Journey to Pawhuska, Oklahoma
A TIPPY FOLLOW-UP OPPORTUNITY
October 27–28, 2023
On Friday, October 27 and Saturday, October 28, a group from St. Paul’s will visit Pawhuska, Oklahoma to learn more about our neighbors, the Osage Nation. You are invited to join us. We plan to carpool and participants are responsible for arranging their own lodging. For more information or to sign up, please contact Denise Greathouse (or email info@stpaulsfay.org and we will help connect you).
Trip Itinerary
Friday October 27, 2023
12:00: Depart Fayetteville by carpool for Pawhuska, OK (3 hours, 164 miles)
3:00: Check-in to lodging
4:00 – 5:00: Tour of Harvest Land working farm
6:30: Dinner, Buffalo Joe’s, 403 E Main Street, Pawhuska
Saturday October 28, 2023
10:00-12:00: Nature Conservancy Tour of John Joseph Matthews Cabin at The Tallgrass Prairie. Note: The tour is free but space is limited. If you plan to go, please tap here to register in advance.
12:30-1:30: Lunch, Pioneer Woman Restaurant
2:00 – 3:00: Visit Osage Nation Museum
3:00 Depart for Fayetteville
Suggested Lodging
Million Dollar Inn: 816 Grandview Ave, Pawhuska, OK (918) 604-5041
Wah-Zha-Zhi House: 9th Street, Pawhuska, OK (91) 971-8126
Pioneer Woman Boarding House: 540 Kihekah Ave, Pawhuska, OK (918) 528-7705
Airbnb: There are several nice places available through Airbnb. We recommend booking soon.
About the Sites
Harvest Land: Osage Nation's Harvest Land is a working farm in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the Osage Nation experienced a breakdown in food systems. Using CARES Act funds, a 40,000 square foot greenhouse and a 44,000 square foot building containing a large aquaponics system, a food processing area, and a water lab were built. The farm also has an orchard with fruit and nut trees. The goal of the farm is to enhance tribal food sovereignty by providing locally grown produce year-round to the Osage people.
John Joseph Matthews Cabin, at Tallgrass Prairie Visitor Center: The restored historic cabin of famed Osage author, John Joseph Mathews, Osage scientist, naturalist, hunter, veteran, artist and historian, and considered to be one of the Osage Nation’s most important spokespeople and writers, is now owned by the Nature Conservancy. His book Talking to the Moon (1945), a narrative of his first ten years living in his prairie homeland cabin, called The Blackjacks, observing nature and reflecting on the influence of the environment on Osage culture, is compared by some critics to Henry David Thoreau's Walden.
The Osage Nation Museum (ONM): The ONM is the oldest tribally governed museum in the US. The nucleus of the Permanent Collection at ONM comprises works of art, artifacts, historical photographs, and ethnographic and archival material from the collection of John L. Bird, a trader who began collecting Osage material around 1883. Over the decades it has expanded to include distinct collections of Henry Pratt, W.B. Mathis, Lee Wilcox, Tamara Erikson, and Lilian B. Mathews, among others.