Muscogee Creek history comes alive at Ocmulgee Mounds Indigenous Celebration

Ready to celebrate Southeastern Indigenous people and cultures?

The annual Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park’s Indigenous Celebration is Saturday and Sunday. It’s free and there’s plenty of free parking at the Macon-Bibb Health Plaza, 171 Emery Highway, with regular shuttles running back and forth. There’s no public parking at the park during the event.

The two-day celebration is the big item this weekend but there’s more going on – hang on for that.

I talked to Carla Beasley, park superintendent, and Lisa Lemon, executive director of the Ocmulgee Mounds Association, about the park, the celebration and other things.

“We celebrate and preserve thousands and thousands of years of history at the mounds,” Beasley told me, “This was Muscogee (Creek) land until 1826 when they were removed from their ancestral home to land in Oklahoma that European settlers considered less desirable. Despite their removal, hardships and attempts to obliterate them, the Muscogee (Creek) and other tribal nations are thriving and have a great history and culture unknown to most people.”

This is the celebration’s 32nd year and though there are changes each year, Lemon said there’s been one significant change from its earliest days.

“From its beginning, dedicated people have put on great celebrations but only in recent years has the focus turned specifically to making sure we’re presenting Southeastern cultures and activities versus general Native American cultures,” she said, meaning that at one time dances and exhibits might have included Southwestern tribal dances and culture rather than authentic representations of Southeastern tribes and Muscogee (Creek) ways in particular.

“It’s beautiful to hear the music and see the dances that were once part of everyday life here. It’s healing, I think, and even healing to the land. We work closely with the tribes and tribal leadership to make sure what’s done is authentic and respectful.”

At the celebration, you’ll see and hear authentic performances of dance and music, sports, storytelling and vendors with clothes, textiles, beadwork, art, crafts and other items. There will also be department members of the Muscogee (Creek) tribal government to share information. In addition, busloads of visitors from Oklahoma will travel here along with Muscogee (Creek) Principal Chief David Hill and Second Chief Del Beaver.

“Each day is an opportunity for family fun and to get to know people from the tribes,” Beasley said. “The people at information tables and even artists and vendors are happy to talk about their work and what it represents or just chat about their daily lives.”

Beasley and Lemon said the highest priority of the celebration to them is building bridges and establishing common ground.

“For me, that is the objective and our main purpose,” Lemon said. “It’s priceless seeing so many visitors welcomed back to their homeland by those of us in Macon.”

Beasley said, “When we meet to set our planning goals for the celebration, that’s the first thing we try to establish. We want people to get to know and appreciate one another. We want to create an opportunity for people to meet and myths to be dispelled, like a lot of the myths I learned through books and school.”

There’s all that plus delicious Native American fry bread and other Native and not-so-Native treats and dishes.

As to the family fun, the two said there will be more for kids to do than ever, especially in the way of hands-on crafts and make-and-take projects.

“And kids and adults both enjoy watching the dances and at times can even participate,” Beasley said.

Lemon said there will be new artists and Native creators coming to the festival this year, like artist/flutist/storyteller Randy Kemp, along with many regular favorites such as Amanda Rutland of Indigo Art and Textiles. And that brings up another aspect of the weekend: at 5 p.m. Friday there will be a reception at the McEachern Art Center featuring three exhibiting Native American artists who will be on hand to talk about their work.

The artists are visual artist Johnnie Diacon who represents traditional Native American painting, designer-textile artist Jamie Bennett whose modern wardrobe and textile pieces are based on traditional themes, and Kenneth Johnson, a celebrated contemporary sculptor, jewelry designer and accomplished metalsmith who created the elaborate, traditional silver gorgets – neckwear descendent of European armor – officially worn by Hill and Beaver and is generally popular in Native dress. It’s Johnson who’s set to create a sculpture for the coming East Macon Bicentennial Park just outside Ocmulgee Mounds.

The exhibit continues through Sept. 21 during regular McEachern hours.

In addition, to the gallery exhibit, at 8 p.m. Friday at Theatre Macon there will be a free performance of “On the Far End.” The one-woman play was written by Mary Kathryn Nagle (Cherokee) and tells the story of Muscogee activist Jean Hill Chaudhuri and explores the importance of sovereignty for Indigenous nations through Chaudhuri’s fight for justice. Admittance is free.

To round out the Indigenous weekend, the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative (ONPPI) is sponsoring an online auction through Sunday. Bid on items like a Shoal Bass Fly Fishing Trip, original art by Muscogee artist Johnnie Diacon, a two-night river retreat and more to help support efforts to expand the current site of the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park and have it become Georgia’s first National Park and Preserve. The auction is at 32auctions.com/ignitethenight.

Find out about Ocmulgee Mounds and the celebration at www.nps.gov/ocmu and www.ocmulgeemounds.org. ONPPI info is at www.ocmulgeepark.org.

To finish on a different note, if you’re out and about downtown this weekend you’ll no doubt see muralists at work during the Macon Arts Alliance’s second annual Macon Mural Festival. They’ll be at work at Forsyth Street at High Place, 909 2nd St., 664 2nd St., and the MLK Parking Deck by the Douglass Theatre. There’s also a community street art wall at MLK and Riverside Drive where artist Bo Walker will let folks take a shot at creating outdoor art from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday.

The public is invited to meet the artists at a Mural Celebration Party at the gallery at Macon Arts, 486 1st St. from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com and join him on Instagram at @michael_w_pannell.