Ceremony marks initial event for
Oklahoma Centennial Garden

On a tiny island in a pond, Osage Indians conveyed with prayer, dance and song the peace and meditation that one day may be characteristic of the Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Garden.

On Monday, in the garden's first public event, Assistant Osage Nation Principal Chief John D. Red Eagle asked God to bless the land and to guide developers. Cedar smoke rose out of a black pan on the island and skimmed across the grass in the breeze as part of the blessing.

Red Eagle prayed in the Osage language and translated in English, and four Osage Indians kept a steady beat on a drum and sang "The Dance of the Oldest Son," in honor of Jesus, whom Osage Indians believe created all things, Red Eagle said.

"We want the almighty God to go before us and make the way," Red Eagle said after the ceremony. "Indians are very strong believers in God and Mother Earth."

In the 1880s, Osage Nation members danced because they were thankful to have arrived in modern-day Osage County, which they would make their long-term home, Red Eagle said. On Monday, they danced in a celebration of the garden.

Otto Hamilton and the young John Starr Bighorse Jr., in bright, 1880s-style clothes and headdresses, wore double rings of bells around their knees and stomped rhythmically, their paths diverging and coming together as musicians sang low vowels. Streamers at Hamilton's and Bighorse's elbows and backs flew in the breeze, and the young Dora Williams performed a more subdued dance.

Behind them, the limbs of willow trees echoed their dance, reeds lined the edge of the pond, and small groupings of lush trees lined the tops of hills northwest of downtown Tulsa. The ceremony took place near Post Oak Lodge and Conference Center. The site of the garden, a half-mile northwest of the lodge, is undeveloped and is accessible only by a gravel road.

Garden leaders are planning for a conservation area, left in its natural state, to surround the garden and include hiking trails, which are scheduled to be completed by September, when a centennial celebration is planned. More information is available at www.ocbg.org.

About 400 people, including 100 fifth-graders from Monte Cassino School, supporters, gardeners and university partners, attended the blessing of the land.

Osage Indians traditionally perform blessings at various occasions, including celebrations, weddings and funerals, Red Eagle said.

The garden's executive director, Pat Woodrum, said garden leaders thought it was appropriate to kick off the garden's development with an Osage ceremony because the land once belonged to the Indians.

Osage people still own mineral rights to the land, Red Eagle said. He estimated that 2,000 to 3,000 members live in Osage County and the Tulsa area.

Development of the garden depends on fundraising. The project has received $1.2 million in state centennial money and more than $2 million in donations, said Development Director Carrie Vesely Henderson. The first phase, with a visitors' center, a 17-acre lake, parking and core gardens, will cost $15 million. The complete 215-acre garden is expected to cost $40 million.