WOODLAND, Calif. – Amid a regional winter freeze that caused water damage to the aging building housing the Osage Nation’s culture and language entities in Pawhuska, the Wahzhazhe Cultural Center continues its preservation work efforts, including an education discussion here with California constituents.
Three Wahzhazhe Cultural Center staff members, including Director Addie Hudgins, spoke to the Northern California Osage Fall Gathering on Oct. 6 during the day-long event which included fellowship, lunch and afternoon drum music from a local Indigenous group at the outdoor Nelson’s Grove park. Approximately 50 individuals, including Osages, and their families, attended the event, with people coming from the nearby Sacramento metropolitan area, San Francisco Bay Area, Sonoma County and other California communities.
Hudgins mentioned the loss of the Pawhuska building – formerly known as the Nation’s Heritage Center – as demolition efforts started Sept. 30 and plans are underway to rehouse the two entities, which could take more than a year.
“Back in January of 2024, we experienced a freeze and our pipes burst,” Hudgins recalled. “When we have bad weather, we don’t go to work if the roads are bad, so when we came back on a Monday, we came in and the water was running, our floors were flooded, so we got that shut off, we got that handled, they started making a plan to get the water out, see what needed to be fixed, how we could move forward – Well – The next weekend, it froze again and when we came back after that freeze, we found that our roof was falling in and leaking. And so, then we found some spots of mold in the back of the building and throughout and it was determined that building was unsafe … by February we were moving out.”
Hudgins said the staff relocated to temporary work spots in Pawhuska, including the Tri-County Business Development Center and the Language Department staff relocated to a trailer on the Harvest Land property.
New offices for language and culture
In wake of the situation, the then-Eighth ON Congress appropriated $2 million for costs toward a new multi-purpose building to house the culture and language departments during the 2024 Hun-Kah Session.
“I’m thinking maybe a year, minimum, it’s taken six months just to get that building demoed, so that’s where we are,” Hudgins said. “All of our stuff, all of our supplies that we had on hand, we tried to get it out into the hands of constituents that needed things and the rest went to storage. Our library’s in storage and we are in office spaces, and we’re very spread out. It’s not an ideal situation – I’m glad that we have a space to be in – there’s not a lot that we can do, we can’t have classes when we don’t have any space, so for this fiscal year moving forward, what my plan is for our staff is to come to (public events) into the communities where our Osage people are and explain to you what’s going on, where we are, what it looks like moving forward.”
“We’re going to get out in the communities, we’re going to talk to people and we want to see what it is that you want from us – how can we help you? – And then we’ll take that back, take your comments back, put together a plan and maybe we can come back in the spring to implement that plan,” Hudgins said.
Also for the future, Hudgins said: “There is a plan out there for a museum expansion and a new Heritage Center that would house the cultural department, the language department and the Historic Preservation Office. It’s a three-story building and it’s got a big price tag. But we need your support to push our Congress and our Executive teams and let them know that’s something you feel is important.”
In 1938, the ON Museum opened as the Osage Tribal Museum on the Nation’s campus in Pawhuska and is the oldest tribally-owned museum in the United States.
“Both of the facilities have a big price tag,” Hudgins said. “The museum expansion probably has a $40 million price tag. The Heritage Center has a $40 million price tag … So it’s a big number, but at the end of the day, we always hear people talk about how language and culture are so important to us and that’s going to be the heart of your Nation.”
In addition to public interaction, Hudgins said “We’re going to go to some museums that house cultural items and see those and see what kind of things need to take place for us to get them back and get them in our museum.”
In response to an attendee question about repatriation efforts, Hudgins said those would be handled by the Historic Preservation Office or the museum.
Wahzhazhe Cultural Center work continues despite office relocation
Despite the current lack of a building, Hudgins noted the WCC work continues. “What we do is we assist people who are trying to learn how to make different parts of our traditional clothing and right now we are still doing that the best that we can on a one-on-one basis, which is great, but we’re only able to do that because we have a small office space to work in.”
Hudgins teaches weaving and has one workday dedicated to appointments and told the attendees she comes from the Pawhuska District, is a former Head Cook and is an aunt of current Pawhuska Drumkeeper Cole Burris.
WCC staff member and artist Jennifer Tiger also comes from the Pawhuska District and serves as a Committee Cook, as well as for previous Drumkeepers. “What I do for the Cultural Center is I run the library, so we have about 1,700 books and materials and a lot of it was Annette Gore’s personal books and the work that she did with a lot of the microfilm, National Archives, so she spent a lot of time getting microfilm from there that really documented our history. What I do on the side is I make jewelry and metalsmithing (including earrings).”
Leah Bighorse (Grayhorse District) also serves as a district cook and teaches sewing at the Cultural Center. “To learn to sew, you have to teach yourself, that’s how I was taught. My aunties sewed for me and then they got sick. When you’re sick, you don’t sew, if you’re not feeling well, you don’t sew. And I have a little-bitty room, so it’s one person, that’s it, at a time.”
Tiger added: “Leah’s being very modest, she can make blankets, ribbonwork, weave, and sew women’s shirts.”
Hudgins introduced more WCC staff that did not make the trip. “Sammy Lookout – he’s our cultural coordinator, he’s also a former Drumkeeper, he’s the Head Tail Dancer for the Pawhuska District and he is a Road Man for the Lookout Native American Church. Herman Sleeper – he’s from the Zon-Zo-Li^ District, he lives in Hominy, he’s on the committee there and his parents were both cooks. Isaiah Lasley – he’s from the Grayhorse District, he’s our audio-visual technician guy and he has his own podcast, so he knows (technical stuff). So we all have our little things that we do and we work great as a team.”
Hudgins also discussed the Osage language and cultural website online at www.osageculture.com which includes various resources, including videos on culture, clothing and cooking traditional dishes.
“With some of our (American Rescue Plan Act) dollars, language and culture (departments) worked together and there’s several (Cultural Connection) videos on there we put together that have different (subjects): cooking demonstrations, there’s also a women’s dressing demonstration, a men’s dressing demonstration, there’s videos that talk about clans, clan names, funerals, baby cradleboards, so those are very good resources for you to use,” Hudgins said.
The Cultural Connection videos are also available on the Nation’s YouTube page under “Osage Nation Language and Culture Video Series” at: https://www.youtube.com/osagenationnsngovmedia
To reach the Wahzhazhe Cultural Center, constituents can call (918) 287-5632 or email with questions to culturalcenter@osagenation-nsn.gov
