Chapter 10: LETTER FROM JIMMY YELLOWBIRD
February 24th, 2006
Dear Mr. Brecklin,
You inquired about the brass plates used during the Green Corn Festival and whether or not they were still in the possession of the Creek Nation. Two of the brass plates are here at the reservation housed in the Creek Council House Museum[i]. Our history of these revered artifacts reaches far back into our tribe’s past. There are numerous legends about their origins, but the one most commonly believed to be the truth is that they were acquired from the Spanish Conquistadores when Hernando de Soto trekked through the Creek lands in what is today the state of Alabama during the 1500’s.
Plans were in the works to relocate one of the plates to the Creek exhibit in the museum at Coosada University in Coosada, Alabama, thus bringing them back to their home for the first time since the Trail of Tears brought them to Oklahoma in 1834. We were working with Professor Miller Hall in the Archaeology Department at Coosada University who was the one who initially began the project. Unfortunately, he has since passed away and the University has dropped the efforts to acquire it for their museum exhibit. This was some twenty years ago or so.
We no longer use the two brass plates for any ceremonies. Replicas have been created and they are the ones used in the ceremonies currently. If you would like to visit the museum I would be happy to show you the two plates; they are truly a marvel to behold.
Jimmy Yellowbird
Curator, Creek Council House Museum
Muscogee (Creek) Nation
Okmulgee, Oklahoma
[i] While it is true that the brass plates were transported to Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears, it is not true that they reside at the Creek Council House Museum. The whereabouts of the plates are a mystery.
Visions of the Dark 