Radical Oklahoma Tour Gives Travelers the Opportunity to Explore Woody Guthrie’s “Radical Oklahoma” Heritage

Attention Woody Guthrie fans, Oklahoma expats/descendants of expats, folk music fans and history buffs: Global Exchange invites you to join us on our second annual Radical Oklahoma Reality Tour, culminating in the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah, OK, from July 6 to July 13, 2014. Last year’s tour was fascinating and lots of fun, and this year we’ll have the same brilliant (and delightful) guide, Oklahoma University doctoral candidate Rachel Jackson. Read the blog series of Rachel’s blogs from last year’s tour.

The state of Oklahoma has a reputation for being perhaps the most conservative state in the union. In fact, it has a radical past unmatched for activism and racial solidarity. The Socialist Party, for example, had its highest per-capita membership in Oklahoma in 1914 with 12,000 dues-paying members, publication of dozens of party newspapers, and the election of several hundred local elected officials. Much of their success came from their willingness to reach out to Black and American Indian voters. Oklahoma also delivered presidential candidate Eugene Debs his highest vote count in the nation in 1912.

The “Okie” diaspora peaked during the Dust Bowl migration to the West Coast in the 1930’s, but it was also prompted by attacks on Wobblies and other radicals in the early 20th century who fled the state. This diaspora of the left (and eventually of the right, as descendants became more conservative) has had a major impact on politics and culture throughout the US but most particularly in eastern California, eastern Oregon, and other regions where Okies settled. Join us in exploring this forgotten history, meet some modern Oklahoma radicals, and celebrate with music on the weekend!

Join us for this unique experience and sign up for the Radical Oklahoma Reality Tour today!

The following guest post is the final post in a series written by Rachel Jackson who is Global Exchange’s ‘Radical Oklahoma’ Reality Tours Trip Leader, which just ended. Read parts I, II, III, IV, and V of the story.

Stage at Annual Woody Guthrie Festival.

This evening I am writing the last installment for the Radical Oklahoma – Red State Reality Tour from the Pastures of Plenty, just about stage center. Right now at the 16^th annual Woody Guthrie Festival, we’re listening to Griffin House from Springfield, Ohio, singing a song about who & where he comes from. This is something Woody taught all of us to be proud of. Sitting here tonight, after two days full of Okemah, in the long glow of a wide sunset, it’s easy to be proud of Oklahoma.

The last two days have been a whirlwind of song. Hot as it is during the day, folks walking up and down West Broadway here in Okemah are pretty much bound to smile as they pass you on the sidewalk. All the volunteers that make the festival happen, from urban hipsters to local old timers, love to stop and talk about the man who has inspired it all. Musicians gather on the streets and play their hearts out. This festival makes everyone feel good, like they belong, just like Woody would have wanted.

During the festival, the small town of Okemah swells with musicians, folk aficionados, unionists, and Okies from all over the country, both actual and honorary, who come to celebrate the life and legacy of Woodrow Wilson Guthrie.

Site of Woody Guthrie’s childhood home on W. Birch St., Okemah, Oklahoma. Tree sculpture by Justin Osborn.

Another stop on the Okemah pilgrimage is the site of Woody’s childhood home, on a hill at the intersection of South 1^st Street and West Birch. The house is no longer there, but some of the stones from its first story still stand. There is an effort to get the home rebuilt, but as it is, this spot, shaded by trees that were in the yard when Woody was a boy, seems to be a perfect and simple tribute.

Local folk artist Justin Osburn lives across the street. He is the artist who carved the only landmark on the home place’s site, a cedar tree trunk inscribed with Woody’s initials, “Okemah,” and “This Land is Your Land” along with a musical staff.

His yard, across the street from the Guthrie home place, is filled with woodcarvings for sale. Justin is full of local knowledge, everything from who-owns-what to god-knows-where. He can point at any tree and tell you what kind it is, where it comes from, and how it got here.

That’s the kind of knowledge that comes from paying close attention to place, to the lives, histories, landscapes, and cultures that make a particular space happen. Oklahoma is its own set of stories, multiple narratives about and from the same swath of land. Spending these last few days in the Indian Territory Triangle has taught us to look closer, past what we are told to see, to let go of what we think we know, and marvel at what we don’t. If you think Oklahoma is homogenous, fly-over country, with little cultural or political relevance, you’d best think again.

