City vows to give land back on Council Oak Tree Day

(TVLSE, Okla.) It was a day to honor the foundations of Tulsa, a city that began when Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s (MCN) Locvpoka Tribal Town placed the coals and ash from their sacred fire at the base of Council Oak Tree following their forced removal from Alabama. And those who brought them.

Muscogee citizens and allies packed Stickball Park on Saturday for the Council Oak Tree Ceremony, across the street from where the mighty oak still stands. 

MCN Principal Chief David Hill declared November 9 “Council Oak Tree Day” earlier in the week, urging “every citizen to reflect as we honor our Mvskoke ancestors who survived the forced removal on the Road of Misery (Nene Estemerketv) and reestablished our tribal towns and government” during his proclamation. 

The 16 ceremonial grounds who survived were also recognized and honored during Hill’s proclamation and Saturday’s ceremony, in English and in the Muscogee language. 

But the day was also historic in its own right, as something occurred that had not happened in the many years since the inaugural Council Oak Tree Ceremony in 1986: a vow from the City of Tulsa to give Council Oak Tree Park and Stickball Park back to the Nation. 

“I wanted to commemorate this day,” Mayor G.T. Bynum said during the ceremony. “Not just that we do it on an annual basis but the significance of this, the initiation of this transfer as a historic moment for our city. In being the kind of city that we want Tulsa to be. Chief Hill has done this already for the Muscogee Creek Nation but as the mayor of 400,000 people here in the City of Tulsa who are so grateful for all of those who came here and founded our city at the end of the Trail of Tears, I want to declare today Council Oak Tree Day here in the City of Tulsa.” 

Bynum added that the City of Tulsa will also continue to fund the maintenance of the sites and acknowledged that Mayor-Elect Monroe Nichols will probably get to sign the documents to make it official “unless the city can just move in rapid speed in the next 23 days”. 

Nichols also spoke during the ceremony after the transfer announcement, saying remembering history should serve as a challenge and great obligation to not only unite but be aggressive on how we think about progress. 

“And so I think about the work ahead, Chief Hill, I think about the work that we're going to do,” Nichols said. “To not only remember but to ultimately respect those who came before us by making sure that that that nobody sleeps on the streets on this reservation. To make sure that on this reservation all young people have an opportunity. To make sure that on this reservation, we all live in safe communities. And on this reservation, we’re always standing strong and united in our defense of tribal sovereignty.”   

A meal was held at the Tulsa Creek Indian-Community Center following the ceremony, along with arts and crafts vendors.