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Date Posted: 09:32:41 03/23/01 Fri
Author: Anonymous
Subject: Indian Cultural Center

http://www.indianz.com
NATIVE AMERICAN CENTER PLANS UNVEILED

Native American center plans unveiled
2001-03-23
By Jack Money
Staff Writer


Earth. Water. Wind. Fire. These powerful forces have been brought together in
the site for the planned Native American Cultural Center in Oklahoma City.
Designers unveiled their concept for the center Thursday to Oklahoma's Native
American Cultural and Educational Authority.

"It has been a long trip," said Sen. Kelly Haney, D-Seminole, who thanked
both design team members and authority board members.

"I think this will not only be one of the foremost destination sites in
Oklahoma, but for the region, too," Haney said.

The center, planned for the south bank of the North Canadian River just east
of Eastern Avenue, includes a 125,000-square-foot museum and a
75,000-square-foot marketplace designed to inform visitors about legends,
myths and truths involving American Indians.

A report by the designers says the museum should document the history of
American Indians, including the forced relocations of tribes to Oklahoma.

The museum should also illustrate their triumphs and their evolution to what
they are today.

It should promote the living cultures of American Indians through language,
history, dance, arts, and cultural and spiritual tools.

The center should include artifacts but also photographs, videos, holographs,
festivals, dance and music performances, story-telling and the making and
sale of arts and crafts.

The complex is oriented to the points of the compass and designed to
integrate Earth and its peoples.

Designers use two large circles, with the museum and its entrance at the
intersection of those circles.

The museum's main entrance is through a circular plaza called the "Court of
the Wind." The plaza will be surrounded by tree-like sounding pipes,
representing Oklahoma's Indian tribes, and designed to resonate when in the
wind.

Once inside, visitors will find themselves in the "Hall of the People" -- a
towering prism of glass designed to remind viewers of traditional tribal
dwellings. Beyond a tall, wide glass wall, they will see a "Court of Nations"
and its symbolic fire in the westernmost circle's center.

The museum will include permanent and temporary galleries as well as a
300-seat theater, a demonstration gallery and family, discovery and study
centers.

Other potential permanent features could include a Warrior's Memorial,
remembering not only American Indians who died fighting for their lands, but
also those who fought for the United States in wars against other countries.

The center's marketplace, meanwhile, will be east of the museum and work its
way to the riverbank.

Artists will be able to produce and sell their work in a community setting. A
200-room hotel also is planned as part of the center for tribal meetings and
conferences. An outdoor amphitheater, a smaller hotel, a park for
recreational vehicles, and a dance ground also are planned.

Native American Cultural and Educational Authority board members will take a
month to review the plans.

Fund-raising for the museum continues. So far, about $12.1 million of a
needed $25 million has been raised, officials said.

Tommy Thompson, the authority's executive director, said he was pleased with
the design work. Firms involved in the project include Johnson Fain Partners
of Los Angeles, Hornbeek Larsson Architects of Edmond, Ralph Appelbaum
Associates of New York, and Hargreaves Associates of San Francisco.

"I think we have probably the best design team in the world, and I am very
pleased with what they have accomplished -- especially with that particular
piece of land," Thompson said. "We can really make this a showplace for
Oklahoma."

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