Story from 1-7-06
"Megwetch," the Potawatomi word for "thank you," was spoken in abundance Friday during the dedication ceremony for the Cultural Heritage Center.
Leaders from the Citizen Potawatomi Nation shared their gratitude with hundreds of people who came to view a building that holds stories of the past with room for accomplishments of the future.
The $3-million, copper-dome building on Gordon Cooper Drive is the culmination of many years of dreaming and planning, said CPN chairman John "Rocky" Barrett. Although making money and running a government are crucial to operating the CPN, so is its language, art and history, he said.
"It has been my privilege to watch such a huge number of people contribute over the years to the growth of this tribe," Barrett said.
The ceremony was filled with traditions of the tribe. Barrett circled the room offering prayer smoke to the Creator for blessings to all. The Potawatomi Honor Guard posted the colors of the United States and the CPN. The youngest and oldest people attending were honored, as well as the person who had traveled the farthest to get there. Various speakers, including Jeremy Finch, director of the center, talked about the facility.
People browsed the gift shop to see colorful Indian blankets, hand-carved flutes and many other cultural items.
Beverly Fentress of Oklahoma City was among the people attending who made a significant contribution to the visual appeal of the center. She is the artist who painted the mural in the rotunda. She is Potawatomi herself, but the project allowed her to learn much more about her heritage and family, she said.
So far, Fentress has created six acrylic paintings that serve as a mural telling the story of the tribe's move from Kansas to Oklahoma. Among the details in the paintings are oxen pulling the logs that would become the Bourbannais Cabin, still located on CPN grounds. She will paint 10 more for the rotunda that honor those first families who made the move.
Fentress talked to many tribal members and even visited the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City for input on how the paintings should appear. Linda Capps, vice chair of the CPN, also was instrumental in making the paintings come to life, she said.
The paintings also feature what Fentress calls "zipper people" -- tribal members who travel in and out of the pieces, mirroring the cadence of life.
