The forthcoming American Indian Center and Cultural Museum
in Oklahoma City will be a world-class facility and has tremendous potential
for education, economic development and tourism purposes in Oklahoma. The
Cherokee Nation is proud to support AICCM and pleased to see it moving closer
to opening. The heart of Indian Country will be home to one of America’s finest
museums.
Recently, I began serving a three-year term on the American
Indian Cultural Center Foundation to help move this center of collective
history and culture toward completion. It will be a unique destination,
designed to tell the powerful and significant story of Native Americans in
Oklahoma. The AICCM’s mission has always been to enhance what individual
tribes, including the Cherokee Nation, do to share our heritage.
Art, history and contemporary culture will be all in one
place, and if people want to dig deeper they can travel to Tahlequah or Ada or
Anadarko or Lawton.
I am proud to be a part of this creative endeavor and a
public-private venture with the state of Oklahoma, city of Oklahoma City, AICCM
Land Development LLC and private sector. Absolutely none of this would be
possible without the cooperation of the 38 federally recognized tribes in
Oklahoma today.
Construction will resume this summer and take about two
years to complete, while exhibits and other interior finishes will take another
year to install. The museum will open in the spring of 2021. Construction was
stopped six years ago on the museum, which sits at the junction of Interstates
35 and 40 in Oklahoma City, when state funding ran out.
As Native people, perseverance is something we know well,
and we would not be moving forward today without Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill
Anoatubby and his leadership in establishing a powerful and productive
partnership with Oklahoma City’s leaders. He has been a champion to achieve
this dream. Once completed it will be an epic indoor/outdoor adventure for the
entire family with unique exhibits, hands-on educational programs, firsthand
accounts and cultural demonstrations.
Tribes have tremendous heritage and history in Oklahoma,
which is why state leaders wanted to build this museum in the first place. It
will substantially increase opportunities to educate Oklahoma’s youth on the
rich history of our state, which was born from Indian Territory. Those critical
aspects of Oklahoma’s history simply are not stressed enough in public
classrooms. Oklahomans need to know more about their history and certainly need
a better grasp of how important tribal governments are not just to our past,
but also to our bright future.
Tribal governments mean so much to the state, not just its
cultural identity, but also in a very real and tangible way economically. The
Cherokee Nation alone has an economic impact on our state of over $2 billion.
Oklahoma is Indian Country, and AICCM will be a tremendous
asset to all of us.
0 comments:
Post a Comment