Oklahoma’s Red Earth Festival featured in Rand McNally Road Atlas and Festival Guide
A fancy dancer performs in June during the Red Earth Festival parade. (Photo by Ashley McKee/The Oklahoman Archives)
Oklahoma City’s annual Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival is featured in the 2010 Rand McNally Road Atlas and Festival Guide with color images and an editorial description, according to a news release.
The publication, released in May 2009, contains the complete Road Atlas plus coverage of festivals and events located throughout the United States.
The 2009 Red Earth Festival, which took place in June in downtown Oklahoma City, drew 151 registered journalists representing publications and broadcast outlets from throughout the United States and four foreign countries.
“The Red Earth Festival generates positive publicity about Oklahoma and our Native American cultures,” said Jonna Kauger Kirschner, president of the Red Earth Board of Directors, in the release. “Not only journalists but tourists from all around the globe are drawn to our award-winning festival because we showcase unique native cultures from throughout North America. While attending Red Earth it’s not uncommon to hear people speaking German and Japanese – it’s quite an electric atmosphere.”
The 24th Annual Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival will be June 18-20, 2010, during Father’s Day weekend at the Cox Convention Center. The organization expects to draw more than 1,200 American Indian dancers and artists from throughout the U.S. for the three-day event. The 25th anniversary celebration of the Red Earth Festival will be featured in the 2011 Rand McNally Atlas and Festival Guide.
The guides are available at Wal-Mart, Sam’s, Costco and online at www.randmcnally.com.
The Red Earth Festival is one of several events produced by Red Earth Inc., a nonprofit organization with a mission to promote the rich traditions of American Indian arts and cultures through education, a premier festival, a museum and fine art markets.
For more information, go to www.redearth.org.
-BAM
Red Earth receives Outstanding Cultural Tourism Award
A fancy dancer performs during the Red Earth Festival parade last month in downtown Oklahoma City. (Photo by Ashley McKee/The Oklahoman)
The Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival, recognized as one of the largest performing arts event of its type, was been named the 2009 recipient of the Outstanding Cultural Tourism award presented by Frontier Country Marketing Association.
Red Earth was recognized during the annual meeting of the membership-based Frontier Country Marketing Association, according to a news release. The Frontier Country Marketing Association is a nonprofit membership-based organization that promotes tourism in central Oklahoma.
Award recipients were voted on by Frontier Country members in an effort to acknowledge outstanding tourist attractions, exhibitions, events and businesses.
“We feel very privileged to be recognized by our peers in Oklahoma’s tourism industry,” said Jonna D. Kauger Kirschner, president of the Red Earth Board of Directors, in the release. “To be recognized as the Outstanding Cultural Tourism event among so many deserving events in Oklahoma is quite an honor.”
During its 23-year history the Red Earth Festival has matured into one of the most respected visual and performing arts events of its type.
At Red Earth, guests can see the work of some of the nation’s most celebrated artists, with opportunities to purchase contemporary and traditional examples of beadwork, basketry, jewelry, pottery, sculpture, paintings, graphics and cultural attire during the juried art show and market.
The dance competition at Red Earth features some of the most talented American Indian dancers in the country. The dance participants, each in their own distinctive tribal regalia, exhibit their originality and skills in the prestigious competition.
The Red Earth Festival is one of several events produced by Red Earth, Inc. a nonprofit organization with a mission to promote the rich traditions of American Indian arts and cultures through education, a premier festival, a museum and fine art markets.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on June 7
A fancy dancer performs in the streets of downtown Oklahoma City during the Red Earth Parade Friday. Today is the final day of Red Earth 2009. (Photo by Ashley McKee/The Oklahoman)
Today’s featured event:
Take advantage of your last chance this year to take in American Indian art, dance, food, children’s activities, live entertainment and more at the 23rd Annual Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival.
Today is the final day of the event. The festivities will take place from about 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City.
For more information, go to www.redearth.org.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
New food choices at Red Earth Festival mostly satisfy
A delicious, filling bowl of buffalo corn pone at the Red Earth Festival. (BAM photo)
An expanded menu of American Indian foods are making the 23rd Annual Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival a tastier, more rounded experience.
The festival continues today and Sunday at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City.
Festival organizers worked with Andrew Murin, executive chef of the venue’s Savor Catering by SMG, to create a special Red Earth menu that is being served at 3 Sisters Cafe at the event. The cafe is just outside the Cox Convention Center Arena, and on Friday, the festival’s opening day, people were lining up to taste what Murin and his staff cooked up.