Tonight, sitting stage center and listening to the music inspired by Woody Guthrie, I feel that it just might be the most important spot on earth– at least for me.

Rachel Jackson is a PhD Candidate and Dissertation Fellow at the University of Oklahoma in the Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy Program, Department of English. She researches and theorizes the impact of suppressed local histories of resistance on Oklahoma’s current political identity. She is from Oklahoma.

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The Down Home Blues Club, childhood home of legendary blues guitarist D.C. Minner in Rentiesville, OK – one of Oklahoma’s many historic All-Black Townships.

The following guest post is Part V in a series written by Rachel Jackson who is Global Exchange’s ‘Radical Oklahoma’ Reality Tours Trip Leader, which is happening now.

From Tulsa, we headed to Rentiesville to visit the Down Home Blues Club and visit with Selby Minner. Generations ago, family members ran a thriving business out of the home selling corn whiskey and Choc beer (a type of beer attributed to the Choctaw). Today, the same home is now the site of the Down Home Blues Club and a yearly festival. We were honored by an impromptu performance by Selby, a couple of her students, and her new partner Dan “Oklahoma Slim” Ortiz.

Selby Minner sings her heart out for GX Tour Participants. Dan “Oklahoma Slim” Ortiz tears it up on the guitar in the background.

Just outside of Rentiesville sits the site of the historic Battle of Honey Springs, an 1863 Civil War battle in Indian Territory. What makes this battle so radical is that it was the first battle of the Civil War in which African Americans fought. The First Kansas Colored Infantry fought for the Union army alongside the First, Second, and Third Indian Home Guards. Native and African Americans fought together against the Confederacy for their own freedom and autonomy.

Our day did not end there. We continued from Rentiesville to Okemah for the first night of the 2013 Woody Guthrie Festival. A gentle storm rolled over eastern Oklahoma as we drove, and brought the temperature down considerably. We spent a relaxing and enjoyable evening in the Pastures of Plenty, all freshly mowed and spreading out under the Oklahoma nightsky, swaying to the music of Ramsey Midwood, the Red Dirt Rangers, and Butch Hancock.

Memorials commemorating the participating military units of both the Union and Confederate armies in the Battle of Honey Springs, the pivotal, historical Civil War Battle in Indian Territory.

It was a proper kick-off to an event that over the course of 16 years has become a microcosm of all that’s good and right in Oklahoma. And the party’s just getting started.

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The following guest post is Part IV in a series written by Rachel Jackson who is Global Exchange’s ‘Radical Oklahoma’ Reality Tours Trip Leader, which is happening now.

The last two days we’ve been living on Tulsa time. Today we rolled into the Brady Arts District where the brand new Woody Guthrie Center is located. The Center is an interesting collection of biographical information, historical & geographical context, archival material, commentary on Woody’s life and work, and – of course – Woody’s music. The crowning jewel of the Woody Guthrie Center is his archives, purchased from the Guthrie family by the George Kaiser Family Foundation of Tulsa.

The entry way to the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, OK.

Unfortunately, there is some local controversy surrounding the Woody Guthrie Center’s location in the Brady Arts District. The arts district itself is a hip area of Tulsa that has been recently developed and is home to a wide variety of restaurants, bars, art galleries and coops, concert space, and museums. The trouble is, it’s named after Tate Brady, a “founder” of Tulsa who happened also to be a leader of the local Klan. What an irony that the Woody Guthrie Center, built in honor of a man who spent his life dedicated to unionism and civil rights, should have an address on Brady Street. Here’s the good news: there is a strong coalition of determined folks urging the Tulsa City Council to get the name changed.

The Tower of Reconciliation by artist Ed Dwight.

Adding fuel to the fire is that part of the Brady Arts District is located within the boundaries of the historic Greenwood District, a thriving African American portion of the city proudly built while Jim Crow still reigned supreme. The Greenwood District was utterly decimated in the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot, referred to by Greenwood residents who lived through it as the Race War. It was a massacre. Tate Brady was front and center as racist whites organized into militias, killing many hundreds of African Americans, looting property, and burning homes and businesses to the ground. It’s a shameful, painful part of Tulsa’s past.

