Indian Institute Moves to Jenks
By Lillie-Beth Brinkman
The Oklahoman
Published: September 14, 2009
JENKS — Oklahoma’s tribal and ranching history will converge next weekwhen the National Indian Monument and Institute (NIMI) celebrates the moveof its headquarters from Tulsa to an Oklahoma ranch in Jenks that was established before statehood.
At 10 a.m. Sept. 22, the nonprofit institute that has a mission of
honoring, preserving, sustaining and celebrating American Indian culture
will hold a ceremonial blessing and ribbon cutting at its new offices at
the Perryman Ranch, 11524 S Elwood Ave.
"The heritage of yesterday is preserved and blended with the reality of
today and the vision of tomorrow,” Clark Inkanish said in a news release.
He will perform the blessing.
The Perryman Ranch is the Creek allotment of Mose Perryman, son of Tulsa’sfirst family, George and Rachel Perryman, who helped name Tulsa. The ranchis a working ranch owned by Monetta Trepp, NIMI’s founder and chiefexecutive, and granddaughter of Mose Perryman.
"We are excited about NIMI’s move to the Perryman Ranch,” NIMI board
President Rob Trepp said. "Monetta Trepp spent her summers at the ranch,
and this move brings NIMI full circle, back to its American Indianheritage.”
The Perryman House also contains Tulsa’s first post office, and mail once
was delivered from there to Tulsa by Pony Express.
Active since 1990, the National Indian Monument and Institute offers
cultural programs to the community, organizes the annual Tulsa Indian Art
Festival and has launched online a virtual National Wall of Warriors
dedicated to veterans. The people involved with the institute include
artists, educators, historians, linguists, actors, storytellers andlifelong students.
With NIMI’s new offices comes a plan to start a fundraising drive to build
an American Indian Cultural Center and Museum Complex with the intentionof providing cultural exchanges of language, theater, arts, cuisine history and friendship with a focus on American Indian tribes.
Monetta Trepp said the institute does not aim to compete with the American
Indian Cultural Center and Museum in Oklahoma City, which is under
construction.
"There’s room for a place at each end of the turnpike,” Trepp said about
the plans to build a center. "We’re in Indian territory.”
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