But the line wasn’t nearly as long as it has been in years past. In previous years, limited food choices have been a weakness for Red Earth.
The Cox Convention Center offered the usual fair foods such as corndogs, Philly cheesesteak sandwiches and funnel cakes, and those were still on tap Friday. But in previous years, the only American Indian-related item on the menu was an Indian taco, and the line often dragged on and on to get one. My mom and I didn’t even try to eat at the 2008 Red Earth Festival after waiting more than 45 minutes in 2007 for Indian tacos.
So, I was eager to try the new foods at Red Earth, and we only had to wait a few minutes in line. Unfortunately, the only disappointment to us was the Indian taco.
Good frybread is the key to great Indian tacos, and the frybread on the one I tried at Red Earth was tough and chewy, while the topping was tasty. I’ve had better Indian tacos at the Paseo Arts Festival and Festival of the Arts, and didn’t have to wait more than five minutes for them. In this area, Red Earth still needs work, in my opinion.
Fortunately, the other items on the new Red Earth menu were quite tasty. The posole soup featured a spicy, satisfying broth with plump hominy, big chunks of pork and tangy green chiles.
But my mom and I were most pleased with the buffalo blue corn pone, with the toothsome blue-corn cake, the meaty pieces of ground buffalo, layer of cheese and fresh-tasting salsa.
Other menu items we didn’t try include whole roasted ear of corn and a sweet potato sundae with fried sweet potato strips, caramel and whipped topping.
Prices are set a very affordable $4-7, which helps offset the outrageous $3.50 for bottled water or soda.
The American Indian foods definitely help make Red Earth a more satisfying experience. They are much more fun to nosh while watching the dance competition or before shopping for pottery, paintings and more in the Art Market than the usual hot dogs or burgers.
-BAM
Youngsters part of preserving American Indian cultural at Red Earth
A young dancer walks in the Red Earth Festival Parade Friday morning in downtown Oklahoma City. Red Earth continues through Sunday at the Cox Convention Center. (Photo by Ashley McKee/The Oklahoman)
A version of this story appears in Saturday’s The Oklahoman.
At Red Earth, love of dancing spans the generations
Amid the flowing feathers, bouncing bells and flying fringe of their grown-up counterparts, some tiny dancers could be seen circling the Cox Convention Center Arena Friday during the first grand entry of the 2009 Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival.
From little fancy dancers whose bustles seemed almost too big for their narrow shoulders to teenage princesses whose cell phones looked incongruous with their finery, many children celebrated their American Indian heritage at the festival, which runs through Sunday.
“I think it’s good for them because a lot of us lost our heritage and our culture and … doing this kind of gets them back into the activities of it,” said McLoud resident Kathryn Geionety, who is of Kiowa and Hopi descendent.
Grass dancer Talyn Manley, 9, of McLoud, wears regalia his grandmother made. (BAM photo)
Her sons, outgoing Talyn Manley, 9, and shy Melvin Manley, 5, have been dancing in powwows since they were babies but were at Red Earth for the first time. His roach headdress bobbing, Talyn, a grass dancer, excitedly shared that he and his brother rode in the festival parade with their dad, a Chicksaw Wildland firefighter, and Smokey the Bear.
“It was awesome,” Talyn exclaimed.
The boy said his grandmother made his red, yellow, black and white outfit, and he got to pick the colors. He enjoys dancing, though the hard part is “making up tricks” to make the dance his own.
“I like winning money – and the fun of it,” said Talyn, who also likes hip-hop dancing.
For many youngsters, Red Earth is a family activity. Throughout the arena stands Friday, relatives helped children braid their hair and don various pieces of their regalia. Getting ready for the event is a fun but serious affair, said Jereldine Redcorn, the Caddo potter named the 2009 Red Earth Honored One.
“It usually involves like almost a community, the aunts and uncles making the moccasins, and men doing the feather work. And to put it all together there’s probably the mother who said, ‘I think these colors would work best,’” she said.
Fancy shawl dancer Delaney Cowden, 7, of Newton, Kan., shows the regalia her aunt made for her. The horses are a tribute to her grandfather, who died in October. (BAM photo)
For Delaney Cowden, 7, of Newton, Kan., the yellow, white and black horses racing across her golden dress and shawl have special family significance. When the fancy shawl dancer needed new regalia this year, she chose the horse design to honor her grandfather, Jim Cowden, who died of cancer in October. Her grandfather raised quarter horses and taught her to ride.
“I used to dance for other reasons, but I dance for my grandfather now,” said Delaney, who is Assiniboine and Cherokee and started dancing when she was 2.
