Whenever I write about Indigenous businesses or the like, there are always those readers that say I’m cutting them a pass because of my own Native heritage. Actually, I always go into to these things more critical than I would others because I feel they’re representing me and, honestly, I don’t want to be any more embarrassed than I have to be.
The truth is that in Oklahoma many Natives don’t want to be embarrassed either, so they always tend to go above and beyond to make sure that whatever it is they’re creating is absolutely gold-star worthy. And, as I have discovered this past weekend, the new First Americans Museum is the absolute paramount of standards they have set for not only themselves but for whomever walks through those doors.
After all, it’s not only the representation of the Indigenous tribes of Oklahoma but for all of the stolen land in America, telling our story and not pulling any punches about it. It only took around 500 years, but better late than never.