Nominated by Grace

At the annual Oklahoma Native American Elder Honor celebration, I joined 48 others from 23 Oklahoma tribes to be recognized this year. It was held at the First Americans Museum (FAM).

There weren’t one hundred ribbon skirts in the large room looking out at the mound which pays tribute to the Moundbuilder cultures of our Oklahoma tribes. But we became suddenly aware people were moving toward the precipice. What I had believed to a replica of all 10,000-year-old massive native land sculpture built to capture the solstice twice a year, we were witnessing could be climbed: those indigenous ingenuities must have had multiple uses, as this was illustrating.

The room continued to fill with every color of ribbon, a showcase of museum quality beadwork adorning the attendees with many who remembered to don their fully beaded moccasins for the occasion.

The attire. The organizers of the event could have double booked this and should consider it in the future, either as people entered the room, or even as we exited, as The Fashion Show of the Year! The INDIAN Fashion attire was dazzling. No two items the same.

Tribes from around the state were represented. Individuals had to be nominated, someone took the time to consider, research qualities, seek work and volunteer experiences and then to determine who amongst those submitted would be selected as this year’s awardee cohort.

The AARP Oklahoma Native Elders Honor nominees have to be age 50-plus, be living! And be a citizen of an Oklahoma tribal nation with no repeat awardee-ing. Over the years this celebration of a lifetime of service has recognized more than 700 Native American elders who filled AARP’s mission and vision to inspire others to serve to positively impact their communities.

Grace Goodeagle, back in March, asked if I would allow her to nominate me. She had been an awardee in 2010 and had since been very involved with the annual celebration. All through the ceremony, she coached and made strategic decisions for me, and even scored a set of the table’s flower arrangements for us to take home as keepsakes at the end of the day.

The Native Color Guard brought in the Eagle staff and the Oklahoma flag. But with the history the United States has had on native peoples, with most of those represented in the room coming from tribal nations FORCED here, it might seem strange to some when the words of the Pledge of Allegiance were recited aloud.

Only one special award was presented, but it required the acknowledgement and recognition of those presenting the award, recognition of the maker of the gift, a short story of the gift, all  before Casey Camp was called forward to receive the hand drum that the maker remarked he had had to hold out the window on the way there to get the paint to dry in time for the presentation! Many have seen Casey Camp over the last 2 decades in movies and TV.  I have seen another side of her, as an activist marching on the highway outside Ponca City protesting the pollution her tribe is subjected to. I have been to the Moccasins on the Ground trainings and been moved to action myself. Her efforts to bring Rights of Nature to the Ponca were inspirational, but at this event, she herself was moved -- to tears. It is one thing to be honored on the screen, but to be honored in public in the Indian world by fellow natives. Well, it can get to you. Because, we know how to be critical, and as I said at times, “we eat our own.” But at this event, she and all of the awardees, were certainly deemed more than adequate!

During the awards ceremony the moderator, Sean Voskuhl read each of the biographies. It became evident that each of us were there because of our servant leadership. Not for the accolades we might have earned but for the service we had performed for others and the environment, our Mother. We were equal today. The attorney and the childcare advocate, the man who danced on the ballet stage in Russia was equal to the Cherokee who road his bike 1000 miles. The chairs set in a horseshoe shape most filled, a few empty, a few filled for missing loved ones. Each of us equally challenged in life, each respected by someone enough to be troubled by the application process.

My son who attended with Grace and me, were the last of the group to leave the quiet halls of the First American Museum and like the others I got a lot out of the experience.  We all scattered back to our life’s work, back to service, feeling changed from the experience and wondering who we will nominate when the call goes out next March for the 2026 event.

“This annual celebration connects and grounds us to our past, keeps us mindful of the present, and inspires future generations to become better curators of communities and cultures.”

-Sean Voskuhl, AARP Oklahoma State Director

Respectfully Submitted ~ Rebecca Jim