[Why our area has its unique political and religious attitudes.]

To most people, the history of Oklahoma and Indian Territory began at the atrocity called the Trail of Tears. As we have seen there was a huge history for the southeastern Indians, before crossing the Mississippi. We recently saw a new western chief, who will eventually bring the Cherokee out of the Arkansas wilderness into the promised land of Indian Territory.

The difficulty is that every time a group moves, another group becomes displaced. Seldom did government policy consider the original inhabitants.

We are all at least casually familiar with Spiro Mounds and other mounds around the area. Let us go back to see who were these early inhabitants and what happened to them. Some moved, some separated into different groups, and some were forced from their original homes here to the south in Louisiana and Tejas, then moved again trying to force them out of the country to Mexico, but that became Texas, then eventually pushing them to a virtually inhabitable part of now Oklahoma.

When was the beginning of people in our area?

In case you were asleep that day in class, eastern and western Oklahoma are very different in terrain, water, and vegetation. Western Oklahoma transitions from arid prairie (1,000 feet ASL – above sea level) to high elevation (4,975 feet ASL) in the Rockies. Eastern Oklahoma is lowland (289 feet ASL) to hills and low mountains (2,500 feet ASL) with substantially more water and a very diverse vegetation creating thick woodlands.

Consequently, the cultural development was very different between the Plains Indians in the west and the Woodlands Indians in the east. U.S. 64 Highway, which crosses from the New Mexico Rocky Mountain border to the Arkansas Ozark Mountain border, is 591 miles long. The diversity along the route is impressive and representative of the influences on the people who live there.

Similarly, the north side and the south side of the Arkansas River has very different terrain, land fertility, and vegetation. In addition, the wide, sandy river is a natural barrier. So different groups of people occupied the north and south sides.

Essentially, Indian Territory (I.T.) or what is now Oklahoma had three very different cultural developments, western plains, north of the Arkansas, and south of the Arkansas River. The food, housing, and tools were different for each cultural group.

The term Indian identifies the people occupying the land before the arrival of Europeans. Although originally misapplied by those thinking they arrived in India, the term has come to represent the diverse cultures we call Native Americans. The terms are not derogatory or condescending, but an effective identification. Even for those with Indian heritage, most of us are multi-ethnic. Such is the nature of our assimilation in this great melting-pot country.

Before we discuss the very early occupants, we want to know how to study the people, who existed before history. A word about archaeology will aid understanding the dating of artifacts. Archaeology, like so many scientific terms, is based on two Greek words, ‘archaeos’ = ancient + ‘ology’ = study of. Together the term means the study of the Ancients.

An expanded definition is ‘the scientific study of ancient humanity and cultures by analysis of physical remains including, tools, pottery, and graves.’

Archaeologists carefully excavate a location or area using scientific methods, proceeding a layer at a time. The type and style of pottery, tools, weapons, jewelry and ornaments will change for each layer or cultural era. Then the observed style defines the time-period. Typically, the style and technology for an era is consistent across cultures and civilizations, but the artistry of the items will vary with location, culture, and whether the item is for everyday use or for the palace.

Looking at other things, such as ash, bones and seeds reveals more about that society. Types of food, which survive time, includes grains and seeds. Tools include door sockets, grinders, and flint scrapers. Weapons include sling stones, flint spear heads, and arrowheads.

Native American pottery dates from around 2500 BC (4500 BP, before present). In the Middle East, archaeologists call that time-frame the Early Bronze Era, which is 800 or so years before the patriarch Abraham. Think about those two sentences again.

Pottery purposes were the same as present civilization uses of glass, plastic, and metals. Pottery becomes the classical aging method, since the fired-clay lasts even after being in the earth for millennia. Pottery material, shape, and features are unique to each specific period-of-time. The process used to study ancient archaeology is the correlation of pottery, tools, and bones to the appropriate time-frame.

As a simplified example of archaeology, think about digging up a trash pit found on a rural property. If the digger finds a cellphone, then you know the time of the pit was after 1990. Further analysis of the device can refine the time of its use and type of tool it is.

Think about who lived here, when did they come, where did they go? As we have seen repeatedly, our lifestyle is a consequence of all those who came before. Interestingly, most cultures revere their elders and predecessors much more than us Americans with our throw-away culture.

——–

Excerpts from our book:

Where Indians, Outlaws & Oilmen Were Real, ISBN: 9781658834643.