Re: American Indian Cultural Center
I am excited about it too and I am part Native American (well, mostly NA actually). ..
I see this in the same light as how OKC hosts the Red Earth festival, lots of Native cultures coming together and celebrating common heritage together yet individually. This is also common from cultures of East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan) and SE Asia (due to China's huge influence) - in that these countries celebrate many of the same holidays despite being historically different (other than the fact that all trace back to ancient chinese/manchurians and/or malay indians; as do Native Americans by the way hence why we all more or less look alike).
But I digressed a bit there, my point is it is ok and very beneficial to have a common meeting point, celebrations, or museum to showcase culture. Just because Americans like to bucket people into races does not negate the fact that there are commonalities among people nor should it denegrate (which was probably the original intent of Westerner's) those cultures/races.
The American Indian museum will be world class and being a Smithsonian will put OKC further on the map. At one point, I was a bit perplexed as to why it was A.I. and not Native American Cultural museum (and even more perplexed as to why Tulsa was trying to build the exact same thing and calling theirs NA museum); but now I see A.I. as an 'American' identity sort of thing, because that is what original colonists called the 'indian' inhabitants - thinking they were in India; and therefore I see this as a true connection to the American Indian and not just being politically correct (with the recently formed 'race' Native American).
So with OKC having the Smithsonian American Indian Cultural and History Museum, it will be world class, further put OKC on the map, and should be something for all in Oklahoma to finally be proud of (regardless if they are Indian or not). As for tribes paying for some of it - I think it is a good idea, because part of that money could pay for a specific tribute or tribe's message or it could help pay for maintenance and operations. Of course, being a Smithsonian I think the Federal Government should pick up a nice piece of it as well AND designate the museum just like they do other Smithsonian and/or National Historical monuments.
Good times lie ahead!
Oklahoma City, the RENAISSANCE CITY!
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