MACON, Ga. – The Ocmulgee Indigenous Celebration hosted their 32nd Annual Celebration for the original Southeastern Indigenous tribes and the public. The free celebration occurred on Sept. 14-15. It featured make-and-take activities, cultural demonstrations and Muscogee (Creek) Nation resource booths for visitors to learn more about Mvskoke culture and language.
This year MCN leadership joined Macon City officials for a special unveiling ceremony that revealed new city street signs translated in the Mvskoke language. The signs now honor the culture and heritage of the people who once inhabited the area.
Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park Superintendent Carla Beasley spoke about the event and her perspective on the awareness of the culture and history of the park’s original inhabitants. According to Beasley, their usual turnouts at this event are always good.
Throughout the two-day celebration event organizers featured the Mvskoke Honor Guard and the Hoktvke Suletvwcv Women’s Honor Guard, William Harjo (Mvskoke) for a flute and storytelling feature, Mvskoke Hymn singers, Stomp dancers, a Choctaw Youth Stickball Youth demonstration, Mystic Wind Chahta Social Dancers and Pedro Zepeda of the Seminole Tribe of Florida for a storytelling feature.
Beasley said the main purpose of this event is to, “Welcome home the Mvskoke Creeks back to the homelands.” Beasley hopes that the Mvskoke tribe and other Southeastern tribes that came felt appreciated and welcomed. The goal is to serve them, allow them to tell their own stories, and just welcome them back home. What Beasley enjoys the most is knocking down stereotypes.
She knows that this is an opportunity for visitors to see, talk and immerse themselves in the Southeastern region. “We want to have the visitors understand the culture that was here and the culture that’s in the Southeast, so that’s something that’s really important that we have. We are here to facilitate the tribe’s ability to give that authentic story and we’re just here to do the logistics for you,” Beasley said.
Beasley’s favorite part is seeing changes, such as seeing the dancers, culture and stories behind it. The park wants visitors to understand who the tribes are. This is why they work closely with Muscogee (Creek) Nation to select the appropriate people to tell the tribe’s story at the celebration; it provides an authentic experience.
At the social Stomp Dance demonstration volunteers were present to discourage guests from recording it out of respect. “We are not participating in a real Stomp Dance, we are seeing a demonstration and that means a lot that this is something that the public don’t participate in. But the tribe are just so giving and sharing of their culture to find ways of where you can and find what is appropriate,” Beasley said.
When choosing the vendors, Beasely shared that some celebration vendors in the past were deemed offensive. This year the park allowed tribal leadership to choose this year’s vendors.
Park Leadership and Distinguished Guests
Beasley has worked for the National Park Service for 33 years. Originally from Fort Smith, Arkansas, Beasley grew up learning the history of the Southeastern tribes, however she did not fully understand why they were removed from their homelands. She has worked at several parks where the park superintendent never talked about the tribes that either dwelled, or used to dwell there. Beasley became the Acting Superintendent of the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park in 2019, then was named Superintendent in 2020.
During the first eight months in that role, Beasley met with tribal leadership, including Musccogee (Creek) Nation Chief David Hill to see how the park’s management, and its relationship to the Nation could be improved. MCN Secretary of Culture and Humanities RaeLynn Butler remarked that she felt like communication could be improved, a concern Beasley and her team took to heart.
“To me this celebration is not there yet but I know it will always be a working progress and I love seeing changes based on conversations. I’m still doing it and I’m still loving it and building those relationships. This is my favorite time of the year, I hear so many more perspectives,” Beasley said.
Being a part of this event energized Beasley by seeing the tribe come back to participate in dances and privately tour the park. Beasley is grateful the tribe was able to attend this year’s celebration.
Teen Miss Cherokee EBCI Kyndra Postoak (Eastern Band of Cherokee) spoke about the event and her experience. Postoak is from Cherokee, North Carolina. She heard about this event from her grandmother two years ago. Postoak’s grandmother shared with her events like this because Postoak has Mvskoke heritage in her family as well.
Postoak enjoyed the interview questions for the princesses and she loves coming back to represent her tribe. “I am somewhat connected with my Mvskoke side but I would like to learn more and this gives us resources like the language,” Postoak said.
For Postoak its important for her to know all sides of her cultural heritage.
“Being Indigenous for me is just sharing my culture and knowing my cultural identity,” Postoak said. “I think that knowing my language, I know Cherokee mainly but I think knowing that has helped me with speaking other languages or getting to know more Indigenous people who speak.”
Chief Hill gave a statement about this event and his experience. He has been coming to the celebration for a long time, even before he served on tribal leadership. Chief Hill wants to educate visitors about who the Mvskoke people are, and that they are still here.
Chief Hill has attended the celebration in the past with his late mother and other relatives. For him it is always a unique experience to come back to the place where his ancestors once called home.
“Just get a different sense of feeling and just the feeling you get inside just knowing that your original ancestors, someone that was related to you was here at that time,” Chief Hill said. “It’s always good to return home to our original homelands.”
Chief Hill was thankful for the City of Macon and Ocmulgee Mounds staff for their accommodations, hospitality and efforts in preserving the park.
“The way they treat us, they want us to come home. They want us to kind of show-tell and I don’t call them stories, I call them history. Because history has never been really told correctly. It’s to hear from our side and just hear stories from my mom and what really happened on the trail of tears and from them to come back here,” Hill said.
Hill remarked on how much the tribe has grown over the past couple centuries. A total of 23,000 walked the Trail of Tears and only 18,000 made it. Today MCN consists of over 100,600 citizens. Chief Hill estimated there are currently 492 citizens in the state of Alabama, some of whom he met while at the celebration. According to Chief Hill, the celebration creates a sense of great pride for the tribe.
“We’re still Mvskoke people, we’re still here. We’re thriving, we’re growing and we just want to help. We have our flag flying in Macon at City Hall. Just now they’re naming the streets in the Mvskoke language. I mean that’s a big step. I want to thank both the city and the Ocmulgee Mounds staff here who want to help us share our history. So it’s been a big impact,” Chief Hill said.
For further information about the Ocmulgee National Historical Park, or on the annual celebration you can call the main park number at 478-752-8257, or visit their website, ocmulgeemounds.org.
