Creek Indian National Council House - Okmulgee, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 37.385 W 095° 58.329
15S E 230819 N 3946212
Moving through the decades, this building has changed little and represents all that is best about the Creek nation.
Waymark Code: WMBNZH
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 06/07/2011
Views: 7
"The CREEK INDIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL HOUSE (free; open 9-4:30), 6th and Morton Sts., at the center of the city, is set in a square shaded by enormous maple trees. It is a source of pride to the city, though at one time the mayor made every effort to have it removed as an old and ugly blot on the fair face of Okmulgee. He wished to have a new and expensive federal building on this central site.
"The council house is a plain four-square, two-story structure of brown stone, with a cupola rising from the center, suggesting in its simplicity and excellent proportions the best of New England Colonial architecture. On the first floor, its four spacious rooms house a growing MUSEUM OF CREEK HISTORY. Upstairs, where the House of Kings and the House of Warriors used to meet in two rooms when Council was in session, a WPA art project and a kitchen and dining room for the YWCA are (1941) carrying on the tradition of service to a community. The building, acquired by Okmulgee from the Creeks when the tribal government went out of existence, is in the care of the Creek Indian Memorial Association, whose purpose is to gather for exhibition "all data relating to the history, traditions, folklore, relics, handicraft, art, music, and all that is finest and best in the life of the Creek Tribe of Indians, and preservation of the...Council House." What has already been collected constitutes one of the most interesting tribal exhibits in the state."
The above writing from 1941 still accurately describes this property today. It was designated an Historical Landmark in 1961, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The building continues to be operated as a museum, and remains the pride of Okmulgee. On the grounds are several monuments, historical markers and a Bicentennial memorial. A trip to Okmulgee must begin here.