Urban Homelands

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Lindsey Claire Smith highlights the overlooked histories of Oklahoma Indigenous urbanization, viewing literature and film not only as mirrors but as creators of experience.

Image courtesy of interviewee. March 13, 2024

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The speaker, a Native American studies scholar from Oklahoma, discusses their extensive background in the field, focusing particularly on urban indigenous experiences in Oklahoma and cities like New Orleans and Santa Fe. They highlight a gap in the literature regarding Native American urban experiences and describe their research process, which included extensive reading and fieldwork in these cities.

The speaker points out the historical significance of these cities: New Orleans played a pivotal role in indigenous trade and colonial history; Tulsa was founded as a Muskogee town and became an urban center for Indian Territory; and Santa Fe is notable for native arts and the interaction of indigenous groups.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and exploring the relationships between indigenous histories and contemporary creative expressions, such as writing and film, which often challenge the erasure of indigenous peoples from civic narratives. They mention notable works by Native artists and writers that address these themes and express hope that their project will enhance understanding of the cultural contributions and impact of Native Americans from Oklahoma on a broader scale.

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I'm from Oklahoma.

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I grew up here in Tulsa. All my family is here.

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I have a very large network

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of extended relatives in Oklahoma, and I've been studying

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and teaching in Native American studies for decades now.

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And in particular, I'm really interested in

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urban indigenous studies.

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But in that area I noticed that there wasn't a lot

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of attention to urban experiences

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of Native Americans in the former Indian territory,

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which is now the state of Oklahoma

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and the unique circumstances that shaped that experience.

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So I decided I really wanted to learn more about

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that and write about it.

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One of the first things I did was read,

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and I have to say I probably almost read too much.

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I really did a deep dive into reading, I read for years

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and really decided that I needed to

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undertake a kind of field work only in a more, you know,

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modern, urban sort of setting.

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So I did a lot

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of site visits to New Orleans,

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and then of course here, my own town of Tulsa,

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in Santa Fe as well.

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Um, I did a lot of research into histories,

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of these places, but also the ways in which Native Americans

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in these cities are,

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described in things like civic monuments

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and public histories.

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And so I really thought about turning a critical eye

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to these geographies.

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Things like monuments, historical markers, et cetera,

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to go along with all of the sort of book-based reading

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and research I was doing.

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This is an enormous topic,

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but I'm gonna share in a nutshell, that each

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of these cities has played a critical role in histories

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of empire as well as indigenous urban histories.

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So New Orleans was a key site for international trade,

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including indigenous trade in the Southeast

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and for colonial America.

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And there are also many different, tribes in Louisiana

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that are indigenous to the areas around New Orleans.

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Um, Tulsa was founded as a Muskogee town

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following forest removal of Muskogee Nation

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from the southeast.

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Um, and Tulsa eventually became the Urban Center

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for Indian Territory.

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And it's now where three tribes with roots in the Southeast

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have reservations that, that come together in the city

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of Tulsa and in Santa Fe.

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Um, like New Orleans is really important for histories of

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Empire, particularly for us, expansion in the West.

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And many Native Americans from Oklahoma participated

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in this trade cultural exchange.

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Um, these campaigns, to, to, you know,

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expand in the west,

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participated this in this in Santa Fe,

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and also interacted with an exchange in trade

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and other activities with tribes indigenous to New Mexico.

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And Santa Fe has been an amazingly important place

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for native arts as well, in which a lot

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of native Oaklands Native Americans from

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Oklahoma have participated.

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Creative relationships with cities is something

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that's really important for my book, as well

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as uncovering these broader indigenous histories.

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And so I'm really attempting to explore the relationship

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between those histories

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and then these creative relationships.

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So the writers and filmmakers in my project write about

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and engage with civic histories in these places

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that so often erase indigenous peoples.

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So we see writers like Joy Harjo speaking back

04:10.765 --> 04:13.845
through Ananda DeSoto in her poem, new Orleans.