Thursday’s tour stops were devoted to understanding Oklahoma’s African American history, the Greenwood District and All Black Townships, the 1921 Race War, and the state and city’s efforts at reconciliation. We started in the morning with a stop at Reconciliation Park, located in the Greenwood District, just a few blocks north of Brady Street and the Woody Guthrie Center. In the midst of the ugly facts of the 1921 Race War, this patch of earth offers reassurance that humanity can confront its mistakes, admit painful truths, and move forward having learned from them. The park is a result of the Oklahoma legislature’s Tulsa Race Riot Commission findings, and the hard work of many committed politicians, historians, activists, and artists.

GX Tour participants, with Jef Kos (Secretary of the John Hope Franklin Center of Reconciliation Board), feeling deeply satisfied after lunch.

Much of the work uncovering the truth about the “Tulsa Race Riot,” is inspired by the life and work of pioneering African American historian, Dr. John Hope Franklin. We were fortunate enough to get to visit with Jef Kos, the Secretary of the Board for the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, and former student of Dr. Franklin’s. After our time in the park, he accompanied us on a leisurely tour through the Greenwood Cultural Center, and then to lunch at Dr. Franklin’s favorite barbeque joint in North Tulsa – Oklahoma Style BBQ. Yum.

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Remember to check back to our blog for Rachel’s next report back from the Oklahoma road!

The following guest post is Part III in a series written by Rachel Jackson who is Global Exchange’s ‘Radical Oklahoma’ Reality Tours Trip Leader, which is happening now

Creek Council House, downtown Okmulgee, OK. GX tour group pictured with Muscogee Nation Museums Director/Curator John Beaver and Assistant Director Justin Giles.

After a full morning, we met the Muscogee Nation Museums Director and Assistant Director at the Creek Council House in the heart of Okmulgee. The Council House was built in 1878 by Creek hands and served as the site of tribal government until the federal government abolished it during the allotment period and took the building from the Muscogee Nation, deeding it the City of Okmulgee, in 1919.

Justin and Josh – both Muscogee Nation citizens, trained anthropologists, and former interns with the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of the American Indian – were fantastic conversationalists. They are both clearly pumped about their role in restoring the Council House to its former, original glory. The building was finally returned to the Muscogee Nation through purchase from the city in 2010. Talking to these young men, it’s obvious the resistance continues.

We ended our day at the Muscogee Nation Tribal Complex, where tribal government (finally reinstituted in 1971) and associated departments and offices are located. William Lowe and Brian Underhill of the Muscogee Nation Tourism Department led us through the Muscogee Veterans Museum and the central administration building.

The Veterans Museum is a fantastic tribute to Muscogee veteran’s participation in all U.S. wars, including a well-designed tribute to the fallen among them. It is also the only tribal veteran museum of its scope in Oklahoma. Muscogee Creeks, as our day taught us, have always been fierce fighters.

After dinner, we wound our way back through the Cookson Hills, wondering at the impact this expansive tribal history and culture must have had on Woody Guthrie as he grew up in Okemah, not too far away. And as the hot sun set behind us, we knew it would never set on the proud tradition of resistance and cultural continuance in the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma.

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Hickory Grounds, near Henryetta, OK. GX tour group pictured with Mekko George Thompson and his brother Tim Thompson.

The following guest post is Part II in a series written by Rachel Jackson who is Global Exchange’s ‘Radical Oklahoma’ Reality Tours Trip Leader, which is happening now.

Radical Oklahoma – Red State Reality Tour: Day 3 (July 10^th 2013)

Yesterday was a full day, rich with questions, conversations, and revelations, all the more intensified by the increasing summer heat. Today we hit the road early to drive through the Cookson Hills, home to numerous historic Cherokee communities.

In these hills stands the cabin of Sequoyah, the inventor of the Cherokee syllabary that enabled a nation of people to become fully literate within a decade. They have also been the hideouts for many an outlaw, including the notorious Belle Starr and Pretty Boy Floyd. Folk heroes abound in these parts.

