TULSA, Okla. – Northeast Oklahoma Indigenous officials and prominent community members expressed the importance of using one’s voice, seeking inspiration and encouraged especially the youth to exercise their right to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 5 as part of the annual Native American Day Celebration.
Now in its eighth year, the City of Tulsa’s Native American Day Celebration was held Oct. 14 at Dream Keepers Park with hundreds of attendees from near and far representing their respective tribal nations as friends, family members and allies on a clear sunny Monday near downtown. The Greater Tulsa Area Indian Affairs Commission hosted the event with invited guests including elected tribal leaders, tribal princesses and ambassador titleholders, as well as dancers, singers and group performers.
Also that day, the Commission announced its annual Dream Keeper Award recipients, which included two Osages. This year, Artist Yatika Starr Fields was recognized, as well as Singer/ composer Scott George, who also served as this year’s event Parade Marshal.
Commission member Matt Roberts emceed the event, noting the importance of this year’s “Voices” theme. “We all are united today to celebrate our proud heritage and culture that we have here on this Native American Day … Let’s go back in time to September of 2017: Newly elected Mayor GT Bynum and the City Council unanimously approved making the second Monday of every October Native American Day here in the City of Tulsa. That’s something the Commissions had been working on for years, we appreciate their progressive and inclusive leadership here for the city.”
“This year’s theme is ‘Voices,’ we want to honor the past, the present, the future,” Roberts said. “Voices above – honoring or remembering those who are no longer with us; Voices within – everyone has a voice, a mission and a goal in life; And voices united.”
Krystal Reyes, the Chief Resilience Officer for City of Tulsa read a land acknowledgement statement: “I want to begin by acknowledging the tribal governments on whose reservations we stand. Oklahoma is home to 39 federally recognized Indian tribes and our (school) district serves students who belong to more than 60 tribes. The City of Tulsa sits within the reservation lands of the Cherokee Nation, the Muscogee Creek Nation and the Osage Nation. Each of these great nations have vibrant cultures, unique histories and distinct languages. We acknowledge and honor these nations, their respected citizens, their enduring commitment to our community and their land.”
According to the Commission, the state’s 39 tribes have economic contributions which total $15.6 billion, provide more than 113,442 jobs and $5.4 billion in paid wages and benefits annually.
For the event, Grayhorse District elder and retired Tulsa Public Schools educator Archie Mason gave the convocation. “We celebrate this day and our existence as descendants and survivors of our ancestors,” he said before offering the morning prayer.
Osage Nation Congressional Speaker Pam Shaw delivered remarks on behalf of Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, who was in Oklahoma City for the city’s respective Indigenous Peoples Day celebration.
Shaw’s remarks touched on this year’s U.S. Presidential Election, which will be held Tuesday, Nov. 5. “I want to talk to the kids here – I see a lot of young people roaming around and these beautiful women (tribal princesses and ambassadors) in front of me – Keep it up, be strong, be faithful to your culture and to your family and do everything that you can to promote and support your tribes in the way that you’re doing now,” she said to the attendees.
“The election that is coming up is so important – I know that this is not a political rally, I’m not going to get political and tell you who to vote for – We as Native people must get out and vote. Only 20% of us in the state actually vote, we could make a difference, we could put people into positions that care about our nations. We must get out and vote,” Shaw said.
At 11 a.m. that morning, the event’s parade started on the nearby city streets with Parade Marshal George leading the scores of participants representing various tribal nations, organizations, clubs, schools, local companies and other tribally affiliated entities. Roberts called on George ahead of the parade, noting the event comes on the one-year anniversary of the Martin Scorsese-directed film “Killers of the Flower Moon” Oct. 20, 2023, release in theaters worldwide.
Many Osages and other Indigenous people contributed to the film efforts as actors, background extras, behind-the-scenes production crew members, and consultants especially in the areas of Osage language, history and culture. George received a 2024 Academy Award nomination for his music and lyrics of “Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People),” featured in the closing dance scene of the KOTFM film. His nomination was for Best Original Song along with other Oscar nominations the film received.
On March 10, George, along with fellow singers, performed the Oscar-nominated song at the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles to a worldwide audience. A group of Osage dancers with individuals from the three districts also accompanied the singers on the Dolby Theatre stage for the televised event.
George has been traditionally singing around Indian Country for more than four decades. He is well known on the Osage Reservation as he has served on many Drumkeeper committees for decades, as both a singer and head singer during the Inlonshka dances.
