One Place Many Nations: First Americans Museum

By Kristin Gentry

FAMily, photo courtesy of First Americans Museum

It’s often said that the First Americans Museum (FAM) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma has been in the making for the last thirty years. On the public surface, the brick-and-mortar museum structure, that was true. On a cultural, ethnological, or historical level, the museum has been in the making since the original First Americans or Indigenous inhabitants began their lives in the geographical area of what is called Oklahoma today. All thirty-nine tribal nations that make up Oklahoma were represented in the opening processional that started on the very first day the First Americans Museum finally opened to the public. This long-awaited grand opening was filled with the visions and prayers of everyone that had been working for decades to bring this physical gathering space into existence. It was a powerful and thought-out gathering of all the tribal nations in Oklahoma into one location at one point in history. The phrase, One Place, Many Nations, led to the mission of the First Americans Museum that says, “In one place, visitors will experience the collective histories of thirty-nine distinctive First American Nations in Oklahoma today. First Americans Museum will share the cultural diversity, history, and contributions of the First Americans.” Visitors were able to share in the core values of the Museum, Reciprocity, Relationships, and Responsibility, in every part of the campus whether it was on the Festival Plaza, inside the inaugural exhibitions, shopping from First American artists, or experiencing the First American impressed cuisine inside the restaurant or café.

Top left: Jeri Redcorn, Photo Credit: Ryan Redcorn; Bottom left: First Americans Museum aerial photography by Kimberly Rodriguez; Right: Jessica Harjo, Floral, Origins Theater

included not just her poetry, but also live music from the band of the United States’ National Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo (Muscogee Nation). Several collections of her poetry and her memoir, Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior were for sale in the Museum’s store, called the FAMstore, located inside the Museum Xchange entrance. The outdoor ceremonies were organized into a festival-celebration atmosphere with open space for the community to socially distance for the global pandemic guidelines set forth by the CDC. Food trucks, cultural demonstrations, First Americans fashion show hosted by Matriarch Oklahoma, music, dancing, a community mural designed by Micah Wesley (Muscogee and Kiowa), and many more family friendly activities were shared with the community.

FAM says that it was “developed in close collaboration with the tribal nations in Oklahoma, Native scholars, and Knowledge Givers. FAM exhibitions represent our narratives from a distinctly Native perspective.” Many different Oklahoma tribal citizens that work for FAM continually expressed how happy they are to share their own histories, struggles, triumphs, and resilience today in their own words for the first time. “We are thrilled to share with the public a premier venue dedicated to the history, art, and cultural lifeways of First Americans in Oklahoma,” said FAM Director & CEO, James Pepper Henry. When he came on board with FAM, he restructured many parts of the museum to be what it is physically today, and he also very specifically designed the FAMstore. Every architectural (continued to page 14)

Jeri Redcorn, Handbag, FAMstore Exclusive Collection, courtesy of FAM

and cardinal directional design element was purposely created to exemplify a part of a different tribal nation of the state, and then collectively build them all together into one overarching space through natural and manmade elements. For example, The Hall of the People is structured after a traditional Wichita lodge, and the circular structure of the layout of the entire grounds are reflective of Oklahoma tribal cultures. During the Summer Solstice the sun sets at the peak of the FAM Mound and during the Winter Solstice the sun sets through the tunnel embedded in the FAM Mound. The FAM mound pays homage to the Southeastern tribal cultures present in Oklahoma.

The opening exhibitions, Winiko: Life of an Object and OKLA HOMMA are in the south wing of the museum. The entire curatorial team came from Oklahoma tribes. Okla and Homma are words from the Chahta Anumpa, (the Choctaw Language,) and are combined into one word that created the State’s name, Oklahoma. Winiko: Life of an Object contains selections from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and also newly commissioned artworks. Each of the thirty-nine tribes had at least three objects representing them. Winiko is the Caddoan word for “everything on earth, the universe, and beyond.” This exhibition was named after and honors the Caddo people who have always inhabited this part of the continent. Winiko explored the concept that the items’ original intent was not to sit long-term inside a museum space, but to be often a utilitarian object that would be used until it ultimately returned to the earth. This part of the exhibition also showed how even First American cultures are objectified, and ties into the OKLA HOMMA exhibition displayed on the first floor. OKLA HOMMA was the signature exhibition that directed visitors through the origins, the histories, Indian Removal, trials, rebuilding, humor, and the resilience of the thirtynine tribes of Oklahoma today. Through collaboration with the Oklahoma Arts Council’s Arts in Public Places program was where Jeri Redcorn’s work came into FAM. The Oklahoma Arts Council described her design as, “connecting the past with the present on the outside of the Origin’s Theater inside the OKLA HOMMA exhibition.” The Origins Theater was modeled after Jeri’s Caddoan pottery designs that she is credited with revitalizing from her own tribal culture. Inside the Origins Theater plays multiple origin stories from various tribes. Jessica Harjo (Otoe, Osage, Pawne, and Sac & Fox tribal nations), describes her experiences creating graphic art to tell her own tribal origin story, “It’s really a tremendous endeavor to try and represent all thirty-nine tribes of Oklahoma in such a short amount of time. The Origins Theater allows the viewer to understand ata-glance that all tribes have different origins. The Otoe-Missouria creation story is the story that I helped to tell through illustrations that I created and animated. Each illustration represents a clan and is animated on a dark background like you see in the coats, blankets, and other significant items that Otoe people wore (ie. Faw Faw coat). The colors were chosen to represent the different roles. It was also important to represent the original homelands where the Otoe lived and give an accurate view of the land.” Jessica’s art will be featured, along with Jeri Redcorn, Joseph Erb (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma), Kennetha Greenwood (Otoe Missouria Tribe), and Chris Pappan (Kaw Nation, Osage Nation, Cheyenne River Sioux tribe) in the FAMstore’s Exclusive Collection of apparel, accessories, handbags, and other items that are only for sale at the Museum.

FAM opens as a public-private partnership between the State of Oklahoma and the City of Oklahoma City, with the help of a Chickasaw Nation Subsidiary, the American Indian Cultural Center Foundation, and numerous donors. First Americans Museum is in Oklahoma City at the Crossroads of America, the confluence

2020 Winter Solstice through the FAM Mound

on Interstates 35, 40, 235 and 44. FAM is open to the public every day except Tuesdays. Visitors are encouraged to purchase tickets at www.famok.org. Upcoming events include panel discussions, film screenings, programming for Indigenous People’s Day in October, and the Winter Holiday Arts Market December 4th and 5th . n

Jessica Harjo, Photo Credit: Cody Hammer

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