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By Heather Payne
Otoe-Missouria Public Information
PONCA CITY — A special exhibit of historical photographs and artifacts from the Otoe-Missouria Tribe opens Wednesday, May 23 at the Pioneer Woman Museum in Ponca City and will remain on display through December 2018.
The exhibit began in 2011 as an outreach project for the Otoe-Missouria Public Information Office headed by Public Information Officer Heather Payne.
The photos and artifacts in the collection were either donated to the Otoe-Missouria Public Information Office by tribal members or included by agreement with museums and historical archives throughout the United States.
“We now have over 150 photos in the Otoe-Missouria Photo Archive, but this exhibit feature 35 photos and videos,” Payne says. “The photos in the exhibit correlate with historical high points and culturally relevant topics. In addition, this year, we will be displaying an Otoe-Missouria turban. This will be the first time this circa 1900 traditional headdress will be on display.”
In 2013, the exhibit was on display at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. As the exhibit grew, it got the attention of museum curators in the region.
“The Executive Director of the Standing Bear Museum in Ponca City visited the exhibit,” Payne says. “She was interested in having the display set up at Standing Bear, but that didn’t pan out. And over the years, we have been unable to get the exhibit set up at Standing Bear due to their limited availability of space for temporary exhibits. It would be the perfect location, but we just haven’t been able to make it happen.”
Payne says that the mission of the Pioneer Woman Museum ties in well with the exhibit.
TWO MEN of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe are shown in these historical graphics which are part of a photographic exhibit opening today, May 23, 2018 at the Pioneer Woman Museum in Ponca City.
“I had to make a few changes to the exhibit,” Payne says. “I added more photos of women and children. These strong Otoe-Missouria women pioneered a new life in Oklahoma. A place they had never been before and that they didn’t chose to live. They came as refugees — forced to leave their homeland. They survived and carried with them what traditions they could even under pressure to assimilate and give up their old ways. They endured.”
Payne states she worked to balance the exhibit — to make it interesting to Otoe-Missouria tribal members, but still basic enough for the general public to appreciate.
“It’s funny, because you get so used to talking to other Native people that you forget sometimes that the terms, language and words used in Indian Country aren’t universal,” Payne says. “Pioneer Woman Museum Director Kelly Houston and her staff have been really great about asking good questions and making sure I explained things for a broad audience. I hope the result is educational for everyone.”
The Pioneer Woman Museum staff will host several events this year in coordination with the exhibit, including activities for groups and youth this summer and special events for schools in the fall.
The Pioneer Woman Museum is located at 701 Monument Rd, Ponca City, OK. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
To learn more about the Otoe-Missouria Tribe, on the internet visit www.omtribe.org.