Cherokee Nation advocates for federal memorial in Tulsa’s Greenwood District

Cherokee Nation is asking Congress to create a national monument dedicated to Tulsa’s Greenwood District, which would help preserve the history of the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Cherokee Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. wrote a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 14 asking legislators to approve Senate Bill 1051, authored by Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma.

The bill would designate Tulsa’s Greenwood District as a national monument protected by the National Park System. The bill says the district would be preserved for current and future generations to learn about its role in Oklahoma and American history.

“Today, the area is a testament to a Black Tulsa community that suffered terrible persecution, but also built and rebuilt essential livelihoods and cultural institutions in the face of that persecution,” Hoskin wrote. “Designating the Historic Greenwood District and Black Wall Street as a National Monument will help preserve this history and ensure that people from across the county and around the world can learn our shared history.”

Senate Bill 1051 was assigned to the House Committee on Natural Resources, where it awaits approval from the U.S. House of Representatives. The Senate approved the legislation by unanimous consent last year, meaning it passed without a full vote or objection.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, co-sponsored the legislation.

Lankford authored a similar bill in 2023, but it never progressed past the Senate.

Black Wall Street

The Greenwood District, or Black Wall Street, was home to an economically thriving Black community in the early 1900s.

But it was also the site of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, where a white mob murdered an estimated at least 300 Black Americans and burned down 35 city blocks. Experts say the death toll isn’t exact due to inaccurate reporting from the time.

Tulsans are still working to identify victims, most of whom were reportedly thrown into mass graves, to this day.

Survivors and descendants alike have worked toward reparations and historic preservation. The City of Tulsa announced last year it was planning a $105 million private fund for reparations.

In his letter, Hoskin noted the district has already been considered nationally significant by the National Park Service.

The agency wrote in a 2005 report that the site of the massacre, then referred to by the federal government as the “Tulsa race riot,” met the criteria for a national landmark.

This story was produced as part of a partnership between the Tulsa Flyer and KOSU.

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