“It’s an honor to be asked to serve as a parade marshal – I’ve been on a journey for the last year going different places and being recognized for something that’s just something I do. I’ve been a singer for over 40 years, it’s all I wanted to do was sing,” George said. “In our dances, we have three districts that we are comprised of, and many dancers come from those districts and dance around the center drum. And I was given a choice as a young boy – What do you want to do? Do you want to sing, or do you want to dance? And one afternoon, I was sitting under a tree at one of our camps and I sat next to two Ponca singers, I listened to them talk and I listened to them sing and I listened to them get ready for the next session and I went back to my stepdad and said, ‘I just want to sing.’ So from the age of 14, I came up trying to sing, trying to learn our ways, trying to learn our people’s songs.”
“I was brought out to the drum by the late Evans Ray Satepauhoodle at my first powwow and I was mentored later by the late Morris Lookout,” George said. “And so, from then on, I was put in a position that as a young man I wasn’t sure I was ready for. So I’m going to talk to you (younger attendees) and I’m going to tell you: Find your elders, go talk to them, ask them questions because you’re going to find yourself in my position one of these days with nobody else to talk to, nobody else to ask. And if you don’t know it, you’re not going to be able to tell your people that, so go find that elder, respect them, love them, cherish them because they’re not here forever.”
Later that afternoon, the Commission announced the 2024 Dream Keeper Award recipients with those individuals to receive their formal recognition at an award celebration scheduled Nov. 19 at City Hall.
Adding to the voting discussions of the day included an 11:40 a.m. social media post made by the Oklahoma State Department of Education which recognized the day as the following: “Happy Columbus Day! Today we recognize the historic accomplishment of Christopher Columbus’s voyage that ultimately discovered the New World. Since then, generations of the poor and religiously persecuted from all corners of the globe followed his steps in hope of finding freedom, and of building a new, more hopeful and prosperous life. We are grateful for those contributions that have led us to the incredible country we live in today.”
That afternoon, Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education President Stacey Woolley (Choctaw Nation), received the Charles Chibitty Family Community Contributor Award. Woolley, a vocal critic of OSDE Superintendent Ryan Walters, holds this year’s Tulsan of the Year recognition by Tulsa People magazine and mentioned the posting in her award acceptance remarks.
“We don’t only try to improve the lives of our future, but I believe they (students) are actually our now and there’s nothing more important than investing in our kids,” Woolley said. “We’re not just fighting to get teachers into our classrooms, we’re also fighting to keep Bibles outside of our classrooms and not let us go back to a time when we thought it was appropriate to use our classrooms as a way to change the culture of the people who attend those schools. So, just today the Department of Ed. shared on their site all the beautiful things that Christopher Columbus did when he came to the states and how we are seeing the United States thrive because of that. So – I just want to encourage you all to vote. That’s what we have to have you all do. Vote! We need Native Americans to get out and vote in November and every other election. I’m sure you all have a plan to get there in November, but you need to make sure 10 of your friends do the same thing on behalf of the future and the current who are sitting here among us who are not old enough to vote.”
Yatika Starr Fields, who was not present, is this year’s recipient of the Moscelyne Larkin Cultural Achievement Award. According to his professional website, Fields “is a Painter and Muralist. While attending the Art Institute of Boston from 2000 to 2004, he became interested in Graffiti aesthetics, which has been integral to his knowledge and process along with Landscape painting – and continues to influence his large-scale projects and studio works. Fields is from Oklahoma and currently living and working in Tulsa in conjunction with the Tulsa Artist Fellowship.”
Roberts called again on George for the final award recognition as he is receiving the Kenneth Anquoe Lifetime Achievement Award, noting “he exposed the Osage language and his talents on a worldwide stage just a year ago.”
“When I first sat down, the men who sat around that drum told me ‘To follow that drum, you sit there and you follow that drum wherever it goes and good things are going to happen for you,’” George recalled. “And I didn’t know what they meant, but I did that, I followed that drum everywhere, tried to go everywhere I could to help people out. As I got older, then young people would come help me, the elders I sang with, those men are gone now … And so, this song I was asked to make, we actually made two songs and my brother Vann Bighorse, he made a song, and we presented them to the movie crew and we said, ‘you take a pick.’ They just so happened to choose mine. My brother’s song was equally as good as I felt it was. So they chose my song and we got swept away with that whole situation with that whole (film) world we know nothing about.
“When we presented that song to the world, we had no idea what we were doing (at the Oscars), we had a minute and 45 seconds they told us to sing that song. I said, ‘well it’s a seven-minute song, I guess we can try and figure it out’ and we were able to do that and all we did was try to do the best we could. So this honor: I’m grateful for this, but I’m accepting this on behalf of all the old men that was out there before me. And all you young guys who are coming up: Stay with it, keep singing, don’t get discouraged,” George said. “You stay with it and good things will happen to your life.”
George and a small group of singers performed at the drum throughout the day for social dance performances and presentations. After his award acceptance, the group performed “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” in its entirety as the day winded down.
