Tulsa’s Native Heritage

By Kristi Eaton and Tim Landes

Tulsa sits at the confluence of three tribal nations: Muscogee, Cherokee and Osage.

In the 1830s, a group of Muscogee arrived in Indian Territory from their ancestral lands in present-day Georgia and Alabama. They created a new town called Talasi that would later transform into Tulsa.

Since then, the City of Tulsa and the tribal nations have created a shared idea toward prosperity.

“The City of Tulsa works hand in hand with tribal governments on a variety of projects to further develop the Tulsa community. Mayor G.T. Bynum thinks the world of the tribal leaders we have in the Cherokee, Muscogee and Osage Nations as they have been incredibly important collaborators with him during his time as mayor, and they will continue to be in the future,” the City of Tulsa said in a prepared statement.

The City Council has created a new Tribal Nations Relations Committee to create a more direct dialogue between the City Council and the tribes to better serve the citizens they are all elected to represent. In November 2021, the City also renamed Veterans Park to Dream Keepers Park in honor of Native American contributions to the city.

“In these modern times, particularly the past couple of decades, the relationship has just become so positive over time, producing so many great results for Cherokee Nation and the City of Tulsa,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said.

Cherokee Nation, he notes, has been heavily involved in food security and works with the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, the Tulsa Area United Way and the Tulsa Dream Center, among other organizations.

In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Congress never “disestablished” Muscogee Nation’s reservation status, and overturned the conviction of Jimcy McGirt, who was retried in federal court and sentenced to life. This means offenders who are Indigenous can face federal charges depending on the crime. Because the City of Tulsa sits on three tribal reservations, many local law enforcement officers are cross-deputized with tribal police departments.

Cherokee Nation, is the largest tribe in the United States with more than 400,000 citizens — 141,000-plus within the nation’s boundaries in Oklahoma — and is one of the largest employers in the region, offering numerous career opportunities through Cherokee Nation Businesses. Cherokee Nation also partners with the local municipalities through its career services program to help fill jobs at large business operations like the Macy’s Fulfillment Center and Amazon Distribution Center.

Cherokee Nation’s Film Office incentivizes productions to film in the area. The tribe opened a 27,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art soundstage in Owasso. In late 2022, CNFO won Film Commission Initiative of the Year during the 2022 Makers and Shakers Awards ceremony held at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts headquarters in London. The tribe’s film office was the only finalist from the United States to be nominated for the international honor.

Speaking of film and television, in 2021, Osage Nation hosted production of the Martin Scorsese movie “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which filmed scenes in Tulsa. There’s also local filmmaker Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee), who co-created the highly acclaimed FX Networks show “Reservation Dogs” then filmed it in the area, creating more than $10 million in economic impact, according to the Oklahoma Film and Music Office.

In early 2023 Osage Nation officials broke ground on Wahzhazhe Connect, a $54.5 million broadband expansion project that will dramatically increase internet connectivity throughout the Osage Nation service area.

In 2019, the Muscogee Nation announced it had an economic impact of $866 million in Oklahoma in 2017, supporting 8,700 jobs that paid $303 million in wages and benefits to workers, with many of those jobs based in Tulsa. That same year, Cherokee Nation announced an economic impact of over $2 billion, including more than $836 million in wages and benefits and more than 9,600 in direct employment with many of those jobs in the Tulsa area.