Oklahoma, Part 2

People frequently ask where my family is going on our trips. This time, when they heard we were going to Oklahoma, I was asked, "What are you going to see there?"

"Mostly cowboys and Indians," I replied. People found that amusing, but it was true. Today, we started with the Indians.

Having avoided all tornado weather, at least temporarily, we headed off for our first round of sight-seeing -- the Cherokee Indian Heritage Center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. This area features both a pre-Columbian reproduction of Cherokee life, and a village as it would have looked in the 1890s.

The Heritage Center, at right, is built on the site of one of the first "seminaries" for women west of the Mississippi. The three pillars at the right of the picture are all that's left of the original building, which burned down in 1887.

A very brief history: the Cherokee people originally had settled an area in Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Kentucky before the 13 Colonies were founded. As the new United States expanded westward, the Cherokee and other tribes were forced to give up more and more of their land, until a final treaty required them to move west of the Mississippi River. There are currently several groups of Cherokee, including the group here in Oklahoma, another in North Carolina, and a third in Tennessee. The full-length history would take far too much space to relate here, but you can find some here.

Once transplanted, the Cherokee re-established their tribal identity and made a home for themselves in Oklahoma. This heritage center offers guided tours of the old village, some interpretive information on the newer village, and a display of tribal history and culture.

No pictures were allowed inside the museum, but we did get a tour of the old village. Apparently archaeology of the area is on-going, because our guide pointed out two new structures being built in a style that had just recently been unearthed through digging. The architecture differs from other buildings in the village, as you'll see. Right now the two new buildings are just in the foundation stage, but will be finished in the same manner as the rest of the village.

Once the walls are built, clay/mud is added, and fires are set both inside and outside the building to harden the walls. This prevents the walls from washing away in the rain.

At left are samples of spear and arrow points made of flint. We actually had a couple of people doing what's known as "flint-knapping", chipping and pressing flakes of stone away to produce the final products. Different sizes and styles of points were used for different tasks, including hunting, warfare, scraping hides, and so on.

At left are a set of turtle shell rattles that women would have worn during ceremonial dancing. This, believe it or not, is a small set for a girl; a larger, heavier set would have been appropriate for a grown woman.


At left (in front) is a small canoe. The real thing would have been about 20+ feet long and able to hold two dozen men. It would be made from a whole tree, which would be felled and hollowed out by burning the center and cutting it out with axes and other tools. The canoe was pointed on both ends for easier river navigation; with something that long, the rowers didn't turn it around at the end of the journey, they just reversed their own positions and paddled it "backwards".

Pottery, as seen at right, came in various sizes, and was produced in two ways -- as pinch pots or as coiled pieces. Pinch pots started with a ball of clay. A portion of the center was hollowed out with a thumb or finger, and then the clay was manipulated by pinching it between the fingers until a bowl or cup shape was formed. Pottery done this way had a limited size.

Coiled pots had a flat bottom. More clay was then rolled into a rope or "snake" shape, and this was then coiled around on top of the flat piece. The potter stopped after two or three coils to let the clay dry; otherwise the weight would cause the clay to collapse into the pot.

After the pots were finished, they were fired slowly in a process that moved them from the edge of a fire into its center. They had to be heated and cooled slowly to prevent cracking.

From the old village, we moved into the newer one, called Adams Corner. At left are a weaver's house (right side of picture) and a church or chapel. The Cherokee are one of the few Native Americans who have their own written language, developed by Sequoyah in 1821. (If you want to see and hear the letters, click here.) A number of books, especially the Bible and various hymns, were translated into the Cherokee language. There's even a version of the Lord's Prayer.

In the schoolhouse, I found a set of blackboards. One had the Cherokee alphabet painted at the top (just like those alphabets we had at the top of the blackboard when I was in school, except, of course, ours were in English), and a section written in both English and Cherokee (at right).

At left is a cabin and a smokehouse (right side of picture). Apparently the staff of the village has smoked meat successfully in this building. Smoking and salting meat were two preservation methods that kept meat available all year round.




Blacksmith's shop at right.


After finishing at the Heritage Center, we returned to the hotel to retrieve Dad's cane (left behind accidentally) and then proceeded to Claremore to visit Totem Pole Park.

Having seen a couple of totem pole parks in Alaska, to my mind, this is not a totem pole. It's made of concrete, not wood, the symbols don't resemble Northwest Coast art to any great extent, and the colors are all over the place. The Northwest Coast people carved totem poles for a variety of reasons, and this one doesn't seem to fit any of them. This park is, however, a historic site, as it was one of many scenic attractions along Route 66.

The totem pole and other sculptures were created by Ed Galloway, beginning in 1937 and continuing on for the next 11 years. The park also includes an arrowhead, a tree, several tables and seats, and a gift shop building. There's no entrance fee, although donations are accepted.

We were there around 4 p.m., so there were no crowds. It's a small park, but the area is pleasant. We had a tough time getting any kind of listing for Totem Pole Park on our GPS, but one resident of Claremore pointed us in the right direction, and there were signs along Route 66 to point the way.

I'll leave this entry with a few other pictures of the park. Remember my opening comment about cowboys and Indians? Tomorrow we get to the cowboys.





(Currently reading: Little Women and Werewolves, by Louisa May Alcott and Porter Grand. Yes, really.)