prior to Oklahoma’s statehood to create an “Indian state.”  In September of 1905, a convention met in Muskogee to create the constitution for a proposed new State of Sequoyah, which was to occupy the eastern half of what is now Oklahoma, with Oklahoma Territory comprising the western half of the state.  Forty-eight counties were created and named, rules and regulations laid out, and the constitution was voted on and officially approved.  The constitution for the State of Sequoyah was very progressive, including child-labor legislation, business, monopoly and trust regulation, as well as laws concerning banking and economic matters and land development.  Nevertheless, Theodore Roosevelt, who was president at that time, was a Republican and did not favor the creation of two separate states, Oklahoma and Sequoyah, since both had the high probability of being strongly democratic.  Having two states would mean having twice the number of democratic senators and representatives.  However, treaties signed with tribes in Oklahoma stated that Indian nations could not be included or forced to become part of any U.S. state without their approval.  Legally, the tribes had the right to start their own state, but the government saw to it that Sequoyah would never become a state.  The constitution, on the other hand, did inform the language of Oklahoma's constitution.  Read the constitution of the State of Sequoyah.

In our ongoing design and content development for innovative exhibitions at the American Indian Cultural Center & Museum, Stacey Halfmoon, AICCM’s Director of Community Outreach and Public Programs, and I visited the Oklahoma Archeological Survey (OAS), located on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman.  Emphasis on exhibition development for this visit was particularly relevant to early Oklahoma history.  So we called upon one of the leading experts in Oklahoma’s early history, Dr. Leland Brement, an Archeologist III and part-time Assistant Professor in Anthropology at the University, who has been with the OAS since 1990.  Dr. Bement offered Stacey and I a glimpse into Oklahoma’s ancient history dating as far back as 100,000 years, which he substantiated with a 150-pound mammoth tusk in the collection found near Alex, OK, in Grady County.

The OAS identifies three major research areas in Oklahoma:

• Western Oklahoma, characterized by the remains of special activity sites, camps, and villages of Native people whose lives centered around the bison (buffalo)
• Cross Timbers in central Oklahoma, an important location for explaining prehistoric people's adaptations to changing ecological situations
• Eastern Oklahoma, which contains sites related to prehistoric occupation of the region by ancestors of the Wichita and Caddo tribes. 

The Cooper Site, located along the Beaver River in northwest Oklahoma, bares evidence of three major bison kill episodes.  The 1994 excavation of the site uncovered from the lowest of the three bison bone deposits a bison skull with a red zigzag design painted on its forehead.  Damage to the skull and adjacent bones by trampling and the fact that it was covered with articulated skeletons from the Middle Kill, imply that the skull was painted just prior to the second use of the arroyo, a deep gully where the bison were trapped by hunters.  Dating back more than 10,000 years, the skull from Cooper has come to be recognized as the oldest painted object in North America.

The pigment source of the zigzag design is known to be hematite, which is commonly utilized in ancient pictographs and often found in mortuary contexts.  In some cultures, hematite possesses power over other elements.  However, tracing the origin of the hematite is tricky given the widespread distribution of the pigment, and vast migratory patterns of the Folsom people.  Folsom hunters repeatedly made large late summer and early fall bison kills in the Texas panhandle and western Oklahoma area.  Based on examination of the stone points found at the Cooper Site, the stone sources range from a 400 kilometer radius surrounding the site, thereby stretching from central Texas, to the Texas panhandle, and into northwest Kansas.  The analysis of the sources of the stone materials reveals that groups from various regions strategically gathered at the site annually, or at least every few years, to collaborate on the large-scale kills.

The ritual associated with painting the skull is aptly suggested to be motivated by the desire for a successful hunt.  Essentially, the painted skull functioned as “medicine,” also referred to as “magic,” or in common terms, a good luck charm, or talisman, designed to draw the bison herd into the hunters’ trap.  We can only speculate the precise cultural and spiritual symbolism of the zigzag design, however, the design most closely resembles that of a “lightning” motif.  Symbology of tribal people from the Cooper Site region, such as the Osage, suggests the lightning design may represent the power and speed of God, swiftness, as well as renewal, change, and fertility.  The Osage phrase LO^ WA.LE.ZE, translates as LO^ (meaning both lightning and thunder together) and WA.LE.ZE (to make zigzag/writing).

Although we cannot determine the exact meaning of the zigzag design, the Cooper Site nonetheless remains a powerful symbol of early aggregation, the coming together and feasting of our ancestors, in what is now Oklahoma.  Therefore, just as Spiro Mounds serves as evidence of an ancient metropolis in eastern Oklahoma, the Cooper Site offers us an early example at one of the first “cultural centers” in western Oklahoma—a tradition we humbly and honorably continue in the heart of Oklahoma as we create the American Indian Cultural Center & Museum.

An open dialogue of questions and answers included encouraging remarks of support from the photographers, along with inquiries into copyright considerations, compensation, and future collaboration between the AICCM and the community of photographers and photographic archives.  Most of the photographers submitted photography samples illustrating important areas of emphasis in their photographic work for AICCM to review and consider for additional follow-up. 

Next steps include:

•    Review of the sample portfolios
•    Follow-up with individual photographers for additional imagery/information
•    Contextualizing selected images into the exhibition design
•    Contractual negotiations for usage of selected images

I consider the meeting be a successful step in establishing an ongoing relationship with local and regional photographers, as well as photographers from around the nation, some of which mailed their portfolios to me for consideration in lieu of flying in for the meeting.  I concluded my remarks with encouragement to the group to possibly continue to build a continued dialogue among their professional peers, which could perhaps take the form of a formalized American Indian Photographic Association/Organization comprised of photographers with an American Indian emphasis in their photographic work.

	Russ Tall Chief, Osage Director of Arts & Exhibitions russt@aiccm.org

The strong artist network is presently led by Troy Jackson, who is the President of the organization’s Executive Board.  Jackson generously donated one of his own master-crafted pottery pieces to the AICCM in honor of our presentation and outreach to the community.  His work is on display at the CAA gallery, along with diverse works by other artists in the association, such as Shan Goshorn, Denise Chaudoin, Martha Berry, Peggy Sanders Brennan, Wahleah Walker, Abraham Locust, Demos Glass, American Meredith, Kelly Anquoe, and many others.

The community of artists in attendance at the event included Bill Glass, who is the elder half of the father-son team that currently is developing the inaugural artwork for the AICCM’s Art in Public Places program.  Bill is collaborating with his son, Demos, on the sculpture that is to be erected near the AICCM Visitor Center later next year.  Bill offered astute remarks about his collaboration with the AICCM on the project, as well as his observations of the thoughtful planning by the AICCM in all aspects of the project.  “They are doing it right,” Bill said.  Having a father and son collaborate on the first public art piece adds poetry to the project, which is the first of several future public art projects at the AICCM.   

The Cherokee Artists Association gallery is located at 202 East Fifth Street in Tahlequah.  You can also visit the CCA online or call (918) 458-0008.

Russ Tall Chief, Osage Director of Arts & Exhibitions russt@aiccm.org

The current themes are still under development and continue to evolve as we move forward with exhibition design and content development.  So there may be some changes in how we present these various eras and themes in the exhibits.  I will keep you posted about new developments in these and other areas of the exhibits as they are confirmed.  A-ho!

Russ Tall Chief, Osage Director of Arts & Exhibitions russt@aiccm.org