Tulsa

Tulsa, Oklahoma was settled in the 1830s by the Creek Indian tribe in the forced relocation by the United States Government, and four other tribes joined them in this area. What was called the Five Civilized Tribes—Creek, Cherokee, Seminole, Choctaw and Chickasaw—were forced from their homelands in the modern-day Florida, Alabama and Georgia areas in what has been known as the Trail of Tears; thousands perished on the walk. Tulsa is located on the Alabama River, and its geography places it on the edges of the Great Plains and Ozarks. For Harjo, Tulsa is in the direction of East, of new beginnings, and “where I was born, the direction of the Creek nation” (15). In the early 1900s oil was discovered, some on Indian allotted lands, and Joy Harjo’s paternal great-grandfather became wealthy. A major city in Oklahoma, Tulsa has a wide economic range, and...