TVLSE, Oklv – This spring the Council Oak Tree will be getting a visit from an arborist to assess its overall health. The Tulsa Riverview Neighborhood Association (RVNA) and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation have partnered to preserve and sustain the living monument to the Nation and Tulsa city history.
RVNA recently received an Oklahoma Forestry Department Grant in the amount of $5,000. The program requires matching funds from either in-kind donations, labor, or materials. The MCN will be working in this capacity with the association by donating labor and materials to help with its preservation. Chris McCabe, president of the RVNA, spoke with Mvskoke Media’s LiveWire about the movement to preserve the Council Oak Tree.
The foremost concern is making sure the tree is safe in lightning storms. McCabe related that lightning protection was installed on the tree in the 1980s, but in the years since the rods and copper wires have been pulled up.
On the topic of the rods, McCabe explained, “Well, it’s been pulled up out of the ground. It’s no longer protecting the tree. The tree has grown, the wire’s grown into the tree, which is what Rich tells us is not good for the health of the tree, for it to grow around that metal.” Funds will also go towards hiring an arborist to assess the overall health of the tree, preserve it and ultimately sustain its life.
Oklahoma Forestry Services Department Urban Forestry Coordinator Mark Bays said, “It’s exciting to have this project and we are looking forward to working with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Riverview on this historic tree.”
Currently, the RVNA is in the beginning stages of applying for 501c3 status for the tree to have a foundation in place that would ensure it is protected into the future. The eight member group includes neighborhood residents, a Tulsa Chamber of Commerce employee, a retired arborist, and MCN Secretary of Culture and Humanities Raelynn Butler.
McCabe is working towards expanding the working group to 12 people and is looking for other interested stakeholders, particularly Mvskoke citizens. Interested citizens can reach out to McCabe at TulsaRVNA@gmail.com.
Currently, the group has a working title of Citizens for the Protection, Preservation, and Promotion of the Creek Nation Council Oak Tree, or Tallasi Team for short. Tallasi is a Mvskoke word for Tulsa. According to McCabe, the intersections of tribal and city history are the main focus of the group. He stated, “We said we want to exist to protect the tree, to preserve the tree, and to promote the tree. And protection being the foremost… And so to promote it and promote the story of the Locv Poka and the Trail of Tears and the settlement that eventually became Tulsa.”
For more information about the Tulsa Riverview Neighborhood Association and their work with the Council Oak Park, visit Riverview Tulsa.
