OKMULGEE – The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Culture and Humanities Department held its 7th Annual Honor Walk on June 24 at the MCN Cultural Cuko. The department served lunch and gave out t-shirts. The event is hosted to bring awareness about protecting and preserving sacred sites, cultural landscapes, and ancestral homelands. Many who attended were ceremonial ground members and citizens. This year’s MC was MCN Representative Galen Cloud (Mvskoke).
MCN Director of Historic and Cultural Preservation Robin Soweka Junior (Mvskoke) told Mvskoke Media that his department began hosting the event to raise awareness of the protection and preservation of sacred places and sites.
“The department wanted to also bring attention to the Justice for Hickory Ground movement, which involves the desecration of a sacred site, Ocevpofv Etvlwv or Hickory Ground, and the exhumation of approximately 57 ancestors from the site,” Soweka said.
“The event is supposed to happen on the first day of the Summer Solstice; however, this year the Summer Solstice started on June 21st, but we decided to push the event back closer to the Muscogee Nation festival.”
Many spoke at this year’s event, such as the ceremonial ground members, Hickory Ground Mekko George Thompson, MCN Chief David Hill, Former MCN Chief George Tiger, Soweka, MCN Secretary of Culture and Humanities RaeLynn Butler (Mvskoke), MCN Deputy Secretary of Culture and Humanities Anthony Beaver, MCN Language Liaison Director Jay Fife (Mvskoke), MCN attorney for Hickory Ground Mary Kathryn Nagel (Cherokee), and Ambassador of the MCN Jonodev Chaudhuri.
This year, it was hosted at the MCN Cultural Cuko, where many departments are located: the Department of Culture and Humanities, the Mvskoke Language Liaison Program, and Historic and Cultural Preservation.
The walk had previously been hosted at the Claude Cox Omniplex. They decided to move it to their location because all of the departments have hosted different types of cultural events, such as stickball stick and ball making classes, guest speakers on the Mvskoke clan systems, along with other events that were held.
Soweka mentioned that they laid gravel for this year’s Honor Walk walking trail and hope to turn it into a concrete trail one day.
They had planned other activities after the walk, but due to the weather, they couldn’t continue. However, these activities were organized so that families and children could enjoy the day before the MCN Festival began.
For this year’s T-shirt design, they collaborated with MCN Marketing and Tourism Jake Wilson to help create it. According to Butler, this shirt represents all of Etvlwv’s past, present, and future. This featured traditional Mvskoke elements.
“The Kettle represents the women/hokvtke, the Arbor represents the Mekko/warriors and traditional structure of the tribal towns, the Fire represents the strength, religion, and survival of our people and culture (paying homage to those who have passed and to our ancestors in Homelands) and the Ball pole represents the unity of the members/visitors who participate during the social games,” Butler said.
The food was prepared by the Hickory Ground women members. Soweka also added that they had butchered a hog that was served for lunch.
Soweka spoke about how he feels about raising awareness among citizens.
“For me, my Tribal Town is Ocevpofv Etvlwv, so I got into this field and department to ensure that there will be no other desecration to any other sites located in the homelands and here in Oklahoma,” Soweka said.
“Now, I want to ensure the preservation and protection of not only sacred sites and sacred places, but the protection of Mvskoke graves and ancestors, preservation of Mvskoke lifeways such as the Language, our songs and dances, our foods, and everything else that makes us Mvskoke. I believe everyone in the Department of Culture and Humanities all have this same goal.”
To follow along Hickory’s Ground journey, you can follow them on Facebook at Justice for Hickory Ground, and their website is JusticeforHickoryGround.com