We first stopped at Hickory Grounds, Oce Vpofa (pronounced O-je Uh-bo-vuh in the Muscogee language). Hickory Grounds is unspeakably sacred to the Muscogee Nation. It was the last ceremonial grounds to leave Alabama when the Creeks were removed on the Trail of Tears in the 1830s. We learned about the history and ongoing struggle to protect this important land.

Hickory Grounds was the site of the 1909 Crazy Snake Rebellion, a complicated series of events that resulted from many years of Muscogee resistance to land allotment. In order to open Oklahoma up for settlement and statehood, the federal government had to accomplish two things: 1.) abolish tribal governments and jurisdiction, and 2.) divide tribal land held in communal tenure into individual holdings. The Dawes Act of 1887 and the Curtis Act of 1898 accomplished these two goals. Chitto Harjo, leader of the so-called Crazy Snakes, resisted the process of allotment via multiple means across almost two decades.

In 1909, a lynching of a man in Henryetta prompted many African American men and boys to flee. They sought refuge at Hickory Grounds, where they erected tents and lived outside of town for many months. Local racists could only abide the perceived threat of this situation for so long. They raided the grounds, instigating a fire fight with these men and boys, and came after members of the Snakes at their homes as well. Chitto Harjo was wounded but managed to escape into the Kiamichi mountains where he died two years later.

Today the Mekko at Hickory Ground, George Thompson, faces a new resistance struggle. His position as Mekko (translated as “king,” but understood as “chief”) makes him responsible for the ceremonies that occur at the ground. Though the details of his ceremonial knowledge and duties are deeply private, Mr. Thompson maintains the fire at Hickory Grounds. He is only the fourth Mekko at Hickory Grounds since it was removed to Oklahoma in the 1830s, and he acts on behalf of not only current members of the grounds but also on behalf of ancestors long associated with the grounds, including past Mekkos.

Currently the Poarch Band Creeks in Alabama, a group that managed to gain federal recognition in the 1980’s by establishing descendancy from the Muscogee Nation, is actively desecrating the former site of Hickory Grounds in Wetumka, Alabama.

In order to build a casino complex, they have dug up the remains of seven former Mekkos and approximately 60 others, including the bodies of women and children, along with ceremonial objects associated with the burial. This is an ethically reprehensible act on the part of a group that promised to protect the former grounds as a condition of their federal recognition. Perhaps worse, in Muscogee tradition, the removal of these remains disrupts ceremonies associated with the grounds today.

We were honored by the chance to talk with George Thompson and his brother Tim about the history of Hickory Grounds, some of the practices of the grounds, and the current struggle with the tribal government of the Poarch Band Creeks. Read more at http://savehickoryground.org. Be sure to check out the resources page where you can view an excellent short film on indiegogo and read a statement from Mekko George Thompson.

Read Part 3 of the Radical Oklahoma – Red State Reality Tour next!

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Check out photos of Global Exchange’s ‘Radical Oklahoma‘ trip on Facebook;
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Remember to check back to our blog for Rachel’s next report back from the Oklahoma road!

Attention Woody Guthrie fans, Oklahoma expats/descendants of expats, folk music fans and history buffs: Global Exchange invites you to join us on a “Radical Oklahoma” tour culminating in the annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah, OK, from July 7 to July 14.

Spend some time learning about the tumultuous events of the early twentieth century that shaped Woody’s politics and united white tenant farmers, native tribes, and African-Americans in a series of uprisings in the forested hills of eastern Oklahoma. Then relax and enjoy 3-4 days of music at the folk festival. We’ll stay in pretty lakeside cabins in a nearby state park.

Oklahoma’s original state flag, banned 1917. redflagpress.com

The 46th state has a reputation for being perhaps the most conservative state in the union. In fact, it has a radical past unmatched for activism and racial solidarity – an activism exemplified in its most famous native son, Woody Guthrie, the radical Dust Bowl troubadour. The “Okie” diaspora peaked during the Dust Bowl migration to the West Coast in the 1930’s, but it was also prompted by attacks on Wobblies and other radicals in the early 20^th century who fled the state. This diaspora of the left (and eventually of the right, as descendants became more conservative) has had a major impact on politics and culture throughout the US but most particularly in eastern California, eastern Oregon, and other regions where Okies settled.

Join us in exploring this forgotten history, meet some modern Oklahoma radicals, and celebrate with music on the weekend!