The Osage Nation Museum will host a Generations of History lecture series with former museum director E. Sean StandingBear.
Generations of History will have nine lecture series from March to December and will be held at 1 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month at the Osage Nation Museum in Pawhuska. There will not be a lecture series in June.
The first lecture series is on March 15 and will discuss the Osage Cradleboard. According to a press release, this session will explore the cultural significance and craftsmanship of the Osage Cradleboard.
Other upcoming lecture series will include the Osage Ribbonwork Blanket, Osage Code Talker Medal and Osage Roach Headdress.
ONM director Marla Redcorn-Miller said the museum wants to arrange more community-based forms of knowledge.
“What we would like to do is prioritize community-based forms of knowledge,” she said. “And of course there’s documentation. All those things are valuable, but when we’re looking at those oral histories that are associated with them and just while people are here and able to do it.”
StandingBear and his knowledge made him the perfect fit for the series, she said.
“Sean StandingBear is a real wealth of knowledge,” Redcorn-Miller said. “And he was amenable to doing it. And it’s not just him, but it’s others. He also worked with this collection a lot when he used to be a museum director here as well.”
According to a press release, StandingBear “is the son of George Eugene Standing Bear and the great-grandson of Chief Fred Lookout and Julia Lookout. He is from an esteemed family of political and cultural leaders, and his understanding of Osage life and culture comes from a unique perspective that was shaped by extended conversations with his grandmother Mary Nora Lookout Standing Bear. Standing Bear has spent years studying the Osage Nation Museum collection and is knowledgeable about its holdings and history.”
Redcorn-Miller said that the lecture series is a reflection of history and shows the purpose behind the museum.
“When John Joseph Matthews founded the museum under the leadership of Chief Fred Lookout, they wanted to preserve what we have and what we have left from our different movements from where we were originally to where we’re today,” she said.
Redcorn-Miller said oral histories are extremely important and need to be passed down to future generations.
“It’s out of a deep respect for oral histories,” she said. “A deep respect for the gift of our ancestors that they gave to us in terms of these pieces that we have in our collection and that foresight that they had to save these things and preserve them in our museum so that we can have things like this today. The work that we do today is the gift that we’re going to give to the next generation, so we do our best here to do that.”
Upcoming Lectures all at 1 p.m. on the 3rd Saturday of the Month
- March 15 – Osage Cradleboard.
- April 19 – Osage Ribbonwork Blanket.
- May 17 – Osage Code Talker Medal.
- July 19 – Osage Roach Headdress.
- Aug. 16 – Osage Foodways/Wooden mortar and pestle.
- Sept. 20 – Drum Creek Treaty Pen.
- Oct. 18 – Portrait of Bacon Rind by Franklin Brave.
- Nov. 15 – Black Dog’s War Shield.
- Dec. 20 – Nohozhinga Clan Headdress.
Virtual Registration
The public may also attend the series virtually via ZOOM. This option is primarily for viewing with limited interaction. The event will be recorded. Please register at the following address: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DK57yuvvT9KtmaEmOxkAIQ
For questions about the series, please contact the Osage Nation Museum by email at julianna.cote@osagenation-nsn.gov or call (918) 287-5441.
