Seminole Nation Museum

Did you know...

In the days before statehood, the law of the Seminole Nation was enforced by a rugged, determined and much-feared group of men known as Lighthorsemen. Numbering approximately ten able men, the force usually consisted of a Captain, a Lieutenant and eight Privates. Each served for a term of four years. The duties of the Lighthorse ranged from escorting shipments of Tribal monies to exacting the swift and terrible punishments of the Nation - execution at the foot of a narrow oak tree or a multitude of lashes under the arm of the famous “Seminole Whipping Tree.” It was a dangerous job, as four Lighthorsemen were known to have been killed before statehood.

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Seminole Freedman

03/17/2017

Though not widely known, the story of the Black Seminoles is deeply rooted in the fabric of American history.

Fleeing plantations in the American South, slaves first began making their way to Spanish Florida in the late 1600s, when Spain offered freedom to fugitives who agreed to defend the Spanish crown. Just north of St. Augustine, black refugees from British America founded the settlement of Mose, the first legally sanctioned free black town in North America. Read More

Legend of the Snake Clan

04/28/2016

Painted by Seminole/Creek Master Artist Enoch Kelly Haney early in his career, “Legend of the Snake Clan” tells the story of two men hunting for food in the Everglades. Groundbreaking at the time for its visual depiction of sacred Seminole legends, the artwork is now one of the most important and popular paintings in the Seminole Nation Museum’s permanent collection. Read More

Greater Seminole Oil Field

04/27/2016

During statehood in 1907, the lands that were the Seminole Nation, Indian Territory essentially became Seminole County, Oklahoma. No one had any idea of the tremendous wealth that lay under the thickets and scrub oaks that covered most of the land. In fact, most people believed the land to be worthless. Thus, it was with great irony that the region to which the Seminoles were removed after arduous physical and political strife eventually became the center of the Greater Seminole Oil Field. Read More

Return from Exile

National Traveling Exhibition

January 17-April 29, 2017

The Seminole Nation Museum is honored to be hosting "Return from Exile: Contemporary Southeastern Indian Art," a national traveling exhibition of over 40 modern Native American artworks.

Within the first 40 years of the 19th century, almost all of the original inhabitants of the southeastern United States—the Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Cherokees and Seminoles—had been removed, either voluntarily or forcibly, to new lands in what is now the state of Oklahoma. In a stunning triumph of ethnic cleansing, the U.S. government’s policy of removal of Indian tribes from their ancestral homelands succeeded in uprooting and relocating whole tribal cultures to a strange and distant Indian Territory in the West. For almost 200 years now, that strange and distant territory has been home to the “Five Civilized Tribes”— while the original homelands in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida and the Carolinas have in large part become a distant memory only recalled through historic documents and oral tradition.

But has that memory, that connection to place of origin, really disappeared? How do contemporary Southeastern Native peoples see themselves in light of the historic events of removal and displacement? Do these historic events still have an affect on lives today? These are the questions this exhibition seeks to address, through responses and reactions to the themes of Removal, Return, and Resilience, presented by a premier group of 32 contemporary Southeastern Native American artists.

Learn more at: www.ReturnfromExile.org

Upcoming Events

Family Fun Day Closing Reception

Saturday, April 29, 2017 at Seminole Nation Museum, 524 S. Wewoka Ave., Wewoka OK 74884.

Family activities begin at 1pm and run to 3:30pm. The Museum closes at 5pm. This is the last day to see and experience the Return from Exile exhibition in Wewoka. No preregistration is necessary.

Please call or e-mail with questions:

405.257.5580 or [email protected]

PAST PROGRAMS

PANEL DISCUSSION & PRINT ACTION

Seminole State College

Thursday, March 9, 2107

"Return from Exile" Exhibition will be the topic of discussion at the Haney Center Lecture Hall, Seminole State College, 2701 Blvd., 6 pm. Panelists include artists and co-curators Bobby C. Martin and Tony A. Tiger, Heather Ahtone (James T. Bialac, Assistant Curator of Native American & Non-Western Art for the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma) and Dr. Mary Jo Watson (Director Emerit6us and Regents' Professor, School of Art and Art History at the University of Oklahoma). The Print Action Workshop will follow the panel discussion and participants will move to Rm. 102 in the Colclazier Bldg. Randi Narcomey-Watson, Seminole/Muscogee-Creek mixed media artist, will join Martin and Tiger in leading the workshop. Participants need to bring T-shirts or other articles on which to print.

For more information, contact the museum at 405-257-5580 or via e-mail at [email protected]

Print Action Activity for the whole family

Saturday, April 8, 2017 at Holdenville Society of Painters & Sculptors Gallery, 118 N. Broadway Street, Holdenville, OK, 74848.

This is a free event and open to the public. Print Action will begin at 2:30pm and is expected to close around 3 or 3:30.
led by three Return from Exile artists. Participants will bring a tee shirt or an other item to print on. All other supplies will be furnished. This is a fun family activity so, come and enjoy the day. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Participants must preregister for this event by contacting the Seminole Nation Museum using the contact information above.

PAST PROGRAMS

Mixed Media Workshop for Adults

Saturday, March 25, 2017 at Holdenville Society of Painters & Sculptors Gallery, 118 N. Broadway Street, Holdenville, OK, 74848.

This event is free and open to the public. The workshop will begin at 12:30pm and is expected to close around 3 or 3:30pm. The workshop will be guided by two of the Return from Exile artists. Participants should bring whatever materials and media they are interested in working with (photos, cloth, string, etc.) and surfaces they want to work on (panel, heavy paper, canvas etc.) Participants must pre register for this event by contacting the Seminole Nation Museum using the contact information above.

April Shower Fundraiser

The Daisy Unit Garden Club will be holding their annual April Shower fundraiser for the museum on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 from 11 to 1 at the Museum.

The public is invited to bring requested items from the museum's Wish List, or donations for their 2017 projects. This year's projects include a new camera system throughout the building and the renovation of our small kitchen area. More information and a copy of our Wish List may be found here.

Thank you for your support!

Welcome to the Seminole Nation Museum

The Seminole Nation Museum documents and interprets the history and culture of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the people and events that make its capital, Wewoka, one of the most historically significant and culturally diverse communities in Oklahoma. Through the use of select artifacts, historic photographs and interpretive exhibits, the events and stories that shaped the home of the Seminoles for more than a century are chronicled in a captivating, educational and enlightening experience.