Delaney’s aunt, Janelle Murk of Topeka, Kan., made the girl’s regalia.
“It’s very family oriented and she’s met a lot of people from all over,” Murk said.
Little Miss Seminole Nation Sierra Price, 8, of Cromwell, wears regalia her grandmother made for her. The patchwork on her skirt represents the clans in her family history. (BAM photo)
Dancers aren’t the only youngsters involved in Red Earth. Sierra Price, 8, of Cromwell won the Little Miss Seminole Nation pageant and represents her tribe at events, takes Seminole language classes and follows tribal government.
“It’s a lot of work and you get to meet a whole lot of people,” she said. “And it’s fun.”
Her grandmother, Sheila Harjo, made her regalia, including the intricate, colorful skirt. The patchwork on it represents the girl’s family ties to the wind, deer and panther clans. She also is teaching Sierra how to make the patchwork.
“It really tells who you are and where you come from,” Harjo said.
Seeing children taking part in their cultural traditions also is fun for festival-goers.
“(American Indians) have endured a lot of suffering over the years … and the fact that they’re able to maintain their culture and their heritage through their art and their dance is wonderful. And they pass it on to their children,” said Gary Borchert, who is Cherokee. “They pass on their culture and I think that’s very admirable.”
Borchert and his wife, Sharon, came from Tulsa to attend Red Earth for the first time.
“I think every Oklahoman should come and observe it and be proud for their state. It’s worthwhile,” Sharon Borchert said.
Going on
23rd Annual Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival
When: Today and Sunday.
Where: Cox Convention Center, downtown.
One-day passes: Adults, $10; senior citizens 60 and older, $7.50; children ages 6-17, $7.50; children younger than 5 admitted free. Group rates available.
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.com.
Information: 427-5228 or www.redearth.org.
-BAM
Video: Jereldine Redcorn, 2009 Red Earth Honored One
At the recent Red Earth Media Day at the state Capitol, I spoke to 2009 Red Earth Honored One Jereldine Redcorn about her art and the importance of the Red Earth Festival.
Redcorn is a nationally recognized artist who singlehandedly revived the lost art of Caddo pottery.
The 2009 Red Earth Festival started today, and I spent much of the morning and afternoon checking out the art, dancing, food and other offerings. I highly recommend attending while the festival is going on at the Cox Convention Center through Sunday. Redcorn’s booth is prominently placed in the Art Market; stop by and visit with her because she is a fascinating lady.
- BAM
Caddo potter Jereldine Redcorn named Red Earth Honored One
Caddo potter Jereldine Redcorn shows one of her pots at her Norman home. (Photos by Steve Sisney/The Oklahoman)
Some of Jereldine Redcorn’s traditional Caddo pots.
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Red Earth: Artist honors Caddo ancestry
NORMAN – Artist Jereldine Redcorn’s efforts to revive a beautiful part of her Caddo heritage have reached far beyond the tribe’s ancestral four-state home.
The Norman resident’s pottery has been exhibited at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian’s George Gustav Heye Center in New York and Art Institute of Chicago. One her pots recently was selected for display in the Oval Office, and she visited the White House in 2008 as a Rockefeller Fellow of Chicago’s Newberry Library.
“What has come from this has been an amazing thing I never dreamed I would do … I’m an artist,” she said.
Now, Redcorn has been selected as the 2009 Red Earth Honored One for this weekend’s 23rd Annual Red Earth Festival. She served as the first executive director of Red Earth but only has been exhibiting as an artist the past few years.
Growing up in the small town of Colony, Redcorn never learned about the Caddo’s long-lost pottery tradition. She said Caddos descend from the Spiro Mounds residents of Oklahoma and mounds people of Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana. The women created beautiful ceramics, but the tradition faded away in the 1800s.
“It wasn’t handed down. It was kind of like a portion of history that I was trying to find had been lost. And basically I started doing this for my own self,” she said.
In the 1990s, Redcorn got involved in efforts to preserve traditional Caddo songs and dances. She and a group visited the Museum of the Red River in Idabel, where she got her first look at Caddo pots with their intricate designs and graceful shapes.
“There were so many Caddo pots. It was a very emotional experience for me to see these because I thought of myself as a well-read person and I really didn’t know my own history,” she said.
She planned to organize a club to restore traditional Caddo pottery making. But she emerged as the one who learned to make the pots through tedious trial and error, meticulous research and dogged determination. Archeologists and historians encouraged her efforts and commissioned certain Caddo designs.
“I would think, ‘Can I really do this? I’m not an artist, I’m not trained. I’m a math teacher, for goodness sake,’” she said with a laugh.
