Remember our Indian heritage

By Eric Henson and Kevin Red Star

Published: August 22, 2007

With centennial festivities running up to Nov. 16, we urge the citizens of Oklahoma to capitalize on a unique opportunity to remember the state's Indian heritage while focusing on the future.

Oklahoma has always been "more Indian” than the rest of the United States; with native residents making up 8.1 percent of its population, the state has an Indian citizenry eight times as prevalent as in the United States as a whole. Though the native population in Oklahoma enjoys a much higher standard of living than their ancestors, contemporary tribal success has not overcome decades of deprivation and poverty, and per capita income for American Indian and Alaska Natives in Oklahoma is still only two-thirds that of the overall population in Oklahoma. After years of grinding poverty and social distress, tribes in Oklahoma are in the midst of a remarkable resurgence but, contrary to the public perception that all Indians in Oklahoma are wealthy, there is still much ground to be made up.

The American Indian Cultural Center and Museum being constructed in Oklahoma City, with an anticipated completion date of spring 2009, exemplifies Oklahomans' ability to look to the future and value the contributions native culture will continue to make to the state as a whole. Opening the center provides a rare opportunity for Oklahomans to reaffirm the understanding that Indian culture isn't something frozen in the past but is living, evolving, and contributing to positive social and economic outcomes not only for tribes but also for their neighbors.

One of the central findings of the ongoing research of The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development is that native culture isn't an obstacle to be overcome, but instead is a powerful driver of the relative success or failure of Indian communities. This happens wherever tribes take over their own enterprises and manage them in a manner consonant with native priorities, perspectives and goals.

HPAIED's working definition of native culture is one that is derived from what resonates within a given native community and includes languages spoken, arts used to express who a people are and what they value, religions observed, and the ways in which people choose to define and govern themselves. The arts are an important part of socioeconomic development because the arts are the means by which a community defines and expresses itself. As the saying goes, "art is a way of life,” and art often is one of the primary mechanisms a community uses to project the definition of itself into the broader world.

Our research indicates that Indian culture matters to the present and future success of Indians in Oklahoma. This directly benefits all citizens of Oklahoma in tangible ways: Successful neighbors create more appealing communities, better schools and a higher quality of life for all individuals living in Oklahoma. We hope the centennial celebrations, and the subsequent opening of the American Indian cultural center, represent opportunities that will not be missed by Oklahomans.

Henson, a Chickasaw, is a research fellow at the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development in Cambridge, Mass. Red Star, a Crow, is an artist based in Roberts, Mont.

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