Osage Nation Museum: Launching Web Page for Allottee 2229 Digitization Project
The Osage Nation Museum (ONM) invites Wahzhazhe citizens to contribute to the museum’s archive of photographs and biographies of Osage original allottees named in the Osage Allotment Act of June 28, 1906. The webpage to donate submissions online launches Tuesday, April 2, 2024. For more information on the project and to contribute material online, please visit https://www.osageculture.com/allottee2229.
The “Allottee 2229 Digitization Project” continues the museum’s efforts to build on more than 900 photographs that former museum director Kathryn Red Corn and her team collected during the early 2000s for her landmark exhibit titled 2229. The exhibition will be on view at the ONM throughout the year of 2024 while the museum concurrently collects photographs and biographies from descendants. “This important exhibition pays tribute to and honor those 2,229 original allottees who safeguarded our cultural legacy and ensured the well-being of our people,” says Geoffrey Standing Bear, Principal Chief of the Osage Nation. “The foresight and dedication of our Osage relatives laid the foundation for the thriving Osage Nation today.”
This diverse array of studio shots and every day snapshots of Osage families are largely from the early decades of the 20th century. “Assembled together in one space, 2229 illustrates our ties to one another as Osages and serves as a profound reminder that we are bonded by wahoin, our individual and collective connections with family, community, our earth, and the universe,” says Marla Redcorn-Miller, director of the museum. “Recognizing these connections is a place to begin to understand who we are as individuals, who we are as a people, and where we are going together.”
Descendants may submit biographical information and up to five digital images of the Osage allottee for inclusion in the project.
“Having a clear understanding of our relationships to the 1906 roll is not only a core part of our citizenship requirements, but also what we need to bring our practices of respect into the future,” says Jean Dennison, Ph.D., Associate Professor in American Indian Studies, University of Washington, and author of Colonial Entanglement and Vital Relations. Dr. Dennison worked on the project in the early stages of development, assisting Kathryn Red Corn, who served as director of the museum at the time she originated this project. “These photographs thus not only tell us where we are coming from, but where we need to go.”
For more information, visit https://www.osageculture.com/allottee2229, or contact the museum at AllotteeProject@osagenation-nsn.gov, or call (918) 287-5441.
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About the Osage Nation Museum
The premier destination to experience Osage history, art, and culture. Visit the Osage Nation Museum (ONM) in historic Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Our rotating exhibits convey the story of Osages throughout history and celebrate the culture of today. Highlights include an extensive photograph collection, historical artifacts as well as traditional and contemporary art. Founded in 1938, the ONM is the oldest tribally-owned museum in the United States.
Admission and parking are free.
Hours: Tuesdays – Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: 819 Grandview Ave. in Pawhuska, Oklahoma
T: 918-287-5441 § F: 918-287-5227
Email: museum@osagenation-nsn.gov