Chickasaw Cultural Center Welcomes Millionth Guest

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By Chickasaw Nation Media

October 17, 2024

SULPHUR, Okla. - The Chickasaw Cultural Center recently celebrated a milestone when the millionth guest was welcomed to campus. Regina Hall, Stratford, Oklahoma was the one millionth guest when she arrived at the Chickasaw Cultural Center campus on a beautiful autumn morning Oct. 17.

Opened in 2010, the Chickasaw Cultural Center is a dream realized. Decades earlier, the Chickasaw people envisioned a place to revitalize, celebrate and share Chickasaw culture. A place where Chickasaws could call home and guests could appreciate the story of the Chickasaw people.

In the past 14 years, a cultural awakening has arisen at the Chickasaw Cultural Center, as the story of the unconquered and unconquerable Chickasaw Nation – from the ancient past to the present day – has been shared with a multitude of guests.

Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby said the Chickasaw Cultural Center is “truly a center of our living culture, because it is built on the ideas, imagination and creativity of Chickasaw people from all walks of life.”
“While our cultural center provides a special opportunity for Chickasaws to celebrate our culture, it also offers the opportunity to share the history and heritage of the Chickasaw people with our guests from around the world.”

“The Chickasaw Cultural Center has hosted guests from across the globe, including New Zealand, Nepal, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, Russia, Germany, Japan, Bolivia and Bangladesh, to name a few,” said Chickasaw Nation Executive Officer of the Chickasaw Cultural Center Fran Parchcorn.

“The Chickasaw Cultural Center has the privilege of hosting guests from all walks of life from across the world,” Parchcorn said. “We are excited to mark this milestone of welcoming 1 million visitors and look forward to sharing the Chickasaw culture for many years to come. Through creative, integrative programming, the Chickasaw Cultural Center shares our rich history and culture through demonstrations, high technology exhibits, galleries and natural outdoor spaces.”
“Our aim is to tell the Chickasaw story and preserve tribal culture for future generations,” Parchcorn said.

Dignitaries, tribal, state and federal leaders, scholars, and thousands of school children have also visited the world-class destination in the past 14 years, experiencing the vibrant and dynamic culture of the Chickasaw people.

Tamara Gruber, a travel content creator and digital publisher from Rhode Island, visited the center in the spring of 2024, documenting her experience on one of her blogs. Gruber’s blogs We3Travel.com and YourTimetoFly.com focus on unique cultural experiences, worldwide.
“The Chickasaw Cultural Center was such a great resource to learn more about the history of the Chickasaw people and have the opportunity to learn firsthand about traditions that have been passed down throughout the years,” Gruber said.

“Between the exhibits, the demonstrations and films, and time exploring the village and garden, it is easy to spend at least half a day soaking in the culture.”

Gruber’s trip included a stop at the Aaimpa' Café for the Chickasaw Special, an entrée featuring an Indian taco, pashofa – a traditional Chickasaw dish consisting of cracked-pearl hominy slow-cooked with pork – and grape dumplings – a sweet traditional dessert. Recent renovations to the café offer additional seating and an enhanced dining experience. The menu has been expanded to include entrees featuring the wild game Chickasaw ancestors hunted in the historic Homeland, including deer, fish, elk and buffalo, to name a few.

The Aaimpa' Café incorporates these ingredients into dishes such as the Three Sisters salad, venison stew, pan-seared salmon, and buffalo and elk burgers.

“I’m so glad I was there for lunch and had a chance to enjoy the local cuisine at the café too,” Gruber said.

During her visit, Gruber also toured the spiral gardens, the butterfly garden and the Chikasha Poya Exhibit Center, which incorporates artistry and technology to share the story of the Chickasaw people. She also participated in a stomp dance demonstration, which is conducted twice a day.

“The cultural center is an amazing place and I am very impressed,” Andrea Ling, a guest from Perth, Australia, said in 2013. “I enjoyed participating in the stomp dance; you get the rhythm and get moving.”

Combining natural architectural elements and picturesque scenery, the 184-acre campus provides activities and adventures year-round for visitors of all ages.

