OKMULKE, Oklv. – Name a department within the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Anita Freeman (Mvskoke) has likely worked for it at some point in her career. Freeman retired on April 26, marking 31 combined years of service to her tribe. Freeman’s most recent position was serving as a contract administrator with Muscogee International.
Freeman began working for MCN in 1977, the same year Fleetwood Mac’s album “Rumours” dominated the music charts and the very first “Star Wars” movie was released in theaters. Starting out as a community worker, Freeman’s department back then would be comparable to community research and development today. Back then employees within that department would mow yards, drive elders to run errands and clean their homes.
During the late 70s the tribe would start to organize the communities of Mvskoke citizens who lived in different areas across the reservation. Freeman worked with the Twin Hills and Okmulgee Indian Communities. After serving citizens directly in the communities, Freeman would find herself serving them in a new capacity: storytelling.
“I was hired in as a clerk typist for the communications department,” Freeman said. “I was the one that typed out the mail out for the newspaper. We published the newspaper, labeled them, then got it out.”
During Freeman’s tenure in the communications department she would see a lot of growth. The department started out in a closet, but would eventually move to a full office space. Among the stories she contributed, Freeman fondly remembered writing a two-page feature on her grandmother. Freeman and her colleagues would also see one of the greatest historical technological shifts; analog to digital. For journalists and office workers in the 1980s, that meant a paradigm shift from clacking on a typewriter to clacking on a keyboard.
“They would just give you a computer,” Freeman remarked. “Getting automated, we entered all that into a computer, especially when no one had any computer skills in the 80s. But it was easy, it was an easy process.”
In the early 1990s Freeman left the tribe and moved to Oklahoma City to work for a non-profit. In 2008 she returned to the tribe to work in the community and research development department as a specialist. She would then move to Muscogee International where she worked until her recent retirement.
“It’s a great opportunity to work for the tribe, not only in serving and being employed in general, which should be viewed as an honor, but also to be closer to the Muscogee culture.” – Anita Freeman
A Career Spanning Across Decades
Over the years Freeman saw the tribal government grow from just the Solomon McCombs building to the multi-building complex it is today. Back then the tribe’s staff was less than 20 employees. The tribe eventually organized its own health system, acquiring clinics in Okemah, Okmulgee and Tulsa.
Born in Okmulgee, Freeman stated that she always felt an attraction back to her hometown. After she was born, Freeman’s family moved north to Kansas where she grew up. When it came time to start her own family, Freeman moved back to Okmulgee. Even Oklahoma City could not keep Freeman very long as a resident, as she would move back to Okmulgee and work again for the tribe she became so passionate about serving.
When asked about some of her favorite memories working for the tribe, Freeman remarked that she enjoyed working for the pageant committee, a position she served on for 13 years.
A total of 31 years is an impressive feat for any loyal employee, however Freeman believed that she would be at the tribe much longer. Her advice to fellow tribal employees is to put others first.
“By far my most satisfying employment has been with the tribe,” Freeman said. “Working for the tribe is not a job, it’s a service to the people. Greet everybody as a representative of the tribe.”
In a statement from Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief David Hill he expressed his gratitude for Freeman’s long career dedicated to serving the tribe.
“I want to wish a heartfelt congratulations and our sincerest appreciation to Ms. Anita Freeman on her retirement.” Chief Hill said. “Ms. Freeman has dedicated more than three decades of her life in service to the Muscogee Nation and Muscogee people. This kind of dedication and compassion for our people, for our communities and for our future, should be celebrated and treated with the utmost reverence. On behalf of more than 100,000 citizens of this Nation, all our employees and staff, and every life that Ms. Freeman has impacted along the way, we say best wishes and MVTO!”
As for her post-retirement plans, Freeman said she is planning to conduct more in-depth research into Mvskoke tribal towns dating back to removal to 2022. Particularly, she is seeking to learn how the tribal towns have changed over the past century, and which ones still have active members today. Freeman’s tribal town is Koweta, she is also of the Alligator Clan.