Though she admits her first pots were rough, she persevered. Eventually, her skills grew and her efforts gained national recognition.
“It’s just amazing to have someone who came from a small, tiny little town in Oklahoma to grow up and be such a distinguished artist,” said Jonna Kauger Kirschner, president of the Red Earth board of directors.
The pots are hand formed from coils of clay, engraved with hand tools, burnished with smooth stones and finally wood fired with the help of her husband, Charles. Redcorn has taught workshops and plans more classes on the laborious process, but it is hard for people to continue making pottery.
“It’s a difficult path. I think people are really interested but it’s hard,” she said. “But it gets people talking about Caddo culture … and I think that’s important.”
Redcorn’s artistry and dedication to preserving Caddo culture make her deserving of the Honored One title, Kirschner said.
“The thing that’s just amazing about Jeri is that once she learned her art, it’s so important for her to pass it on to other potters,” she said. “She’s very modest, she’s very low-key, but she’s just so incredibly gifted and part of that gift is being willing to mentor other young women.”
-BAM
Video: Red Earth cuisine
Andrew Murin, executive chef for the Cox Convention Center and Ford Center, talks about one of the new dishes you can find at this year’s Red Earth Festival in this NewsOK video.
-BAM
Expanded food choices offered at Oklahoma City’s Red Earth Festival
Cortney Yarholer smiles during the 2008 Red Earth Festival. (The Oklahoman Archives photo)
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Special menu created for Red Earth
An expanded menu of American Indian foods will be among the changes at the 23rd Annual Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival.
The event is today-Sunday at the Cox Convention Center. Festival organizers have worked with Andrew Murin, executive chef of the venue’s Savor Catering by SMG, to create a special Red Earth menu.
Along with the usual festival foods and beverages, Murin has developed signature dishes that will be served in the 3 Sisters Cafe at Red Earth.
“There is a new emphasis on food this year,” said Red Earth Deputy Director Eric Oesch. “There will be several different Native American foods available in addition to Indian tacos.”
The menu includes roasted whole ears of corn; posole, a spicy, ceremonial corn stew; and a sweet potato sundae with fried sweet potato strips, caramel and whipped topping. Buffalo blue corn pone will incorporate ground buffalo, vegetables and beans with corn pone, or corncakes.
Prices will range from $4-7.
-BAM
2009 Red Earth Festival schedule
Light shines through a dancer’s regalia at the 2008 Red Earth Festival. (The Oklahoman Archives photo)
2009 Red Earth Festival schedule
Today
8 a.m.-5 p.m.: Dancer Registration – South Lobby Cox Convention Center
9:30-10:30 a.m.: Artist Awards Ceremony and Honored One Presentation – Southeast Lobby Cox Convention Center
10:30-11:30 a.m.: Red Earth Parade – Downtown Oklahoma City
11 a.m. to 8 p.m.: Art Market
Native Exchange Market
Youth Art Exhibit
Children’s Activities
Cultural Performances – Exhibit Halls 2 and 3
Noon: Grand Entry of Dancers and Ambassador of the Year Presentation – Cox Arena
1-5 p.m.: Dance Competition – Cox Arena
5-7 p.m.: Gourd Dance – Cox Arena
7 p.m.: Grand Entry of Dancers – Cox Arena
8-10 p.m.: Dance Competition – Cox Arena
Saturday
7-8 a.m.: Registration for 5K Run and 2K Fun Walk – Regatta Park
8 a.m.: Start 5K Run and 2K Fun Walk – Regatta Park
10 a.m. to noon: Dancer Registration – South Lobby Cox Convention Center
10 a.m.-8 p.m.: Art Market
Native Exchange Market
Youth Art Exhibit
Children’s Activities
Cultural Performances – Exhibit Halls 2 and 3
Noon: Grand Entry of Dancers – Cox Arena
1-5 p.m.: Dance Competition – Cox Arena
5-7 p.m.: Gourd Dance – Cox Arena
7 p.m.: Grand Entry of Dancers – Cox Arena
8-10 p.m.: Dance Competition – Cox Arena
Sunday
11 a.m.-5 p.m.: Art Market
Native Exchange Market
Youth Art Exhibit
Children’s Activities
Cultural Performances – Exhibit Halls 2 and 3
Noon: Grand Entry of Dancers – Cox Arena
1-4 p.m.: Dance Competition – Cox Arena
2-3 p.m.: Youth Art Awards Ceremony – Cultural Performance Stage
4-6 p.m.: Dance Competition Awards – Cox Arena
-BAM
