Prairie Girls

Elizabeth

This is Elizabeth again. My friend Anna and I returned to my village from the school at Osage Mission and helped prepare for the five day marriage ceremony of my cousin, Sarah.  Succotash, squash, fry bread, plums, strawberries, deer and buffalo jerky and other foods were served at Sarah’s wedding feast. We also helped Sarah dress for her wedding. She wore the military tunic given to our tribe by the President in Washington. 

The Osage Native Americans participated in ceremonies before buffalo hunts, too. We did not waste any of the buffalo. It provided our food and our clothing, as well as, our tools and toys for our children. I will tell you more about my life on the prairie later.

 

 

Local Museums

 A favorite museum with elementary students is Woolaroc located outside of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. It provides areas both inside and out for activities. Although it is self-directed with no guide, it affords extra time to read captions under the vast Native American and western paintings and the artifacts housed there. It is possible to travel farther to Tulsa and Oklahoma City to see more excellent displays.

Doing research at museums for our writing projects has been interesting. We have come into contact with curators who have answered questions and provided information that would have taken months to glean from books and records. The collections at St. Paul where Elizabeth’s school was located were very helpful as was the director. Further research took us to Pawhuska, Oklahoma, where we visited the Osage Museum and learned more about the Osage removal to Oklahoma.