Month to honor American Indian heritage
Month to honor American Indian heritage

By Michael Kimball Comments 0
Published: November 1, 2007

Today marks the first day of Oklahoma American Indian Heritage month, a celebration that honors the past, present and future of the state's American Indians.

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Schedule of events

Today

•Native Film Screening: "Four Sheets to the Wind,” 6 p.m., Oklahoma Museum of Art, Oklahoma City

•The Inner Culture of Mirac Creepingbear, Jacobson House Native Art Center, University of Oklahoma campus, Norman

Friday

•Robert Mirabal "In the Blood” concert, 8 p.m., Catlett Music Center, University of Oklahoma campus, Norman. Tickets are $30.

•Tinker Inter-Tribal Council's Golf Tournament, 11:30 a.m., Tinker Air Force Base golf course, Midwest City, $50 per person.

•Native American Veterans Honor Dance, noon to 6 p.m., Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, Oklahoma City

Saturday

•"Coyote Laughs” — Storytelling by Michael Corley, 2 p.m., Edmond Library

Monday

•Native Film Screening: "Four Sheets to the Wind,” Oklahoma Memorial Union, University of Oklahoma campus, Norman

Wednesday

•Native American Heritage Luncheon, 11:30 a.m., Tinker Air Force Base club ballroom, Midwest City

Nov. 9

•Okladada and Individual Artists of Oklahoma's "Current Realities: A Dialogue with the People,” Iao Gallery, Oklahoma City

Nov. 10

•Native Stories with Kricket Rhoads, 11 a.m., Belle Isle Library, Oklahoma City

Nov. 11

•Third Annual Norman Public Library Native American Festival, 1 p.m., Norman Public Library, Norman

Nov. 13

•Flag Ceremony, 4:30 p.m., Tinker Air Force Base building 460, Midwest City

Nov. 14

•AICCO-Oklahoma City Chapter Luncheon Meeting, 11:30 a.m., Twin Hills Country Club, Oklahoma City

Nov. 15

•Native American Sunset Ceremony, 4 p.m., Scottish Rites Temple, Guthrie

•Tinker Arts & Crafts Show, 9 a.m., Tinker Air Force Base Building 3001, Midwest City

Nov. 16

•Guthrie Centennial Parade, noon.

Nov. 17

•Chickasha Inkana-Chickasaw Friends Festival, 11 a.m., Purcell Public Library.

•Inaugural Exhibition of The Oklahoma State Art Collection Gallery, Oklahoma state Capitol.

Nov. 18

•Today's Native American Voice in Music and Art, 2 p.m., Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library, Oklahoma City

Nov. 19

•Ninth Annual Native American Heritage Celebration: Four Directions of Oklahoma, 11 a.m., Oklahoma state Capitol.

Nov. 25

•Artrain USA, "Native Views: Influences of Modern Culture,” noon, Santa Fe Train Depot, Oklahoma City

Nov. 27

•Native American Drumming with Brent Greenwood, 6:30 p.m., Del City Library.

Nov. 30

•Red Earth Gala, 6 p.m., Omniplex mezzanine, Oklahoma City

Oklahoma's recognition of the month coincides with National American Indian Heritage Month, which was celebrated for the first time in November 1990 thanks to a proclamation signed by former President Bush. After a short hiatus, it has been celebrated each November since 1994.

The month comes at a special time this year, as people across Oklahoma celebrate Centennial Day on Nov. 16.

Shoshana Wasserman, director of marketing and public relations for the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum, said the centennial is a complicated issue for many American Indians.

She said events planned for this month do not celebrate or protest the centennial or the Land Run but merely acknowledge it.

"How each tribe or person chooses to mark the centennial is up to them,” Wasserman said. "It produces a wide range of thoughts and emotions.”

Events will take place nearly every day in November at sites across the state.