Osage Weddings and Community Collaboration

NEWS RELEASE

The University of Oklahoma and the Osage Tribal Museum collaborate to answer questions and share knowledge and media

By ON Communications

PAWHUSKA, Okla. (Feb. 17, 2015) — The Osage ceremonial dances in June, or the I-loᴺ-shka Dances, have for decades included traditional Osage wedding coats when passing the responsibility of taking care of a drum from one family to the next. There are three drum keepers, one per each district, Hominy or Zonzohlee, Pawhuska or Wahakoli, and Grayhorse or Pahsoolee.

“The whole thing started when Daniel Swan called and asked me, ‘when did [Osage people] start using wedding coats to pay for the drum,’” said Kathryn RedCorn, Osage Tribal Museum Director, about the three year collaborative project.

On Oct. 23, Dr. Daniel Swan, Sam Noble Museum and RedCorn combined forces to gather as much community input as possible. More than eighty people gathered at the Osage Tribal Museum to offer insight and add to the collection.

“I didn’t know when or why we started using wedding coats to pay for the drum. There are pictures of the I-loᴺ-shka around the arbor, but of course, no one is permitted to take pictures under the arbor. So I sent an email out to a list of people who would have pictures and we got a huge response,” said RedCorn.

On Thursday, the fruits of this one of kind endeavor will be shared with the public. The Osage Tribal Museum is hosting, An Evening of Films and Osage History. The focus of the evening is the incorporation of Osage brides and Osage wedding coats when a new drum keeper pays for the drum. The event is part of an on-going project and a book and an exhibition at Sam Noble Museum in Norman, Okla., are under development.

Talking to the Moon by John Joseph Matthews

The book, ‘Talking to the Moon’, includes an, “Account of an Indian Wedding: Told by Mrs. Julia Lookout to Mrs. J. Geo. Wright, October 4, 1937.” The interview details the process and steps of an Osage wedding as well oral history about Osage wedding coats.

“It is on the boys’ side it starts. The family has a boy that they wish for a wife for him they talk among themselves and they look over the families and pick out a girl...they invite a man…this one man goes…over there to talk to the girl’s people...,” this is how the initial courtship begins according to the interview, with the family of a boy contacting the family of a girl using a selected family representative.

The detailed account continues with the items used to pay for a bride including horses, cars, food, and wedding coats and flags.

According to Lookout the wedding coats became revered and culturally inclusive after a delegation of chiefs including Chief Pawhuska returned from Washington, D.C. , “[the U.S. Government] gave them those coats, you know, for them to wear home…then [Osages] thought maybe when they come home [Chief Pawhuska can] marry his daughter off and let her wear that coat.”

The interview includes other details of traditional Osage weddings and according to RedCorn is one the best first-hand accounts available.

Films, Stories, and Pictures

“I never realized the weddings were so big and extravagant,” said RedCorn about all the accounts and photographs of Osage weddings. “And I never knew they would give away cars the same way someone would give a horse away.”

On Thursday, Swan will provide film footage including the wedding of Marion Coshehe. RedCorn it will be her first time to see film of an Osage wedding. A discussion and question and answer will follow the films and other photographs will be available to view as well as a new exhibit featuring a traditional Osage wedding outfit.

The event is scheduled for 6 pm to 9 pm, Osage Tribal Museum, 819 Grandview Ave, Pawhuska, Okla. 74056. Light refreshments will be served and the event is open to the public. For more information call 918-287-5441.

To learn more about the project, view photographs, and provide comments and information visit the project website at www.osageweddings.com.

For Media Inquiries:

Osage Nation Communications 918-287-5599