CHEROKEE STRIP CELEBRATION
Oklahoma is known for its Native American Indian roots, but few realize how these roots have shaped integral parts of Oklahoma history and culture.
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The Cherokee Strip run celebration is held every year in Perry, OK., and Enid, OK. The celebration in Enid is a three-day event that lasts through Sept. 14 to Sept. 16, filled with movies, a parade, live music, food, and a gun fight show.
Perry Chamber of Commerce held a parade on September 15, keeping the 125th tradition alive.
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However, the Cherokee strip celebration commemorates the creation of the Enid and Perry towns during the Oklahoma Land Run in 1893.
The Cherokee Outlet is 1 out of 5 plots from the land run. Being one of the biggest plots, the Cherokee Nation leased the land for $100,000 for 5 years starting in 1883. When the lease was up, it was raised to $200,000 for 5 years in 1888. In 1893, 115,000 participants raced to claim sections or town lots of the outlet in the land run.
The Cherokee Strip Museum in Perry, OK., opened in 1968 to preserve the history of the run. Diana Simon is the museum manager and has worked at the museum since February.
“We just preserve the past, to keep it so the next generation is not just lost. Our museum collection is owned by Oklahoma Historical Society, there’s a lot of museums around Oklahoma that even if they’re sponsored by OHS, they own their own collections,” said Simon.
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Simon also sells cedar feather boxes for feathers on her Etsy page, Simon Cedar Stuff. A feather box is a red-cedar wooden box made to store sacred feathers, integral to many American Indian ceremonies.
“The Native Americans will store their ceremonial feathers, that sometimes will include eagle feathers. They will also use it for storing regalia,” said Simon.
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The boxes range in sizes but it is known to be heavy because of the type of wood. Red cedar is important in making these boxes because it is a natural repellent to bugs such as mites, grasshoppers and other bugs.
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“The reason why we got into it was because we had a lady at Ponca City ask us “Do you make feather boxes?” and then we started with 50,” said Simon, “we shipped one to Canada, but most [orders] are from the east and west coast.”
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The museum also conducts a class in the Rose Hill school building on a first come, first serve basis for Oklahoma schools. They have been operating the class program for 31 years and slots fill quickly. The museum also has archives of microfilms dating to the early 1900s.
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The Cherokee strip celebration is is an event Enid hopes to grow within the coming years. Between 5,000 to 7,000 people were in attendance of this year's celebration and spends about 10,000 to 12,000 to put on the event.
The parade involved collection of Corvettes for a Cause, celebrating JCPenny’s history of its first store in Enid, and a plethora of leaders. A group of people served up freshly made Indian tacos with handmade fry bread with classic toppings.
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Kalea Stafford has been a special events director for Enid for 4 years.
One of the events at the Cherokee Strip Celebration in Enid was Walk of Fame induction Ceremony. The Walk of Fame is a group of members who have been honored for having a long-standing record of achievements in their lives for Enid and everywhere else and, has provided a lifelong example of extraordinary contribution to the well-being of the Enid community.
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Steve Kime, City Director of Public Relations and Marking for Enid, announced Don Haskins, Leona Mitchell and Brud Baker as this year’s members on Sept. 15.
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In an interview with Kime, he talks about how the Walk of Fame started. Kime said that the Walk of Fame was established by Mayor Michael G. Cooper in 1997. The names of the recipients were outside on a sidewalk and each one had its on concrete paver. People who lived in the city could nominated between one to three nominees and the mayor and two city commissioners would determine if they were honorable.
In 2014, Kime made a suggestion to put the Walk of Fame in the west lobby of the Central National Bank center in Enid due to the weather being too hot or cold during the year for people to want to see. With getting the approval from the city, the Walk of Fame is now in the Central National Bank Center. Instead of concrete pavers of the members, they now have their own bronze plaque in the west hallway. Today there are 41 plaques in the Walk of Fame and people can see them any time of the year no matter what the weather is.
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Kime also in the interview mentioned about a couple of Native Americans who are in the walk of Fame. Kime said “I’m quite confident over the past 20 years that there has been an individual who has Native American ancestry.” Kime also mentions Herold Holden, from the 2017 Walk of fame, and Kenneth Simpson, from the 1997 Walk of Fame, who are Native American.
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By looking at the history of the Walk of Fame and having some member who are Native American. The Walk of Fame Induction Ceremony will always be an event during the Cherokee Strip Celebration.
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The city of Enid is expecting more attendance and more activities to come the next few years.
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“We really hope it continues to grow and that we get more people out and we get people to stay- we’d love to have something in the evening. Right now it’s only in the morning and afternoon event and would love to make it all day,” said Stafford.
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The impact of the land run was not only for settlement, but for economic growth and activity and development of early towns, soon to be known as what they are today.
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If they didn’t open up this land for people to settle on, I don’t know if it was going to be even a state for a while longer since we’re a young state,” said Simon.
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