Carefully chosen elements of the center’s architecture, including copper, water, stone and wood, are incorporated throughout the campus due to their significance to Chickasaw culture.

Scott Jackson, a Chickasaw visiting for the first time in 2012, said the cultural center does a great job of keeping nature intact and adding a modern flair while still maintaining the integrity of Chickasaw heritage.

“It's not just what you see, it's what you taste, what you feel and what you experience,” said Jackson.

Two Chickasaws who live in North Andover, Massachusetts, created stronger bonds with their tribe by volunteering for two weeks at the Chickasaw Cultural Center in 2023.

Micah Weir and son Elliot rotated through each area at the center, such as visitor services and cultural resources.

“I think it was great. Immediately we felt like part of the team but also part of the (Chickasaw Nation), and we were taken right up into the fold, which I haven't experienced before,” Micah said.

Everyone on the Chickasaw Cultural Center staff was willing to share their time and knowledge and explain their day-to-day job duties during their service, he said.

“Every single person we met had a lot to offer and was so giving. That was an amazing experience for me.”

The most important takeaway of the summer, Micah said, is that Elliot now feels a tangible link to his tribe.

“Before this if we were talking about Chickasaws, even though we are Chickasaw, he would say ‘they.’ He didn't have ownership of that part of his culture. Then part of the way through the trip we were talking, and I realized he had switched from ‘they’ to ‘we.’

“I thought that was incredible and probably for me the most important thing that was accomplished, for him to really understand that he is Chickasaw and at least part of what that means.”
 

That is the purpose and goal of the Chickasaw Cultural Center: To capture the essence of Chickasaw culture, and revitalize and share Chickasaw culture and traditions through cultural demonstrations and community outreach activities; to preserve, protect and add to Chickasaw history through archives, collections and research; and to provide educational opportunities to the Chickasaw people and share the unique culture with the world.
 

Many opportunities to be immersed in the culture of the Chickasaw people await visitors at the Chickasaw Cultural Center.

Gardens, lush landscape and the Oka' Aabiniili' (a place for sitting on the water) Water Pavilion offer visitors a chance to reconnect and learn about nature. Hundreds of plants, trees and flowers native to the historic Chickasaw Homeland and Oklahoma provide stunning landscapes.
More than 75 interpretive garden signs detail the traditional use and origin of trees, shrubs, plants and flowers.

Guests can experience many aspects of Chickasaw culture such as art, food, storytelling, dance, music, film, language and history.
Demonstrators share the traditional arts of beading, basketry, stomp dance, stickball, archery and more.

An outdoor amphitheater, the beautiful Kochcha' Aabiniili' (a place for sitting outside), offers a unique venue for cultural demonstrations, dance groups, storytelling, bands, choirs and other performances.

The four-story Sky Bridge overlooks the Chikasha Inchokkaꞌ Traditional Village.

The village is a replica of houses, structures and grounds from the historic Chickasaw Homeland during the early- to mid-1700s. The village includes traditional Chickasaw homes, a stomp dance area for demonstrations, a stickball area and a Three Sisters garden. When weather permits, the village hosts cultural instructors demonstrating traditional arts such as beadwork, basketry and pottery, tanning hides, bow making and flute making.

The Chickasaw Cultural Center is a wonderful place to visit year-round as daily cultural activities take place. A variety of unique experiences tailored for each season can be discovered at the Chickasaw Cultural Center.

These fun and educational events intermingle Chickasaw culture and traditions into the daily festivities. Special events range from the weeklong Three Sisters Celebration, the Holbaꞌ Pisachiꞌ Native Film Festival, holiday celebrations and more.

The vast array of attractions for all ages, the exciting cultural experiences and peaceful serenity of the campus are a few reasons the Chickasaw Cultural Center has amassed an impressive number of awards, honors and accolades. One of the most recent is the “Best Museum” winner in the Best of Chickasaw Country 2024 awards, an annual online contest where fans are encouraged to vote for the top five nominations in 17 categories of businesses, attractions, restaurants and events in south-central Oklahoma.

The Chickasaw Cultural Center, 867 Cooper Memorial Drive, is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Chickasaw Cultural Center is closed all major holidays.

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