04:15.185 --> 04:17.725
We see Sterling Harrow telling experiences

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of native peoples on the streets in Tulsa in his film Miko.

04:22.825 --> 04:24.645
And we see the comedy group,

04:24.665 --> 04:29.285
the 1490 ones satirizing the stereotypical expectations

04:29.305 --> 04:31.925
of Indian market in their short film.

04:32.745 --> 04:36.085
I'm an Indian too, so in my work I'm trying

04:36.085 --> 04:38.365
to bring together, you know, more understanding

04:38.625 --> 04:43.045
of these indigenous, roots in these various,

04:43.545 --> 04:44.965
regions,

04:45.345 --> 04:47.645
but also show how this is spurring on

04:48.365 --> 04:49.525
creative expression as well.

04:50.445 --> 04:52.885
I hope readers are enticed

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to learn more about the tremendous impact of native writers

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and really artists overall from Oklahoma

05:01.545 --> 05:05.005
and their importance on a world stage.

Exploring Urban Indigenous Experiences in Oklahoma

00:00:00 - I'm from Oklahoma. I grew up here in Tulsa. All my family is here. I have a very large network of extended relatives in Oklahoma, and I've been studying and teaching in Native American studies for decades now. And in particular, I'm really interested in urban indigenous studies. But in that area I noticed that there wasn't a lot of attention to urban experiences of Native Americans in the former Indian territory, which is now the state of Oklahoma
00:00:37 - So I decided I really wanted to learn more about that and write about it. One of the first things I did was read, and I have to say I probably almost read too much. I really did a deep dive into reading, I read for years and really decided that I needed to undertake a kind of field work only in a more, you know,
00:01:06 - So I did a lot of site visits to New Orleans, and then of course here, my own town of Tulsa, in Santa Fe as well. I did a lot of research into histories, of these places, but also the ways in which Native Americans in these cities are, described in things like civic monuments and public histories.
00:01:39 - to these geographies. Things like monuments, historical markers, et cetera, to go along with all of the sort of book-based reading and research I was doing. This is an enormous topic, but I'm gonna share in a nutshell, that each of these cities has played a critical role in histories of empire as well as indigenous urban histories. So New Orleans was a key site for international trade,
00:02:13 - and for colonial America. And there are also many different, tribes in Louisiana that are indigenous to the areas around New Orleans. Tulsa was founded as a Muskogee town following forest removal of Muskogee Nation from the southeast. and Tulsa eventually became the Urban Center for Indian Territory.
00:02:45 - have reservations that, that come together in the city of Tulsa and in Santa Fe. like New Orleans is really important for histories of Empire, particularly for us, expansion in the West. And many Native Americans from Oklahoma participated in this trade cultural exchange. these campaigns, to, to, you know,

Exploring Indigenous Narratives and Urban Creativity

00:03:17 - participated this in this in Santa Fe, and also interacted with an exchange in trade and other activities with tribes indigenous to New Mexico. And Santa Fe has been an amazingly important place for native arts as well, in which a lot of native Oaklands Native Americans from Oklahoma have participated. Creative relationships with cities is something that's really important for my book, as well as uncovering these broader indigenous histories.
00:03:50 - between those histories and then these creative relationships. So the writers and filmmakers in my project write about and engage with civic histories in these places that so often erase indigenous peoples. So we see writers like Joy Harjo speaking back through Ananda DeSoto in her poem, new Orleans. We see Sterling Harrow telling experiences of native peoples on the streets in Tulsa in his film Miko.
00:04:24 - the 1490 ones satirizing the stereotypical expectations of Indian market in their short film. I'm an Indian too, so in my work I'm trying to bring together, you know, more understanding of these indigenous, roots in these various, regions, but also show how this is spurring on creative expression as well. I hope readers are enticed
00:05:01 - and really artists overall from Oklahoma and their importance on a world stage.

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Urban Homelands

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