Just find a place to make your stand and take it easy-- the Eagles
Dec 12: Down to the Riverwalk. Tulsa is really working on civic improvement, along their river, there is a great place already for jogging, bicycling, had beautiful cast iron animal totems (statues) like river otters, buffalo, pumas, eagles, and so forth. I was on a quest for the Creek Casino, which was alleged to be down here somewhere. Yeah it�s gonna be big, we�ve been reading about it in the Muskogee Nation News, though I don�t think as big as the Winstar. Me Mum claims that for a while they had been giving pay outs to tribal members, then Chief Cox said he wanted to use the money to build the casino, and I think (after seeing the Winstar) he made a good choice. It should be a good venue for rock shows too.
Overall I was impressed with both Tulsa and OKC. I remember both towns being much more run down and dirty in past years, so that was a good thing to see. Tulsa even had "Penguins on Parade" which is a bit like the Horses on Parade in New York (Peter Max painted one!) and the Pigs on Parade in Seattle. All over town these statues have appeared, and people paint them up in different ways. I saw one wearing a suit in front of the police station, and others.
In Oklahoma, the local governments for the most part have been given over to the tribes, thus as you travel across the state, you will at various times see "Now entering the Seminole Nation" or Creek Nation, or whatever. Up north of Tulsa is the Cherokee Nation (and they look a lot different from the Choctaw, Chicasaw and Creeks, which are all the same ethnic grouping) The Comanche have south western Oklahoma. And within each Indian nation, there are different townships (I belong to the Broken Arrow Township, now a suburb of Tulsa). Thus if a township wants a casino, they can get one going on their own land, and usually it�s a small affair, a couple of trailers and a few slots, and often no booze served neither. The Winstar (Chicasaw), the Creeks in southern Tulsa, and the Cherokee in Northern Tulsa are "whole nation" casinos. They are great sources of income for the tribes, and it�s nice to see the Red Man rise up out of poverty, by taking advantage of the White Man�s vice. I�ve never met an Indian with gambling addiction. I sure don�t care about it. My Mom does it once in a while, but walks away easily.
The sun was increasingly brighter (I had to break out sunscreen!), and I wandered a bit finding the road to Okmulgee. Finally found the way, and got to the museum about Noon. They were closed for lunch, so I went grocery shopping, bought this huge bag of seedless tangerines which I have been munching on for a week now I think. (Must keep our Vitamin C up). Cup of Noodles, beer, V8 juice etc�� after stocking the car I felt much better, especially after the two nights of eating at a restaurant. They finally opened the museum, and I garnered a few more bits and pieces of my family history. Mostly it was stuff I knew already. The museum was our original Council House in Indian Territory. Sometimes you would see signs that would say IT which stands for Indian Territory, and that was neat too. The Nations will rise again!
Going through museums that tie into my genealogy is always sorta scary and frustrating. Joyce Bear and I had that experience at the library a few days before, there are fading documents, and lost information. It all fades into a brown grey newspaper dust, beige of the past. Oklahoma can be like that. Joyce said she is begging the Fed to give her more money to enhance some of her microfiche and faded documents, but who knows when that will happen.
Time was being eaten up rapidly��.. I took off across the Creek Nation, through a place called Dustin (me Mum was born there), mostly reduced now to a few ruins in the road, and got onto a dirt road at one point (not so noted on the map, grrrr). Cruised through Wetumpka, where I lived for a while, and experienced tornadoes and storm cellars. Pedal to metal, the sun began to sink, and I was still some ways out of Thackerville. YIKE. Isn�t it beautiful you can speed in Oklahoma? Most people were doing much faster than me, I would be doing 70 mph and stacking up three people behind me!
(Moody content) Chapter Six: Dec 12: The Chicasaw Casino: Winstar at Thackerville
(Moody content) Chapter Seven: Dec 13: Moody Epilog