OKMULGEE – The Muscogee (Creek) Nation held its sixth Annual Honor Walk to Protect Sacred Places at the Omniplex Pavillion on Friday, June 20 with over 200 people joining the walk. The Summer Solstice event was organized to bring awareness for the protection of sacred sites and land in observance of the National Day of Prayer to Protect Native American Sacred Places. The walk was sponsored by MCN Department of Culture and Humanities, MCN Historic and Cultural Preservation Department, and Oce Vpofv Etvlwv (Hickory Ground).
The speakers this year were chosen by Mekko George Thompson and Hickory Ground, and included MCN Chief David Hill, MCN Representative Galen Cloud, MCN Speaker Randall Hicks, Mekko George Thompson, Ceremonial Ground Chiefs, and Head Attorney for Hickory Ground Mary Kathryn Nagle among others.
MCN Secretary of Cultural and Humanities RaeLynn Butler (Mvskoke) explained that the day is a time of remembrance, recognition, and observance for the MCN. “Every Summer Solstice there are tribes who are coming together sometimes at sunrise, and other observances throughout the day, to honor, to reflect, to highlight lands that are in peril or lands that are at risk, different lands that tribes are working to protect,” Butler said.
Six years ago when Butler was working for the MCN Historic and Culture Preservation Department, the staff wanted to participate in the national day and do their own observance to bring awareness and recognition of the history and desecration that has happened at Hickory Ground.
According to Butler, knowing the root-cause and damages that the Poarch Band of Creek Indians has done to the site motivated the department to work hard and continue to fight for sacred lands’ protection throughout the Mvskoke Homelands and also in the Reservation.
“We have our Historic and Culture Preservation Department, Tribal Historic Preservation Office has staff dedicated to responding to requests for new construction that could potentially harm sacred places or sites,” Butler said.
“We do that consultation with Federal Agencies, we do that consultation under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and help to repatriate and rebury our ancestral remains and funerary objects of the belonging that they were buried with that are at different institutions, museums and universities located all throughout the United States.”
For Butler, the Honor Walk is a day of coming together and remotivation. It’s also an educational opportunity for people to join the fight and an update for citizens. “This event is really used to honor Hickory Ground, highlight our ongoing fight and the Journey for Justice, but also reflect on all sacred land that needs protecting,” Butler said.
MCN has been supporting Hickory Ground for over two decades, and the struggle has ramped up in the past year, according to Butler. During last year’s Honor Walk, they were focused on and preparing for the September 2024 oral arguments at the Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
The Journey for Justice and support for Hickory Ground also extended throughout the MCN Festival events, with a float in the Saturday, June 28 parade in hopes to connect more people to the Journey for Justice and to bring awareness to the issues.
Butler explained that it is important to hold those accountable, and one aspect of that is spreading awareness. “I think that the biggest way to show support is to learn more and to follow along, help share and spread the word about our journey,” Butler said.
“To share our truth about what happened. A lot of people don’t really know what Poarch did or they’ve done a lot to try to cover it up and so for us, we just want to tell the truth about what happened there and the injustice that it caused our people.”
A redesign to honor Chub
This year’s t-shirt design has Hickory Ground Mekko George Thompson and Hickory Ground member Robin “Chub” Soweka on the front of the shirt and on the back it has an image of Chitto Harjo.
“We’ve used Chitto Harjo on shirts in previous years, because he’s from Hickory Ground and because of the type of leader that he was, who stood his ground. He fought for tradition and culture in the way of Mvskoke people and that’s very similar to the spirit of what we’re doing to continue to fight for sacred lands, to help bring justice to what happened at Hickory Ground,” Butler said.
With the retirement of Soweka, the 2025 Living Legend and now former Cultural Advisor for the department, they also wanted to honor the man who had always designed the annual Honor Walk t-shirt.
Along the Coosa River on the way to the 2024 oral arguments in Atlanta, an AP journalist captured an image of Soweka with his stickball sticks and Mekko Thompson by his side. The department loved the photo and wanted to incorporate it into the design while following previous themes of other Journey for Justice shirts.
“We also felt that the design helped explain or highlight that Hickory Ground is more than just a piece of land or ceremonial ground. It’s about living people, and that is an important connection to bring forth,” Butler said.
“We’ve learned in the last several months that non-natives or people who are just now learning about what happened at Hickory Ground, they don’t really understand what a tribal town is or what that means to be born into it. To be born into a clan and how that’s a critical part of your identity as a Mvskoke person, and how Hickory Ground Tribal Town is still carrying on the traditional governance and religion of our people and how the people from Hickory Ground are tied to that,” Butler said.
“So a lot of those elements get overlooked when people think ‘Oh, it’s just a piece of land that you’ve got left, after removal’ it’s more than that, so really trying to bring the human element into the focus on the T-shirts.”
Butler encourages anyone interested in the issue to visit Justiceforhickoryground.com. The site contains documents and timelines of what has happened over the years. Updates and information can also be found on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram under Justice for Hickory Ground.
