http://www.newsok.com/article/1479990/?template=news/main

Fri April 22, 2005

Historian doesn't want Indian parents to let their children celebrate

By Judy Gibbs Robinson
The Oklahoman

An Oklahoma Indian historian is urging Indian parents to discourage their
children from participating in today's Land Run celebrations.

"The Oklahoma Land Run is not an occasion for Indian people to celebrate,"
said Dennis W. Zotigh, American Indian historian at the Oklahoma Historical
Society.

"I'm not trying to cause trouble. I just want to inform Oklahomans that
there are two sides to the story," Zotigh said. "The Oklahoma Land Run was
held at the expense of Oklahoma Indians."

Zotigh said he became upset when his 4-year-old daughter came home from her
private preschool with a note advising her to dress in "Western attire"
today to celebrate the Land Run.

Zotigh responded by sending an e-mail Thursday to hundreds of Indians and
Indian activists in Oklahoma and elsewhere. Within minutes, he said, he
started getting replies.

One woman wrote she'd been through the same battle when her daughter was
expected to participate in playground re-enactments of the Land Run.

"As youngsters, they want to take part. I always sent her in tribal
clothing, and I told her she was not to run," Diana Fitzpatrick of Norman
wrote. "As she got older and realized what was actually happening and the
significance, I gave her the option to stay home on that day."

Another parent wrote that her husband, who is Indian, has urged their
children's teachers to divide the class into Indians and non-Indians, then
have the Indians lay out blankets and the non-Indians come take away the
blankets.

"The teachers didn't like that idea but it also opened their eyes to the
fact that the way they celebrate this event in history is just wrong," said
Christie Factor, who lives in the Edmond School District.

The state Education Department neither requires nor forbids celebrating the
Land Run, spokeswoman Wendy Pratt said.

Neither Tulsa Public Schools nor Oklahoma City Public Schools has a policy
banning land run re-enactments or requiring an alternate activity for
Indian children, spokesmen for the two districts said.

"It's really up to individual schools," said Todd Stogner, spokesman for
the Oklahoma City District. "We've never had any complaints. It's part of
Oklahoma history."

Tulsa Public Schools has never received complaints either, said Maia
Maxwell-Weaver, a public information officer since 1998.

"I've never heard of any Native American organization being angry because
of this," Maxwell-Weaver said.

*****

Land Run of 1889

About 2 million acres of what is now central Oklahoma was opened to
non-Indian settlement on a first-come, first-served basis at noon April 22,
1889.

Between 50,000 and 75,000 people participated in the "land run," choosing
either a 160-acre homestead or a city lot.

At one time, the 2 million acres belonged to the Creek and Seminole tribes.
After the Civil War, the tribes were forced to sell the land to the federal
government at 60 cents to $1.25 an acre.

The government said it would relocate other groups on the land, but never
did. Many U.S. citizens therefore thought the Unassigned Lands were public
domain and should be open to settlement. Congress finally agreed.

Five more land runs were held from 1889 to 1895.

Source: "The Story of Oklahoma" by W. David Baird and Danney Goble,
University of Oklahoma Press, 1994.