Powwows and Hurricanes

When you meet someone for the first time and you ask them where they are from, they are most likely going to tell you the place that they were born, or maybe the place they consider home.  The place they go to visit Grandma and Grandpa or the place with the sights and smells, to which most of their memories drift.  Home, for me, is and always has been Oklahoma.  Having lived in or just outside of Tulsa County my entire life, I have developed some pretty strong opinions on what it means to be an Oklahoman.  But when asked what part of the country Oklahoma is in, there is usually a pause, followed by a furrowed brow, and confused eye shift because it is very difficult to define. 

Since the state is geographically located close to the middle of the country, it is sometimes considered a Midwest state.  Like its true Midwestern neighbors, there is plenty of agriculture, a lot of middle class working people, and an unabashed love of America.  Oklahomans have gotten their kicks on Route 66, just like our neighbors from St. Louis and Chicago.  However, about the time you start to get comfortable with the notion of being Midwestern, you look down at the strikingly bright red orange dirt on your cowboy boots and realize you’re not in Kansas anymore. 

I believe there is an imaginary line cutting across the Oklahoma plains, that when crossed, changes the ground from normal dirt color to the magnificent red-orange that covers two-thirds of the western part of the state.  I’m sure there is some sort of lengthy scientific explanation for it, but all I really know is that Moms all over western Oklahoma grimace at having to wash those stains out of white socks.  I found it easier to throw them away.   The red dirt and flat open land is probably one reason that many people associate Oklahoma with the West.  As a child, when I would travel to Ohio to visit family, the children in the neighborhood would ask me if I knew any Indians and if there were tumbleweeds blowing down my street.  I would have sarcastically replied that I smoked a peace-pipe just last week while getting our family wagon recovered.  Considering all this, it’s no wonder people think we are a Western state.

Since part of this land was named “Indian Territory” until just over a hundred years ago, the culture of the Indian Nations, from the more well known Cherokee and Creek to the lesser known tribes, have left a footprint on Oklahoma like no other.  There is a tragic history linked to how the Five Civilized Tribes came to call Oklahoma their home.  The Trail of Tears as it came to be known is probably one of the most difficult memories in the history of these proud people.  Their ability to endure and flourish nearly two hundred years later is a testament to their spirit.  I have always been proud of Oklahoma’s Indian heritage but I am painfully aware that many generations before me were not.  In spite of what they’ve had to overcome, many Indian Nations call Oklahoma home and for that I am grateful. 

 I have traveled around the country a bit and have established MY own opinion of where Oklahoma fits into the fabric of this great nation.  I believe we can and should be considered Southern.  That’s right; it’s not just me, but many people adamantly declare that Oklahoma is a Southern State.  I have always leaned this way, but my travels around the South have solidified it.  My friends from Mississippi and Alabama, with their Southern gentility, are too polite to argue with me about it. However, I have learned that traditional Southerners hold firm that a state is not truly Southern unless it fought in the Civil War with the Confederate Army.  I can certainly understand their position.   Those were the states that risked and lost everything for what they believed in.  They were the states that had to fight and claw their way back during the reconstruction period.  But I would ask them to think of it as a compliment, when other states want to be considered one of them.  Here is the gist of my argument.  Oklahoma IS a Southern State for the following reasons.  We drink our tea sweet.  We have not four, but five directions:  North, South, East, West and Yonder.  We worship our Lord on Sundays and our college football teams on Saturdays.  We fry almost anything.  Instead of telling someone we think he is an idiot, we just say, “bless your heart”.  We drink pop, not soda.  We are friendly to everyone, even the “foreigners” from New Jersey.  With all that said, I can hardly see why there is even a debate.  But I imagine there will always be a question about who we are, what region we belong to, and what culture we call our own. 

It you think I have accidentally failed to mention our relationship to Texas, you are mistaken.  It wasn’t an accident.  Just like their tourism department once said, “Texas; it’s like a whole other country”.  In Oklahoma, we believe that.  Yall stay on your side of the river and we’ll stay on ours, except of course, for game day. 

To restate the obvious, Oklahoma is very difficult to define.  It is a complex mix of cultures, landscape, economy, and lifestyles.  Where can you go to a powwow to watch a “Fancy Dance”, visit a state of the art theater to see a world class ballet company, or go to a honkeytonk for some bootscootin all in one weekend?  Oklahoma.  Where can you get stranded in a blizzard with record cold temps, wilt in a severe drought with record hot temps, live through earthquakes, tornadoes, ice storms and hurricanes without ever leaving your home?  Oklahoma.  What other state has produced so many NASA Astronauts, medal winning Olympians, award winning performers, famous politicians, athletes, and had a flippin Rogers and Hammerstein musical written about them for Pete’s sake?!?  I’ll tell you what state. Oklahoma!  That’s right, O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A!  You know you’re singing it right now.  So if you are reading this post from anywhere else in the country and you thought you knew a lot about us, I have only one thing to say,……”Yall come down yonder,  have a pop, and we’ll talk about things.”  By things, of course, I mean Oklahoma State football.  Love YALL!!!