Nonprofit
teaches people
about
Native American culture
Do not know
much about this tribe
However, I
would be proud too.
Any group of
our people
doing it right
for their people, the ancestors,
Indian/Native
American country,
and
Creator,
has my heart
and
prayers forever.
By Alicia Adams
Santa Rosa
Press Gazette
Posted
Jul 21, 2017
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MILTON
The Santa
Rosa County Creek Indian Tribe Inc. teaches the community about Native
Americans’ culture via educational programs, traditional events and a Native
American Cultural Center, according to Vice Chief Dan Helms.
The
organization — located at 4358 Willard Norris Road in Milton — was founded in
1990 by descendants of Creeks who live in the area.
The tribe currently has
more than 1,300 members and donates thousands of hours a year teaching and
making presentations in the community.
“Our tribe is
sought out by schools, cultural festivals, historical organizations, military
installations, history fairs, county fairs and city events,” Helms said.
“Community organizations such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast,
Kiwanis Club and the Lions Club request us for speaking engagements.”
The Creeks’
tribal grounds consist of about 95 acres that soon will be home to a Native
American Cultural Center, almost three decades in the making. The cultural
center was made possible by two IMPACT 100 grants totaling $210,700.
A
groundbreaking is scheduled for Aug. 1.
“The grants
are making the dream of a Native American Cultural Center a reality,” Helms
said. “The central feature of the center will be an artifact museum that will
feature more than 3,000 Native American artifacts to be displayed to the
public.”
According to
Helms, the cultural center will house two prized artifacts: a peace pipe used
in the signing of a treaty between the head of the Crow nation and the U.S.
Bureau of Indian Affairs, and some of the ashes and embers from a fire that
burned in the Cherokee town of Tahlequah more than 1,000 years ago.
The center
will include a multi-purpose room for seminars and performances, according to
Helms.
The center
will house a genealogy resource center with books, documents and other
information the group has obtained over the years to assist people in
researching and documenting their Native American ancestry.
“The goal of
the Native American Cultural Center is to increase awareness of the culture of
Native Americans and particularly the Creek people,” Helms said. “The public,
especially the children, will have a greater appreciation and understanding of
the Creek people and their connection with the natural world. They will
experience new knowledge through immersion and hands-on demonstrations not
available anywhere else in our area.
“The
completion of the Native American Cultural Center will allow us to embark on
our mission to bring knowledge of the culture of the Native American Indians to
the children, the community and the world.”
The Santa
Rosa County Creek Indian Tribe Inc
