Indigenous Roots expands across Tulsa for its biggest year yet

(MVSKOKE RESERVATION) Indigenous Roots is getting bigger this year.

Registration opened Thursday for the Indigenous Roots Community Summit, a three-day gathering Oct. 2-4 that will bring organizations and community members together for programming centered on Native culture, wellness, connection and celebration.

Now in its third year, the Crosswinds event is expanding from its previous symposium format into a community summit. The summit will include a variety of activities at multiple locations along Peoria Avenue in Tulsa, with additional virtual events offered throughout the weekend.

A planning committee made up of 12 Native community members and allies has spent the last several months shaping the expanded event.

“We're all kind of rising up together as a collective effort to show how much Native presence there is in Tulsa, and its diverse Native presence,” planning committee member Okcate Smith McCommas (Mvskoke) said.

McCommas is an artist and event organizer behind Scarlett Garlands and Summerhead Creative, where her work centers community, culture and creative engagement.

That idea helped shape one of the biggest changes to Indigenous Roots this year: Rather than keeping the summit inside a single venue, organizers are bringing participants into Native-serving organizations and other community spaces.

The goal is to create connections that last beyond one weekend.

“You really get to know what an organization does by being in their space,” McCommas said.

Friday: Opening the summit through wellness and connection

The weekend will officially begin Friday at the Indian Health Care Resource Center, where attendees will gather for an opening ceremony and have an opportunity to explore the facility and learn about its health and wellness resources.

McCommas said hosting programming inside community organizations gives participants a chance to better understand what is already available to Native people in Tulsa.

She pointed to IHCRC's range of services, including medical, dental and vision care, as well as its recently expanded fitness resources.

“Say there is somebody who doesn't know about Indian Healthcare Resource Center or an arts organization or a community space,” McCommas said. The summit can help people learn, “this is here in Tulsa, and this is where it is, and this is what they do, and this is who they are.”

Organizers hope those introductions lead people back to the organizations long after Indigenous Roots ends.

Saturday: Programming, a benefit dinner and Native comedy

Saturday will feature a full day of summit programming before the gathering shifts into an evening benefit dinner at the Museum of Tulsa History.

The dinner will include a silent auction, with proceeds shared among community partners.

Dr. Michelle Johnson-Jennings (Choctaw) will serve as the keynote speaker.

Johnson-Jennings is a clinical health psychologist and full professor at the University of Washington’s Schools of Social Work and Public Health. She serves as co-executive director of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute, where she also founded its Indigenous Environmental Health and Land-based Healing Division. Her research has focused on culturally grounded health interventions, historical trauma and land-based healing in Indigenous communities.

After a day of conversations and learning, organizers also want people to have a chance to laugh.

Following the dinner, Rezzy Jams Comedy under Full Blood Productions will present a Native comedy show.

Full Blood Productions is a Native-owned entertainment company working across comedy, fashion and film.

“People need a laugh,” owner Justin McLemore (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians) said.

McLemore said comedy has a way of bringing people together, even when they arrive as strangers.

“If you sit close to other people, that's what's great about our shows,” McLemore said. “We try to sit strangers closer to each other, because laughing is contagious.”

The current lineup includes Native comedians Sondra Slade, Jordan Jayi, Brent Deo and Zebadiah Nofire.

“These comedians are Oklahomans, and the relatability is there,” McLemore said.

He said their comedy can turn everyday experiences, including family life and ordinary moments, into something an audience immediately recognizes.

“It's just a really amazing experience,” he said.

Sunday: A family-focused finish

Indigenous Roots will close Sunday with a family-friendly block party featuring music, food, crafts and culture.

The final day is designed to create a space where children, parents, elders and other community members can spend time together.

“I think that it’s really important to make a space that is welcoming to everybody because intergenerational interaction is us at our strongest,” McCommas said. “To celebrate that is something that's really important.”

That intergenerational connection is part of the larger vision for this year's summit: creating a weekend where people can learn something, meet someone, discover a resource, reconnect with culture or simply enjoy being together.

And when the weekend ends, organizers hope those connections don't.

Registration Now Open

Registration for the 2026 Indigenous Roots Community Summit opened Thursday, Aug. 20, through Humanitix, with additional events and offerings to be added as the summit approaches.

Sponsorship opportunities are available for businesses, tribes and organizations interested in supporting the summit.

Crosswinds is also accepting proposals from people interested in leading a session during this year's gathering. Proposals can be submitted through the session proposal form.