For Indians, a time to protest

SHERRY BROWN / Tulsa World Brenda Golden, seen Thursday at the state Capitol, is organizing an American Indian protest of the state’s centennial celebration this week at the Capitol.

By S.E. RUCKMAN World Staff Writer
11/11/2007

A march and rally decrying the state centennial activities are planned.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Brenda Golden mulled the state centennial for months. In the 11th month of the yearlong celebration, the American Indian activist decided to organize an Indian statement for Oklahoma's 100th birthday.

Golden will be among what she hopes are hundreds who will walk one-quarter of a mile from Northeast 16th Street to the state Capitol on Friday in protest of the event.

"The whole idea (the centennial) always bothered me," she said. "I waited and waited for someone else to do something, so I decided to do it."

Golden and other organizers have acquired a permit to put on a three-hour event. It will include speeches from elders, marching, singing and dancing in full regalia. Student groups from across the state have called to lend support to the idea that statehood also has negative connotations, she said.

"I thought if just a hundred showed up, I'd be happy," Golden said. "But I think we'll get more than that."

The protest coincides with other centennial events. State planners, such as Blake Wade, the executive director of the Oklahoma Centennial Commission, said centennial events are intended to educate onlookers about Oklahoma settlement and mark the event.

"In Oklahoma, the No. 1 attraction to the state is Native Americans," Wade said. "I understand who they are and what they're doing."

Shoshanna Wasserman, the marketing director of the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum, said she did not want the events to be one-dimensional and concentrate solely on protest.

"This is a complex issue. I'm just grateful that we live in a free country, where everyone has a rightful voice," she said. "Native people do have a voice in the centennial."

Organizers said they eschewed the idea of protesting in Guthrie, where other commemorative events are slated this week. Glenda Deer, a Kickapoo from Shawnee, said many were offended by a scheduled mock wedding in Guthrie of "Miss Indian Territory and Mr. Oklahoma."

"That's denial, that's not the way it happened," she said. "I want my grandchildren to understand how Oklahoma was acquired. I don't want them to forget it."

Some leaders of the state's 37 recognized tribes have applauded the idea of an organized independent centennial statement. Jim Gray, the principal chief of the Osage Nation, said his tribe of 16,000 chose not to participate in official centennial events.

"I encourage other tribes to hold their own version of commemorative events, so you can say who you are," he said.

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1. 11/11/2007 11:08:10 AM, Johnny , Indianapolis
Right on sisters. So called "tribal leaders," many of them corrupted by casino money, will participate in the centennial because they have learned to be lap dogs of the state of Oklahoma. But there are many of us who are well-educated, and see that the state of Oklahoma still refuses to recognize the contributions of native people. Mock wedding indeed, with a Miss Indian territory and Mr. Oklahoma? Wonder how many "Indian princess" stories that will spawn? Why not reenact the murder of hundreds of Land Run participants by the Sooners who jumped the line and cheated on the cheaters? And while they are at it, reenact the Oklahoma history of the theft of billions of barrels of oil by greedy oil barons whose families still enjoy the benefits of that theft. You go girls, and know that I will be there in spirit.

Johnny, nishnabe podwewadmi